{"id":14183,"date":"2017-04-20T20:39:48","date_gmt":"2017-04-20T20:39:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/?p=14183"},"modified":"2017-04-20T20:50:42","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T20:50:42","slug":"arabic-speech-what-gets-assimilated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/arabic-speech-what-gets-assimilated\/","title":{"rendered":"Arabic Connected Speech: What Gets Assimilated?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_14184\" style=\"width: 590px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-14184\" class=\"wp-image-14184 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/04\/hamzatul-wasl-wa-hamzatul-qaT-e1492719992121.png\" alt=\"Hamzah Types\" width=\"580\" height=\"375\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-14184\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">image by Ibn al-Yemen<\/p><\/div>\n<p>When people speak, it is common that certain sounds get assimilated, dropped, or blended. In English, for example, \u201cdoes she\u201d is pronounced as \u201cdushee\u201d in connected speech. In Arabic, the most common assimilation and\/or dropping occurs with the definite article <strong>\u0627\u0644<\/strong> and with the <em>alif <\/em>of imperative tri-consonantal verbs (i.e. verbs that have a root of three consonants) and with <em>alif <\/em>of verbs that have a root of five or more letters. The <em>alif<\/em> in these cases is called <em>alif al-wasl<\/em> <strong>\u0623\u064e\u0644\u0650\u0641\u064f<\/strong> <strong>\u0627\u0644\u0648\u064e\u0635\u0644<\/strong> \u00a0in Arabic grammar. In isolated words, it is essential that <strong>\u0623\u064e\u0644\u0650\u0641\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0648\u064e\u0635\u0652\u0644 <\/strong>\u00a0be pronounced because it is articulatorily impossible to start a word in Arabic with a letter\/sound that does not have either <em>fatHah, dhammah,<\/em> or <em>kasrah<\/em> on it (see <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/arabic-diacritics-important-but-neglected\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this blog)<\/a>, as in these examples:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u0627\u064f\u0643\u0652\u062a\u064f\u0628<\/strong> \u2018write!\u2019 [imperative]<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0627\u0650\u062c\u0652\u0644\u0650\u0633<\/strong> \u2018sit down!\u2019 [imperative]<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0627\u0650\u0633\u0652\u062a\u0650\u0645\u064e\u0627\u0639<\/strong> \u2018listening\u2019 [noun]<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0627\u0650\u0646\u0652\u0643\u064e\u0633\u064e\u0631\u064e<\/strong> \u2018broke\u2019 [verb]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, this <em>alif <\/em>gets dropped (but is still written) when the preceding letter\/sound is part of a preposition, such as <strong>\u0641\u0650\u064a<\/strong> , <strong>\u0645\u0650\u0646<\/strong>, <strong>\u0639\u064e\u0646<\/strong>, <strong>\u0648<\/strong>, <strong>\u0628\u0640<\/strong>, <strong>\u0643\u0640<\/strong> etc. or a diacriticized letter, as in these examples:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>With prepositions:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u0645\u0650\u0646\u064e \u0627\u0644\u064a\u064e\u0645\u064e\u0646 <\/strong>\u2018from Yemen\u2019 is pronounced as <strong>\u0645\u0650\u0646\u064e\u0644\u064a\u064e\u0645\u0646<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0648\u064e\u0627\u0644\u0643\u0650\u062a\u064e\u0627\u0628<\/strong> \u2018and the book\u2019 is pronounced as <strong>\u0648\u064e\u0644\u0652\u0643\u0650\u062a\u064e\u0627\u0628<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0625\u0650\u0644\u064e\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0628\u064e\u064a\u0652\u062a <\/strong>\u2018to the house\u2019 is pronounced as <strong>\u0625\u0650\u0644\u0644\u0652\u0628\u064e\u064a\u062a<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0641\u0650\u064a \u0627\u0644\u063a\u064f\u0631\u0652\u0641\u064e\u0629 <\/strong>\u2018in the room\u2019 is pronounced as <strong>\u0641\u0650\u064a\u0651\u064e\u0644\u0652\u063a\u064f\u0631\u0641\u064e\u0629\u00a0<\/strong>or\u00a0<strong>\u0641\u0650\u0644\u0652\u063a\u064f\u0631\u0641\u064e\u0629<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0648\u064e\u0627\u064f\u0643\u0652\u062a\u064f\u0628<\/strong> \u2018and write!