An exploration towards a generalized Phonetic

Transliteration of Classical Arabic

Featuring complete computerized rules of recitation and a special
transliteration system for the Classical Arabic letters such as
()

By Gregory Morse
www.islamsource.info
With help from Israa Alaradi
May Allah accept this effort at advancing transliteration of this most blessed language! Truly if
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq and Uthman ibn Affan spent their valuable time as leaders advancing preservation of
the Quran in Arabic writing, then how would it not be worth our time to transliterate it into English in
the modern context? Some history: During this time, Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi (died 786) devised a
tashkil system to replace that of Abu al-Aswad. His system has been universally used since the early 11th
century, and includes six diacritical marks: fatha (a), damma (u), kasra (i), sukun (vowel-less), shadda
(double consonant), madda (vowel prolongation; applied to the alif).
This paper is the start of what will ultimately grow into a complete transliteration system from
classical Arabic into English, by tackling one of the toughest issues to do justice for such a system first
upfront and in a phonological manner.
The particular Arabic letter is one of the most difficult for English speakers to pronounce and
one of the most difficult to come up with a consistent and extensive set of rules for transliteration.
Evaluation for a transliteration must take into account most essentially the vowel sounds on either side
of it. The throat is not used in English but there are more guttural sounds which can be used as a best
phonetic approximation that gives the best spirit of transliteration. Guttural speech sounds are those
with a primary place of articulation near the back of the oral cavity. The rules here are prefix and postfix
based but can be combined as some of the examples show.
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) lists the letter as a voiced pharyngeal approximant or
fricative indicated by . Although traditionally placed in the fricative row of the IPA chart, is usually
an approximant. The IPA symbol itself is ambiguous, but no language is known to make a phonemic
distinction between fricatives and approximants at this place of articulation. The approximant is
sometimes specified as or as . A pharyngeal consonant is a type of consonant which is articulated
with the root of the tongue against the pharynx.
The best approximation will attempt to bring the point of articulation to the very bottom and
back of the throat where it is pronounced. In English there is one glottal consonant, the letter h as in

high. Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis.
There is also 5 velar consonants, including the nasal ng as in sing, w as in weep, ch as in loch, g
as in gaggle, and k as in kiss. Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the
dorsum) against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth (known also as the velum).
The vowels make a great deal of difference between dialects of spoken English and even other
languages which have moved towards Romanized alphabets generally being the distinguishing factor
over the consonants. The primary focus of vowels is the back vowels, the defining characteristic of
which is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a
constriction that would be classified as a consonant. In all dialects of English, the back vowels include
oo as in boot, oo as in hook, o as in not or ough as in thought, a as in bath, as well as a
number of diphthongs which make use of these back vowels.
The only letters used beyond those to transliterate the vowels in their normal cases will thus
come from this groupings of back vowels and glottal and velar consonants. The exception is the letter
e which has been used several times here as it is used in front or central vowel combinations but it is
used in place of i as it is generally more open than close meaning the position of the tongue is not at
the top of the mouth but instead low in the mouth.
The following Arabic letters , ( which is equal to an English h) are glottal and pharyngeal
letters are , while the uvular letters ( equal to English ch as in loch), , (equal to English g),
( equal to English q) while the velar letters are ( equal to English k), and the consonantal form of
( equal to English w) so the rules apply to the non-English equivalents of , and of course .
The so-called emphatic Arabic letters , , , and only in the word ( without emphasis
equal to s, d, t, th, and l in English respectively) though dental are velarized or pharyngeal-ized, so
these same rules could be applied to them. However, since the point of articulation is not in the throat
but the emphasis of the letter carries it back, the chart would only apply to the vowels after the those
letters and not before. on the other hand is a glottal stop which does not continue or start. The
name Allah is already a well-accepted English words and any Arabic loan words which have made it into
the English dictionary with a regularized spelling should be accepted as such even if a better
transliteration is possible.
Some aspects of recitation especially those of nasalization and prolongation cannot be
expressed with phonetic symbols in English. A metadata scheme is required which can provide this
information symbolically or through a color coded scheme or a combination there of.
It is also worth noting that there are 2 possible subsystems of classic Arabic transliteration into
English, the first letter-by-letter quite literally transliterating, while the second looks at sentences
composed of words primarily because word-by-word would have problem at the end of sentences
where letters are often omitted and this style also intelligently assimilates letters when appropriate
from the moon and sun letter categories, and silences letters that become combining place-holder like
letters. Furthermore, styles of transliteration can be done as plain roman or as a Romanized form that
uses letters with markup that are outside the normal English alphabet or even using capitalization.
Several stages are used in this phonetic transliteration scheme. The first is an error check which
filters out illegal usages as the special Arabic letters and ones features diacritics or some depending on
the location in the word. This can help improve the consistency of diacritic usage on classical Arabic

