2 Long vowels and issues with reading and writing
In Week 1 you were introduced to Arabic vowels. In this week you will learn about long vowels in addition to ‘At-Tāʾ al-marbūṭah’ and ‘Hamza’, which are also crucial for reading and meaning-making. As a reminder, have a look at the table from the last week:
| Examples in words | Examples with independent letters | Pronunciation | Vowels |
|---|---|---|---|
| عِلْم - حَقِيبَة | عِ - قِ | I | kasraكَسْرَة below the letter |
| لُب - نُمُور | لُ - نُ | U | ḍammaضمّة above the letter |
| جَمَل - ثَعْلَب | جَ - ثَ | A | Fatḥaفَتْحَة above the letter |
| مَفْهُوم - عَمَلْ | فْ - لْ | indicates the consonant | Sukūnسُكُون above the letter |
Long vowels:
Long vowels in Arabic can appear in three forms:
- Fatḥa followed by Alif : ā
- Kasra followed by yāʾ: ī
- ḍamma followed by wāw: ū
Examples: listen to the following audio and repeat to practice the long vowels in Arabic.
Download this audio clip.Audio player: Audio 4
Audio 4
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).
| 1 Fatḥa followed by Alif : ā | زَرَافَة - خَالد - مَاجِد |
| 2 Kasra followed by yāʾ: ī | عَلِيم - جَدِيد - طَبِيب |
| 3 ḍamma followed by wāw: ū | خَرُوف - ضُمُور - زُهُور |
Activity 2
Timing: 15 minutes
a.
حُزْن
b.
سَفِير
c.
أَجَابَ
The correct answers are b and c.