Arabic Phonology Assignment 2022

Running head: ARABIC PHONOLOGY
ARABIC PHONOLOGY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1ARABIC PHONOLOGY
Introduction
Language hybridization is a phenomenon that is seen in multiple domains, especially
language. It can be defined as the as a process whereby separate processes which generate a
whole another entity which only shares certain features with its sources and is completely
compositional. Research says that multicultural Australian society operated with a specific
generated language form in certain linguistic environments. What is meant by this is that
English language scripts have the ability to merge with and embed into other native
languages to an extent of becoming a whole new variety. This process is called
Romanization. Within such a linguistic framework, these hybrid language forms could be
characterized and classified, through which comparison is possible with the standardized
form. In this context, Romanized Arabic is to be discussed. Romanized Arabic is a new form
that emerged in computer mediated communication and it is generally used in informal
contexts1. Even though the process of Romanization is rare in standard Arabic, it is still found
in some use cases of Modern Standard Arabic2.
Romanized form of Arabic is used for a number of different reasons and purposes,
such as, name and title transcription, cataloguing works in the Arabic language, language
education, and representation of the Arabic language in scientific journals used by Linguists1.
The language variety seen in these formal settings often use diacritics and non-standard Latin
characters. This contrasts with the informal settings of Romanized written communication
seen in Arabic chat alphabet, such Arabizi. There are multiple innate problems in rendering
the Arabic language in the Latin script. The process is not random and goes through the
linguistic processes of transliteration, transcription or a combination of both to varying
1. Shrivtiel, Shraybom (1998). The Question of Romanisation of the Script and The Emergence of Nationalism in the
Middle East. Mediterranean Language Review. pp. 179–196.
2. "Encyclopaedia of Islam Romanization vs ALA Romanization for Arabic". University of Washington Libraries.
3. Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association, 20 (2): 37–41,
4. Holes, Clive (2004), Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties, Georgetown University Press
5. Davis, Stuart (1995), "Emphasis Spread in Arabic and Grounded Phonology", Linguistic Inquiry, The MIT
Press, 26 (3): 465–498

2ARABIC PHONOLOGY
degrees. This paper will discuss Romanized Arabic with respect to the characteristic features
which are exclusive to informal or spoken Arabic and formal or standard Arabic.
Even though the process of Romanization is important for the digitization of the
language, we cannot overrule the conception that the background of the language and the
phonological nuances are more or less concerned with the way it is structured across the
history of the language, its use by the natives, language contact and evolution. These are
factors that greatly determine how the phonology of a particular language, in this case Arabic
will turn out to be and how different it will be from the dialects and other non standard
varieties that are used in the neighbouring regions. The scope of this particular paper is
limited to the theoretical underpinnings of the Arabic Language Phonology and to hope that it
can venture into the technical arena of language digitization and romanisation would be
overshooting the ambitions3.
The purpose of this paper is to serve as a model of reference for understanding the
phonology of the Arabic language system and the differences it entails with its dialects. This
paper purposefully restricts the discussions to the phonological theories and reports about the
linguistic nuances in order to provide a head start to future discussions and thoughts on the
romanisation and digitization of the Arabic language, since the process entails much more
than just the phonology but also considers morphology and syntax.
Research objective
This paper intends to present a thorough in depth understanding of the Arabic
phonology and would conclude with whether or not there are nuances in the Arabic
phonology in terms of the Modern Standard Variety and the dialectal varieties. Through a
1. Shrivtiel, Shraybom (1998). The Question of Romanisation of the Script and The Emergence of Nationalism in the
Middle East. Mediterranean Language Review. pp. 179–196.
2. "Encyclopaedia of Islam Romanization vs ALA Romanization for Arabic". University of Washington Libraries.
3. Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association, 20 (2): 37–41,
4. Holes, Clive (2004), Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties, Georgetown University Press
5. Davis, Stuart (1995), "Emphasis Spread in Arabic and Grounded Phonology", Linguistic Inquiry, The MIT
Press, 26 (3): 465–498

