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 |
| 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 |