Our. 1858, — Mar. 1859, j In Roman Characters, 



221 



Vowel Marks. 



1. Zabar or fat? ha : the mark above the consonant to 

 which it belongs, and equivalent to a short. Thus \j Jcalam 

 a pen. It is generally omitted in ordinary writing. 



2. Zer or kasra ; the mark below, equivalent to short i ; 

 as l^-~cA>- khidmat, service. 



3. P6sh or zamma, the mark ■* above, equivalent to 

 short u as p'kul a flower. 



4. Hamza, the mark * above, It is a mere compres- 

 sion of the voice, and in Roman character, is designated by 

 an aspirate. It is seldom met with except between long d 

 and long \. Thus ij\r^ amrai an orchard, jjA>l ain a 

 statue or law. In some cases the long % is converted into 

 shorts, as (j2*jJtoj! azmaish instead of azmaish trial; ^vS 

 fca ?'m instead of kdim fixed ; yjjJli f^ida instead of fa {da 

 profit. In this case it is called hamza i mulaiyana, or sof- 

 tened hamza. 



5. Tosh! did*, the mark w above, shewing that the letter 

 under it is doubled. 



6. Jazm, the mark o above, shewing that the letter un- 

 der it is s&Jcin or inert : that is, having no vowel to be sound - 

 ed after it. Thus ^ Jcabr a tomb, ^2 ism a name. These 

 words, if there were no jazm, would be Jcabar, and isam. So 

 Aj Jcalam a pen, if written jjj would be Thus ^ 



fcasr breaking, kasab a trade. The last letter of a 



word is always inert, and the jazm always understood. 



Vowels. 



7. a short ; as the a in ' volatile." This sound is sup- 

 posed to commence every syllable, unless the jazm, occurs, 

 (para. 6.) The initial alif is the only instance where the 

 written \ is pronounced short. N. B. When the unwritten 



