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Arabic vowels - question | ||
Tags: Arabic | Pronunciation | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Aineko Triglot Senior Member New Zealand Joined 5447 days ago 238 posts - 442 votes  Speaks: Serbian*, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Russian, Arabic (Written), Mandarin | Message 1 of 4 18 January 2010 at 7:30am | IP Logged |
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I'm hoping to resolve my confusion about pronunciation of the Arabic long vowel alif. For example, in the questionمَا هَذَا "what is this?" - I've heard it pronounced in two ways: as a long 'a', like in the 'father', but also as a long sound 'e' (not English sound 'e', but, lets say, Spanish 'e', as in 'vende'). When I asked a native speaker what is the difference (is it maybe a MSA vs. dialect thing), she couldn't really explained and just said that it doesn't really matter. So, I got the impression that these two ways of pronunciation are not contrasted - pronouncing one way or another will not change the meaning of the word and will be understood. Am I right or not? :) (I have a similar problem with the short vowel, as well, fatha. I'm never sure does it sound as a short 'a' or a short 'e' (Spanish 'e'), or it doesn't really matter :))
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| Woodpecker Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5810 days ago 351 posts - 590 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), Arabic (Egyptian) Studies: Arabic (classical) | Message 2 of 4 18 January 2010 at 9:32am | IP Logged |
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In classical Arabic pronunciation, the fatha is usually pronounced like the vowel in the English word "father". The initial alif with a fatha is pronounced the same way. The medial alif is pronounced like the vowel in the English word "cat",and is also held longer than the fatha. However, the alif can be turned into a long "father" vowel by the emphatic consonants and a few other consonants.
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| Aineko Triglot Senior Member New Zealand Joined 5447 days ago 238 posts - 442 votes Speaks: Serbian*, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Russian, Arabic (Written), Mandarin | Message 3 of 4 18 January 2010 at 10:01am | IP Logged |
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Thanks. That clarifies (I hope :) ) how I should write my name in Arabic - it is Milena (all vowels pronounced as in Spanish; not like English ones) so I guess it should be: مِلَانَ
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| Woodpecker Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5810 days ago 351 posts - 590 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), Arabic (Egyptian) Studies: Arabic (classical) | Message 4 of 4 18 January 2010 at 10:16am | IP Logged |
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Actually, thinks get kind of confusing as far as you name goes. Conventionally, with Arabic transliterations, only long vowels are used because Arabic, as you know, is not usually printed with short vowels. Using long vowels therefore actually conveys a more accurate idea of the correct pronunciation. For example, the exact phonetic transcription of "Hilary Clinton: would be هِلُرِي كلِنتُن but that would be rendered in a newspaper as هلري كلنتن which could conceivably be pronounced "Hilray Kalantina." As such, the actual conventional rendering in the Arabic press is هيلاري كلينتون pronounced pretty much the same way we pronounce the name in English, not "Heelaary Cleantoon." As far as names go, what I do is use exact transliteration (as much as possible, since my name has a P in it) to explain pronunciation if someone asks, but just follow what would be conventional otherwise. Keep in mind, however, that this is not a hard and fast rule, just a convention.
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