3ARABIC PHONOLOGY
descriptive analysis of the phonological structures of the Modern Standard Arabic and a
contrast with some of its localized varieties, the paper would connect certain dots regarding
the miniscule differences in the language and the dialect.
Research rationale
The first motivation behind this research stems from the increasing number of internet
users in the Arabic spoken countries. The rate of growth is much higher than the average –
there are over seventy one million active social media users every day. The introduction of
internet in the Arabic-spoken regions has been the main cause behind this revolution,
affecting various aspects of the lives of the people living there, including language. Due to
the proliferating use of internet in the Arab world, the necessity for such research has
increased manifold in order to document the developments and changes which have occurred
in the past few years.
The second motivation behind this research is to provide a technical definition of
Romanized Arabic. From earlier research, it has been seen that modern standard Arabic or
MSA is not the preferred form when communicating over the internet. Instead, a variety
between English and colloquial or spoken Arabic is seen to have emerged. Other research has
seen that users of the internet conjure innovative processes in adapting the native spoken
forms of Arabic into the Latin script.
Research methodology
The paper takes into consideration multiple academic sources and personalized
interviews with native speakers as well Arabic Linguists in order to gain deep understanding
1. Shrivtiel, Shraybom (1998). The Question of Romanisation of the Script and The Emergence of Nationalism in the
Middle East. Mediterranean Language Review. pp. 179–196.
2. "Encyclopaedia of Islam Romanization vs ALA Romanization for Arabic". University of Washington Libraries.
3. Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association, 20 (2): 37–41,
4. Holes, Clive (2004), Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties, Georgetown University Press
5. Davis, Stuart (1995), "Emphasis Spread in Arabic and Grounded Phonology", Linguistic Inquiry, The MIT
Press, 26 (3): 465–498

4ARABIC PHONOLOGY
into the linguistic structuring of the language. The research takes an exploratory paradigm to
gain knowledge and understanding about the subject matter in details.
The Arabic Language Phonology
Traditional Arabic is a primarily a VSO language, which is the third most common
word structure found in the world and has a relatively free word order5. The language is pro-
drop. The language is made up of non-concatenative morphemes, which means that unlike
English, one cannot join morphemes after the root one after the other in order to come up
with new words. This research however is focused primarily on Arabic phonology and
specifically on identifying the differences that lie between the Romanised Standard Arabic
and the Romanised Spoken Arabic. In order to proceed we would be required to dive deeper
into the findings regarding Arabic Phonology4.
This section is designed to provide us with a better insight into the phonology of the
Arabic language as identified in three different use cases of the Arabic Language- Traditional
Arabic, Egyptian Arabic and a non-standardised Jordanian Arabic spoken in the Irbid and
accompanying region.
Phonology of Arabic
Arabic is a Semitic language identified as belonging to the Afro - Asiatic language
family. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is best defined as a language with a ‘continuum of
varieties’, which incorporates around thirty different modern dialects of Arabic including the
standardized form5. MSA finds extensive use in writing, in media of print like magazines and
newspapers and even in news reading, speeches and various types of formal conversations.
MSA is characterized by the presence of twenty eight consonant phonemes and six vowels.
1. Shrivtiel, Shraybom (1998). The Question of Romanisation of the Script and The Emergence of Nationalism in the
Middle East. Mediterranean Language Review. pp. 179–196.
2. "Encyclopaedia of Islam Romanization vs ALA Romanization for Arabic". University of Washington Libraries.
3. Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association, 20 (2): 37–41,
4. Holes, Clive (2004), Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties, Georgetown University Press
5. Davis, Stuart (1995), "Emphasis Spread in Arabic and Grounded Phonology", Linguistic Inquiry, The MIT
Press, 26 (3): 465–498

