English and Arabic

Phonology
For Translation Students
Course Material

Prof. Reima Al-Jarf

1994
All Rights Reserved

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 English and Arabic Phonology

Aims of the Present Chapter

The aim of this chapter is to compare the English sound system with the Arabic sound
system. The comparisons will be made on the basis of descriptions made by linguists and
specialists in the field.

Firstly, The Arabic and the English sound systems will be described (analyzed) briefly.
The description will include segmental phonemes (i.e., consonants, vowels, diphthongs,
syllable structure), and prosodic features (i.e., stress, intonation and juncture or transition). It
will also include relevant data on the phonetic features of the phonemes, their variants and
their distribution (articulatory and distinctive feature terms, of the phonemes of Arabic and
English and their phonetic manifestations). The syllable will be separately defined in each
language. The description will be limited to aspects of interest for the comparison between
the Arabic and English phonological systems. Descriptions will be fairly complete, accurate
and delicate.

Secondly, both sound systems will be compared. Each phoneme will be taken up
separately as a unit existing on its own regardless of any general pattern of difference. The
comparison of each phoneme will include the place of articulation, the manner of articulation,
the variants of the phoneme, and the distribution of the phonemes. The phoneme will be seen
in terms of its relationship with other phonemes. Distribution patterns (sequences) may
correlate with syllables, morphemes, words, position of stress. The sequences and the
positions in which they occur will be compared. An attempt will be made to find out whether
the language has a sequence, and whether the sequence occurs in a position in which it does
not occur in the other language. Limitations on consonant-vowel combinations in both
languages will be given. Phonemes will be analysed as they fit into the syllable. Consonant
clusters will be compared.

Thirdly, troublesome contrasts will be described where necessary. An English

utterance will be taken and how that utterance is heard by an Arabic speaker will be
accounted for. Interference problems will be based on actual observed data. Very detailed
contrasts based on actual interference phenomena ranging from phonological translation at
one extreme to residual foreign accent on the other.

2. Contrasrive Phonology and Translation

A student may question the pedagogical value of comparing the sounds of Arabic and
English. The answer involves, in part, the same justification given for comparing grammatical
rules. In the area of pronunciation, a student's fluency and intelligibility will depend on the
extent to which he has learned to produce each speech sound of English in the environment in
which each occurs. If he is older, the growing reluctance to commit errors, which accompanies
the maturing of the intellect, hinders him considerably. Also, the older student is

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handicapped, because the speech habits of his own language are too well formed to be
broken easily (Agard & Di Pietro). He tends to carry Arabic muscular skills over into English and
to use them incorrectly in the production of English sounds (Strain). The translator, in
particular, should be aware of imposing his/ her own speech habits on the language he/she is
seeking to acquire as that might affect intelligibility due to a foreign accent. A foreign accent
erects a social barrier between the speaker and members of the native-speech community.
The student should aim at making his/ her speech socially acceptable. (Tataru).

In addition, the inability to produce the correct segmental sounds may contribute to
difficulty of communication, but too much can be made of the ship/sheep type of confusion
(Voden). A foreign accent includes allophonic variations. A foreigner's intelligibility also
depends on correct stressing as on intonation.It is common to find examples where confusion
and misunderstandings have been caused by placing the stress on the wrong syllable. A mis-
stressed syllable can easily result in an utterance not even remotely resembling the intended
word (Mahandru).

Since phonemes with their allophones and with rhythm and stress make up a particular
totality characterizing a language (Tateru), the translators must be prepared from the outset
to unlearn some of his/her own long-standing, often deep-seated features of pronunciation
and to adopt new habits in all relevant areas: consonants, vowel articulation, accentuation,
intonation and others. The distributional statements of sounds as members of phonemes are
the phonological equivalents of grammatical rules. They are timesavers to help the student
master a foreign pronunciation in a shorter time. (Agard & Di Pietro, 1965).

3. The Study of Speech Sounds

Phonetics is the scientific study of the sounds of language. exact pronunciation of a
language, describing every possible nuance of the speech sounds made by the speakers of that
language. Speech sounds may be described in terms of: (1) their production (articulation) by
the speech organs, (2) their ACOUSTIC make-up i.e., the physical effects of this production, (3)
their AUDITORY interpretation, i.e., the results of these effects when they reach the ear.

Study of the physical effects on the surrounding air is known as ACOUSTIC PHONETICS.
Study of these effects on the ear, the nerves leading to the brain, and the perception in the
brain is known as AUDITORY PHONETICS (Lehmann).

Descriptions of the Arabic and English sound systems will be limited to describing the
articulatory features.

