Learn about emphasis
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| Hi everyone. |
| Welcome to The Ultimate Arabic Pronunciation Guide. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn about Emphasis Spreading in Arabic. |
| WHAT IS EMPHASIS SPREADING? |
| Emphasis spreading is the term used to describe the effect that emphatic or dark letters have on letters adjacent to them. In the presence of a dark letter, the letters around them will sound deeper than normal. |
| Consider the following: |
| زاهِر |
| ظاهِر |
| Did you notice how the long A is pronounced differently in each example? Listen to it again. |
| زاهِر |
| ظاهِر |
| The long A in the second example sounds deeper than the first. This is due to the presence of the dark letter impacting on the adjacent vowel. |
| Let's take a look at another example. |
| دائِم |
| ضابِط |
| The first example is pronounced as expected. In the second example however, the long A is once again pronounced deeply. The preceding letters were affected too. |
| Just as the dark letter had affected the long A, it can just as easily affect any long vowel or consonant. |
| Emphatic spreading is typically a natural process, however, learners tend to be more resistant to the natural flow of language because they are afraid of breaking rules. This often causes their speech to be more rigid and unnatural. |
| If you want to be fluent in Arabic, you need to relax and give in to the nature of dark letters and emphatic spreading. |
| Let's continue. This time, repeat after (host name). |
| مَكتَب |
| مَطلَب |
| Your turn! |
| One more time. |
| مَكتَب |
| مَطلَب |
| مُزهِر |
| مُظلِم |
| مُزهِر |
| مُظلِم |
| Emphatic spreading can also cause consonants that have a dark counterpart, to be pronounced as the dark variety. |
| تطعيم |
| تَطعيم |
| Notice how this word is spelt with a regular T, and with a dark T. But listen to the pronunciation. |
| تطعيم |
| تَطعيم |
| It's as though both of the Ts were dark. It's actually easier to pronounce both of them dark, as opposed to pronouncing one soft and one dark. This is especially the case in rapid, everyday speech. |
| متطور |
| مُتَطَوِّر |
| The same thing applies here. |
| متطور |
| مُتَطَوِّر |
| OK. Last one. |
| استصلاح |
| استصلاح |
| The first S is pronounced dark, despite what is written. |
| استصلاح |
| استصلاح |
| In this lesson, you learned about Emphasis Spreading in Arabic. |
| In the next lesson, we'll review everything that we've learned in this series and test you on it all. |
| Can you think of any words that are pronounced differently to how they are spelled in your language? Let us know in the comments. |
| See you in the next Ultimate Arabic Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
Comments
HideCan you think of any words that are pronounced differently to how they are spelled in your language?
I'm a beginner and appreciate your good lessons. In the Pronunciation Guide, Lesson 9, the Lesson Notes show:
ظاهِر
zaahir
"prosperity"
But in the video showing the word, the "ظ" is a "ز". Should the "ظ" in the Lesson Notes be changed to a "ز"?
If I'm in error, please excuse my misunderstanding.
Hi Josse,
Thank you for your comment!
We're glad you're enjoying the lessons. 😊
Please let us know if any questions arise throughout your studies.
Sincerely,
Ali
Team ArabicPod101.com
I really enjoy these videos❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Hi Estevan,
Yeah getting used to non-vowelled Arabic text is indeed challenging, but completely doable :)!
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
One thing that makes words difficult to pronounce is the "ا" like in "استصلاح- istislah” if I’d try to pronounce it without hearing Peryhan saying it first I believe I’d pronounce it “astislah" because "إ is mostly used as the letter I".
Thank you, Ishfaque!
Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com
Excellently differences in simple and heavy letter sounds were taught.