A computational system to handle the orthographic layer of tajwid in contemporary Quranic Orthography

TL;DR

This paper presents a computational system that manipulates the orthographic tajwid layer in the Quranic text, enabling detailed analysis and comparison of Quranic manuscripts and phonetic notation systems.

Contribution

It introduces a Python module capable of adding or removing tajwid orthographic features from the Quranic text in CQO, facilitating computational analysis of Quranic recitation rules.

Findings

Developed a precise digital encoding of tajwid rules in the Cairo Quran

Enabled automated comparison of Quranic manuscripts based on orthographic features

Provided a framework for studying phonetic and prosodic processes in Quranic texts

Abstract

Contemporary Quranic Orthography (CQO) relies on a precise system of phonetic notation that can be traced back to the early stages of Islam, when the Quran was mainly oral in nature and the first written renderings of it served as memory aids for this oral tradition. The early systems of diacritical marks created on top of the Quranic Consonantal Text (QCT) motivated the creation and further development of a fine-grained system of phonetic notation that represented tajwid-the rules of recitation. We explored the systematicity of the rules of tajwid, as they are encountered in the Cairo Quran, using a fully and accurately encoded digital edition of the Quranic text. For this purpose, we developed a python module that can remove or add the orthographic layer of tajwid from a Quranic text in CQO. The interesting characteristic of these two sets of rules is that they address the complete Quranic text of the Cairo Quran, so they can be used as precise witnesses to study its phonetic and prosodic processes. From a computational point of view, the text of the Cairo Quran can be used as a linchpin to align and compare Quranic manuscripts, due to its richness and completeness. This will let us create a very powerful framework to work with the Arabic script, not just within an isolated text, but automatically exploring a specific textual phenomenon in other connected manuscripts. Having all the texts mapped among each other can serve as a powerful tool to study the nature of the notation systems of diacritics added to the consonantal skeleton.