Show HN: Writing Arabic in English
7 days ago
- #Language Learning
- #Phonetic Keyboard
- #Arabic
- A phonetic Arabic keyboard maps English letters to Arabic sounds for easier typing.
- Arabic's right-to-left writing and cursive script are handled with `direction: rtl;` and UTF-8, except in Safari where Zero-Width Joiner (ZWJ) is needed.
- 17 out of 28 Arabic letters have rough English equivalents, simplifying initial mapping.
- Emphatic Arabic letters (e.g., ح, ص) are mapped to uppercase English letters (e.g., H, S) for phonetic similarity.
- Unique Arabic letters without English equivalents use creative mappings, like adding dots with the `'` key (e.g., `s'` for ش).
- Hamza (ء), representing a glottal stop, is mapped to `--` and can modify letters like Alif (أ, إ).
- Diacritics (e.g., Fatha, Kasrah) are added using `=` (e.g., `a=` for Fatha), aiding pronunciation.
- The keyboard is implemented as a web component, available via CDN or npm, and used in the Parallel Arabic learning platform.