Explanation of editorial conventions
When a siglum number in the original edition contained an "a" or "b", etc. the "a" etc. will be replaced by ".1" etc. Thus, WH 1725a or 1725b will appear as WH 1725.1, WH 1725.2, etc.
If two or more numbers from the same work, e.g. "C 257+1365" appear in the Siglum field, this means that two parts of the same inscription were published as two or more texts in the edition. If one number in an edition occurs in the Siglum field and another in the Alternative sigla field it means that the same inscription was published twice, under two different numbers, in the edition.
When we have been unable to supply a translation of a passage in an inscription, the original (untranslated) words are shown in italics in the translation. Thus, "By Grm son of Bḫlh and dftʿs¹m"
Tagging: So far, only the first level of tagging has been undertaken, identifying words as verbs, substantives, pronouns, particles, adverbs, adjectives, and numerical expressions, and identifying names as personal, group, divine, or place names. The parts of the inscription Genealogy, Narrative, and Prayer are also tagged so that concordances of genealogies, grammar and vocabulary can be constructed. Most of the translations conform with those in Al-Jallad 2015 and Al-Jallad & Jaworska 2019 where explanations of the interpretations can be found.
The Editorial signs used in OCIANA
{ }
in the Transliteration Field mean that the reading of the letter is doubtful.
in the Translation Field mean that the original of the word they enclose has one or more doubtful letters.
{ }
in the Translation Field mean that the original of the word they enclose has one or more doubtful letters.
( )
in the Transliteration Field are only used when the inscription is known solely from a hand copy and means that the editor has corrected a letter in the copy.
( )
with only a space between them in the Transliteration Field mean that
the editor has removed a sign in the copy (because he/she believes the copyist mistook an extraneous mark for a letter)
[ ]
in the Transliteration Field mark a letter which has been restored by the editor, either because the original author, or the copyist, omitted it or because it has been destroyed.
[ ]
with only a space between them in the Transliteration Field mean that the editor believes that a letter was omitted but will not speculate as to what it was.
< >
in the Transliteration Field signal editorial corrections of the original text.
If the editor believes that the author of the inscription carved an incorrect letter,
the proposed correct letter will be placed between < >. Example: w
<<>>
in the Transliteration Field signal an editorial removal of a redundant letter
in the original, e.g. wgm l ʿl- appears in the original this will
appear as wgm <<>> ʿl- and there will be an explanation in the Commentary.
[[ ]]
in the Transliteration Field indicate corrections by the author of the text, e.g.
md[[b]]r where the author had originally carved mddr and then corrected it to
mdbr. [[ ]] with nothing between them indicate that the author erased a letter, e.g.
if he carved mddbr and erased the second d, this would appear as md[[ ]]br.
{{ }}
in the Transliteration Field indicate that a letter has been altered
(usually by vandalism) from its original form, e.g. h to ṣ. If the original
letter can be discovered it is placed between {{ }}, thus in this case {{ṣ}}.
If the original letter cannot be discovered its place in the text is shown by {{ }}
(with nothing between them).
----
in the Transliteration field and Translation field a series of 4 hyphens indicate
one or more unreadable letters or a patch of damage in an inscription. The number is
always 4 hyphens regardless of how many letters may have been lost.
ḃ
in the Transliteration field this form of b is used to distinguish the personal names
bn, bnt and bt in genealogies from the nouns meaning "son of" (bn), "daughter of"
(bnt and bt) and "tent" (bt). However, these names will appear with "B" in the
Translation field where there is no risk of confusion.
Spaces before and after hyphens
The definite article and both separable and inseparable prepositions are joined to the following noun by a hyphen plus a space, e.g. h- rgm ("the cairn"), l- s¹lm ("for S¹lm"), l- h- mlk ("for the king"), ʿl- ḥbb ("over Ḥbb"). The space left between the definite article/preposition and the following word is purely for the sake of searching within the database and does not need to be reproduced when the text is quoted. See also "Distinguishing particles" below.
Object and possessive pronouns ("her", "his") are joined to the preceding word by hyphens plus space. Thus, ʾb -h ("her father"), ʿl- -h ("over him"), qtl -h ("he killed him"). The space left between the verb or noun and the enclitic pronoun is purely for the sake of searching within the database and does not need to be reproduced when the text is quoted.
Distinguishing particles
Enclitic particles must always be written as separate words, e.g. b, h, ’l, and should be represented according to the following conventions:
ʾ- + space = alternative definite article
ʾl + space = noun "lineage"
ʾl- + space = preposition
b + space = bn occasionally, e.g. WH 2529, 2538
b- + space = preposition
bn + space = "son of" in a genealogy
bn- + space = preposition
ḃn + space = represents the personal name Bn in the transliteration field (to distinguish it from bn ="son of". However, it should appear as Bn (that is without the dot) in the translation field
bt + space = "daughter of "
ḃt + space = represents the personal name Bt in the transliteration field (to distinguish it from bt ="daughter of". However, it should appear as Bt (that is without the dot) in the translation field
bt + space = noun "house, tent"
ḏ + space = relative pronoun
ḏ- + space = relative pronoun in ḏ- ’l only
ʿl + space = noun "colt, young male horse"
ʿm + space = noun "paternal uncle"
ʿm- + space = preposition
ʿn + space = noun "help", "a spring"
ʿn- + space = preposition
f + space = conjunction
f- + space = preposition
k- + space = preposition
space + -k = 2nd person singular enclitic pronoun
l + space = lām auctoris
l- + space = preposition
m + space = relative pronoun
m- + space = preposition
mn + space = relative pronoun
mn- + space = preposition
h + space = vocative particle
h- + space = definite article
space + -h = enclitic pronoun
The Transliteration System for Arabic used in OCIANA
| Arabic | Single letter transliterations |
|---|---|
| ﺀ | ʾ |
| ﺏ | b |
| ﺕ | t |
| ﺙ | ṯ |
| ﺝ | ǧ |
| ﺡ | ḥ |
| خ | ẖ |
| ﺩ | d |
| ﺫ | ḏ |
| ﺭ | r |
| ﺯ | z |
| ﺱ | s |
| ﺵ | š |
| ﺹ | ṣ |
| ﺽ | ḍ |
| ﻁ | ṭ |
| ﻅ | ẓ |
| ﻉ | ʿ |
| ﻍ | ġ |
| ﻑ | f |
| ﻕ | q |
| ﻙ | k |
| ﻝ | l |
| ﻡ | m |
| ﻥ | n |
| ﻩ | h |
| و | w |
| ﻱ | y |
Classical Arabic vowels: a, i, u, ā, ī, ū
Tāʾ marbūṭah as -ah in pause and -at in construct.