texts as well as allow for a consistent platform for checking optional but desirable diacritics such as the
one which represents lack of a vowel as they can be marked as an error or at least a warning. The
second stage adds metadata for rules of recitation to the Arabic and processing can be stopped at this
stage to produce the Arabic rules of recitation, otherwise processing continues which will transliterate
taking account this metadata. The third stage decomposes combination Arabic symbols into finer
symbols in the order given. The fourth stage applies transliteration in the given order including using
some transliteration functions to keep the tables simplified. Currently using a regular expression based
grammar: \b for word boundary, \B for not a word boundary, \s for whitespace, \w for letter of a
word, $ for end of expression, ^ for beginning of expression or not if in a grouping, ( followed by )
to represent groupings, [ followed by ] to represent character classes, + for combination or meaning
1 or more, | as an or separator, * meaning 0 or more, ? meaning 0 or 1, and < followed by > then
</ followed by > to represent surrounding metadata. Character classes are used to represent the
various groupings in consideration including letters, sunletters, moonletters, specialgutteral,
specialleadinggutteral where a character can appear in more than one group. Table factoring has used
letterrules and gutteralrules as sub-tables which can be referenced. letterspelling is a special usage
where the letters are spelled out with Arabic letters as given in the table. decomposeletters takes a
word and processes each letter through the rule separately. For the rules of recitation, the original
letters never change in anyway but the metadata tags give pronunciation guidance information only.
The system is suffering ambiguity problems given that English uses combinations like th and
sh to best represent Arabic transliteration yet it also uses t, s, and h separately as well. But given
that the primary emphasis is on phonetic correctness, ambiguity is second in priority. The traditional
kh transliteration here is changed to ch as it is phonetically correct due to the word loch and even
unambiguous given c is not used. The traditional dz, z, dh or th to show the variety which has been
put in use is using the only phonetic possibility of th and the th can potentially be changed to either
tth as in Matthew or fth as in twelfth though ambiguity will remain. Corrections must be made
here for final revision given that ambiguity should also not be accepted unless it is the only phonetically
acceptable answer so more research is required in that realm. It probably cannot be resolved given that
English phonics play the primary role in the ambiguity as highlighted simply by the th in thin versus
this.
A color coding scheme is provided after stage two as if going directly to Arabic, the color coding
rules can be applied then and there otherwise after stage three and a custom stage to a transliteration
scheme which does not attempt to transliterate the color coding metadata, that can effectively be
implemented after a custom fourth stage using any of the various transliteration schemes in existence
that need only provide a 1 to 1 scheme for the primary 28 Arabic letters, the 3 short vowels, the 3 long
vowels and the 3 tanweens as by stage 4 it is broken down into those letters plus the coloring metadata.

Error check
Error
+ (^ | ^ | ^ ) |
+ ^ | ^ + |
Missing diacritic
(^ | ^) + |
^ + )^ | ^( |

+
([nonvowelletter
]| ||||
)| | + (\b |
[nonvowelletter]
| ) | | |
(^ + | ) | | +
\b
(|||||
)| + \B
\b + ( | | |
*) | | + ( |
| | || ||||
| | |)
\B + ^( | | |
*) | | +
( \ \ \ \ \ \ ) |
+ ( + \ \
\ \ \ \)* | () |
+ | ( ) | + (
\ \ \ \ \) |
+ ( | \ \ \ \
\) + ^ + +
| | | |

Sukoon
()
Missing diacritic
Must not appear at end of
word
Can only appear at end of
word
Must not appear at
beginning of word
Must appear at beginning
of word

