# Insha'Allah / Insh'Allah / Inshallah

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inshaallah-inshallah-inshallah/417149>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 27, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inshaallah-inshallah-inshallah/417149 "2007-08-27T21:13:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inshaallah-inshallah-inshallah/417149/21 "2007-09-03T19:25:32Z")

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Shouldn’t it be “Abd-a-Rahman”?

According to vague memories of 7th-grade Arabic, you should drop the “L” before an “R.” Or am I wrong?

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [September 5, 2007, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inshaallah-inshallah-inshallah/417149/22 "2007-09-05T04:46:32Z")

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[QUOTE=Alessan]  
Shouldn’t it be “Abd-a-Rahman”?

According to vague memories of 7th-grade Arabic, you should drop the “L” before an “R.” Or am I wrong?  
[/QUOTE]

Are we transcribing or transliterating? The former reproduces sounds, the latter reproduces orthography on a one-to-one basis. They’re not the same thing.

Besides, the “sun letters” like r don’t make the l of the definite article disappear–it assimilates, making for a doubled rr. In pronunciation, but not in spelling.

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