Writing Arabic: A Practical Introduction to Ruq'ah Script

by T. F. Mitchell (Author)

14 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0198151500

ISBN-10: 0198151500

Why is ISBN important?

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Other Sellers

from

Other Sellers

See all 6 versions

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by Alex BooksandMore

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

13 used from $36.23

& FREE Shipping. Details

FREE delivery: Friday, April 16 Details

Fastest delivery: Thursday, April 15
Order within 1 min Details

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Available at a lower price from other sellers that may not offer free Prime shipping.

3 new from $68.00

FREE delivery: Friday, April 16 Details

Fastest delivery: Thursday, April 15
Order within 1 min Details

Available at a lower price from other sellers that may not offer free Prime shipping.

Frequently bought together

Total price: $111.18

These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers. Show details

Buy the selected items together

This item:Writing Arabic: A Practical Introduction to Ruq'ah Script by T. F. Mitchell Paperback $68.00
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping. Details
Mastering Arabic Script: A Guide to Handwriting (Macmillan Master Series (Languages)) by Jane Wightwick Paperback $43.18
In stock.
Ships from and sold by Book Depository US.

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Omar N. Uddin
12
Paperback
$65.00
Omar Nizam Uddin
24
Paperback
$52.69
Ghani Alani
49
Hardcover
$23.74
Nicholas Awde
675
Paperback
$10.40
Gabriel Mandel Khan;Gabriel Mandel Khan
16
Hardcover
11 offers from $13.50
JA'FAR MUSTAFA
81
Paperback
$14.82

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Jane Wightwick
23
Paperback
$43.18
Omar N. Uddin
12
Paperback
$65.00

Special offers and product promotions

Amazon Business: Make the most of your Amazon Business account with exclusive tools and savings. Login now
Amazon Business : For business-only pricing, quantity discounts and FREE Shipping. Register a free business account

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

T. F. Mitchell is at University of Leeds.

Product details

Publisher : Oxford University Press, U.S.A. (August 16, 1979)
Language : English
Paperback : 170 pages
ISBN-10 : 0198151500
ISBN-13 : 978-0198151500
Item Weight : 10.2 ounces
Dimensions : 9.66 x 6.07 x 0.44 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,487,807 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #270 in African & Middle Eastern Literature
- #338 in Middle Eastern Literary Criticism (Books)
- #3,094 in Study & Teaching Reference (Books)

Customer Reviews:
14 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		74%
4 star		8%
3 star		11%
2 star		8%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

How are ratings calculated?

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

K. Southall

Quite honestly this is one of the best books on Arabic handwriting I've come across

Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2014

Verified Purchase

Some may criticize it's old fashioned presentation. Well "no duh" it's an old work. And it is a very, very, effective work.
Quite honestly this is one of the best books on Arabic handwriting I've come across. If you are interested in reading manuscripts and paleography, or in learning effective legible and artful Arabic handwriting, I recommend the book. If the verbiage feels old fashioned to you then work through it, part of literacy and becoming an adept reader is being able to work through texts outside of your own period. This helps you grow, and improves your comprehension.

Simply put, the information and exercises in this book are invaluable. Working through the book consistently *will* improve your handwriting and *will* improve your ability to read and comprehend non-printed Arabic text. I cannot recommend it strongly enough.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Eds Word

Good, but outdated

Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2001

Verified Purchase

First published in 1953, this text is showing its age. Its chief attribute is that it focuses on the cursive ruqah script as opposed to the printed naskh that is found in many instructional texts. If you want to achieve competence in understanding handwritten Arabic the material here is great for helping you reach that goal. Most of the examples are given with printed and handwritten forms side-by-side which is quite helpful. The pedagogy, however, is archaic and there are a number of more recently published books that provide better instruction on developing good Arabic penmanship. The book also has annoying transliterations which detracts from the emphasis on writing. Despite being an introductory text purchase this book only if you can already read some Arabic. Otherwise try Alif-Baa (Brustad, al-Batal, & al-Tonsi) as suggested by a previous reviewer or Mastering Arabic (Wightwick & Gaafar). Both show how to form cursive strokes in a user-friendly way and have accompanying audio material. If you intend to use this book as a stand-alone introduction to Arabic writing you will likely be disappointed.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Mike Wright

"Practical" is the right word

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2013

Verified Purchase

I owned an ancient hard cover version of this book, but it was borrowed and never returned several decades ago, so I was happy to see a new version. This is the best practical guide I've seen for Arabic handwriting. If your Arabic script looks like it was written by a 5-year-old riding on a trotting pony, get this book.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Paul Foster

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is the unsuperseded classic of Arabic handwriting.

Helpful

James Begole

Don't write Arabic like a first-grader

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2012

I remember spending 6 months in Sinai, Egypt after having studied Arabic eight hours a day for a year at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey. The Egyptians were sooooo nice and impressed that an American could say even a few words of their language - they did all they could to help me understand their dialect and help me speak more fluidly, teaching me important things like curse words and how to use ya'ni :-) Good times. Their mentoring built my confidence to where I thought I was really starting to get the hang of the language.

But then this long-built esteem all came crashing down when one of them (very nicely) pointed out that my hand writing looked like a first grader's. OMG, he was right! I had only learned to copy the precise shapes of naskh, with the only convenience of using a dash for two dots over taa and a too-angular triangle for the three dots over thaa. Pretty lame. I don't know how I found this book back then - there was no Amazon. But after reading and practicing night after night for a month or so (it was fun, actually, to fill notebook pages), my writing started to look more like that of an adult's. With this book, you not only learn how to read typical Arabic handwriting, you learn how to form it yourself. You'll learn to write words at angles, make a seen with one line that looks natural, make Saad, Daad, Taa and THaa with fluid strokes, multiple clever end-forms of nuun and much much more.

What's more, you'll start to be able to visually parse more Arabic calligraphy than before - words written at angles will become obvious to you. Stacked words and decoratively shaped characters will also be easier for you to pick out from each other. The book is devoted to ruqa'a, but some of the patterns apply to other scripts as well.

Since I learned this writing, native speakers often complement my hand writing. Better than the complements, though, is that it gives them the comfort to teach me more esoteric elements of the language, because they can see evidence that I'm not a novice even though I'll never be able to pronounce Daad correctly. :-)

Get this book and just copy as much as you can. Sure, the pedagogy is archaic, but ignore it. Just copy the tables and paragraphs until it starts to feel natural. (one tip: for me, it's easier to write ruqa'a in pencil than pen). You'll write faster and more elegantly and you may even start to feel like you've finally gotten the hang of this language.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Anna la Douce

Most learned and accurate book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 27, 2010

Verified Purchase

Since the art of handwriting will soon be extinct - why not buy this excellent introduction to the Arab script. Mind you: it is a very scholarly work. No place for fuss and fun. If your interest is sincere there is no better hand to hold than Prof. Mitchell's. Run and cut yorself a reed-pen and start practising. Might work even better if you are in a student environment or a native Arab speaking person who is not used to writing Ruq'ah script. In the Introductory the writer in very harsh words states the purpose of the book. Be serious...
The English text is typewritten and the translitteration system yet another one. But it all adds to the academic charm.

7 people found this helpful

See all reviews

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Writing Arabic: A Practical Introduction to Ruq'ah Script

Buy used: $40.23

Buy new: $68.00

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

What other items do customers buy after viewing this item?

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Product details

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Customers who bought this item also bought

Buy used:

$40.23

Buy new:

$68.00