sign in sign up
<<
Home , Alveolar ridge, Arabic phonology, Consonant, Continuant, Dental fricative, Epiglottal plosive

Linguistics and Literature Studies 2(7): 185-189, 2014 http://www.hrpub.org DOI: 10.13189/lls.2014.020702

A Brief Description of in Modern Standard

Iram Sabir*, Nora Alsaeed

Al-Jouf University, Sakaka, KSA *Corresponding Author: [email protected]

Copyright © 2014 Horizon Research Publishing All rights reserved.

Abstract The present study deals with “A brief . This study starts from an description of consonants in Modern Standard Arabic”. This elucidation of the phonetic bases of sounds classification. At study tries to give some information about the production of this point shows the first limit of the study that is basically Arabic sounds, the classification and description of phonetic rather than phonological description of sounds. consonants in Standard Arabic, then the definition of the This attempt of classification is followed by lists of the word . In the present study we also investigate the consonant sounds in Standard Arabic with a key word for in Arabic consonants we describe each consonant. The criteria of description are place and sounds according to: bilabial, labio-dental, alveolar, palatal, and voicing. The attempt of velar, uvular, and glottal. Then the manner of articulation, description has been made to lead to the drawing of some the characteristics such as , nasal, curved, and trill. fundamental conclusion at the end of the paper. The aim of this study is to investigate consonant in MSA taking into consideration that all 28 consonants of Arabic . As a Arabic is one of the most 2. Consonants important in the world, because it is the language Consonant is a sound that represents a speech of . Each language has its own phonetic system; sound produced by a partial or complete obstruction of the furthermore to the enlightenment of MSA sound system; air stream by a constriction of the speech organs and a giving a comparison between Arabic and English sound is a voiced sound in the pronunciation of which the air considered as similarities and differences between the two passes through the in a continuous stream, there being systems such as /p/ and // e.. /p/- pit /p / in English but is no obstruction (Ward, 1971: 65).A consonant, on the other not spoken in Arabic. Although /b/ sound is similar in both hand are classified according to the organs articulating them ɪ ɪɣ bal / and according to the manner of their articulation is also / غلاب ,the languages e.g., / b /- bit/b t/ in English “Adult” in Arabic. This study attempts to observe these possible to combine the movement of the vocal cords with ɪ words and statistical work for each other and their the articulation of any consonant, i.e. , consonants can representation in the data included with the analysis of these either voiced or voiceless. As stated above, Arabic has 28 results. consonants (including two semi-)and six vowels Keywords MSA, Arabic, Consonants, Analysis, (three short vowels and three long vowels); they appear as Speech Sounds, Description different , depending on the preceding consonant. Short vowels are not usually represented in written language, although they may be indicated with diacritics. Most of these have equivalent consonants in English and other languages, although a few do not. 1. Introduction List of Phonetic Symbols as transliterated in this article: Arabic is considered to be a worldwide language, with 27 a. 26 consonants: b t θ ð ς ŧ sub- languages. These varieties are spoken all over the Arab đ ∂ ʒ Ṣ ʃ ɣ ḥ world. Standard Arabic is widely studies and used b. 2 semi-vowels: ʡ throughout the Islamic world. Standard Arabic has 36 . 6 vowels: i ә a , of which six are vowels, two and 28 Note that Arabic is particularly rich in uvular, pharyngeal, ɪ ʊ are consonants. Weather in hand writing, only and pharyngealized ("emphatic") sounds. The emphatic andط/ŧ/,ض /đ/ ,ص/reveals a cursive style and is written from right to left. The sounds are generally considered to be /ṣ ,Note that Arabic is particularly rich in uvular .ظ/Arabic language has a standard pronunciation; this study is /ẓ specifically concerned with the analysis of consonants in pharyngeal, and pharyngeal zed ("emphatic") sounds. 186 A Brief Description of Consonants in Modern Standard Arabic

