Learn how the pronunciation of words containing dark letters change
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| Mustu: Mustu here! Arabic Pronunciation Series Lesson 5 – Dark letters change words! |
| Hala: Hello, and welcome to ArabicPodOD101.com, the fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Arabic! |
| Mustu: I''m Mustu, and thanks again for being here with us for this Pronunciation lesson. |
| Hala: In this lesson, you will learn the answer to a very common question we always get about the sound of some letters. |
| Mustu: You mean other than the soft, dark letters, and the letters that are merged as one and stressed? |
| Hala: Yes, other than all of that, but this time, we will see how the dark letters affect the sound of the entire word. |
| Mustu: Which means, the soft letters will have less effect? |
| Hala: Yes, the word will be pronounced much faster, and each letter will keep its original sound. |
| Mustu: That sounds interesting, how does it work? |
| Hala: Okay, I will focus now on “ā”, the long vowel, and see how it’s pronounced in some words. |
| So the 2 words are: “zāhir” and “ẓāhir” |
| Mustu: I’m hearing the difference, but not very sure where it is! |
| Hala: Well, the “ā” here is pronounced differently, so you get it in the first word as “ā”, and the second word “ā”. |
| Mustu: Why is that Hala? |
| Hala: The first word didn’t start with a dark letter, so the sound is all the same, but with the second one, it started with a dark letter, so the sound has changed here, you can’t start with a dark letter, and finish softly. |
| Mustu: And does that happen if the dark letter came in the middle of the word? |
| Hala: Good question, let me give you the answer with some examples! |
| “masār” and “ḥiṣār” |
| Mustu: Okay, the letters before the dark letter were affected slightly by it, but I can hear the difference very clearly. |
| Hala: Allow me to repeat them again “masār” and “ḥiṣār” |
| Mustu: So basically, it’s the same letter, but it was affected by the dark one. |
| Hala: Yes, and just as it happened with the “ā“, it could happen with any other long vowel, and even the consonants! |
| Mustu: Of course by now you know I will ask for… |
| Hala: An example. Yes, and I’m ready with it! |
| “maktab” and “maṭlab” |
| Mustu: Okay, I see what you mean, the last two letters were also affected, it took a deeper sound! |
| Hala: Yes, and in another example “muẓhir” and “muzhir” |
| Mustu: Even more clear now, but just to be sure, let me repeat it. |
| Hala: Please go for it! |
| Mustu: “ muẓhir” and “ muzhir” |
| Hala: Great Job Mustu! So what everyone needs to remember is that it’s very easy to notice when a dark letter is in the word, because the sound of the entire word will change, to a deeper sound! |
| Mustu: That’s very clear. |
| Hala: And another point before we wrap up the pronunciation series, there are two letters I would like to focus on, since they doesn’t exist in most Latin languages, and for sure not in English! |
| Mustu: Which letters? So far, I have many letters in Arabic that doesn’t exist in English! |
| Hala: Yes, but we got them covered, so don’t worry, the first one is “ḫ” |
| Mustu: “ḫ” |
| Hala: Si, como juta en Español! |
| Mustu: Ahhh! Its also in German and Dutch¡ |
| Hala: Yes, which will make it easy for the speakers of these languages, otherwise, you just need to learn how to pronounce it, “ḫ”. In a word the sound will be “ḫarūf” |
| Mustu: Okay, let me try it “ḫarūf” |
| Hala: Great, one more example “ḫifyh” |
| Mustu: “ḫifyh” |
| Hala: Great, and the final letter is “ġ” |
| Mustu: Correct me if I’m wrong Hala, but isn’t this one very similar to the French ( r )? |
| Hala: For sure, its nearly the same, I like to call it the ( gargle ) letter. |
| Mustu: Why the funny name? |
| Hala: Well, the best way to practice producing this letter, is by imagining you’re doing the morning gargle, cleaning your throat! |
| Mustu: That’s a very nice trick, ok, so please, say it again, then in a word |
| Hala: “ġ”, and the word is “mašġūl” |
| Mustu: “mašġūl” |
| Hala: Another word is “ġālī” |
| Mustu: “ġālī” |
| Hala: Very good, but you need to stress it just a little bit! |
| Mustu: “ġālī” |
| Hala: Great, now that you have mastered this, I think its time to move on for more Arabic lessons! |
| Mustu: Yes! That just about does it for today. |
| Hala: Don''t forget that you can leave us a comment on this lesson. |
| Mustu: So if you have a question, or some feedback, please leave us a comment! |
| Hala: It''s very easy to do. Just stop by ArabicPod101.com, |
| Mustu: Click on comments, |
| Hala: Enter your comment and name, |
| Mustu: And that's it. |
| Hala: No excuses. We're looking forward to hearing from you! |
| Mustu: Bye! |
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