A system of writing Arabic language using Syriac or other non-Arabic scripts, historically used by Arabic-speaking Christians.
From Arabic ghārshuwnī, possibly derived from the Syriac word for 'foreign' or 'barbarous.' The practice developed in the Levant among Christian communities who spoke Arabic but retained Syriac liturgical traditions. The term reflects the cultural and linguistic complexity of the medieval Middle East.
Garshuni is linguistic code-switching frozen in ink—Christian Arabs wrote their spoken language in Syriac letters because that's what their church taught them, creating thousands of manuscripts that puzzle scholars today.
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