Table 1. A List of Phonetic Symbols of the Arabic consonants Phonetic Arabic S.No. Three-term label Example symbol (Voiced bilabial ḥʊb(love ب b 1 (Voiceless denti-alveolar plosive tәŧabIq(match ت t 2 (Voiced denti-alveolar plosive daxIl(inner د d 3 ( kita:b(book ك k 4 (Voiced -alveolar ʒuς(hunger ج ʒ 5 (Voiceless uvular plosive qәmәr(moon ق q 6 (Voiced alveolar lateral : (no ل l 7 ( mәŧәr (rain م m 8 (Voiced alveolar nasal nu:r (light ن n 9 (Voiceless labio-dental fәn (art ف f 10 (Voiceless inter- θәlaθәh (three ث θ 11 (Voiced inter-dental fricative ðәki(intelligent ذ ð 12 (Voiceless alveolar fricative su:q (market س s 13 (Voiceless velarised alveolar fricative ṣәḥḥәh(health ص Ṣ 14 (Voiced alveolar fricative ruz (rice ز z 15 (Voiceless palate-alveolar fricative ʃәms (sun ش ʃ 16 (Semi- xәsarәh (lose خ x 17 (Voiced uvular fricative ɣuba:r (dust غ ɣ 18 (Voiceless pharyngeal fricative ḥima:r (donkey ح ḥ 19 (Voiceless glottal fricative hawa:ʡ (air ه h 20 (Voiced alveolar trill rәb (lord ر r 21 (Voiced pharyngeal frictionless ςәql (mind ع ς 22 (Voiced palatal semi-vowel jәd(hand ي j 23 (Voiced labio-velar semi-vowel wahid (one و w 24 (Voiceless velarised denti alveolar plosive ŧi:n (soil ط ŧ 25 (Voiced velarised denti-alveolar plosive đәςi:f (weak ض đ 26 (Voiced velarised alveolar fricative ∂әrf (envelope ظ ∂ 27 (Voiceless faʡr (rat أ ʡ 28

Table 2. A List of Phonetic Symbols of the Arabic Vowels Phonetic S.No. Label Example symbol

I 1 Front unrounded vowel between close and half-close (short) ςIlm(know)

2 i Front close unrounded vowel (long) din (religion)

3 ә Front open unrounded vowel (short) rәq (dance)

4 a Front open unrounded vowel (long) babṣ (door) 5 Back rounded vowel between close and half close (short) ŧ fl(baby)

6 ʊu Back close rounded vowel (long) bumәhʊ (owl)