5ARABIC PHONOLOGY
All the phonemes contrast between ‘emphatic’ (uvularised) and the ‘non – emphatic’
consonants. Through language contact and evolution, many of these phonemes have over
time have shifted into the dialects while new phonemes have found its way into the language
through borrowing.
Vowels
Vowels in MSA are characterized by the following features3:
 There are six vowel phonemes in Modern Standard Arabic forming three distinct pairs
of short vowels and long vowels - /a, aː, i, iː, u, uː/ . Certain spoken dialects also
include / oː / and / eː / in their phonological setup.
 There ae two diphthongs in Modern Standard Arabic, formed by combining short
/ a / with the semivowels / j / and / w /.
 In general, / a / and / aː / are retracted to [ ɑ ] when the neighbouring phonemes are /r/,
/ q / or a uvularised consonant in the following manner: / sˤ /, / dˤ /, / tˤ /, / ðˤ /, / ɫ /. In
certain regional dialects, the pronunciation also takes the following shape:
/ x / and / ɣ /.
 In parts of Iraq and parts of the Gulf of Persia, the phoneme [ ɐ ] prior to the word
boundary changes to [ æ ] when in the vicinity of most major consonants, like:
Labial Consonants - / m /, / b / and / f /
Most non emphatic consonants (Exceptions are - / r /, / θ /, / ð /, / n /, / t /, / d /, / s /, / z
/, /l/, / ʃ / and / d͡ʒ ~ ɡ ~ ʒ /)
Pharyngeal consonants - / ʕ / and / ħ /
Glottal Consonants - / ʔ / and / h /
1. Shrivtiel, Shraybom (1998). The Question of Romanisation of the Script and The Emergence of Nationalism in the
Middle East. Mediterranean Language Review. pp. 179–196.
2. "Encyclopaedia of Islam Romanization vs ALA Romanization for Arabic". University of Washington Libraries.
3. Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association, 20 (2): 37–41,
4. Holes, Clive (2004), Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties, Georgetown University Press
5. Davis, Stuart (1995), "Emphasis Spread in Arabic and Grounded Phonology", Linguistic Inquiry, The MIT
Press, 26 (3): 465–498

6ARABIC PHONOLOGY
Semivowels and velar - / j /, / k / and / w /.
 North African and West Asian [ æ ] and [ ɑ ] are Allophones and are characterised
differently as either [ a ~ ɑ ~ ɛ ] or [ a ~ ä ]. North western African Arabic is
charcaterised by the open front / æ / being raised to [ ɛ ] or [ e ].
 In the case of / i, iː, u, uː /, the North Afraican and West Asian Arabic realisation is in
the form of [ ɪ ~ e ~ ɨ ] while in the vicinity of emphatic consonants and [ q ], [ r ],
[ ħ ], [ ʕ ]. Different realisations of / u / include [ ʊ ~ o ~ ʉ ].
According to Thelwall, the following table provides a few examples of words that
demonstrate Arabic Vowel Usage3
Short long
iْ عِد / ʕ i d / " promise! " عِيد / ʕ iː d / " holiday "
uّ عُد / ʕ u d d / " count
(command) "
عُود / ʕ uː d / " lute "
aَ ّ د ع / ʕ a d d / " counted " اد ع / ʕ aː d / " came back "
aj يْن ع / ʕ aj n / " eye "
aw وْد ع / ʕ aw d / " return "
The following table shows the distribution of vowel phonemes in Modern Standard
Arabic and Classical Arabic3:
Short vowels Long vowels
Cl
os / / / iː /
1. Shrivtiel, Shraybom (1998). The Question of Romanisation of the Script and The Emergence of Nationalism in the
Middle East. Mediterranean Language Review. pp. 179–196.
2. "Encyclopaedia of Islam Romanization vs ALA Romanization for Arabic". University of Washington Libraries.
3. Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association, 20 (2): 37–41,
4. Holes, Clive (2004), Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties, Georgetown University Press
5. Davis, Stuart (1995), "Emphasis Spread in Arabic and Grounded Phonology", Linguistic Inquiry, The MIT
Press, 26 (3): 465–498
Front POA Back POA Front POA Back POA

