Levantine Arabic/Pronunciation

Consonants Letter(s) Romanization IPA Pronunciation notes أ إ ؤ ئ ء ' [ʔ] glottal stop like in uh-oh ق 'g [ʔ][g] glottal stop (urban accent)"hard g" as in get (Jordanian, Beduin) ع ʕ [ʕ] voiced throat sound similar to "a" as in father, but with more friction ب b [b] as in English د d [d] as in English ض ḍ [dˤ] emphatic "d" (constricted throat, surrounded vowels become dark) ف f [f] as in English غ ġ [ɣ] like Spanish "g" between vowels, similar to French "r" ه h [h] as in English ح ḥ [ħ] "whispered h", has more friction in the throat than "h" ج j [dʒ] or [ʒ] "j" as in jump or "s" as in pleasure ك k [k] as in English خ ḵ [x] "ch" as in Scottish loch, like German "ch" or Spanish "j" ل l [l] as in English م m [m] as in English ن n [n] as in English ر r [r] "rolled r" as in Spanish or Italian; "r" is emphatic unless:- followed by the vowel "e" or "i"- followed by no vowel but preceded by the long vowel "i" س ث s [s] as in English ص ṣ [sˤ] emphatic "s" (constricted throat, surrounded vowels become dark) ش š [ʃ] "sh" as in sheep ت t [t] as in English ط ṭ [tˤ] emphatic "t (constricted throat, surrounded vowels become dark) و w [w] as in English ي y [y] as in English ز ذ z [z] as in English ظ ẓ [zˤ] emphatic "z" (constricted throat, surrounded vowels become dark) Formal MSA words Some letters preserve the original sound in usually formal words from [[w:Modern Standard Arabic MSA]]. Letter(s) Romanization IPA Pronunciation notes ذ ḏ [ð] voiced "th" as in this ق q [q] guttural "k" pronounced further back in the throat ث ṯ [θ] voiceless "th" as in think Additional sounds in loanwords Some sounds that don't exist in Arabic are rendered as follows: Letter(s) Romanization IPA Pronunciation notes ج غ ك g [g] "hard g" as in get ب p [p] "p" as in pen ف v [v] "v" as in vat Vowels Short vowels Sign Romanization Environment IPA Pronunciation notes ـَ (Fatḥa) a near emphatic consonant [α] as in got (American pronunciation) elsewhere [a~æ] as in cat ـِ (Kasra) e / i before/after ḥ or ʔ [ɛ] as in get elsewhere [e] or [ɪ] as in kit ـُ (Ḍamma) o / u [o] or [ʊ] as in full The difference between the short vowel pairs "e" and "i" as well as "o" and "u" is not phonemic. The vowel quality is usually "i" and "u" in stressed syllable. Stressed "i" and "u" merge in North Levantine. They usually become "i", but might also be "u" near emphatic consonants. Syrian tends to pronounce both of them as schwa [ə]. Long vowels Letter(s) Romanization Environment IPA Pronunciation notes ـَا ā near emphatic consonant [αː] as in father elsewhere [aː~æː] as in can Imāla in North Levantine [ɛː~eː] as in face, but plain vowel ـَي ē any [eː] in open syllable in Lebanese /ay/ as in price or in face ـِي ī [iː] as in see ـَو ō any [oː] as in boat, but plain vowel in open syllable in Lebanese /aw/ as in mouth or in boat ـُو ū [uː] as in food The long vowel "ā" is pronounced similar to "ē" or even merge to "ē" in North Levantine, when it's not near an emphatic or guttual consonant. The long vowels "ē" and "ō" have evolved form the MSA diphthongs "ay" and "aw". Those diphthongs are preserved in open syllables in Lebanese. Final vowels Vowels in word final position are shortened. As result more short vowels are distinguished. Letter(s) Romanization Environment IPA Pronunciation notes ـَا ـَى ـَة a near emphatic consonant [α] as in got (American pronunciation) elsewhere [a~æ] as in cat ـَا ـَى e Imāla in North Levantine [ɛ~e] as in get, but closed vowel ـِة e [e] ـِي i [i][e] (Lebanese) as in see, but shortermerged to "e" in Lebanese ـُه o [o] as in lot, but closed vowel ـُو u [u][o] (Lebanese) as in food, but shortermerged to "o" in Lebanese Helping vowels Helping vowels are optionally inserted in order to simplify pronunciation. They might be marked in romanization as superscript vowels "e" and "o". The helping vowel is "e" most of the time, but usually "o" if the preceding (usually stressed) syllable has the vowel "o" or "u". Helping vowels are typically inserted in the following cases: Before an initial cluster of two consonants, if the preceding word or prefix doesn't end in vowel Between a final cluster two consonants, if the following word or suffix doesn't start with a vowel After the first consonant in a cluster of three consonants After the second consonant in a cluster of four consonants Geminated (doubled) consonants are pronounced as a single consonant if they precede another consonant Stress The stress in Levantine Arabic can be predicted. It might be marked as bold vowel in romanization. If the last syllable superheavy (long vowel + final consonant or vowel + final consonant cluster), it takes the stress. Else, if the second last syllable is heavy (long vowel or vowel + final consonant) or superheavy, it takes the stress. Else, the third last syllable takes the stress, or the first syllable in shorter words. Prefixes as well as Hamza al-Waṣl (initial vowel that disappears if the preceding word ends in a vowel) are ignored.