Linguistics and Literature Studies 2(7): 185-189, 2014 187

2.1. Place of Articulation are pronounced in very different manner, non-native speakers are not pronounced perfectly and clearly. There are some common consonants in both English and Palatal: articulated with the body of the ʃ Arabic. These consonants are (d, b, t, j, f, z, , h, l, m, n, w, r approaches or touches the hard palate. English /j/ is a palatal and ). There are eighteen consonants common between -- the tongue body approaches the hard palate, English and Arabic. However, these common consonants are but closely enough to create turbulence in the airstream. .”Life“ ﺣﯿﺎة /ḥәyah/ ي/not always identical; there are some differences. /t/ in Example: /j English is alveolar, but in Arabic it is dental. Here is a Labio-velar: articulated with both the and the soft .”ʡswəd /Black/ دوسأ /w/ و :difference in the place of articulation; /d/ in English is palate example alveolar, but dental in Arabic. /h/ occurs in initial and medial Velar: articulated with the body of the tongue touches the positions in English, but not finally, e.g., horse, behalf. In soft palate, or velum. In English /k/, /ɡ/, and /ŋ/ are stops. -/ kItab/ “book”, / ŋ/ﻛﺘﺎب -/ Arabic, /h/ occurs is finally, e.g. /dәlalәh/ ‘Denote’. Examples for velar consonants/ k Place of articulation is defined as both the active and not in Arabic. passive articulators. The place of articulation of a consonant Uvular: articulated with the back of the tongue and uvula / أخɣәbi/ “idiot” and /x/ in /ﻏﺒﻲ /qәŧәh/ “cat”, /ɣ/ ﻗﻄﺔ/specifies where in the vocal tract the narrowing occurs from e.g., /q front to back; there are several basic active articulators: ʡx/ “Brother”. articulated with the back of theع /and /ςح /Bilabial: articulated with the upper and lower lips Pharyngeal:/ḥ /m ʊ ḥәrrIk/ ﻣﺤﺮك/approach or touch each other. English /p/, /b/, and /m/ are tongue and pharynx, for example: /ḥ .”ςnzәb/“Goat/ ﻋﻨﺰة /bilabial stops but in Arabic /p/ sound is not spoken, For “Engine” and /ς ɪ ɪ .Glottal: The is the opening between the vocal folds / ﺑﺎﻟﻎ,example: /p/- pit /p t/ in English /b/- bit/b t/ in English ɪɣ In /h/sound, this opening is narrow enough to create some ﻣﺪرﺳﺔ ,bal / “Adult” in Arabic /m/ - meet /mit/ in English ɪ /mәdr sәh/ “School” in Arabic. turbulence in the airstream flowing past the vocal folds. For Labiodentals: articulated with the lower touches the this reason, /h/ is often classified as a glottal fricative. .”mauzәh/ “banana/ ھﻤﻮزة/upper teeth. English /f/ and // are bilabial , For Example for glottal /h -/fIʡh/“class” in Arabic/v/ ﻓﺌﺔ,example: / f /-fan in English van in English but it is not in Arabic: Dental: articulated with the tip or blade of the tongue 2.2. Manners of Articulation touches the upper teeth. English /θ/ and /ð/ are dental Stops: A stop consonant completely cuts off the airflow fricatives. There are actually a couple of different ways of through the mouth. In the consonants /t/, /d/, and /n/, /m/ the forming these sounds; the tip of the tongue can approach the tip of the tongue is contact with the and cuts back of the upper teeth, but not press against them so hard off the airflow at that point. In /t/ and /d/, this means that that the airflow is completely blocked. The blade of the there is no airflow at all for the duration of the stop. In /n/, tongue can touch the bottom of the upper teeth, with the there is no airflow through the mouth, but there is still tongue tip protruding between the teeth -- still leaving airflow through the nose. We can distinguish into two terms: enough space for a turbulent airstream to escape. This kind a. Nasal stops, like /n/ and /m/, which involve airflow of /θ/ and /ð/ is often called inter-dentalin Arabic. through the nose, and .”mәðyaς/ “Radio/ عايذم,”mIθl/ “Sam/ﻣﺜﻞ:Examples b. Oral stops, like /b/, /t/,/d/, /k/, /q/, /ŧ/, /đ/ and / /which Alveolar: articulated with the tip or blade of the tongue do not. touches the alveolar ridge, the ridge immediately behind the ʡ upper teeth. The English stops /t/, /d/, and /n/ are formed by Nasal stops are often simply called nasals. There are three completely blocking the airflow at this place of articulation. nasal consonants in English, such as, /m, n and ŋ /, whereas /n/ ن m/ (bilabial) and/ م ;ɪttɪ in Arabic we have only two nasals/اﺗﺼﺎل- /In Arabic /t/, /d/ are called denti-alveolar e.g., /t .”naςIm/ “soft/ معان ,”mәl k / “king/ كلم ,.tәqәddʊm/ “advance”. /s/ and /z/ are (alveolar)e.g/ﺗﻘﺪم -/ṣal/ “call”, /d :Table 3. Shows nasal stops in Arabic are given at three word positions ﻣﻮزة /sәrir/ “bed”, /z/ ﺳﺮﯾﺮ/comes under in fricatives/s naςIm/ “Soft” initial, medial, final ɪ/ﻧﺎﻋﻢ /mauzәh/ “banana”,, /n/ (alveolar nasal) /n/ rәml/ “Sand” and /l/ (alveolar lateral) Phonetic symbols of/رﻣﻞ / r/(alveolar trill)/r/ S.No. Nasals Stops Examples la:/ “no”. Arabi/ﻻ /l/ ʃ ʒ mәl k/ King / م / articulated with the blade of 1 bilabial mج/ / and ش/ / :palato-alveolar the tongue behind the alveolar ridge and the body of the naςIɪm / Soft / ن / tongue raised toward the palate. 2 alveolar n articulated with the blade of the ص /Velarised alveolar:/Ṣ tongue approaches closely the alveolar ridge, it approaches Oral stops are also called . Oral stops can be either the upper front teeth in Arabic ( Ibn-Jinni , 1944 : 52-53). voiced or voiceless. Nasal stops are almost always voiced. (It Notice, consequently, should be drawn to this point since it is physically possible to produce a voiceless nasal stop, but marks the speaker as a non-native one. Example in Arabic English, like most languages, does not use such sounds.) Dance”. Examples for oral and nasal stops in Arabic, in the tables“رﻗﺺ/is/rәqṣ :these sounds given bellow ض /and/đ ظ/∂/,ط /Velarised denti-alveolar:/ŧ 188 A Brief Description of Consonants in Modern Standard Arabic