7ARABIC PHONOLOGY
e position i / u / / uː /
Open position / a / / aː /
Diphthongs / aw /, / aj /
The above table also represents the most common distribution of vowel systems among
the dialects of Arabic with two distinct differences3:
1. Dialectal system introduces a mid vowel which incorporates / i / and / u / under short
front and back respectively.
2. The mid vowel also includes / e: / and / o: / in the long front and back respectively.
In Arabic Phonology, the final heavy syllable of a root is always stressed. In most
Varieties of Arabic, the long mid vowels ( / oː / and / eː / ) are seemingly phonemic in nature
and are capable of being used in Modern Standard Arabic in dialectal words or in some
loanwords of foreign names. The long mid vowels / eː / and / oː / are always associated with
the letters “ ي or و ”. The short mid vowels [ o, o̞ and ɔ ] are all probable allophones of / u /
like in “ وردكت ”
/ d u kˈ t oː r / ('doctor') pronounced [ d o kˈ t oː r ], however the difference between the mid
short vowels [ u, ʊ ] and [ o, o̞, ɔ ] are never phonemic in nature unless being used in case of
foreign words.
Similarly, short mid vowels [ e, e̞, ɛ ] are all potential allophones of / i / across different
dialects. For instance, “ بلجيكا ” / b i lˈ (d) ʒ iː k a / or / b a lˈ (d) ʒ iː k a / ('Belgium')
pronounced
[ b e lˈ (d) ʒ iː k a ]. However, the difference between the short mid vowels [ i, ɪ ] and
[ e, e̞, ɛ ] is never phonemic in nature and they mostly occur in complementary distribution.
1. Shrivtiel, Shraybom (1998). The Question of Romanisation of the Script and The Emergence of Nationalism in the
Middle East. Mediterranean Language Review. pp. 179–196.
2. "Encyclopaedia of Islam Romanization vs ALA Romanization for Arabic". University of Washington Libraries.
3. Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association, 20 (2): 37–41,
4. Holes, Clive (2004), Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties, Georgetown University Press
5. Davis, Stuart (1995), "Emphasis Spread in Arabic and Grounded Phonology", Linguistic Inquiry, The MIT
Press, 26 (3): 465–498

8ARABIC PHONOLOGY
Consonants
Modern Standard Arabic is characterised by 28 different consonants which fall under the
following places of articulation – Labial, Dental, Dental – Alveolar, Palatal, Velar, Uvular,
Pharyngeal and Glottal5,4. Notwithstanding the divide, the number and the phonetic
characteristic of most of the consonants has a certain aspect of regularity among most of the
Arabic Speaking zones. Arabic is rich in three different types of consonants, namely Uvular,
Pharyngeal and pharyngealised or emphatic sounds. The following are some key features of
the Arabic Consonants.
 The Emphatic coronals ( / sˤ /, / dˤ /, / tˤ /, and / ðˤ / ) are responsible for causing
assimilation of the emphatic to the adjacent non – emphatic coronal consonants.
 / p / ( پ ) and / v / ( ڤ ) are not considered to be the part of the Arabic Phonemic
Inventory as they are only used with Foreign words and are pronounced as / b / and
/ f /.
 The pronunciation of / d͡ʒ / ( ج ) has regional variation. Prominently, it is pronounced
as [ d͡ʒ ] in the main Arabian Peninsula, Parts of Levant, Iraq, the northern regions of
Algeria and Sudan, [ ʒ ] in most North western African dialects and the Levant, and
[ g ] in major parts of Egypt and many of the dialects of Yemen and Oman.
 In terms of articulation, emphatic consonants are articulated with the back of the
tongue approaching the pharynx. In Iraq and the Arabic Gulf, they are articulated with
the velar region. / q /, / ħ /, and / ʕ / are considered the emphatic replacements to /
k /, / h /, and / ʔ / respectively.
 The plosives can take the form of dental or alveolar depending on the region.
1. Shrivtiel, Shraybom (1998). The Question of Romanisation of the Script and The Emergence of Nationalism in the
Middle East. Mediterranean Language Review. pp. 179–196.
2. "Encyclopaedia of Islam Romanization vs ALA Romanization for Arabic". University of Washington Libraries.
3. Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association, 20 (2): 37–41,
4. Holes, Clive (2004), Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties, Georgetown University Press
5. Davis, Stuart (1995), "Emphasis Spread in Arabic and Grounded Phonology", Linguistic Inquiry, The MIT
Press, 26 (3): 465–498

