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by Halskiisaklink on October 4th, 2006

Halskiisaklink

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Why is Arabic written from right-to-left, whereas most European languages are written left-to-right?

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  • by Roger Kovaciny on October 6th, 2006

    Roger Kovaciny

    At this point in time all we can do is conjecture. Two I've heard: much ancient writing was in the form of chiseled inscriptions, and it's easier to chisel from right to left; also, it's a Semitic language, developed from Hebrew, and many Jews were left-handed--left-handedness is even mentioned in the Bible.

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  • by Im Alec has abandoned this account on October 4th, 2006

    Im Alec has abandoned this account

    There is no obvious reason why one way is better than the other in a general sense. It probably relates to the technology in use at the time the writing became standardised. For a right handed person holding a western-style pen, left-to-right makes sense. But for a brush, for example, this is much less true. Classical Japanese, for example, I believe to be "naturally" top to bottom, which is a good way for writing with a brush. So you would have to enquire how early arabic was written.

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