4. The Articulatory System

An understanding the articulatory features of sounds requires a basic knowledge of the
vocal organs (speech organs) that are primarily involved in producing the consonants and
vowels. The production of speech sounds begins when we modify the flow of breath coming
out of the lungs, through the pharynx, larynx, mouth and nose by opening or closing the vocal
cords, lowering the uvula, moving the tongue and other organs in and around the mouth. This

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modification gives each sound its characteristic quality.

The larynx contains two muscular membranes that make up the vocal cords. The space
between the vocal cords is called the glottis. The vocal cords may be brought together tightly,
opened slightly, or moved relatively far apart. When brought tightly together, they produce a
glottal stop [?] as in ?akala. When the glottis is open ; air passes through it without friction or
without producing voice and sounds like [t f s k sh] are produced. The sounds produced when
the glottis is open are called voiceless. When the vocal cords are brought together, the glottis
is said to be closed, the air passing through them causes them to vibrate, and the resulting
sounds are voiced like [b d g th], resonants [m n ng w y l r ] and all vowels.

The pharynx, or throat, is a tube-shaped channel above the juncture of the trachea and
esophagus, leading to the nasal and oral cavities. At the base a cartilaginous structure, the
epiglottis, provides a protective cover for the trachea. some sounds may be formed by the
pharynx, such as the Arabic pharyngeal sounds [T D TH S q].

The nasal cavities are immovable passages of bone, lined with mucus membrane. The
nose serves as a resonating body. Access to it is governed by the uvula, a fleshy appendage of
the roof of the mouth. When the uvula is raised, access to the nose is closed off, and we
speak of a velic closure. When the uvula is lowered, air may pass through the nose, and nasal
consonants like [n m ng] or vowels are produced. The uvula may be lowered in the production
of vowels, and air escapes through both the nose and the mouth as in French nasalised
vowels.

Most of the consonants and the vowels are formed in the mouth. Consonants and
vowels differ from one another as a result of the shape of the mouth cavity in which they are
produced. That shape is determined by various degrees of narrowing or by closure at some
point. The mouth contains other organs used in speech production as the tongue, the teeth,
the alveolar ridge and the lips.

The tongue consists of numerous muscles and almost any part of the tongue can be
moved. Parts of the tongue are labeled according to the organs opposite them. The part
bounding the isthmus faucium is called the root; that opposite the velum, is the back, or
dorsum; that opposite the palate is the front; that opposite the teeth is the blade; the tip of
the tongue is called the apex. Accordingly, sounds may be apical, frontal, dorsal, or faucal. In
retroflex articulation, the tip is raised and pointed toward the back of the mouth.

5. Classification of Speech Sounds

A language consists of significant sound units called phonemes. A phoneme is a class
of sounds, phonetically similar and distributed in complementary arrangements in a given
language. Differing sounds in such a class is called an allophone. Each pronunciation of any
sound is called a phone. English has four sounds of /p/ in "peel, pool, pan, spoon". They differ
from one another, yet they are similar among one another than they are to other English
sounds such as the initials of " ". Each complements the other. None of them occurs in the

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same environment. Accordingly, we recognize that these sounds stand in complementary
distribution. Moreover, their articulation and distribution apply only to English not German or
Japanese (Lehmann).

Since Phonetics is the study of the exact pronunciation of a language, describing every
possible nuance of sound made by the speakers of that language. This exact pronunciation is
written in a special notation-developed mainly by the International Phonetic Alphabet-and is
enclosed in square brackets.

Articulatory descriptions of sounds are of great value, and the more accurate they are,
the better they serve to point up important differences between languages. The exposition of
how each speech sound in a language conforms to certain patterns that constitutes the
phonological system of that language.

The system is described by grouping similar sounds together into classes called
PHONEMES, and by stating to what extent the DISTRIBUTION (i.e., positions of occurrence) of
each sound in a given class is predictable. Slant lines / / are used to enclose phonemic
notation.

Each phoneme symbol therefore subsumes a group of PHONETICALLY SIMILAR sounds

and a series of statements defining their ranges of occurrence. Once a speech sound is
defined as belonging to a particular phoneme class, it is called an ALLOPHONE or POSITIONAL
VARIANT, of that phoneme. a cardinal rule in the identification of a phoneme is that none of
its allophones may stand in the same environment and also serve to provide a CONTRAST IN
MEANING. (Agard & DiPietro, 1965).

The patterning of speech sounds does not end with patterning of positional variants.
Having once determined the phonemes of a language, the linguist observes that they pattern
with one another in various ways. Although two phonemes by definition differ by at least one
articulatory feature, they may share some other feature or features. For example, English /b/
and /p/ are significantly different, in that /b/ is VOICED (the vocal cords vibrated during its
production), whereas /p/ is VOICELESS (the vocal cords do not vibrate), yet /b/ and /p/ share
the feature bilabial stop. Thus it is possible to state that /b/ and /p/ constitute a pair of
phonemes, one of which is voiced and the other is voiceless.

