This file serves as a mini-HOWTO for someone wanting to use Arabic alongside Latin/English under Linux. This is useful for example if you are an English speaker learning Arabic (like me), Arabic speaker learning English, or simply have a requirement to use both languages.
It should be noted that I have only got this working for GNOME2 under Debian so my instructions may not apply to others, but I think it should all work for any modern Linux distro. I have no idea how to setup the console or KDE.
As far as I can see the Arabic translations of GNOME applications are few
and far between. You can see which apps have partial or full translations by
looking in:
/usr/share/locale/ar*/LC_MESSAGES/
You can use GDM to select Arabic when you log in, this will make all translated
applications automatically use Arabic. If you want only specific apps to be
translated run them like this:
env LANG=ar gedit
env LANG=ar_SA nautilus
etc.
Arabic writing support in GNOME2 seems excellent. The first thing you will need is a keyboard map. Right click on your panel, select "Add to panel" -> "Utility" -> "Keyboard Layout Switcher". A button should appear on your panel, right click on it and go to "Preferences", from here you can add the Arabic xkb keymap. You can also bind a key to switch between the two keymaps. On my Apple Mac I use the stupid little enter key next to my right apple button. It is even possible to mix left-to-right latin and right-to-left arabic in the same document, and it works really nicely.
If you do not have Arabic markings on your keyboard then you may find the table below helpful. It displays all 28 arabic characters and their corresponding position on a 102 key US keyboard layout.
| Symbol | US Key | Name |
| ض | Q | dad |
| ط | ' (apostrophe) | ta |
| ظ | / | za |
| ع | U | cayn |
| غ | Y | ghayn |
| ف | T | fa |
| ق | R | qaf |
| ك | ; (semicolon) | kaf |
| ل | G | lam |
| م | L | mim |
| ن | K | nun |
| ه | I | ha |
| و | , (comma) | waw |
| ي | D | ya |
| ا | H | alif |
| ب | F | ba |
| ت | J | ta |
| ث | E | tha |
| ج | [ | jim |
| ح | P | ha |
| خ | O | kha |
| د | ] | dal |
| ذ | ` (backquote) | thal |
| ر | V | ra |
| ز | . (full stop) | zay |
| س | S | sin |
| ش | A | shin |
| ص | W | sad |
All the text boxes and such like in GNOME applications are left aligned no matter what my LANG variable is set to. This annoying and if anyone knows how to fix it I would love to know.
I don't know how to use arabic in the console. I assume there is a font and a keymap you can select.
I don't know how to get a tah marbuta or hamza character. I think the diacritics/vowel marks can be got with the Alt key.
@(#) $Id: arabic.html 77 2003-11-14 10:26:45Z scara $
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