Reflection of the History of Writing
There are many legends and stories
about the invention of writing. Greek legend has it that Cadmus, Prince of
Phoenicia and founder of city of Thebes, invented the alphabet and brought it
with him to Greece. In one Chinese fable, the four-eyed dragon-god CangJie
invented writing, but in another, writing first appeared as marking on the back
of chi-lin, a white unicorn of Chinese legend. In other myths, the Babylonian
god Nebo and the Egyptian god Thoth gave humans writing as well as speech.
The Talmudic scholar Rabbi Akida believed that the alphabet existed before
humans were created; and according
to Islamic teaching, the alphabets were created by Allah himself, who
presented it to humans but not to angels. Although these are delightful
stories, it is evident that before a single word was written, uncountable
billions were spoken. The invention of writing comes relatively late in human
history, and its development was gradual. It is highly unlikely that a
particularly gifted ancestor awoke one morning and decided, “Today I’ll invent
a writing system.” - An Introduction to Language.
In Islam, the holy Quran was written in Arabic language and Arabic alphabetical
is used. The Quran was reveal gradually but it was to be memorized during the
prophet of Muhammad as he forbids the verses to be written down by the
companions. Later, the expansion of Islamic teachings has created confusion
among the Muslims as different region speaks different language. The
Rasm-Uthmani was introduced as guideline for the readings of the Quran and the
Rasm-Uthmani in the Quran was set as the standard Arabic alphabet. It is called
Rasm-Uthmani because the person that worked hard for the standard reading was
Uthman bin Affan (r.a), the third caliph after Prophet Muhammad S.A.W and Abu
Bakr (r.a).The book of An Introduction to Language has clearly state a false
information about the facts of Arabic Alphabet by saying that Allah himself,
who presented it to humans but not to angels. This information can be a mislead
fact and it is a concern. The Arabic writing system before the Rasm-Uthmani is
a very confusing without the markers that make the pronunciations only easier
if the reader is a native speaker of Arabic language.
Prepared by: Muhammad Norshafiq
References:
Fromkin, V. A., Rodman, R., & Hyams, N. (2007). Brain
and Language. An Introduction to Language (8th Edition ed., pp. 35 - 61).
Boston: Thomson Wadsworth.
