like a loud whispering from the throat. It must be kept distinctfrom the sounds of خ /h
̆/ (7) and هـ.. /h/ (26).
(7) H
̆a ̄(^) خ /h
̆
/ This consonant occurs in many languages. It is a
voiceless postvelar (before or after /i/) or uvular (before or after /a/
or /u/) fricative, quite similar to the so-called ach-Laut in German
‘Nacht’ or Scottish ‘loch’ or the Spanish j in ‘mujer’, but in Arabic
it has a stronger, rasping sound.
(8) Da ̄l (^) د /d/ A voiced dental stop as the d in English ‘leader’.
(9) D
̄ ̄
a ̄l ذ /d
̄
/ A voiced interdental fricative, as the th in English
‘either’.
(10) Ra ̄
(^) ر /r/ A voiced alveolar trill, which differs from English r in
that it is a rolled sound or trill, pronounced as a rapid succession
of flaps of the tongue, similar to Scottish r in ‘radical’ or Italian r
in ‘parlare’ or Spanish rr in ‘perro’.
(11) Zayn (^) ز /z/ A voiced alveolar sibilant, as the z in English ‘gazelle’.
(12) Sı ̄n (^) س /s/ A voiceless alveolar sibilant as the s in English ‘state’.
(13) Sˇı ̄n (^) ش /sˇ/ A voiceless palato-alveolar sibilant as the sh in
English ‘shave’, ‘push’.
(14) S
̇
a ̄d (^) ص /s
̇
/ Belongs to the group of emphatic consonants. The
emphatic consonants are pronounced with more emphasis and
further back in the mouth than their non-emphatic (plain)
counterparts. In pronouncing them the body and root of the
tongue are (simultaneously) drawn back towards the rear wall
of the throat (pharynx), and also the tip of the tongue is slightly
retracted. Hence the emphatic consonants are also called
pharyngealized consonants. ص /s
̇
/ is thus the emphatic or
pharyngealized counterpart of the plain alveolar س /s/ (12) and
sounds somewhat similar to the s in English ‘son’ or ‘assumption’.
For the retracting and lowering effect of the emphatic consonants
on the adjacent vowels, see chapter 4.
(15) D
̇
a ̄d (^) ض /d
̇
/ It is also an emphatic consonant, classified as a
pharyngealized voiced alveolar stop. Arab phoneticians and
reciters of the Quran recommend it is pronounced as a counter-
6
Pronuncia-
tion of
consonants