Not valid combination

Needs to be recomposed

Conversions

Metadata

| | + \s*

<compulsorystop></

Recitation
rule ()
Stopping

()
compulsorystop> |
<endofversestop></
endofversestop > |
<prostration></prostrati
on> + $ + \s* + \b
<canstoporcontinue></c
anstoporcontinue> |
<betternottostop></bett
ernottostop> |
<stopatfirstnotsecond><
/stopatfirstnotsecond> +
\w* +
<stopatsecondnotfirst><
/stopatsecondnotfirst> |
| | + \w* + <bettertostopbutpermissib
|||
letocontinue></bettertos
topbutpermissibletocontin
ue> |
<bettertocontinuebutperm
issibletostop></betterto
continuebutpermissibleto
stop> |
<subtlestopwithoutbreath
></subtlestopwithoutbre
ath>
| | | | + <empty> | | | |
\s* + $
</empty> + \s* + $
+ ( | | | | <helperheh></helperheh
+ \b

 | | ) + \s* +
$
( | | ) + ( |
) | | | +
+ \B
() | | | |
+(||||
| ) + \s* + $
() | | | |
+ + + \s* +
$

> + ( | | | | | |
) + \s* + $
( | | ) + <bounce>( |
<) | | | /bounce> +
+ \B
<bounce>( | | | |
<)/bounce> + ( | | |
| | ) + \s* + $
<bounce>( | | | |
<)/bounce> + + +
\s* + $

Small
bounce
()
Moderate
bounce
()
Great
bounce
()
Nasalize
<normalprolong><nasaliz character

e></nasalize></normalp
doubled
(
rolong>
)
Vowel-less
) | | | (( |
) | | | (( | + \b +
noon clear
+ \b + \s*) + ( |
\s*) + ( ( ) | | | | |
) | | | |
)
<empty></empty> +
Vowel-less
<nasalize></nasalize> | noon
<(( ) | | | (( | empty></empty> |
covered (
+ ( | | | ) <dividetanween(, ,
)
+ \b + \s*) + ( | < empty>, </empty>)> |
) |
| </dividetanween> +
<nasalize>( | | |
)</nasalize>) + \b + \s*)

) | | | (( |
+ \b + \s*) + ( |
\ | ) | | b +
( ) | + \b

) | | | (( |
+ \b + \s*) + ( |
| )

) | | | (( |
+ \b + \s*) + (
)| | | |

+ () | |
<assimilate></assimilat
e> |
(<assimilate></assimilat
e> | <dividetanween(, ,
<assimilate>,
</assimilate>)> | |
</dividetanween>) + \b +
\s*) +
<assimilator><normalpro
long><nasalize>( | | |
<)/nasalize></normalpro
long></assimilator> | \b +
( ) | + \b
<assimilate></assimilat
e> |
(<assimilate></assimilat
e> | <dividetanween(, ,
<assimilate>,
</assimilate>)> | |
</dividetanween>) + \b +
\s*) + <assimilator>( |
<)/assimilator> |
<normalprolong><nasaliz
e></nasalize></normalp
rolong> |
((<normalprolong><nasal
ize></nasalize></norma

Vowel-less
noon
assimilating
nasalization
(
)

Vowel-less
noon
assimilating
(
)

Vowel-less
noon hide
heaviness
(

lprolong> |
<dividetanween(, ,
<normalprolong><nasaliz
e>,
</nasalize></normalprolo
ng>)> | |
</dividetanween>) + \b +
\s*) + () | | | |
<normalprolong><nasaliz
e></nasalize></normalp
rolong> |
((<normalprolong><nasal
ize></nasalize></norma
) | | | (( | lprolong> |
+ \b + \s*) + ( | < dividetanween(, ,
|||||
<normalprolong><nasaliz
) | | |
e>,
</nasalize></normalprolo
ng>)> | |
</dividetanween>) + \b +
\s*) + ( | | | | | |
) | | |
<normalprolong><nasaliz

e>< /nasalize></normalp
rolong>
(<normalprolong><nasali
( | + \b + \s*)
ze></nasalize></normal
+ + ( | | )
prolong> |

Vowel-less
noon hide
lightness
(

)

Character
doubled
()
Vowel-less
meem hide
(

( | + \b + \s*)
+ + ( | | )

( | + \b + \s*)
+(||||
|||||
|||||
|||||
| | | |
)+ ( | | )

