Elementary Arabic Morphology 1

Vocalazation, The Glottal Stop and Weak Letters

  1. How many vocals are there?

  2. Where are the vocals written?

  3. What do the vocals denote?

  4. How many kinds of glottal stops are there?

  5. What is the wasl glottal stop?

  6. What is the qat‛ glottal stop?

  7. How many weak and normal letters are there?

  8. There are four vocals:

Tashdīd: ّ, al-madd: , the wasl glottal stop and the qad‛ glottal stop:

  1. All of the vocals are written above the letter except for the glottal stop if it has a kasrah and is at the beginning of a word.

For example: ﺇکرام (respect)

  1. The tashdīd denotes that one letter is actually two letters. For example: قَدﱠم. (to lead the way) In this example the tashdīd takes the place of a second dāl.

The madd denotes that an alif has been erased after a glottal stop in the form of an alif. For example: ﺁثر

The wasl glottal stop denotes that the alif should not be pronounced. For example: تَفَتّحَ
الوَردُ **(**the flower blossomed)

The qat‛ glottal stop denotes that the alif should be pronounced. For example: ﺃخَذَ (to take)