The next step is to discover how many pairs of phonemes can be identified by the
voiced-voiceless criterion.

Shared features characterize not only pairs of phonemes but SETS of any size.

Another way of describing the sound system of a language is in terms of the

occurrence of its phonemes in the flow of speech. E.g.: all vowels in Arabic constitute a
subsystem in that they all occur as the essential ingredient of a syllable.

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 Thus in describing consonants and vowels, we must indicate the manner of articulating
them and the point or place at which the characteristic articulation is carried out, in addition
to the use of the vocal cords.

6. Articulation of Vowels and Diphthongs

The articulation of vowels is characterized by a relatively open position of the vocal
tract. Vowel articulation is determined by the position of the lips and position of the tongue.
A vowel may be front, central or back depending on the position of the tongue, whether
raised in the front, the central or the back. The shape of the vowel cavities is also determined
by the degree of opening. If the tongue is as far as possible from the roof of the mouth, en
the vowel is open. If it is as close as possible to the roof of the mouth, without setting up
friction or producing a stop, the vowel is a close vowel. If it is between close and open
position, the vowel is mid. other intermediate positions may be specified: half-open and half-
close.

The lips may be spread, pursed or rounded. Since the rounded position has the
greatest effect, a vowel may be rounded or unrounded. Back vowels are rounded, whereas
front vowels are unrounded; central and low vowels tend to have neutral lip positions.

The articulation of diphthongs is characterized by the motion from one position to

another. The beginning and the end points of the motion are specified. A diphthong may be
rising or falling. In rising diphthongs, the motion may be toward greater closure as in English
[ay]. In falling diphthongs, the motion may be toward greater opening as in French "bien".

Articulation of Consonants

Thus in describing consonants and vowels, we must indicate the manner of articulating
them and the point or place at which the characteristic articulation is carried out, in addition
to the use of the vocal cords.

def of phonetics and phonology

the articulatory system
classification of speech sounds
the articulation of consonants
*States of the glottis
*place of articulation
*manner of articulation
*coarticulation
the articulation of vowels

7.1 States of the Glottis

7.2 Place of Articulation
The place or zone of articulation is the point in the vocal tract at which a sound is
articulated (Collins & Mees, 1981). It is specified by the fixed organs opposite which the

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tongue is used for articulation. The tongue may also be brought against the teeth, alveolar
ridge, palate, velum, uvula. The major places of articulation are listed below:

bilabial articulation: the sounds are articulated with the lips

pressed together as in /p, /b/, /m/.

labio-dental articulation: the sounds are articulated with the lower

front teeth touching the upper lip as in /f/, /v/.

dental articulation (apico-dental): here the apex or the tongue tip,

touches the back of the upper front teeth approximately where they
emerge from the gum, as in /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /l/, /r/, /n/.

interdental articulation: the outgoing air is forced between the

tongue and the teeth as in /th/, /th/.

alveolar articulation: the tongue is brought against the alveoar arch

(ridge) as in /t/, /d/, /n/.

palatal articulation: the tongue is brought against the palate as in /sh/, /dj/.

velar articulation: the tongue is brought against the velum as in /k/,

/g/.

uvular articulation: the back of the tongue is brought against the uvula as in
/q/, /Ú/

glottal articulation: here the glottis is involved as in /?/ and /h/.

pharyngeal articulation: the tonue root is drawn back towards the

pharynx wall as in Arabic /®¯× Ø Õ Ö

7.3 The manner of articulation

The way the active (the articulator that moves in the production of speech sounds) and
the passive articulators (thae articulators that do not move) affect the airstream at a particular
place of articulation in the vocal tract, resulting in a complete or partial closure of the air-
stream. In terms of manner of articulation, peech sounds may be classified into the following:
(a) stops (plosives): are those sounds produced with a complete closure in the air stream.
The complete closure may be produced with both lips as in [p b], between the tip of
the tongue and the alveolar ridge as in [t d], between the front of the tongue and the
palate as in [k g] as in English keep, between the back of the tongue and the velum as
in [k, g] as in English 'cool'

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 (b) fricatives are produced when the organs are 90 percent closed and a friction is
produced such as [f v s z th th x ]. When the opening is relatively extended, slit
fricatives or sibilants are produces as in [f v th th], if the opening is small permitting the
onrush of air through a trough groove fricatives are produced. The opening may be
made over over the tip of the tongue, with onrushing air producing a hissing noise
against the teeth as in [s z]. A groove fricative may be made over the tip of the tongue,
with onrushing air producing a hissing noise against the palate as in [sh zh]. in groove
fricatives a channel is formed along the mid-line of the tongue.

