Garshuni

The word "Garshuni", derived from the word "grasha" which literally translates as "pulling", was used by George Kiraz to coin the term "garshunography", denoting the writing of one language in the script of another.

[1] Garshuni originated in the seventh century,[citation needed] when Arabic was becoming the dominant spoken language in the Fertile Crescent, but the Arabic alphabet was not yet fully developed.

After this initial period, Garshuni writing has continued to the present day among some Syriac Christian communities in the Arabic-speaking regions of the Levant and Mesopotamia, who commonly use the Sertâ script.

With several additional characters, the Malayalam version is better known as Karsoni and had been in use till early 20th century among the Keralite Syriac Christian clergymen and followers.

For the analogous Jewish practice of writing Arabic in Hebrew letters, see Judeo-Arabic languages.