<normalprolong><nasaliz
e></nasalize></normalp
rolong> + \b + \s*) + \b +
\s* + + ( | | )
(<assimilate></assimilat
e> |
<assimilate></assimilate
> + \b + \s*) +
<assimilator><normalpro
long><nasalize></nasali
ze></normalprolong></a
ssimilator> + ( | | )

Vowel-less
meem
assimilating
small
identical (

)

Vowel-less
( | + \b + \s*) + ( | | meem clear
| ( | | | | | | |
| ) | | | | | |
) | | | | | | +
( | | )

Vowel-less
( | + \b + \s*)
meem clear
( | + \b + \s*) + ( |
+ ( ) | | +
greater (
)| + ( | | )
( | | )

)
^ + \s* +
Empty
^ + \s* + +
<helperfatha></helperfat Hamza (
([sunletter] + |
ha> + + ([sunletter] + )
[moonletter])
| [moonletter])

^ + \s* + ( +
[letter] + ( | |
)? + [letter] +
( | )) | |
| |
| | | |
| | |
|
^ + \s* + +
[letter] + ( | |
|) + [letter] +

\w+ + \s* + \b +

^ + \s* +
<helperkasra></helperka
sra> + ([letter] + ( | |
)? + [letter] + ( | )) |
| | | |
| | | | | |
|

^ + \s* +
<helperdamma></helper
damma> + [letter] + ( |
| ) + [letter] +
\w+ + \s* + \b +
<empty></empty>
<assimilate></assimilat
+ \b + \s* + ( e> + \b + \s* +
)|
<assimilator>( |
<)/assimilator>
) | ( | +
< ) | ( | assimilate></assimilat
+ \b + \s* + ( | e> + \b + \s* +
)
<assimilator>( |
<)/assimilator>
(^ + \s* | \b) + ( | | |
(^ + \s* | \b) + (
?) | + +
|||||
<assimilate></assimilat
*)+ +
e> +
[sunletter] +
<assimilator>[sunletter]</

Laam of
verb
()
Laam of
particle
()
Assimilate
laam sun
letters (
)

assimilator> +
(^ + \s* | \b) + (
|||||
*)+
(<empty><emp
ty> |
<helperfatha></
helperfatha> | |
)+ +
[moonletter]

\b +

Clear laam
moon letters
(^ + \s* | \b) + [ | | |

(
?) | +

)
(<empty></empty> |
<helperfatha></helperfat
ha> | ) | + +
[moonletter]
+
<helperkasra></helperkas
ra> +
<helperalifwasl></helper
alifwasl> +
<helperlaam></helperlaa
m> +
Laam
heaviness
()
Laam
| lightness (
+ ([letter] + |) +
)
+ ( | ) | ( | ) + |
Raa
( |) | + [elevation] heaviness
+ ( | | ) | ( | ) +
()
(^ )+ + + ( | | |
| | ) + $ | + [letter]

( |) + ([letter] ( |) + ([letter] + |) +

+ |) +

+ ([letter] +
|
|) +
+ ( | ) | (
|) + | )| ( |
+ [elevation]
+ ( | | ) | (
|) + (^ )+ +

+(|||
| |) + $ | +
[letter] + ( | )
| +
[lowness] | +
[lowness] +
+ + ( | | |
| | ) + $ |
+ ( | | |
| | ) + $

+ ( | )

| + [lowness] | +
[lowness] + + + ( |
| | | |) + $ | +
( | | | | | ) + $

<assimilate>[nonvowellet
[nonvowelletter
ter]</assimilate> + +
| ] | + +
<assimilator>[nonvowell
[nonvowelletter]
etter]</assimilator> + ( |
+ ( | | )
| )
[nonvowelletter] + ( | |
) + [nonvowelletter] +
[nonvowelletter]
( | | ) | +
+ ( | | ) +
<assimilate></assimilat
[nonvowelletter]
e> + +
+ ( | | ) |
<assimilator><dipthong>
+ + + +
</dipthong></assimilato
r> +
[nonvowelletter]
+ ( | | ) +
[nonvowelletter] + ( | |
[nonvowelletter] ) + [nonvowelletter] +
+
( + \b + \s* + <( assimilate>[letter] +

Raa
lightness
()

Assimilate
small
identical
(

)
Assimilate
large
identical
(
)

