The Chart with all the Rules for Arabic Vowels

Mastering the Arabic Vowel System

     It is important to learn the rules regarding vowel pronunciation in Modern Standard Arabic even before fully mastering the Arabic alphabet.  This is because these rules effect how we should transliterate and pronounce the names of the letters in the alphabet, and then on from there, to how we should pronounce every other syllable, word and phrase that we read.  The fixed and consistent rules governing pronunciation of the vowel sounds in Modern Standard Arabic are foundational to understanding all of the other rules in Arabic that follow (including the pronunciation of consonants, the conjugation of verbs, and the vast derivations into scores of different words built from common tri-consonantal roots).  Mastering foundational rules will make mastery of the language much easier.  Rules organize data into rapidly comprehensible wholes that are much easier to assimilate than an endless series of isolated and disjointed phonetic phenomena.  Hence we begin with an in depth study of the vowels.  

    The three punctuated (a.k.a. short) vowels K@sRa, f@tHa, and DAmma, and the three lengthening (a.k.a. long) vowels ye, elif, and w@w render a total of 18 different different articulations through their diverse combinations and placements within words.  These 18 articulations consist of 13 distinct simple vowel articulations, one silent vowel situation (which is arguably incorrect but frequently encountered at the very end of utterances), and 4 diphthongs (a diphthong is where two different vowel sounds are combined so that the mouth slides from one position to another to form a special fused vowel sound).  In Arabic script, all of these sounds revolve around the the literal meanings of the names of the punctuated vowel sounds--K@sRa literally means cracked (as when the mouth is slightly cracked open in a smile), f@tHa literally means open (as when the jaw is dropped and the mouth is wide open), and DAmma literally means rounded (as when the jaw is raised, the lips are rounded, and the tongue is pulled back toward the throat).  

     Organizing our mental imaging of these 18 different articulations around these three fundamental nexi will make mastery and memorization of these sounds easier.  The chart below can be superimposed through the eye of imagination on the silhouette of a person's left-side facial profile.  The two dimensions of the chart show the up-down movement of the jaw and the front to back moment of the tongue that accompanies the rounding of the lips.  Arabic syllable equations are written right to left with three dots signifying that the word has additional syllables either before or after the syllable exemplified.  The empty box represents any Arabic consonant either Dark/Emphatic or Light/Non-Emphatic because you could write any letter in the empty box. The symbol for the number 4 in Arabic "٤" represents any Dark/Emphatic consonant because it looks like the letter "E" for Emphatic, while the number 8 in Arabic ۸ represents any Light/Non-Emphatic consonant because it looks a little like a lower case cursive "n" for non-emphatic.  Using these conventions the chart below gives us the 13 fundamental vowel sounds with the rules for how and when to pronounce them as well as how to transcribe them for easy recognition: 

k@sRa = raised jaw, cracked slightly, tongue forward; lengthened when followed by the letter "ye".		DAmma = raised jaw, rounded lips, tongue back; lengthened when followed by the letter "w@w".
ii (as in skiing) = ...ﹳِي or...ﹳِيﹳْ  i (as in ski) = ...ِ۸ (open/light syllable) I (as in Igloo) = ...ﹳِﹳْ or...ِ٤ Imagine smiling and skiing down a powdery hill under a grey sky and then putting your skis on the side of an inviting igloo that is full of warm yellow candle light.		uu (as in blue ooze) = ...ﹳُوor...ﹳُوﹳْ u (as in blues) = ...ﹳُ (all open syllables) U (as in put and book) = ...ﹳُﹳْ Imagine blue ooze coming out of a saxophone when you try to play some blues on it, and then you put it down and pick up a purple book instead.
	f@tha = jaw opened, tongue pulled back; lengthened by the letter "elif" shown below as "l".  e (as in cheddar) = ...َ۸ (open/light syllable) ae (as in acorn) = ...lَ۸ (open/light syllable) @ (as in apple) = ... ۸َ۸ (closed/light syllable) @@ (as in apple) = ...۸lَ۸ (closed/light syllable) a (as in red onion) = ﷽َ     ...(any final open syllable) A (as in olive) =  ...َ٤(Dark anywhere in syllable) A (as in jaw olive) =   ...lَ٤(Dido, but lengthened) Imagine eating olives first as an appetizer, then an onion salad, then apple pie with diced acorns on top, then a grilled cheddar cheese sandwich.  The waiter accidentally gave you dessert before your main course, but you ate it.

In summary, the three most important factors effecting vowel pronunciation are: (1) Dark consonants lower the jaw for c@sra and f@tha. (2) Closed syllables (which end in a consonant) lower the jaw for all vowels. (3) The final vowel at the end of a complete utterance (the end of both the word and phrase) is optionally left silent by the speaker if it is c@sra or DAmma, and it is optionally either a schwa "a" (as in the word "above) or silent if it is a f@tHa.