The Banner Proof Before Arabic Day
The Arabic Club has 45 minutes to approve a 3-metre banner for Arabic Day. The draft reads: مرحبا بطلاب الصف العاشر في يوم اللغة العربية. Three volunteers propose proofs. Proof 1 adds full diacritics: مَرْحَبًا بِطُلَّابِ الصَّفِّ الْعَاشِرِ فِي يَوْمِ اللُّغَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ. Proof 2 writes: مرحبًا بطلاب الصف العاشر في يوم اللغة العربية, adding tanwin and shadda but no case endings. Proof 3 writes: مرحبا بطلاب الصف العاشر في يوم اللغة العربيه, keeping no diacritics and changing the final ta marbuta to ha. The printer warns that extra harakat increase cost and may blur at 3 metres. The exam rubric for orthography awards marks for tanwin, shadda and correct ta marbuta. A parent objects that مرحبا without tanwin is a spelling mistake. The teacher must choose a proof for print and explain which marks each proof would lose in an orthography item.
1. Which proof should be chosen for the banner, and which corrections are genuinely required by the orthography rubric?
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Proof 2 is the best practical choice for the banner. It fixes the marks that the rubric actually rewards without adding a full set of case endings that may blur at 3 metres.
The required corrections are:
- مرحبًا: the tanwin fath is part of the standard spelling here. The parent is right that مرحبا without tanwin is weaker orthography, even though it is common informally.
- طلاب: the shadda on the ل should be shown: طُلَّاب. Without it, the word is still readable but orthographically incomplete.
- اللغة: the final letter must be ة, not ه. Proof 3 is therefore wrong on a core spelling point, not merely a diacritic point.
Full case endings such as بِطُلَّابِ or الصَّفِّ are grammatically correct, but they are not required for a large banner unless the task explicitly asks for full vocalisation. Proof 2 is the defensible minimum.
2. Evaluate Proof 1 and Proof 3 against the rubric. Which marks would each lose, and why?
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Proof 1 is fully vocalised and grammatically accurate: بِطُلَّابِ is مجرور after بِ, الصَّفِّ is مجرور, and اللُّغَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ is مجرور after يوم. It would lose no orthography marks, but it may lose practical marks on a banner because the extra harakat can blur and increase cost. If the item rewards correct diacritics, Proof 1 is the safest answer on paper.
Proof 3 would lose several marks: it has no tanwin in مرحبا, no shadda in طلاب, and it writes العربيه with ha instead of ta marbuta. The last error is the most serious because it changes the standard spelling of the word. Proof 3 might still be readable, but readability is not the same as orthographic correctness.
A fair rubric comment would be: Proof 1 = full marks for vocalisation but not necessarily the best print choice; Proof 2 = full marks for required marks, no penalty for missing case endings; Proof 3 = loses tanwin, shadda, and ta marbuta marks.
3. How should the teacher answer the parent who says مرحبا without tanwin is a spelling mistake, and how should the class distinguish case endings from fixed spelling marks?
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The teacher should say: “You are right that مرحبًا is the standard form and that the tanwin should be written. But not every short vowel is a fixed spelling mark. Some harakat show إعراب, such as the ضمة in الصفُّ or the كسرة in الصفِّ; these can change with grammar. Other marks belong to the word’s written form, such as the tanwin in مرحبًا, the shadda in طُلَّاب, and the ta marbuta in اللغة. The banner should keep the second kind and may omit the first kind when space or clarity demands it.”
A quick board test: ask students to read the banner aloud without case endings. If the words are still recognisable and correctly spelled, the omitted marks are likely إعرابية. If a word looks wrong or ambiguous, the mark is likely orthographic. On that test, مرحبًا, طُلَّاب, and اللغة must be corrected; الصف and يوم can remain unvocalised on the banner.