9ARABIC PHONOLOGY
 In the Arabic spoken in Iraq and the eastern Arabian peninsula, ض / dˤ / and ط / tˤ /
are pronounced as [ d̪ˠ ] and [ t̪ˠ ], respectively.
 In Sudan, even in the literary Arabic, / q / ( ق ) is usually pronounced as [ ɢ ].
 In certain non – standard pronunciations and some varieties, / θ / and / ð / may be
merged to form [ t ] and [ d ] or [ s ] and [ z ], respectively.
 Owing to evolution, in most regions, the uvular fricatives from the classical Arabic
has turned to be velar or post velar.
 The voiced pharyngeal fricative / ʕ / ( ع ) is described as a ‘creaky voiced epiglottal
approximant’. Its unvoiced alternative / ħ / ( ح ) is considered epiglottal, even though
it is a true fricative in nature4.
 Long consonants (either geminate or double) are pronounced exactly the way short
consonants are pronounced, but in terms of time, they last longer. In Arabic, they are
termed ‘mushaddadah’ (strengthened) and are marked with a shaddah. However, they
are not pronounced ‘stronger’. In regions across Western Asia, a common feature that
can be found in this case is the occurrence of an epenthetic [ ə ] between a long
consonant and a pause.
Phonotactics of Modern Standard Arabic.
The following structure denotes the Arabic syllable strcture:
( C1 ) ( S1 ) V ( S2 ) ( C2 ( C3 ) )
It consists of an extra syllable onset, which consists of one or more consonants, a
mandatory nucleus, an optional vowel that is either preceded or followed by a semivowel as
well as an optional coda which again consists of one or two consonants4. The Arabic syllable
structure follows the following restrictions
1. Shrivtiel, Shraybom (1998). The Question of Romanisation of the Script and The Emergence of Nationalism in the
Middle East. Mediterranean Language Review. pp. 179–196.
2. "Encyclopaedia of Islam Romanization vs ALA Romanization for Arabic". University of Washington Libraries.
3. Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association, 20 (2): 37–41,
4. Holes, Clive (2004), Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties, Georgetown University Press
5. Davis, Stuart (1995), "Emphasis Spread in Arabic and Grounded Phonology", Linguistic Inquiry, The MIT
Press, 26 (3): 465–498

10ARABIC PHONOLOGY
 Onset – the first consonant ( C1 ) can be anything, either a liquid or a glide. Onset will
be composed of just a single consonant whereas consonant clusters are found only in
cases of loanwords. In some cases an epenthetic / a / finds a spot between consonants.
 Nucleus – consists of two semivowels ( S1 and S2 ) and a vowel ( V ).
 Coda – The first consonant ( C2 ) can be any consonant. Same is the case for the
second consonant ( C3 ).
In case of word stress, the placement of the stress also varies from dialect to dialect.
Arabic employs three different types of syllables, namely Light, Heavy and Super – Heavy.
 Light: It is an open syllable that consists of a short vowel (i.e. C V ), such as w a' a n
d'
 Heavy: (i) An open syllable containing a long vowel (i.e. C V V ), such as s ā.f a r a
'he travelled'. (ii) A closed syllable containing a short vowel followed by one
consonant (i.e. C V C ), such as min 'from' or ka. t a b . t u 'I wrote'
 Super-heavy: (i) A closed syllable containing a long vowel followed by one
consonant (i.e. C V V C ), such as b ā b# 'door' or m ā d. d u n 'stretching'. (ii) A
closed syllable consisting of a vowel of any length succeeded by two consonants (i.e.
C V C C, C V V C C), such as b i n t# 'girl' or m ā d d# 'stretching'.
The pattern of word stress in Arabic has been a matter of debate for a long time. Even
with repeated exceptions, there is a generalised rule regarding word stress in Arabic that says
that the stress will fall on the penultimate syllable of the word in case of a closed syllable and
the antepenultimate in case of an open syllable. The following is the structure of the rule as it
is agreed upon in Classical Arabic3:
1. Shrivtiel, Shraybom (1998). The Question of Romanisation of the Script and The Emergence of Nationalism in the
Middle East. Mediterranean Language Review. pp. 179–196.
2. "Encyclopaedia of Islam Romanization vs ALA Romanization for Arabic". University of Washington Libraries.
3. Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association, 20 (2): 37–41,
4. Holes, Clive (2004), Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties, Georgetown University Press
5. Davis, Stuart (1995), "Emphasis Spread in Arabic and Grounded Phonology", Linguistic Inquiry, The MIT
Press, 26 (3): 465–498