(c) affricates consist of a stop and a fricative produced with the same articulation organs
as in [ch dj].

(d) nasals: are articulated with oral obstruction at the some point, but the uvula is
lowered, and accordingly resonance is produced in the nasal cavity as in [m n ng].

(e) laterals are produced with the oral obstruction at some point, but an opening is made
to the side of the obstruction. The obstruction is generally made with the tip of the
tongue and the air is permitted to pass to the right or left of it or to both sides as in [l].

(f) flaps and trills are produced when the oral passage is closed rapidly by a vibrating
organ: the uvula or the apex of the tongue. If there is a single closure, it is a flap, if
repeated closure, it is a trill as in Arabic [r].

(g) semi-vowels or glides are articulated with a relatively complete closure but with an
opening movement of the organs concerned. They begin with the relatively complete
closure as a consonant and end with a larger opening as a vowel. The articulation of [y]
begins with the tongue close to the palate and continues with the tongue moved
downward rapidly. The articulation of [w] generally involves the velar area and the lips.

7.4 Secondary Articulation (Coarticulation)

The position of the tongue and that of the lips are the primary articulatory
characteristics in the production of vowels. Primary articulation may be accompanied by the
involvement of other vocal organs. Secondary articulation may vary considerably from
language to language. Even within one language there may varying degrees of it. In Arabic,
four consonants have primary emphasis whereas other emphatic consonants have less
pervasive secondary articulation. Types of secondary articulation may characterize a language
in general. Thus Arabic gives the impression of general emphasis. Some types of secondary
articulation for consonants and vowels are:
Nasalization: adding resonance to vowels.
tenseness vs. laxness: articulating vowels and consonants with a degree of tense or
lax musculature. Tenseness is related to length of vowel as in English "beat" as
opposed to 'bit'.
aspiration: consonants and vowels are produced with accompanying h-like friction.
Aspiration distinguishes the [k]of "cat" from [k] of "skip".

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 labialization: consonants and vowels are produced by simultaneous articulation of the
lips, generally by lip rounding but also protrusion.
Retroflexion: consonants and vowels are produced by curling back of the tip of the
tongue toward the palate. American English [r] is always pronounced with retroflex
articulation.
velarization: consonants and vowels are produced by simultaneous narrowing of the
back of the mouth.
pharyngealization: consonants and vowels are produced by constriction of the throat
cavity. Pharyngealization is prominent in Arabic, where it is one of the components of
a complex articulation called emphasis. In Arabic, emphasis distinguishes tiin "mud"
and Tiin "figs".
Glottalization

8. Describing Phonological Units

8.1.1 Arabic Consonant Phonemes
The great majority of Arabic consonant sounds fall into the dento alveolar (t, T, d, D, th,
TH, s, S, z, r, l, n), and gutteral (uvular/ pharyngeal/glottal) (x, g, h, q, ?, h, q) zones of
articulation. The remaining few are labial (f, b, m, w,), palato-alveolar/palatal (sh, j, y). As to
the manner of articulation, three main types of correlation are distinguished: voiced/voiceless,
emphatic/plain (non-emphatic), and sulcal/non-sulcal. (Mitchell)

a. the voiced/voiceless correlative pairs of CA consonants are as follows:

voiced th d z D Ú 9
voiceless th t s T X Í

b. The emphatic consonants and their plain counterparts of CA are:

emphatic T D TH S
plain t d th s

c. The sulcal/ non-sulcal consonant sounds of CA are:

sulcal s z S
non-sulcal t d

The 28 consonant phonemes of Classical Arabic are listed below. For each consonant
phoneme, the relevant voiceless/voiced distinction, the zone of articulation, the
emphatic/plain feature, the sulcal/non-sulcal
difference and the manner of articulation will be given.

/b/ voiced denti-alveolar plain plosive as in 'baab'. it has a voiceless allophone

before voiceless consonants as in:
/ka ta bt/ [ka ta pt] ãÊÈÊ
ÍÈÓ /habs/ [haps] 'prison'
ÓÈÊ /sabt/ [sapt] 'Saturday'

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/t/ voiceless denti-alveolar plain plosive as in 'taab'. /t k/ are aspirated when they appear
in the beginning of a stressed syllable and are released in word final position as in :
/tuut/ [t uut ] ÊèÊ /sa ma k / [sa ma k ] Óåã

/d/ voiced denti-alveolar non-emphatic plosive as in 'dubb'

/×/ voiceless denti-alveolar emphatic plosive as in 'Taab'

¯Ö¯voiced denti-alveolar emphatic plosive as in Daarr

k ã voiceless velar plain plosive as in 'kaal'

q â voiceless uvular plosive as in 'qaa9'
? Ã glottal stop (neither voiced nor voiceless) as in '?abb'

/f/ voiceless labio-dental plain fricative as in 'faat'. it has a voiced allophone

before a voiced pre-pausal dento-alveolar consonant, especially africative
as in:
äáØ /lafd/ [lavd] pronunciation

x Î voiceless uvular plain fricative as in 'xaaf'.

