The Pate Chronicle: edited and translated from MSS 177, 321, 344, and 358 of the Library of the University of Dar es Salaam

NOTE ON ORTHOGRAPHY

NOTE ON ORTHOGRAPHY The transcription system adopted in my rendering of Arabic-script Swahili is a slightly revised version of the Library of Congress system. Its major distinctions from that used for Arabic words in the Encyclopedia of Islam are the use ofj rather than dj for jrm and of y rather than i for yii' in diphtongs. On the other hand, ~ was preferred to q to facilitate conformity with the current Swahili orthography. Swahili phonetics influenced other cases: for instance, ghayn was rendered with gh in Arabic loan-words but with g in Swahili words of Bantu origin. My transcription of the Arabic transliteration of Swahili consonants generally follows W.E. Taylor's system. The dental and explosive t's and d's are not marked. Those sounds appearing in parentheses (usually nand w) are inferred; transliteration enclosed in brackets offers the editor's emendation of the Arabic-script text, which is reproduced in Arabic version exactly as it was read at the time of copying. Arabic words have been treated according to Swahili orthography: for example, hata or ~atii rather than ~attii unless a tashdrd was placed above the ttl '. The one exception was Arabic personal names, often spelled without vowel marks or diacritical dots, which were rendered in Arabic rather than Swahili style. On the other hand, when phonetical marks normally absent in Arabic were present to indicate Swahili pronunciation, bold characters were used to distinguish p from b and v from! Bold ch was used for the ch sound x Xl when rendered by a lcd/with two dots rather than til' an bold ta' marbuta when pronounced. The Arabic titles such as amfr, imdm or sulfiln were transcribed phonetically in the Swahili version but without diacritical marks in the English translation. Capitalization was followed when the title was used as part of a personal name. A few special terms, such as mudabbir al-umur, were highlighted in italics and translated in parentheses ("director of affairs). The reverse practice was followed for some toponyms derived from common nouns (Banadiri, Mrima). The toponym SawalJ.ili was rendered as "Sawahili (coast). " The Arabic division pattern of many Swahili words differs from that accepted currently; this is especially noticeable in the orthography of verbal forms and particles. To the extent that it was possible to reconcile the manuscript versions with standard contemporary practice while preserving the original style of writing for historical-linguistic purposes, the dash was used to convey conjoint spelling of words which are now spelled separately, while the sign _ connects word parts scripted in the MSS separately which would today be spelled together. The varying separate or joint spelling of toponyms was followed in reproducing the Arabic-script original and in transcription, but abandoned in translation for the sake of uniformity. Dates in the text appear without notation AH for the Muslim calendar; for the corresponding dates in the Western calendar notation AD has been added. XlI Warsheikh Mogadisho Marka N ~ ~ Kismayu 91 'Tula f Sh ungwaya U ' I La A h' 1 t Zlwa .," mu rc Ipe ago • Al Farnau o Mafia , , ! Kerimba Islands Lamu Placenames appearing in (he Chronicle (l Cornaro Islands c:. .Q o Mozambique Map 1. The East African Coast ~ p.) '0 N . r' S~ ~ n ::; ....... '0 ro~ p..J cro o p.) ::1 0- ::r: ..... ~ r-t ro ~ p.; ::1 Q.. • Jongeni Wiw. Formosa Bay .1 z O~O ~/C.i:Fa te PJacenames appearing in the Chronicle ~ N 8: > ____ e ~ E) (MAINLAND ON THIS SIDE) VJ\,P MAP 3. Map of the Island of Siu, drawn by Abdallah bin Muhammad, Wali of Faza. Source: Alice Werner. "A Swahili History of Pate." Journal of the African Society. 1915. facing p. 280. ...