11ARABIC PHONOLOGY
 Stress a pre - pausal super - heavy ( C V V C, C V V G G, or C V C C) syllable:
[ k iˈ t aː b ] ‘book’, [ ˈm aː d d ] ‘stretching ( MASC SG)’, [ ʃ aːˈ r I b t ] ‘I/you
drank’.
 If not, stress the rightmost or ending non - final heavy ( C V V, C V C, or C V V G )
syllable (until the antepenultimate): [ d aˈ r a s n aː ] ‘we learnt’, [ ṣ aːˈ b uː n u n ]
‘soap (NOM)’, [ ˈm a k t a b a h ] ‘library’, [ ˈm aː d d u n ] ‘stretching (NOM)’,
[ ˈm a k t a b a t u n ] ‘library’ (non - pausal) (or [ m a kˈ t a b a t u n ]).
 If not, stress the leftmost (beginning) C V syllable (or antepenultimate): [ ˈk a t a b a ]
‘he wrote’, [ ˈk a t a b a t u h u ] ‘library’ (or [ k a t a ˈ b a t u h u ]).
The first two rules are followed by Modern Standard Arabic, however, in case of a
missing final super – heavy or a heavy antepenultimate, the rule changes.
There are certain local variations of the Modern Standard Arabic where the spoken
variant differs from the Classical and MS Arabic. The differences are noted in terms of
grammar as well as pronunciation. The difference is vast and beyond the scope of this paper
but just to give an example, the following are three examples of the phonological nuances
that segregate the languages and the dialects:
 In Egyptian Arabic exists a requirement to transcribe / ʒ / or / d͡ʒ / since both are
consolidated to [ ʒ ] using چ
 / g / does not form a part of the phonemic inventory of Urban dialects of Levantine
Arabic (Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian).
 Unlike / g / and / t͡ʃ /, / p / and / v / never occur natively in Arabic dialects and are
always restricted to borrowed or loan – words in all cases of the following dialects:
Moroccan Arabic, Tunisian Arabic, Algerian Arabic, Hejazi Arabic, Najdi Arabic,
Egyptian Arabic, Levantine Arabic, Palestinian Arabic, Iraqi Arabic and Gulf Arabic.
1. Shrivtiel, Shraybom (1998). The Question of Romanisation of the Script and The Emergence of Nationalism in the
Middle East. Mediterranean Language Review. pp. 179–196.
2. "Encyclopaedia of Islam Romanization vs ALA Romanization for Arabic". University of Washington Libraries.
3. Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association, 20 (2): 37–41,
4. Holes, Clive (2004), Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties, Georgetown University Press
5. Davis, Stuart (1995), "Emphasis Spread in Arabic and Grounded Phonology", Linguistic Inquiry, The MIT
Press, 26 (3): 465–498

12ARABIC PHONOLOGY
/ g / is used in modern standard Arabic as a phoneme to pronounce some dialectal
words and some loan words. However, in most modern Arabic dialect, it is considered a
native phoneme or allophone mostly as a type of ق / q / (as in the Arabian Peninsula and the
Northwest African dialects) or as a variant of / d͡ʒ / ج (as in the Egyptian and a number of
Yemeni and Omani dialects). It is also identified as a foreign phoneme that appears only in
loanwords, for example in most Levantine dialects where ق is / ʔ / and ج is / d͡ʒ ~ ʒ /.
The following table depicts the phonologies of different Arabic dialects where the variation
revolves around the six consonants: ⟨ ج ⟩, ⟨ ق ⟩, ⟨ ث ⟩, ⟨ ذ ⟩, ⟨ ض ⟩ and ⟨ ظ ⟩:
Alpha
bet
IPA
Modern
Standard
Main Dialectal
types
Uncommon disctinctions
ث / θ / / θ / [ θ ] [ t ] [ s ] [ f ]
ج / ɟ / or / d͡ʒ / / d͡ʒ / [ d͡ʒ ] [ ʒ ] [ g ] [ ɟ ] [ j ] [ d͡z ]
ذ / ð / / ð / [ ð ] [ d ] [ z ] [ v ]
ض / ɮˤ / / dˤ / [ dˤ ] [ ðˤ ] [ zˤ ] [ d ]
ظ / ðˤ / / ðˤ / [ ðˤ ] [ dˤ ] [ zˤ ]
ق / q / or / g / / q / [ q ] [ g ] [ ʔ ] [ ɢ ] [ k ] [ d͡ʒ ] [ d͡z ] [ ɣ ~ ʁ ]
Cairene, or the Egyptian Arabic
The Egyptian Arabic is more commonly known as the Cairene Arabic. It is a
sedentary variety of Arabic and owing to the dominance of the Egyptian media, has become
1. Shrivtiel, Shraybom (1998). The Question of Romanisation of the Script and The Emergence of Nationalism in the
Middle East. Mediterranean Language Review. pp. 179–196.
2. "Encyclopaedia of Islam Romanization vs ALA Romanization for Arabic". University of Washington Libraries.
3. Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association, 20 (2): 37–41,
4. Holes, Clive (2004), Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties, Georgetown University Press
5. Davis, Stuart (1995), "Emphasis Spread in Arabic and Grounded Phonology", Linguistic Inquiry, The MIT
Press, 26 (3): 465–498