/¯Ú voiced uvular fricative as in ' aab'. It has two common allophones. Both are
voiced fricatives-one uvular next to /u/ and /uw/ and /a/ and /aa/
and the other is next to /i/ and /iy/.

Í voiceless pharyngeal fricative as in ' awl'

Ù voiced pharyngeal fricative as in '9aad'.

h çà voiced glottal fricative as in 'hudhud'.

Ë voiceless dento-alveolar non-sulcal fricative as in 'thawb'.

Ð voiced dento-alveolar non-sulcal fricative as in 'thayl'
Ø voiced dento-alveolar non-sulcal emphatic fricative as in 'thill'
s Ó voiceless dento-alveolar sulcal plain fricative as in 'sayf'
z Ò voiced dento-alveolar sulcal plain fricative as in 'zaad'
S Õ voiceless denti-alveolar sulcal emphatic fricative as in 'sa9b'
Ô voiceless palato-alveolar sulcal fricative as in 'shams'
j Ì voiced palato-alveolar affricate as in 'jaad'

/r/ voiced dento-alveolar non-emphatic trill (liquid) as in 'rama'. /r/the most common
allophone of /r/ is a voiced dental trill which is pharyngealized not only when it occurs
next to pharyngealized consonants, but in the vicinity of /a/ or /aa/ as well.when it
occurs before or after /a, a a u , uu/ as in :

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 ÑÇÍ êÑèå ÑÌÈ ÈÑÌ

/l/ voiced dento-alveolar non-emphatic lateral (liquid) as in 'lawn'. The phoneme /l/ has a
velarized allophone /l/ in three kinds of cases:

(A) in the sequence /-allaah/, when this is not preceded by /i/ and when it means God,
e.g.:
Çääç Çääçå áÇääç èÇääç
åæ ÙæÏ Çääç ääç

(B) in the neighbourhood of other emphatic consonants in the following circumstances:

(a) next to (before or after) a velarized consonant.
(b) separated from a velarized consonant by one short vowel other than /i/, CV- or
- CV, as in ×äñ Öä È×ä ÈÕä åÕä ä×å äØé äÕ áÕä
(c) preceded by a long vowel other than /ii/ which is in turn preceded by avelarized
consonant, CVV- as in ×Çä äè× ÈäÇ× ÕäÇÉ ÕÇä ÇÕèä ÖÇä
(C) in other unpredictable items, sometimes loanwords, sometimes inherited
Arabic vocabulary as in:
äåÈÉ äæÏæ ÇäåÇæêÇ äÇåÇ äÇáÇ ÇäÈÇæêÇ (Ferguson)

/m/ voiced labial nasal as in 'maal'. it has a voiceless allophone after a

voiceless consonant as in: ÑÓå /rasm/ [rasm] drawing
n æ voiced dento-alveolar nasal as in 'naar'
w è voiced labial semivowel as in 'waad'
y ê voiced palato-alveolar semivowel as in 'yad'

8.1.2 English Consonant Phonemes

English has 24 consonant phonemes of English. For each consonant phoneme, the
relevant voiceless/voiced distinction, the zone of articulation, and the manner of articulation
will be given.
/p/ voiceless bilabial stop as in 'pot'
/b/ voiced bilabial stop as in 'bat'
/t/ voiceless apico-alveolar stop as in 'tub'
/d/ voiced apico-alveolar stop as in 'dog'
/k/ voiceless velar stop as in 'car'
/g/ voiced velar stop as in 'good'
/?/ glottal stop as in '
ch voiceless alveolar affricate as in 'chair'
dj voiced alveolar affricate as in 'Jordan'
/f/ voiceless labio-dental fricative
/v/ voiced labio-dental fricative
/q / voiceless apico-dental fricative
/d / voiced apico-dental fricative
/s/ voiceless apico-alveolar fricative (sibilant)

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 /z/ voiced apico-alveolar fricative (sibilant)
sh voiceless lamino-alveolar sibilant as in 'shade'.
zh voiced lamino alveolar sibilant as in 'measure'.
/l/ apico-alveolar lateral as in 'land'.
/r/ apico-alveolar approximant (continuant) as in 'road'.
/m/ bilabial nasal as in 'man'.
/n/ apico-alveolar nasal as in 'north'
/h / dorso-velar nasal as in long.
/h voiceless glottal fricative as in 'hat'
/w/ velar approximant as in 'was'
/y/ palatal approximant as in 'yes'

