Arabic Vowels – The Arabic Alphabet: Vowels

The Arabic Alphabet: Vowels

Name	Character	Explanation	Pronunciation	Example	Transcription
Damma	ُ	Damma is an apostrophe-like shape written above the consonant which precedes it in pronunciation. It represents a short vowel u (like the “u” in “but”).	u	بُت	but
Wāw	و	Wāw is the long vowel ū (like the “oo” in “moon”). It also represents the consonant w. When Waw is used to represent the long vowel, damma appears above the preceding consonant.	ū	بُوت	būt
Fatha	َ	Fatha is a diagonal stroke written above the consonant which precedes it in pronunciation. It represents a short vowel a (a little like the “u” in “but”; a short “ah” sound).	a	بَت	bat
Alif	ا	Alif is the long vowel ā (a long “ahh” sound as in English “father”).	ā	بات	bāt

Name	Character	Explanation	Pronunciation	Example	Transcription
Kasra	ِ	Kasra is a diagonal stroke written below the consonant which precedes it in pronunciation. It represents a short vowel i (like the “i” in English “pit”).	i	بِت	bit
Ya’	ي	Ya’ is the long vowel ī (like the “ee” in English “sheep”). It also represents the consonant y. When Ya’ is used to represent the long vowel, kasra appears above the preceding consonant.	ī	بِيت	bīt
Sukūn	ْ	Whenever a consonant does not have a vowel, it receives a mark called a sukūn, a small circle which represents the end of a closed syllable (CvC or CvvC). It sits above the letter which is not followed by a vowel.		بِنْتُ	bintu
Shadda (or tashdīd)	ّ	Shadda represents doubling (or gemination) of a consonant. Where the same consonant occurs twice in a word, with no vowel between, instead of using consonant + sukūn + consonant, the consonant is written only once, and shadda is written above it.		ثَبَّتَ	thabbata