Absolute
identical
(
)
Assimilate

| + \b + \s* + + </assimilate> + \b + \s*

| + \b + \s* + +
| + \b + \s* <assimilator>[letter]</ass
+ |+ \b +
imilator> |
\s* + | + \b <assimilateincomplete>
+ \s* + | +
</assimilateincomplete>
\b + \s* + )+ + \b + \s* +
( | | )
<assimilatorincomplete>
</assimilatorincomplete
>)+ ( | | )

+ (( | ) | |
| )+ | + |

small
similar (

Great
similar
(
)
Absolute
similar
(
)
Assimilate
small
proximate
(

)
Great
proximate
(
)

 | |

<normalprolong> | |
</normalprolong>

+ \s* + $

+
<helperfatha></helperfa
tha> + \s* + $

| |

<obligatoryprolong> |
|
</obligatoryprolong> +

<permissibleprolong>
|
</permissibleprolong>
+

| |
( ) | | +

Absolute
proximate
(
)
Distanced
()
Original
lengthening
()
Steady
lengthening
stop (
)
Connected
lengthening
essential (
)
Soft
lengthening
()

Lengthening
<permissibleprolong> |
presented to
|
sukoon (
</permissibleprolong> +

)
<necessaryprolong> | Weighted

|
compulsory
</necessaryprolong> + lengthening
words (

)
Lightened
compulsory
<necessaryprolong> |
( ) | | +
lengthening
|

words (
</necessaryprolong> +

)
Weighted
compulsory
+ <necessaryprolong>
lengthening
| |
</necessaryprolong> +
letters (
() |

)
< | necessaryprolong>| Lightened
decomposeletter
|||||
compulsory
s( | | |
</necessaryprolong> |
lengthening
| | |
<necessaryprolong></ne letters (
| | |

cessaryprolong> |
| | |
<normalprolong>) | |
)|
| < | /normalprolong>
Allowed
<obligatoryprolong>( |
( ) | | +
separated
) | + \b + \s* +
\b + \s* +
lengthening
</obligatoryprolong>
(

 + | +

+ <obligatoryprolong>
+ <obligatoryprolong>
+ <normalprolong>| +
</normalprolong>

+ <obligatoryprolong>
+ <obligatoryprolong> |
+ <normalprolong> +
</normalprolong>

| |

+ ( ?)+ \s* +
$

( ) | | +
<normalprolong></nor
malprolong> +
<normalprolong><helperf
atha></helperfatha> + |
<helperalif></helperalif>
</normalprolong> + \s* +
$
+
<necessaryprolong></n
ecessaryprolong> +
<normalprolong>
</nor
malprolong> + |
<normalprolong>
</nor
malprolong>

)
Separated
lengthening
small
connection
(
)
Separated
lengthening
great
connection
(
)
Exchange
lengthening
()
Substitute
lengthening
()
Distinction
lengthening
()
Stablization
Lengthening
()

Metadata

Seen
<empty></empty> + essential
()
<firstnotsecond></first Seen noted
notsecond> +
()
<secondnotfirst></second
notfirst>
Color / Name: RGB
Description
code

<tag>\w*</tag>
where
tag=empty |
helperfatha |
helperkasra |
helperdamma |
helpermeem |
assimilator |
assimilatorinco
mplete |
black: RGB(0,0,0)
dipthong |
compulsorystop
| endofversestop
| prostration |
canstoporcontin
ue |
betternottostop |
stopatfirstnotsec
ond |

Normal text

stopatsecondnot
first |
bettertostopbutp
ermissibletocont
inue |
bettertocontinue
butpermissibleto
stop |
subtlestopwitho
utbreath
<necessaryprolo
ng>\w*</necess
aryprolong>
<obligatoryprol
ong>\w*</oblig
atoryprolong>
<permissiblepro
long>\w*</per
missibleprolong
>
<normalprolong
>\w*</normalpr
olong>
<nasalize>\w*</
nasalize>
<assimilate>\w*
</assimilate> |
<assimilateinco

Necessary prolongation 6
vowels / 6 harakah

dark red: RGB(139,0,0)

blood red:
RGB(175,17,28)
orange red:
RGB(255,69,0)
cumin red:
RGB(213,139,24)
green: RGB(0, 255, 0)
grey: RGB(128, 128,
128)

