To help better understand the language, you must remember that there is no distinction between upper and lower case letters. In addition, a number of the letters look very similar, but are told apart from each other by dots that are placed above or below the letter's central part, or the I'jam. These dots play a monumental role as they are the key into telling the difference between the letters that represent different sounds. Unlike the writing many of us are accustomed to, the Arabic lettering can substantially change depending on the placement of the letter in the word, whether it be in the beginning, middle, end or stand-alone. Some of the letters resemble each other in all four forms, while others are considerably different. There is one more unique distinction; as opposed to writing a letter twice, as is sometime necessary in other languages, Arabic writing uses a w-shaped sign called shadda, or sadda, above said letter.The first known text to be written in the Arabic language is dated back to sometime in the late fourth century; however, the first dated is a trilingual inscription at Zebed in Syria dating back to 512 and the very first surviving evidence of Arabic writing is a papyrus dating back to 643. The full structure of the language dates to somewhere around 786 by al-Farahide, which is after the finalization of the distinguishing of the letters and sounds.
Arabic lettering is very distinctive in how it is written compared to many other well-known languages. Furthermore, Arabic tattoo lettering is unsurpassed in its uniqueness. This is not an everyday seen type of tattoo. Now that you know the basics behind the letters and concepts, you are prepared to go and discover the quality of Arabic lettering for your next, or first, tattoo.
