LESSON 2 - ARABIC SHORT VOWEL-MARKS OVERVIEW

  • In Arabic, there are 3 short vowel-marks (we shall learn the long vowel-marks in a later lesson Insha'Allah - God willing).  The short vowel-marks enable the letter to make a sound in a similar way to the English language.  In the same way a word cannot be made in the English language without one of the 5 vowels (a, e, i, o or u), in Arabic one cannot make a word without a vowel being used. 

  • We will cover the 3 vowel-marks in Arabic below Insha'Allah.  The vowel-marks are the marks below or above the letter Alif in the examples below, the letter Alif has been used to give you an idea of where the vowel is placed.

     The Single Vowel-Marks:

  • The single vowel-marks are the basic vowel-marks which add a sound similar to that of a, i or u in the English language to the letter.  Please click on the letters with the vowel-marks to hear the pronunciation. 

Click on Letters to hear pronunciation

اُ اِ  اَ Arabic Character:
Damma Kasra Fatha Vowel Name:
u i a Vowel Sound:
The 'u' in put. The 'i' in sit.

The 'a' in sat.

 English word with similar sound:

      The Double Vowel-Marks:

  • The double vowel-marks signs are an extension of the single vowel-marks.  The double vowel signs add the '-n' sound to the single vowel.   Please see the letters below.  The Daal has been used to enable us to see the position of the double vowel sign which is called tanween.  Tanween refers to the double form of any vowel, the specific name of the double vowel sign e.g. double Fatha is also given below as this is unique for each vowel. Click on the letters with the vowel-marks to hear the pronunciation.

    Click on Letters to hear pronunciation

اٌ اٍ

اً

 Arabic Character:
Dammataan Kasrataan Fathataan Vowel Name:
'un' 'in' 'an' Vowel Sound:
The 'un' in sun. The 'in' in sin.

The 'an' in ran.

 English word with similar sound:

 

In the next lesson we are going to practice each letter we have covered with each short vowel and long vowel, Insha'Allah.