List of Symbols
The conventions and symbols of International Phonetic Association (IPA) and their acceptable substitutes have been used throughout the book. Standard Arabic alphabet letters and diacritics have also been used wherever necessary. The following is a list of the symbols and conventions used:
Vowels Phonetic Description i Close front with spread lips Close front (somewhat centralized) to close-mid with spread lips e Close-mid front with unrounded lips Open-mid front with unrounded lips Open-mid central with unrounded lips a Open front with unrounded lips Near-open central vowel æ Near-open front with unrounded lips Open back with unrounded lips Open back with rounded lips o Close-mid back with rounded lips Open-mid back with rounded lips u Close back with rounded lips Near-close near-back with rounded lips Open-mid back with unrounded lips Mid central (neutral) vowel (schwa) d R-colored (rhotacized) mid central (schwar) g R-colored (rhotacized) open-mid central
Consonants Phonetic Description b Voiced bilabial plosive p Voiceless unaspirated bilabial plosive p Voiceless aspirated bilabial plosive d Voiced alveolar plosive t Voiceless unaspirated alveolar plosive t Voiceless aspirated alveolar plosive Voiced palatal plosive Voiced velar plosive k Voiceless unaspirated velar plosive
k Voiceless aspirated velar plosive q Voiceless (unaspirated) uvular plosive Glottal stop ® Voiced postalveolar affricate ± Voiceless postalveolar affricate v Voiced labiodental fricative f Voiceless labiodental fricative Voiced interdental fricative Voiceless interdental fricative z Voiced alveolar fricative s Voiceless alveolar fricative Voiced postalveolar fricative Voiceless postalveolar fricative Voiced uvular fricative Voiceless uvular fricative Voiced pharyngeal fricative Voiceless pharyngeal fricative h Voiceless glottal fricative Voiced labio-dental approximant Voiced alveolar approximant Voiced retroflex approximant l Voiced alveolar lateral approximant j Voiced palatal approximant w Voiced labio-velar approximant m Voiced bilabial nasal (approximant) n Voiced alveolar nasal (approximant) Voiced velar nasal (approximant Voiced dental/alveolar tap Voiced retroflex tap r Voiced dental/alveolar trill
Diphthongs in RP English au as in
xi
i as in
Conventions
/ / Phonemic transcription [ ] Phonetic transcription Vowel full length Vowel half-length _ Superscript indicating aspiration _ Superscript indicating strong stress the emphatic / ص , ظ , ط ,ض/ Subscript dot under /d,t,, s/ indicates ̣– sounds of Arabic C In syllable structure patterns, ‘C’ stands for a ‘Consonant’ and V stands for a ‘Vowel’
Arabic Symbols
Consonants IPA Phonetic Description
[] glottal stop or the long vowel [a] أ b] voiced bilabial plosive] ب t] voiceless alveolar plosive] ت ] voiceless interdental fricative] ث voiced postalveolar affricate [®] ج ] voiceless pharyngeal fricative] ح ] voiceless uvular fricative] خ d] voiced alveolar plosive] د ] voiced interdental fricative] ذ r] alveolar trill] ر z] voiced alveolar fricative] ز s] voiceless alveolar fricative] س ] voiceless postalveolar fricative] ش ṣ] voiceless alveolar emphatic fricative] ص d]̣ voiced alveolar emphatic plosive] ض ṭ] voiceless (unaspirated) alveolar emphatic plosive] ط xii
̣] voiced interdental emphatic fricative] ظ ] voiced pharyngeal fricative] ع ] voiced uvular fricative] غ f] voiceless labio-dental fricative] ف q] voiceless [unaspirated] uvular plosive] ق k] voiceless velar plosive] ك l] voiced alveolar lateral] ل m] bilabial nasal] م n] alveolar nasal] ن h] voiceless glottal fricative] ﻩ w] central labio-velar approximant] و j] central palatal approximant] ي .Superscript on consonant indicating geminated (double) consonant ــّــ
Vowels (Letters)
[a] long counterpart of [a] ا [i] long counterpart of [i] ي [u] long counterpart of [u] و
Vowels (Diacritics)
.Superscript over consonant indicating short [a] vowel ــَــ .Subscript over consonant indicating short [i] vowel ــِــ .Superscript on consonant indicating short [u] vowel ــُــ .Superscript on consonant indicating absence of vowel ـــْـ