Illustration 15 shows three examples of genuine Arabic signatures8 from the hand of an Arabian called Majid Alawadi.9 I L L U S T R A T I O N 15 : T H R E E K I N D S O F G E N U I N E A R A B I C S I G N A T U R E S O F T H E N A M E M A J I D A L AWA D I , A L L F R O M T H E S A M E H A N D
Consonant computer writing
5. Character of stroke, movement in the writing, form10 The abstract signatures in question are not only left unattached to the legible name-parts, they also show no signs in themselves of Arabic origin. The character of the strokes indicates that the abstract signatures start at the left with a long, flat curve, to which some very small, slowly and clumsily-made irregular teeth are attached, followed by a vertical line, which slightly turns to the right and ends in a large garland which drops abruptly down toward the left from the top of the vertical line. There is no sign of any kind of letter whether of Arabic or other origin in it. The absence of letter forms is not unusual for Arabic abstract signatures. What is unusual is the obvious lack of flow in any of the more dierentiated parts of the abstract signatures. The partly slow and uneven way the strokes were made in the originals X1 to X4 and, particularly in X5 and X6 even in the copies visible, obvious adding on at the corners, indicate forgery or fake. Much room is given in specialist literature to such general warning hints of forgery (e.g. Michel 1982: 124. 139. 145, Pfanne 1954:92, Nickel 1996:48-50). The application of more specific research (Lieblich et al. 1975, Shannon 1978) on leftward-trend writing systems shows that the rightward-trend of the fairly dierentiated parts of the abstract signatures indicates an author who is more familiar with our writing system or some writing system related to ours than with the Arabic system. Only the extended end-stroke could eventually be the result of a leftward movement of the pen. End-strokes are strokes of a somewhat less important or (better termed) secondary type, in the sense that they do not constitute letters or meaning and they play a more decorative part in a signature. Their direction very often does not conform with the general writing direction. Therefore, the sole direction of the simple end stroke cannot be judged significant for a cultural classification of the forgery.
8
They represent the three forms of signature used by Mister Majid Alawadi in the last eight years.
Although the name Majid Alawadi is practically consonant with the name Majid Al Awatli of the signatures being examined here, there are more dierences here in the Arabic way of Writing than one may suppose form the Latin transcription. 9
10
Thanks to Dr. Angelika Seibt for her criticism of some formulations in this section.
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