Obligatory prolongation
4 or 5 vowels / 4-5
harakah

Permissible prolongation
2,4,6 vowels / 2-4-6
harakah

Normal prolongation 2
vowels

Nasalization 2 vowels /
gunnah
Unannounced (silent) /
idgaam

mplete>\w*</as
similateincompl
ete>
<emphasis>\w*
</emphasis>
<bounce>\w*</
bounce>
Conversions

dark blue: RGB(0, 0,

139)
blue: RGB(0, 0, 255)

Emphatic pronunciation
of the letter (R) /
Tafcheem (R)
Unrest letters (Echoing
Sound) / qalqalah

Result

<empty></empty>

<helperfatha>\w

*</helperfatha>
<helperkasra>\
w*</helperkasra
>

Alif
chanjareeah
()

Sukoon
()

<helperdamma>
\w*</helperdam
ma>
<empty>\w*</e
mpty>
|
\b + (| |
| | |
| | |
| | |
) | | + \b

+(||||
| )
+
(|||||
) | | |
+ \b + \s* +
\B +
[waslloanword]
+ (| | | | |
| )
[loanword |
name] + (| | |
| | | )

[letterspelling]

( | | | | | | |
) | + \s* + \b
\B + [waslloanwordrules]
+ (| | | | | | )
[loanwordrules |
namerules] + (| | | |
| | )

Harfu lmuqatta'at
(
)

Alif
maqsoorah
()
Taa
marbootah
()

Diacritic
Combination
<normalprolong
>\w*</normalpr
olong>
<necessaryprolo
ng>\w*</necess
aryprolong>
<obligatoryprol
ong>\w*</oblig
atoryprolong>
<permissiblepro
long>\w*</per
missibleprolong
>
<nasalize>\w*</
nasalize>
<assimilate>\w*
</assimilate> |
<assimilateinco
mplete>\w*</as
similateincompl
ete>
<emphasis>\w*
</emphasis>
<bounce>\w*</
bounce>

Transliteration
\w* + - + \w*
\w* + - + \w* + - + \w* +
- + \w* + - + \w* + - +
\w*
\w* + - + \w* + - + \w* +
- + \w* + (- + \w*)
\w* + - + \w* + (- + \w*
+ - + \w*) + (- + \w* + + \w*)
\w*

\w*

R
\w* + - + \w*

( | | | |
) | +
[specialleadingg
[gutteralrules]
utteral] + ( | |
| | | | |
) |
[specialgutteral]
+(||||
[gutteralrules]
| | | |
)
( | | | |
) | + (|
[gutteralrules]
[specialleadingg
utteral])

[letter]
[letter]-[letter]

aa

oo

ee
[letter]
[letterrules]

an

un

in

[letter] | [letterrules] | [letterspelling]

Sun Transliteration |
letter Spelling

[sunletters]
[whispering]
t [ strength]
[lowness]
th
d

th
r

sh
s

[opening]
[restraint]
[whispering]
[weakness]
[lowness]
[opening]
[restraint]
[audibility]
[strength]
[lowness]
[opening]
[restraint]
[vibration]
[audibility]
[weakness]
[lowness]
[opening]
[restraint]
[audibility]
[moderation]
[lowness]
[opening]
[fluency]
[inclination]
[repetition]
[audibility]
[weakness]
[lowness]
[opening]
[restraint]
[whistling]
[whispering]
[weakness]
[lowness]
[opening]
[restraint]
[whistling]
[whispering]
[weakness]
[lowness]
[opening]
[restraint]
[diffusion]
[whispering]
[weakness]
[elevation]
[closing]
[restraint]
[whistling]
[audibility]
[weakness]
[elevation]
[closing]
[restraint]
[elongation]
[audibility]
[strength]

Moon Transliteration |
letter Spelling

[moonletters]

b
j

h
ch

g
f

q
k
m

[audibility]
[strength]
[lowness]
[opening]
[fluency]
[vibration]
[audibility]
[strength]
[lowness]
[opening]
[restraint]
[vibration]
[whispering]
[weakness]
[lowness]
[opening]
[restraint]
[whispering]
[weakness]
[elevation]
[opening]
[restraint]
[audibility]
[moderation]
[lowness]
[opening]
[restraint]
[audibility]
[weakness]
[elevation]
[opening]
[restraint]
[whispering]
[weakness]
[lowness]
[opening]
[fluency]
[audibility]
[strength]
[elevation]
[opening]
[restraint]
[vibration]
[whispering]
[strength]
[lowness]
[opening]
[restraint]
[audibility]
[moderation]

 th
l

aw
ay

[elevation]
[closing]
[restraint]
[vibration]
[audibility]
[weakness]
[elevation]
[closing]
[restraint]
[audibility]
[moderation]
[lowness]
[opening]
[fluency]
[inclination]
[audibility]
[moderation]
[lowness]
[opening]
[fluency]
[nasal]
[audibility]
[weakness]
[lowness]
[opening]
[restraint]
[ease]