13ARABIC PHONOLOGY
the de facto standard variety in certain segments of the Arabic speaking population. We can
identify a few special features of the Cairene Arabic as follows5:
 Emphatic labials [ mˤ ] and [ bˤ ] and emphatic [ rˤ ] are added to Cairene Arabic with
marginal phonemic status.
 Cairene has also assimilated the inter - dental consonants with the dental plosives (e.g.
/ θ a l aː θ a / → [ t æˈ l æː t æ ], 'three') except in Classical Arabic Loanwords where
they are identified as native sibilant fricatives (e.g. / θ aː n a w i j j a / →
[ s æ n æˈ w e j j a ], 'secondary school').
 Cairene speakers pronounce / d͡ʒ / as [ ɡ ] and de-buccalize / q / to [ ʔ ].
 Egyptian Arabic sometimes expresses minimal pairs like [ ˈʃ æ j l æ ] ('carrying' f.s.)
vs [ˈʃ eː l æ ] ('burden'). [ ɡ eː b ] 'pocket' + [ n æ ] 'our' → collapsing with [ ˈɡ e b n æ
] which means ('cheese' or 'our pocket'), because Cairene phonology is incapable of
handling long vowels before two consonants.
Fallahi or the Jordanian Arabic
The modern standard variety of Arabic spoken in Jordan is called ‘Al-Arabiyya Al-
Fusha’ or shortened as Al Fusha. While in Jordan, the language came in contact with that of
the native Jordanians, forming a pidgin which later turned into a creole with certain
identifiable similarities with Al-Fusha. Currently, Jordanian Arabic incorporates many
regional varieties like the urban Madani, The rural Fallahi and the Bedouin Badawi. While in
Irbid Township, Madani is the most commonly used language, Fallahi finds extensive use in
the rural context in the Irbid villages. A big part of places like Ajloun and Jerash also fall
under this categorization.
1. Shrivtiel, Shraybom (1998). The Question of Romanisation of the Script and The Emergence of Nationalism in the
Middle East. Mediterranean Language Review. pp. 179–196.
2. "Encyclopaedia of Islam Romanization vs ALA Romanization for Arabic". University of Washington Libraries.
3. Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association, 20 (2): 37–41,
4. Holes, Clive (2004), Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties, Georgetown University Press
5. Davis, Stuart (1995), "Emphasis Spread in Arabic and Grounded Phonology", Linguistic Inquiry, The MIT
Press, 26 (3): 465–498

14ARABIC PHONOLOGY
One of the components that make Fallahi different from Al-Fusha is the syllable
structure of the language. In Fallahi, the complex onsets exist while in Al-Fusha they are
omitted. Even in case of complex codas, it is only possible in the Fallahi variety and not in
Al-Fusha, since in the former, it maintains the Sonority Sequencing Principle.
There are certain significant differences between the vowel and consonant structures of
Fallahi from the MSA, the following table depicts the way the consonants and the vowels in
Fallahi are structured:
Consonants3
Plosive Nasal Tap Fricative Affricate Approximant Lateral
Labial b m f w
Inter-dental θ ð ðʕ
(Post)alveol
ar
t tʕ d n ɾ s sʕ ʃ z d ʒ l
Palatal j
Velar k g
Uvular x ɣ
Pharyngeal ħ ʕ
Glottal ʔ h
Vowels3
Frontal Centralised Backened
1. Shrivtiel, Shraybom (1998). The Question of Romanisation of the Script and The Emergence of Nationalism in the
Middle East. Mediterranean Language Review. pp. 179–196.
2. "Encyclopaedia of Islam Romanization vs ALA Romanization for Arabic". University of Washington Libraries.
3. Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association, 20 (2): 37–41,
4. Holes, Clive (2004), Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties, Georgetown University Press
5. Davis, Stuart (1995), "Emphasis Spread in Arabic and Grounded Phonology", Linguistic Inquiry, The MIT
Press, 26 (3): 465–498

