Vowels of Qur’anic Arabic

Vowels

In comparison with English, Arabic has a lesser number of vowels: three short and three long vowels. Arabic also has two diphthong vowels.

The three short vowels in Arabic represent the three basic types of vowels which are commonly found in other languages. In their phonetic characteristic, vowels are categorised according to two factors: the tongue position in the mouth (in a low position or a high position) and the place of articulation (front of the mouth or back). The lips also have a role in vowel production: whether they are rounded or not.

1.2.1 Arabic short vowels

* ــــَــ a low front unrounded vowel symbolised by a

* ـــِــ a high front unrounded vowel symbolised by i

* ـــُــ a high back rounded vowel symbolised by u

Unlike English, short vowels in Arabic are not written on the line, but they are rather added above the written symbol of the consonant or beneath it as diacritics. This manner of denoting them, however, does not reduce their importance or role as essential elements in words: if one of them is changed, the meaning may change, as a consequence. Study the examples below.

ثَ tha ثِ thi ثُ thu

جَ ja جِ ji جُ ju

سَ sa سِ si سُ su

1.2.2 Arabic long vowels

* ا a low front unrounded vowel symbolised by aa

* يـ a high front unrounded vowel symbolised by ii

* و a high back rounded vowel symbolised by uu

The only difference between long and short vowels is in their duration: the former are usually produced in double the time of the latter. Learners of Tajwi:d are taught to use their the time taken in folding or unfolding of their fingers in measuring the duration of long vowels: a long vowel duration is equal to the time taken in folding or unfolding your finger naturally.

1.2.3 Arabic diphthongs

The above three long vowels have fixed quality during their production; therefore, they are known as monophthong vowels, i.e., they have only one quality.

In addition to those monophthong vowels, Arabic includes also two diphthong vowels. A diphthong is a vowel which represents a combination of two short vowels different in quality. For instance,

(i) a and i when combined together they form the first Arabic diphthong ــَـي which represents in quality terms a combination of a low front unrounded and high front unrounded vowels and symbolised by ai.

(ii) a and u when combined together they form the second Arabic diphthong ــَـو which represents in terms of quality a combination of a low front unrounded and a high back rounded vowels and symbolised by au.

Unlike short vowels, long vowels in Arabic, in general, are written on the line and are joined to preceding and following consonants, except و which does not join following consonants. Study the examples below.

بَا ba بِي bii بُو buu

طَا Ta طِي Tii طُو Tuu

رَا ra رِي rii رُو ruu

بَي bai بَو bau

طَي Tai طَو Tau

رَي rai رَو rau

In Qur’anic Arabic, however, long vowels, especially the ا, sometimes are symbolised as small diacritics above the written symbol of the consonant concerned, and not on the line. A more detailed account of this can be found in Tajwi:d literature.

Long vowels, in general, are known in the literature of Tajwi:d as Huru:f al-Madd wa-l-li:n. The three monophthongs (و ,يـ ,ا) are specified as Huru:f al-Madd while the two diphthongs (ــَـو ,ــَـي) as Huru:f al-Li:n. Learning both types of long vowels will greatly help in both understandings and pronouncing properly the rules of Madd (vowel prolongation).

1.3 Other symbols

Among the other symbols which are so common in the written form of Arabic as well as Qur’anic Arabic, three are worth mentioning.

1.3.1 Vowelless symbol

When two consonants are in sequence without any vowel to separate them, the first one is usually marked by a zero vowel or Suku:n and this is denoted as ــْــ above the written symbol of the consonant concerned. Look at the following examples.

إِيَّاكَ نَعْـ بُدُ صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْـ عَمتَ[i]

1.3.2 Doubled sound

If the two consonants in sequence mentioned above are identical, only one written symbol, i.e., letter, is used to denote them and a doubled marker is added on the top of it. This doubled sound in voice production should be equal to double duration of its single counterpart. Consider the examples below.

إِيْ يَ اكَ iyyaka —-> إِيَّ اكَ

يَ حُ ضْ ضُ yaHuDDu —-> يَ حُ ضُّ

1.3.3 Prolongation madd symbol

When the symbols of two hamzas (أ) occur in sequence, but with the short vowel a in between, only one symbol is used in denoting them with a marker of madd on the top of it. For instance,

أَ أْ مَ نَ ه م – ʼaʼmanahum —-> آ مَ نَ هُ م – amanahum

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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.