- Title: Hebrew-Arabic hybrid language creator hopes to bring words, people together
- Date: 10th July 2017
- Summary: TURKENICH WRITING "WATERMELON" IN HEBREW FERON AND TURKENICH LOOKING AT "WATERMELON" WORD IN ARABIC AND HEBREW UPPER HALF OF THE WORD "WATERMELON" IN ARABIC AND LOWER HALF OF THE WORD IN HEBREW BEING ATTACHED
- Embargoed: 24th July 2017 11:05
- Keywords: Arabic and Hebrew languages typography
- Location: HAIFA, ISRAEL/ANIMATION
- City: HAIFA, ISRAEL/ANIMATION
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0026P4UDLH
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: **PART AUDIO AS INCOMING**
Like many Israelis, Liron Lavi Turkenich, paid little attention to the Arabic writing that sits next to Hebrew on street signs and in shops.
But as a typography designer she developed an interest in the shapes of the letters she could not read.
Now she has decided to fuse the two languages and has designed a hybrid writing system she calls "Aravrit" that combines Arabic and Hebrew in the same word.
''I started looking at signs in Israel and I saw that there is almost no relation between the Hebrew, Arabic and English, they are just thrown on the sign, on top of the other or on the bottom of the other and that is basically it. And I wanted to come up it this new writing system that will give the same respect to the Hebrew and Arabic on the sign,'' said Turkenich who was born and raised in Haifa.
Using her typographic skills, 32-year old Turkenich spliced words together, attaching the top half of the Hebrew words to the bottom half of the Arabic, or vice versa.
Her idea is that "Aravrit" can be read by both Arabic and Hebrew readers recognizing the letters they know, while not being able to just ignore the other language.
"You read the language that you feel most comfortable with but you don't ignore the other one because it is attached to it, it is anyways there together," Turkenich said.
The owner of a cafe in a Haifa market, Ilan Feron, where Turkenich spends a lot of time designing the words, believes the writing system should be used on road signs.
"She's like breaking the lines and she is using like a new language that we can relate (to) together," Feron said. "It is like a seed of a new movement, to think together to be together."
An animation Turkenich has produced shows the two languages being cut in half and stuck together, the symbol of a cultural fusion between two communities that she hopes "Aravrit" can help advance. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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