Madd as orthoepy rather than orthography

Abstract

This article explores the function and distribution of the maddah sign throughout the history of the Islamic manuscript tradition. It demonstrates that, to date, descriptions have not adequately described its use, and it shows that rather than being a part of Classical Arabic orthography, medieval sources clearly indicate that the maddah sign was specifically used to express an orthoepic feature of Classical Arabic prose, namely madd, the pronunciation of vowels as overlong.