Table 4. Shows oral stops in Arabic

S.No. Oral Stops Phonetic symbols of Arabic Examples (:b (door ب / Bilabial b 1 (tәςlim (Education ت / t Alveolar (dәlalәh (Denote د / d (ŧ fl (Baby ط / ŧ 2

(đәxmʊ (Huge ض / đ (kIlla (Both ك / Velar k 3 (qәlәm (pen ق / Uvular q 4 (x (Brother أ / Glottal 5

ʡ ʡ Table 5. Shows Stops in the use of letters like (b, t, d, and k) are given at three word positions: initial, medial, final

Stops Initial Medial Final ﻛﺘﺎب ﻗﺒﺾ ﺑﺎﻟﻎ Voiced,bilabial, plosive bɑl qəbəđ k tɑ:b ب/ b

وﻗﺖɪ ﻣﻔﺘﺎح ɪɣﺗﺤﺮﯾﺮ ت /t tə rir m ftɑ wəqt Voiceless, denti-alveolar, plosive hɑﺣﺎدث ʊ ḥ دمḥ swəd أﺳﻮد د / d dəm d ө Voiced denti-alveolar plosive ʡ ﺗﺮك ɪﻓﻜﺮ ﻛﻠﺐ ك / k Voiceless velar plosive kəlb f krɑh tərək

Table 6. Shows stops in the use of letters like (q, ŧ, đ and ) are given atɪ three word positions: initial, medial, final

Stops Initial ʡ Medial Final ﺗﻄﺎﺑﻖ رﻗﻢ ﻗﻤﺮ ق / q Voiceless uvular plosive qәmәr rәqm tәŧab q ط / ŧ ﻓﻘﻂ ﻟﻄﯿﻒ ﻃﺎزج Voiceless velarised denti-alveolar ɪ ŧazә lәŧif fәqәt plosive ض / đ أرض ﺧﻀﺎر ʒﺿﺨﻢ Voiced velarised denti-alveolar đәxm x đar rđ plosive ﻣﺎءʊ ʡﻣﺘﺄﺧﺮ أذن أ / Voiceless epiglottal plosive ð n m tә xIr ʡ Fricatives: In a Fricative consonant, the articulatorsʡ involvedʊ in the constrictionʊ ʡ approach get close enoughʡ to each other to create a turbulent airstream. The fricatives of English are /f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/, / /, / / and /h/. While Arabic fricatives are /f/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, / /, /z/, / /, /x/, / /, / / and /h/. Examples are given blow in the table: ʃ ʒ ṣ ʃ Tableɣ 7. ḥShows fricatives in Arabic words are given at three word positions: initial, medial, final

Fricatives Initial Medial Final

ﻟﻄﯿﻒ lətif داﻓﺊ dafə ﻓﺮﯾﺪ f fərid ﺣﺎدث hadIθ ﻣﺜﻞ θ - mIθl ﻗﺒﺾ gəbəd ﻣﻮﺿﻮع Mauđuς ﺿﺮوري ð đәruri ﻟﻤﺲ ləms أﺳﻮد swəd ﺳﻜﯿﻦ s sikkin ﺣﻆ ∂hә ﻧﻈﺮ nә∂r ﻇﺮف әrf∂ ∂ ʡ اﺻﯿﺺ i اﺻﻔﺮ fәr ﺻﻔﺮ әfәr