[nonvowelletter]
[specialleadinggutteral]
[specialgutteral]

[audibility]

[whispering]
[weakness]

[lowness]
[opening]
[fluency]
[nasal]
[whispering]
[weakness]
[lowness]
[opening]
[restraint]

w
y

[audibility]
[strength]
[lowness]
[opening]
[restraint]

|||||||||||
||||||||||
|||
|
||||
[specialleadinggutteral]
|||||||||||
| | | | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | |
|
| | |
|||||||||
||||||||||
| | | | | | |
| | | | | |

 | | | |

| |
||||

][moderation

|||||||
||||||||||
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|
| | | |
||||||
|||||||||||
|||||||||||
| | | | |
| | | | |
|
| | | | |

|||
||||||||||
||||||||||
| | | | |
| | | | |
|
| | | | |
|||||

][fluency

||||

][vibration

][inclination

][strength

][lowness

][elevation

][opening

][closing

][restraint

[repetition]

[whistling]

||

[diffusion]

[elongation]

[nasal]

|
| | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |

[ease]

<empty> | | </empty> +
<dividetanween(vow
vowelopentag(<helperfatha>
elopentag,
</helperfatha> | <helperkasra>
vowelclosetag,
</helperkasra> | <helperdamma>
noonopentag,
</helperdamma>)vowelclosetag +
noonclosetag)> | |
noonopentag<helpernoon></helpernoo
</dividetanween>
n>noonclosetag
[gutteralletter] | [gutteralrules]
Letter
combination

|
|
|
|
|

Transliterati
on

aw | awn
e | en
o | on
waa
aee

Example
word

|
|
|
|
|

Example Transliteration

awlaykum |
jameeawn
elma | shafeehen
badeeho | sameehon
tawwaamu | sahwaa
bahaeedan | mahaeea

eoo
ah
e
o
aae
eeh
ooh
aey
awh
(nothing)
k

raajeeoona
nastahaeenu
nekma
bokda
jaaeeluka
badeeho
yoohawdoona
shoaeyban
farawhna
anawma
nahkbudu

Appendix A - List of English language dictionary loan words from classic Arabic
[waslloanword] | [loanwordrules] | [waslloanwordrules]
Allah llah

[loanword] | [loanwordrules]
Quran/Qur'an/Koran

Hadith
Islam
Muslim/Moslem

Imam

Sheikh/Sheik/Shaykh/Shaikh

Caliph
Caliphate

Hajj/Hadj

Hajji/Hadji/Haji / /

Muharram/Moharram
Ramadan

Safar
Safari
Halal
Haram
Sunnah/Sunna
Appendix B Names

Ihram
Fitna
Makkah/Makah/Mecca
Medina
Salah/Salat

Nabi
Jihad/Jehad

Zakah/Zakat
Sadaqat
Wudu
Sawm
Adhan
Khutbah

Miraj
Hijrah/Hijra/Hegira

Shahada/Shahadah

Mujahid/Mujahideen/Mujahe
din/Mujaheddin /
Salaam

Hijab/Hejab

Qadi/Kadi/Cadi
Hakim/Hakeem /
Shia/Shiah/Shii /
Qiblah/Qibla/Kiblah/Kibla

Qiyas/Kiyas

Fiqh/Fikh

Surah/Sura

Sayyid/Said/Sayed/Sayid

Shirk
Shaitan/Shaytan
Talaq
Niqab
Deen/Din

Riba
Shariah/Sharia

[name] [namerules]
Hadith Qudsi

Imam Nabawis Forty Hadith

Sahih Al-Bukhari

Sahih Muslim
Al-Sunan Al-Sughra

Sunan Abi Dawood

Sunan Al-Tirmidhi

Sunan Ibn Maja

Kitab Al-Kafi
Man La Yahduruhu Al-Faqih
Tahdhib Al-Ahkam
Al-Istibsar

Appendix C International Phonetic Alphabet pictures and diagrams for Arabic, English and in
general
Part of
Speech

Specific point of articulation ()

Letters

The nasal
passage

This is a single point of articulation for the sound of

nasalization ( ) that comes from the nose by blocking
or
the flow of air from the mouth with the tongue
lips . This is inherent characteristic of the two letters
that cannot change.

