Learn about Arabic vowels
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| Hi everyone. |
| Welcome to The Ultimate Arabic Pronunciation Guide. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn all 6 Arabic vowel sounds. |
| ـَ |
| ا |
| ـِ |
| ي |
| ـُ |
| و |
| By learning all of these sounds, you'll be able to pronounce any vowel that could possibly appear in Arabic! |
| Are you ready? |
| Then let's get started! |
| The first vowel sound is... |
| (short a) ـَ |
| أَمَل |
| شَمس |
| هَرَم |
| It's identical to the A in 'apple'. Be sure to pronounce it nice and short. |
| ـَ, ـَ (slowly) |
| ـَ, ـَ (slowly) |
| The next vowel sound is... |
| (long a) ا |
| مال |
| رَنا |
| بات |
| It's just like the previous vowel, just longer. |
| Notice how your mouth opens wider and the pressure is closer to the back of your mouth and throat than compared to the previous A sound. The sound should be deep, and you should feel your vocal cords vibrating. It should also be pronounced longer than the previous A sound. |
| ا, ا (slowly) |
| ا, ا (slowly) |
| The next vowel sound is... |
| (short i) ـِ |
| طِفل |
| كِتاب |
| حِساب |
| It's identical to the I in 'sit'. Be sure to pronounce it nice and short. |
| ـِ, ـِ (slowly) |
| ـِ, ـِ (slowly) |
| The next vowel sound is... |
| (long i) ي |
| ميعاد |
| فريد |
| حَديد |
| It's identical to the I in 'ski'. Be sure to pronounce it longer than the previous I sound. |
| ي, ي (slowly) |
| ي, ي (slowly) |
| The next vowel sound is... |
| (short u) ـُ |
| سُم |
| هُدهُد |
| مُفيد |
| It's identical to the U in 'put'. Be sure to pronounce it nice and short. |
| ـُ, ـُ (slowly) |
| ـُ, ـُ (slowly) |
| The last vowel sound is... |
| (long u) و |
| جُنون |
| فُنون |
| بِدون |
| It's identical to the OU in “you.” Be sure to pronounce it longer than the previous U sound. |
| و, و (slowly) |
| و, و (slowly) |
| Well done! You've just learned all 6 vowel sounds in Arabic! |
| ـَ |
| ا |
| ـِ |
| ي |
| ـُ |
| و |
| With these sounds, you can pronounce any vowel that could possibly appear in the Arabic language! Isn't that great? |
| Which vowel sound was the most difficult for you to pronounce? Let us know in the comments. |
| In the next lesson, you'll start learning consonant sounds. |
| See you in the next Ultimate Arabic Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
23 Comments
HideWhich vowel sound was the most difficult for you to pronounce?
all the words in arabic are just like Hindi\urdu
Hi Sufian,
Shukran!
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
Hi William,
Thank you for your kind words. On our website we have lessons in Egyptian Arabic, Standard Arabic, and Moroccan Arabic. We try to cater to various learners' needs.
junuun-gunuun: The difference is just like you explained.
Thank you!
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
I see some comments below about the presenter's pronunciation of the vowel "i". A reply says she's from Egypt.
She also pronounces the consonant "jeem" as a "g". Specifically, the Arabic word for "madness" - gudoon", that I think in many other areas would be "judoon"
For language instruction, I would hope the standard would be, well, "standard" Arabic.
I should say, I find issues with all of the various Arabic Instructional materials found on the internet. There's one who strongly encourages his students to find additional sources of material outside of his own, b/c different ways of explaining things register with different learners. He is spot-on.
I should also say, when used in conjunction with other sources, I find your videos to be very helpful.
very helpful
Hi Suzanne,
That's a great way to memorize them! Is French your native language?
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
The shorter vowel sounds remind me more of French than English, especially the i and u.
Hi Khafash,
That's great! :thumbsup:
Please keep up the good work and in case of any doubts, please let us know.
Cristiane
Team ArabicPod101.com
This was fun. It was sorta easy. \(^•^)/
Hi Fricka,
Really? That's awesome!
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com