- ʡṣ ṣ وزن wʡṣəzən زﺑﺪة zṣ z ṣbdәh ﻧﻘﺎش nIqa ﻣﺸﻮي mә wi ﺷﺎرب arIb ʊ اخ əx ﻓﺨﺮ fəxr ﺧﻄﺮ x xətər ʃ ʃ ʃ ʃ ﺑﺎﻟﻎ bɑl ﺻﯿﺎﻏﺔ Iya әh ﻏﺒﻲ әbi ﻣﻔﺘﺢ ا m ftɑ ﺗﺤﺮﯾﺮ tə rir ﺣﺎدث hɑd ө ɣ ɣ ṣ ɣ ɪɣ ɑ ﻓﻜﺮ fʊkr ḥh ﻻﺣﻆ ḥlahəz ﺣﺬف hḥ hədəɪf ɪ Linguistics and Literature Studies 2(7): 185-189, 2014 189

Approximants are speech sound, such as a glide or liquid, 3. Conclusions and Findings articulated by narrowing but not blocking the vocal tract, as by placing an articulator, such as the tongue, close to another In the present paper entitled “A brief description of part of the vocal tract. The articulators are still closer to each consonants in Modern Standard Arabic”, consonants play the other than when the vocal tract is in its neutral position, but great role in Arabic language and have different they are not even close enough to cause the air passing pronunciations. Arabic vocabulary is very large and uses a between them to become turbulent. The of logical but difficult grammatical system, particularly in English are /w/, /j/, /r/, and /l/.While; the approximants of Literary Arabic. English is simpler than that of Arabic Arabic are /w/ and /j/. The examples in the table below: language. Achieving a correct pronunciation is not easy and without accent speaking is very difficult. We discussed Table 8. Shows approximants in Arabic words are given at three word positions: initial, medial, final above a brief description of all Arabic consonants, examples, and where there is little similarities and differences Arabic Approximants Initial Medial Final between Arabic consonants and those of the , an explanation. Arabic consents only cursive style ﻣﺸﻮي mә wi ﺳﺮﯾﺮ sәrir ﯾﺪ j jәd of writing, with each letter having a slightly distinct form to -- ﻃﻮﯾﻞ təwil وﻗﺖ w wəgt ʃ word positions: initial, medial and final, and employs three helping vowels for ease of pronunciation. are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricatives or a complex speech sound consisting of a stop and a fricative articulated at the same point In English, there are two affricates such as /t / and /d /. Whereas in Arabic is given at three word REFERENCES / /ج there is only one affricate positions: initial, medial, final:ʃ ʒ/ a / “Come”, .Al,Ani,S.(1970), Arabic . The Hague : Mouton [1] اﺟﺎزة ﺟﺎء .”ŧazәʒ / “fresh/ﻃﺎزج ,"azәh/ "vacation / Laterals are produced by breath passingʒ ʡ along one or both [2] Abdul hamid H. Gadoua (2004), Consonant Clusters In Quran sidesɪӡ of the tongue. The consonantʒ /l/ in /lif/ leaf, articulated Arabic* University of Ottawa. with tongue tip is touches alveolar ridge (or probably upper [3] John, D.(1969) An Outline of English . Cambridge: teeth), but this doesn't make a stop. Air is still flowing during E.Heffer & Son Ltd. /l/ because the side of the tongue has dropped down and left [4] Nasr, R.(1967) The Structure of Arabic From Sound to .r/ sound in Sentences. ; Libraire du Liban/ ر l/ and Trill/ ل an opening. Examples of lateral Arabic, which are given blow at word position: initial, medial and final. [5] Newman D. (2002) Arabic Phonetics : Sound Descriptions THE PHONETICS OF ARABIC. Table 9. Shows lateral /l/ and trill /r/ in Arabic words [6] ’Conner,J.(1972) Batter English Pronunciation. Cambridge: Lateral and Trill Initial Medial Final CUP.

William .Wright, LLD (3rd ed) (2011). A grammar of the [7] اﺗﺼﺎل ittisal ﻛﻠﺐ kәlb ﻻ :l/ la/ ل Arabic language. Translated from German of Caspari. Henaritty street London ﺧﻄﺮ xәtәr ﻃﺮﯾﻖ tәrig رﺳﻤﻲ r/ rәsmi/ ر