The two
lips

Between the two lips

Between the inside of the lower lips and the upper

incisors.

||

The innermost part of the tongue next to the throat

touching the roof of the mouth opposite it. ()

The innermost part of the tongue towards the mouth

touching the roof of the mouth opposite it.

One or both edges of the tongue, usually the left along

with the upper back molars.

The tongue
(

The throat
(

Between the tips of the tongue and the gums of the two
upper central incisors.

Between the upper part of the tip of the tongue and the
gums of the two upper central incisors.

The middle of tongue with the opposite from the roof

of the mouth. ()

||

The tip of the tongue near the inner plates of the upper
central incisors.

||

The tip of the tongue along with its upper surface

touching the roots of the central incisors.

||

Between the upper surface of the tongue near the end

of the tips of the two upper central incisors.

||

The deepest part of the throat. ()

The middle of the throat. ()

The nearest part of the throat. ()

This is a single point of articulation comprising the

empty space of the open mouth for the letters of long
vowels ( )or elongation preceded by the Arabic
vowels.

| |

The chest
or interior
(

Between the edges of the tongue usually the right and

the gums of the front molars, canine and incisors.

Characteristics ()

Characteristic

Opposite

)
Strength (

Moderation ()

Weakness ()

Trapping the flow of sound, strengthening the

complete reliance on the point of articulation,
associated with the letters in this phrase:
.

In between the strength and the weakness is

the moderation, where the sound emerges but
does not flow from the point of articulation
associated with letters in this phrase: .

A flow of sound during pronunciation,

weakening the reliance on point of
articulation associated with all the letters not
included in Strength and Moderation.

Whispers ()

Audible ()

A flow of breath (air) during pronunciation due to weakness in the

reliance on the point of articulation associated with letters in this
phrase: .

The trapping of the flow of breath (air) due to heavy dependence on the
point of articulation associated with all the letters not in Whispers.

Heaviness/Elevation ()

Lightness/Lowering ()

Raising the tongue to the roof of the mouth during articulation,

associated with the letters in this phrase: .

Lowering the tongue to the floor of the mouth during articulation

associated with all the letters not in Elevation.

Closing ()

Opening ()

The meeting of the tongue and what is opposite it from the roof of the
mouth during articulation, associated with the letters: | | | .

The separation of the tongue from the roof of the mouth during
articulation, associated with all the letters not included in Closing.

Fluency ()

Restraint ()

The easy flowing of the letters | | | | | from the tip of the

tongue and lips. However this characteristic and its opposite is not
included in the study of rules of recitation but included for
completeness.

The emergence of the remaining letters not included in Fluency from

inside of the mouth and throat.

Whistling (
)
A sound emerging between the tip of the tongue and the upper central incisors which resembles the sound of a bird, associated with | | .
It is usually like a buzzing sound with .

Vibration ()
The vibration of the point of articulation with the emergence of the letter when it has sukoon ( ) associated with letters in this phrase: .

Ease ()
This is pronunciation without exertion or difficulty. It is associated with letters | with sukoon () preceded by fathah ().

Inclination/Drifting ()
The inclination of the letter after its articulation from the point of articulation towards another point of articulation associated with | .
inclines towards the tip of the tongue and inclines towards the point of articulation of .

Repetition ()
This is the natural tendency to vibrate or roll the tongue during articulation of the letter . However this is to be avoided for correct pronunciation
by controlling the tongue and not relaxing it.

)
Diffusion (
The spreading of air throughout the mouth during articulation of the letter .

Elongation ()
This is the extension of the sound over the entire edge of the tongue from front to back during articulation, associated with letter .

Nasalization ()

This is the sound emitted from the nose, an inherent characteristics of letters | when accompanied by sukoon () or shaddah ( ). Nasalization
emerges from the nose when the flow of sound is blocked in the mouth, by the tongue with and by the lips with .