8.2.1 Arabic Vowel Phonemes

There are three short vowels in Arabic: /a/, /u/, and /i/ which contrast phonemically
with their long counterparts :/aa/, /uw/ and /iy/.
/I/ (high front) as in 'tibb'
/u/ (high back) as in 'kutub'
/a/ (low back) as in 'katab'
/ii/ as in 'fiil'
/uu/ as in '?uud'
/aa/ as in 'kaal'

8.2. Arabic Diphthongs

Diphthongs are no part of CA pronunciation. However, a diphthongal realization of ay
and aw may sometimes be heard in CA only after a and before y or w. When final, the
consonantal characteristics of palatal friction y and lip-rounding and protrusion w, both
accompanied by considerable muscular tension, are usually perceived in e.g. ?ay 'that is', and
?aw 'or' and also in cases when sonant follows aa , as in ?aay 'verses, wonders', and waaw
'letter w'.

8.1.2 English Vowel Phonemes

There are 7 vowel phonemes in English. For each vowel phoneme, the relevant
distinctive features of articulation will be given in terms of tongue height, horizontal position
of the tongue and lip position.
/I/ high front unrounded as in 'in'
/u/ high back rounded as in 'put'
// mid front unrounded as in 'get'
// mid central unrounded as in 'other bird but'
// mid back rounded as in 'for'
/ / low front unrounded as in 'cat'
/a/ low back unrounded as in 'far'

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8.2.2 English Diphthongs
The seven diphthongs of English are listed below. for each the relevant distinctive
features of articulation is given in terms of tongue height, horizontal positionof the tongue
and lip position.
/ey/ higher mid front as in 'late'
/iy/ high front as in 'see'
/ow/ higher mid back as in 'go'
/uw/ high back as in 'rule, two'
/ay/ low central as in 'I , cry'
/aw/ low central as in 'now, house'
/oy/ higher mid back as in 'boy, noise'

9. Arabic Vowels and diphthongs vs. English Vowels and diphthongs

Arabic vowels occur in a short/long contrasts. The most important feature that
characterizes Arabic vowels is length. Long vowels must be pronounced at least twice as long
as their short counterpart. The English vowel in 'fat' is longer than the Arabic short vowel a in
[fa] 'cut bread into pieces and throw them in meat broth' and shorter than the Arabic long
vowel /aa/ in [faat] 'passed'.
åæ man
ÌÇÑ jar
ÐÇÊ that

The English vowel in the word 'inn' is longer than the Arabic vowel in the word /?in/ 'if'.
The diphthong in the
/u/ it has two allophones , one in closed syllables as in hubb 'love' and the other optionally
in open syllable as in lahu 'for him'. The effect of back consonants such as uvulars,
pharyngeals and emphatics is greatly reduced.

/uu/ has one variant only. The Arabic vowel uu in nuun 'letter n' is characterized by
stronger lip-rounding and lip-protrusion than in the English case 'noon'. In the case of
emphatic consonants, a noticeably opener quality of the vowel may be heard than that
associated with it elsewhere.

/a/, /ae/ In English, the vowels /a/ and /ae/ are two independent phonemes whereas in
Arabic, /ae/ is a phoneme and /a/ is an allophone (averiant) of the vowel /ae/.

Diphthongs are no part of CA pronunciation. However, a diphthongal realization of ay and aw

may sometimes be heard in CA only after a and before y or w. When final, the consonantal
characteristics of palatal friction y and lip-rounding and protrusion w, both accompanied by
considerable muscular tension, are usually perceived in e.g. ?ay 'that is', and ?aw 'or' and also
in cases when a consonant follows aa , as in ?aay 'verses, wonders', and waaw 'letter w'.

Arabic Allophones
Arabic consonant phonemes have the following allophones:

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Comparison of Phonological Units

Arabic Consonants vs. English Consonants

Both Arabic and English have the following consonant phonemes: /f/, /b/, /m/, /s/, /z/,
/k/, /sh/,/j/,/th/, /th/. However, Arabic pronunciation is characterized by its vigor, and
all consonants are pronounced with greater muscular tension than in English. In Arabic
the hiss with which /s/, /z/are pronounced is of higher frequency and is much more
clear-cut than in English. Articulation of /sh/and /j/ in Arabic is always clear, whereas
in English /sh/ and /j/ are sometimes dark.
For the following Arabic consonant phonemes there are no corresponding English
phonemes: /×/ ¬ /Ö/ ¬ /Õ/¬ /Ø/ ¬/Î/ ¬ /Ú/¬ /Í/¬ /Ù/¬ /â/, /¯Á.
Arabic has no corresponding for the following English consonant phonemes: /p/, /g/,
/v/, ch/, /z/, /ng/. Since the Arabic sound system does not have the phonemes /p/ , /v/
and /t /; some Arabic speakers tend to pronounce English words containing those
phonemes with /b/ , /f/ , / /e.g., video as 'fideo', 'people' as 'beoble', pepsi as 'bebsi',
chips as 'ships', chair as 'tchair'.

