Orthography
The Jews of Baghdad also have a written Judeo-Arabic, which differs from the spoken language and uses Hebrew characters. There is a sizeable published religious literature in the language, including several translations of the Bible and the Qanun an-nisa' of the Ben Ish Hai.
The following method of describing the letters of the Hebrew alphabet was used by teachers in Baghdad until quite recently:
| Letter | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| א | 'ábu 'áġbaʿ ġūs | 'alēf | |
| It has four heads | |||
| ב | ġazūna | bē | |
| It's a niche | |||
| ג | 'ábu jənḥ | gimāl | |
| Has a wing | |||
| ד | nájaġ | dāl | |
| It's a hatchet | |||
| ה | ġə́jla məqṭūʿa | hē | |
| It has a severed leg | |||
| ו | 'ə́bġi | wāw | |
| It's a needle | |||
| ז | dəmbūs | zān | |
| A pin | |||
| ח | 'əmm ġəjeltēn ṣāġ | ḥēṯ | |
| Both its legs are intact | |||
| ט | ġə́jla b-báṭna | ṭēṯ | |
| Its leg is in its stomach | |||
| י | 'ə́xtak lə-zġayyġi | yōd | |
| Your younger sister | |||
| כ | ġazūna mdáwwġa | kāf | |
| A round niche | |||
| ל | l-jámal | lamād | |
| A camel | |||
| מ | ġāsa zbibāyi | mīm | |
| Its head is a raisin | |||
| נ | čəngāl | nūn | |
| It's a hook | |||
| ס | mdáwwaġ | səmmāx | |
| It's circular | |||
| ע | 'ábu ġasēn | ʿān | |
| It has two heads | |||
| פ | b-ṯə́mma zbibāyi | pē | |
| Has a raisin in its mouth | |||
| צ | ġasēn w-mə́ḥni | ṣād | |
| Has two heads and is bent | |||
| ק | ġə́jlu ṭwīli | qōf | |
| Has a long leg | |||
| ר | məčrūx | rōš | |
| It's curved | |||
| ש | 'ábu tláṯ-ġūs | šīn | |
| It has three heads | |||
| ת | ġə́jla məʿġūja | tā | |
| Has a crooked leg | |||
| ﭏ | 'alēf-lām | Salaam | Salaam |
| bye bye | |||
Read more about this topic: Baghdad Arabic (Jewish)