15ARABIC PHONOLOGY
Two key
features of
Fallahi
phonology that
differentiates it from Modern Standard Arabic are:
 the presence of Velar / g / in Fallahi along with the alveo-palatal variant / tʃ / instead
of / k /.
 Diphthongs in Fallahi are also found to be absent. Therefore a word like ‘saif’ in Al-
Fusha is changed to sound like s e : f in Irbid Arabic
 A feature of Irbid Arabic or more specifically Fallahi is the presence of complex
onsets when they are followed by long vowels:
Sba : ħa ( C C V : C V ) - Swimming
Wla : d ( C C V : C ) – Children
 / θ /, the voiceless inter-dental fricative has two other discrete variants, voiceless
dental stop [ t ], and voiceless alveolar fricative [ s ]. In Irbid Arabic, these three
represent a separate phoneme each. These three variants differ in a number of ways
while occurring in different conditions. As shown in the following examples, they
differ in terms of various minimal pairs
e.g.1. / θ a : m Ι r / [ θ a : m Ι r ] "Thamir"
/ s a : m Ι r / [ s a : m Ι r ] "Samir"
/ t a : m Ι r / [ t a : m Ι r ] "Tamir"
e.g.2. / θ a r a / [ θ a r a ] "soil"
/ s a r a / [ s a r a ] "He left early"
1. Shrivtiel, Shraybom (1998). The Question of Romanisation of the Script and The Emergence of Nationalism in the
Middle East. Mediterranean Language Review. pp. 179–196.
2. "Encyclopaedia of Islam Romanization vs ALA Romanization for Arabic". University of Washington Libraries.
3. Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association, 20 (2): 37–41,
4. Holes, Clive (2004), Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties, Georgetown University Press
5. Davis, Stuart (1995), "Emphasis Spread in Arabic and Grounded Phonology", Linguistic Inquiry, The MIT
Press, 26 (3): 465–498
Short Long Short Long Short Long
High i i: u u:
Mid e: o:
Low a a:

16ARABIC PHONOLOGY
/t a r a/ [ t a r a ] "She can see"
 [ T ], [ t ], and [ s ] can also be considered to be allophones of the same phoneme /
Τ /. For example
/ θ a l a : T / [ θ a l a : T ] "three"
/ θ a l a : T / [ t a l a : t ] "three"
/ θ a l a : T / [ s a l a : s ] "three"
 / dʒ /, the voiced post-alveolar affricate has two types: voiced post-alveolar affricate
[ dʒ ], and voiced alveolar fricative [ Ζ ]. It must be noted that [ dʒ ] is connected
more with Irbid Arabic whereas [ Ζ ] is associated with the Urban Speech.
Conclusion
For a Language like Arabic, it becomes very important to understand that there are a
lot of people using the same language over a period of time and a lot of places. Thus, it is not
difficult to guess that the linguistic features of the language will be different for all. In terms
of phonology, Arabic has many different features that give it a different structure from its
dialects. To identify all its features would be a tough task to accomplish. This paper has
identified certain features of Arabic Phonology that can be employed and studied to find out
which aspects of the phonological differences and theories can correlate and contribute to a
future research project. Moreover, combining the study with a detailed study on the morpho-
syntactic analysis of the Arabian language would also provide greater detail and insight into
the entailments of the language and how Romanisation can be achieved. This paper has
attempted to serve the purpose of being a start towards a bigger future study on the dialectal
and standardised variations that come with the language.
1. Shrivtiel, Shraybom (1998). The Question of Romanisation of the Script and The Emergence of Nationalism in the
Middle East. Mediterranean Language Review. pp. 179–196.
2. "Encyclopaedia of Islam Romanization vs ALA Romanization for Arabic". University of Washington Libraries.
3. Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association, 20 (2): 37–41,
4. Holes, Clive (2004), Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions, and Varieties, Georgetown University Press
5. Davis, Stuart (1995), "Emphasis Spread in Arabic and Grounded Phonology", Linguistic Inquiry, The MIT
Press, 26 (3): 465–498

Running head: ARABIC PHONOLOGY
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