The following consonant phonemes exist in both Arabic And English but they differ in
their place of articulation, manner of articulation, in their variants or in the distribution
of variants.
/t/, /d/ Arabic /t/ and /d/ are dento-alveolar involving simultaneous contact with teeth
and alveolum, whereas English /t/ and /d/ are alveolar only.
In American English, /t/ and /d/ are flap intervocalically, as in (latter, ladder), whereas
in Arabic, they are pronounces as /t/ and /d/ as in 'batar' 'amputated' and ' baader' 'he
made the initiative'.
/r/ The first noticeable difference between Arabic and English /r/ is that Arabic /r/
is pronounced with a single tap as in jaar 'neighbour', or as a rapid succession of taps
that make up a trill or roll when geminated or doubled as in marr 'he passed', marran
'he trained'. In American English /r/ is retroflex and in British RP English /r/ is a flap.
Therefore American /r/ is difficult for Arab students to imitate. There is no contact
between the tongue and any part of the roof of the mouth. In prevocalic ?r/, the
tongue is retroflex (bent backward), with the tip just behind the alveolar ridge.
There is also noticeable lip rounding when it occurs at the beginning of words as in run,
ram, right, red. (Agard and Di pietro).
The second noticeable difference is that Arabic /r/ has two allophones: emphatic and
plain. Before or after /a, aa, u, uu/, it is emphatic as in:
áÑÓ /faras/ [faras] 'pony'
åÇÑ /maarr/ [maarr] 'passer-by'
åÑ /murr/ [murr] 'bitter'
åÑèÑ /muruur/ [muruur] 'traffic, passing'
Some speakers of Arabic mispronounce English words like 'arise' , 'arouse', 'orange'.
They pronounce

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The third noticeable difference is that Arabic /r/ is pronounced in word initial, medial
and final position, before and after a a vowel as in:
áÇÑ faar 'mouse'
ÑÚêá ra iif 'loaf'
áÑñ farr ' he escaped'
êÑêÏ yuriid he wants

in RP English /r/ is not pronounced after a vowel as in:

car [ka:]
farther [fa: ]
The effect of difference in the distribution of emphatic and plain /r/ on the Arab
learner's response to English is clearly felt when English /ae/ is realised as /a/ in
positions where it should appear as /ae/ after or before /r/ as in 'arouse', arise',
'orange', 'around', 'a round, 'right'.
In RP /r/ is a post-alveolar frictionless continuant which appears initially beforea
vowel as in "road", "right", following a lenis consonant except /d/ as in "tribe, crib",
and in syllable-initial cluster as in "dress, press".
/l/ Both Arabic and English have the phoneme /l/. In both Arabic and RP English,
/l/ has two familiar 'clear' and 'dark' varieties. American English has dark /l/ in all
contexts. However, the distribution of clear and dark /l/ differ in Arabic and English. In
Arabic, /l/ is dark /emphatic next to the emphatic consonants × Ø Õ Öas in
ØäÇå ÕäÇÉ Öä ä×å äÕâ äØé ×ä, in the word 'Allah' and other loan words such as
äåÈɬ äÇáǬ äæÏæ¬ ÇäåÇæêÇ. It is clear elsewhere in initial, medial and final position,
before and after any vowel as in laam 'he blamed', liin 'flexibility', yaluum 'he is
blaming' , fiil 'elephant', fuul 'beans', naal 'received'. /l/ is clear if the word Allaah is
preceded by /i/ as in li-llaah 'for God', min 9indi-llaah 'from God',
In British English /l/ is clear before vowels as in 'life, fleet, inclination' and dark after
vowels as in: 'peel, mile, cool'.
In Arabic. /l/ is unvoiced before voiceless consonants as in: qatl 'killing', buxl 'avarice,
mithl 'like', wasl 'receipt'. It is also unvoiced in final post-vocalic position as in baqqal
'grocer', ?atfaal 'children', ?aqfaal 'locks'.
lateral plosion is the lateral release of t and d before a final /l/ as in English 'little',
'kettle', paddle', 'needle', saddle. In Arabic no lateral plosion takes place, e.g.: qatl,
fatl, fadl, ratl, sadl.

