Sounds of Qur’anic Recitation in Egypt

This work is an instrumental investigation into phonetic aspects of Qur’anic recitation as performed in Egypt today. Particular attention is given to comparisons between styles, voice registers, and trained and untrained performers.

Chapter I explains the aim, scope and outline of the study.

Chapters II to VI presents a historical background to the Qur’an, the discipline of Tajwid, styles of recitation as performed in Egypt today, the informants’ educational background (religious and artistic) and the material recorded by the subjects and the recording procedures.

Chapters VII and VIII present the results of our instrumental investigation of voice registers and vowel prolongation.

While ‘voice register’ is not subject to prescriptive rules of Tajwid, ‘vowel prolongation’ is (at least in principle) subject to very specific rules concerning phonetic contexts and degree of prolongation.

Chapter VII presents the results of the measurements undertaken and provides information concerning pitch range, the ‘resonance balance’ and ‘open quotient’ in the various registers.

Chapter VIII deals with the phonetic environments for vowel prolongation, the scholars’ analyses of these environments, and analyses the results of the present investigation in comparison with previous studies.

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Muhammad Elashiry

I worked as a lecturer in Arabic language and culture at the University of Birmingham in the UK. I studied and specialized in phonetics and linguistics, and later taught both subjects. My areas of interest include Arabic linguistics, Islamic discourse, and language in the media. I also worked at the University of Westminster in London and at Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt. Additionally, I was a broadcaster, presenter, and program producer at the BBC. Among my books are “Sounds of Recitation in Egypt: A Phonetic Study,” “Qur’anic Arabic: A Short Introduction,” and “Kitab Al-Zina in Islamic and Arabic Words by Abu Hatem al-Razi: A Linguistic Study.” I also published an anthology of short stories titled “Haram Al-Marhoum – The Wife of the Late Husband” and other books.