/l/ The contextual distribution of the allophones of /l/ is quite different in both
Arabic and English. The distribution of the three principal allophones of /l/ in RP is as
follows:
A. The clear lateral allophone /l/ appears in word-initial and syllable- initial
position and between vowels as in: land, deliver.
B. The dark allophone /l/ appears in word-final and syllable-final position, and
between vowel and following consonant, as in: feel, wall, pull-over, melted.

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 C. A partially voiceless lateral /l/ after word-initial stops as in: pleasant, client,
class, plot, plate, closed.
The effect of difference in the distribution of clear and dark varieties of /l/ on the Arab
learner's response to English is clearly felt when English 'dark' is realised as 'clear' in
positions where it should appear 'appear' dark, i.e. after a vowel as in "feel". (Anani).
/n/ Arabic /n/ is similar to its English counterpart. However, Arabic and English
differ in the distribution of /n/. In Arabic, /n/ is homorganic- ally articulated with a
following plosive, as a bilabial nasal [m] before /b/:
êæÈèÙ /yunbuu9/ [yumbuu9] 'spring'
êæÈÙË /yanba9i / [yamba9i ] 'comes out'
as a velar nasal before k, g
Èæã /bank/ [ba ] 'bank'
êæãË /yanku / [ya ku ]'to break a promise'
ÇæÌäÊÑÇ /ingiltra/ [i iltra] 'England'
ÇæÌèäÇ /angola/ [a ola] 'Angola'

as a uvular nasal before q :

åæâÈÉ /manqaba/ [manqaba] 'trait'
êæâÙ /yanqa9/ [yanqa9/ 'to soak'
êæâÕ
êæâÖ
êæâäÈ
êæâ×Ù
Homorganic articulation of /n/ also occurs before a palato-alveolar consonant like sh, j:
êæÌäê
êæÌè
ÇæÔÙÑ
ÇæÔâÇâ
ÇæÔ×ÇÑ
In Arabic, final /n/ is unvoiced after a voiceless consonant as in:
åÊæ /çà/Both Arabic and English have the glottal fricative /h/. However, in English/h/
usually occurs in word or syllable initial position as in 'hood', 'behave' but never occurs
in word final position. In Arabic /h/ occurs in word initial, medial and final position o if
it is closing a syllable as in huwa 'he', muhmal 'neglected', wajiih ' ', kitaabuh 'his book',
kurh 'hatred'.
/?/ the glottal stop is neither voiced nor voiceless. In Arabic, /? occurs in word
initial, medial and final position, e.g.: ?akala 'he ate', ya?xuth 'he takes', mala? 'he
filled'. In English, the sound is very common. It occurs between word beginning and
ending with a vowel, e.g. 'Jaffa ?orange', and also when it is wished to give special
prominence to a word beginning with a vowel "It,s? always? acceptable'. It is a feature
of a number of English dialects, where it is an allophone of /t/ as in 'bottle'.
/w/ the Arabic labio-velar semi-vowel /w/ is like its English counterpart. However,
Arabic /w/ is pronounced more vigorously than its English counterpart, and lips are

16
 more rounded and protruding. The semivowel /w/ has an unvoiced allophone after a
final voiceless consonant as in 9afw 'forgiveness', satw 'burglary',
/y/ The Arabic palatal semi-vowel /y/ is similar to English /y/. The articulation of
Arabic /y/ is marked by more vigorous lip spreading and muscular tension in the
tongue and lips, e.g., Óêá sayf 'sword', ÈêÊ bayt 'house'.

stops (p, b, t, d, k, g) are not usually released when they occur in word final position -
i.e. the position of articulation is formed but not distinctly released. cf pill & lip, car &
rack, ball & lab.
voiceless stops /p/, /t/, /k/ are pronounced with a puff of air (aspiration) when they
occur as the first sound in stressed syllables except when they follow /s/.
pin tick kin
spin stick skin

Arabic vs English gemination

Any lengthening in English is on a totally different basis from Arabic. Geminates or
(long consonants) occur very frequently in Arabic, whereas in English they are very infrequent.
In Arabic, gemination is obligatory and it occurs in word medial and word final position, as in:
ÙÏñ ?adda 'counted', åçñÏ mahhada 'paved the way'.
In English, gemination never occurs within a word. It only occurs across word
boundary (at the junction of words) e.g., 'that time', 'big gun', 'immoral', 'illegal'; but not in
'essay', or 'announce'. Since gemination means doubling of consonants to Arabic speakers,
therefore they transfer their gemination of double consonants from Arabic to English and tend
to pronounce double consonants in English words like: account, suppose, announce,
immediately, ferrus, essay as geminates.

2.4 Limitations on Consonant Vowel Combinations

The most productive group of consonants that are capable of association with any
other group is that of the liquids (r l n)., whereas the least productive is the non-sulcal
Ë Ð Ø©).

3.4 Limitations on Consonant Vowel Combinations

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