\u2019 is pronounced as <strong>\u0648\u064e\u0643\u0652\u062a\u064f\u0628<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0641\u064e\u0627\u0650\u0646\u0652\u0643\u064e\u0633\u064e\u0631\u064e<\/strong> \u2018then it breaks\u2019 is pronounced as <strong>\u0641\u064e\u0646\u0652\u0643\u064e\u0633\u064e\u0631\u064e<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>With words that are properly parsed; that is, they are assigned the correct final diacritical marks:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u0643\u0650\u062a\u064e\u0627\u0628\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0648\u064e\u0644\u064e\u062f\u0650<\/strong> \u2018the boy\u2019s book\u2019 is pronounced as <strong>\u0643\u0650\u062a\u064e\u0627\u0628\u064f\u0644\u0652\u0648\u064e\u0644\u064e\u062f\u0650<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0643\u0650\u062a\u064e\u0627\u0628\u064e \u0627\u0644\u0648\u064e\u0644\u064e\u062f\u0650<\/strong> is pronounced as <strong>\u0643\u0650\u062a\u064e\u0627\u0628\u064e\u0644\u0652\u0648\u064e\u0644\u064e\u062f\u0650<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0643\u064e\u062a\u064e\u0627\u0628\u0650 \u0627\u0644\u0648\u064e\u0644\u064e\u062f\u0650<\/strong> is pronounced as <strong>\u0643\u0650\u062a\u064e\u0627\u0628\u0650\u0644\u0652\u0648\u064e\u0644\u064e\u062f\u0650<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u062a\u064e\u0645\u0652\u0631\u0650\u064a\u0646\u064f \u0627\u0650\u0633\u0652\u062a\u0650\u0645\u0627\u0639<\/strong> \u2018listening exercise\u2019 is pronounced as <strong>\u062a\u064e\u0645\u0652\u0631\u0650\u064a\u0646\u064f\u0633\u062a\u0645\u0627\u0639<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If the <em>alif<\/em> is preceded by the preposition <strong>\u0644\u0640<\/strong> \u00a0\u2018for\u2019 it is neither written nor pronounced, as in these examples:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u0644\u0640 + \u0627\u0644\u0648\u064e\u0644\u064e\u062f<\/strong> \u2018for the boy\u2019 is written and pronounced as <strong>\u0644\u0650\u0644\u0652\u0648\u064e\u0644\u062f<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0644\u0640 + \u0627\u0644\u0648\u064e\u0637\u064e\u0646<\/strong> \u2018for the country\u2019 is written and pronounced as <strong>\u0644\u0650\u0644\u0652\u0648\u064e\u0637\u064e\u0646<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If the <em>alif <\/em>in the definite article <strong>\u0627\u0644<\/strong> \u00a0is followed by a word that begins with a sun letter (see <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/arabic-definiteness-formation-meaning-and-assimilation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this post<\/a>), both the <em>alif al-Wasl \u00a0<\/em>and the <strong>\u0644<\/strong> \u00a0get assimilated (but they are still written), as in these examples:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>With propositions:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u0643\u064e\u0627\u0644\u0634\u0651\u064e\u0645\u0652\u0633<\/strong> \u2018like the sun\u2019 is pronounced as <strong>\u0643\u064e\u0634\u0651\u064e\u0645\u0652\u0633<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0628\u0650\u0627\u0644\u0633\u0651\u0650\u0643\u0650\u064a\u0646<\/strong> \u2018with the knife\u2019 is pronounced as <strong>\u0628\u0650\u0633\u0651\u0650\u0643\u0651\u0650\u064a\u0646<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0641\u0650\u064a \u0627\u0644\u0633\u0651\u064e\u064a\u0651\u064e\u0627\u0631\u064e\u0629<\/strong> \u2018in the car\u2019 is pronounced as <strong>\u0641\u0650\u064a\u0633\u0651\u064e\u064a\u0651\u064e\u0627\u0631\u064e\u0629<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>With words that are properly parsed:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u0643\u0650\u062a\u064e\u0627\u0628\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0637\u0651\u064e\u0627\u0644\u0650\u0628<\/strong> \u2018the student\u2019s book\u2019 is pronounced as <strong>\u0643\u0650\u062a\u064e\u0627\u0628\u064f\u0637\u0651\u064e\u0627\u0644\u0650\u0628<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u064a\u064e\u0648\u0645\u064f \u0627\u0644\u062b\u0651\u064f\u0644\u0627\u062b\u064e\u0627\u0621<\/strong> \u2018Tuesday\u2019 is pronounced as <strong>\u064a\u064e\u0648\u0645\u064f\u062b\u0651\u064f\u0644\u0627\u062b\u064e\u0627\u0621<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0633\u064e\u064a\u0651\u064e\u0627\u0631\u064e\u0629\u0650 \u0627\u0644\u0631\u0651\u064e\u062c\u064f\u0644<\/strong> \u2018the man\u2019s car\u2019 is pronounced as <strong>\u0633\u064e\u064a\u0651\u064e\u0627\u0631\u064e\u0629\u064f \u0631\u0651\u064e\u062c\u064f\u0644<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>or\u00a0<strong>\u0633\u064e\u064a\u0651\u064e\u0627\u0631\u064e\u062a\u064f\u0631\u0651\u064e\u062c\u064f\u0644<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em>Alif al-wasl <\/em><strong>\u0623\u0644\u0650\u0641\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0648\u064e\u0635\u0650\u0644<\/strong> \u00a0in Arabic is a plain <em>alif<\/em>, i.e. <em>alif <\/em>without <em>hamzah <\/em><strong><em>\u0621<\/em><\/strong> . If it is written with <em>hamzah<\/em> (above or below, i.e. <strong>\u0623<\/strong> or <strong>\u0625<\/strong>), it is known as <em>alif al-qaT\u2019 <\/em><strong>\u0623\u064e\u0644\u0650\u0641\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0642\u064e\u0637\u0639<\/strong>. Contrary to <strong>\u0623\u064e\u0644\u0650\u0641\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0648\u064e\u0635\u0644<\/strong><strong>,<\/strong> it is not affected by connected speech. That is, it is still pronounced regardless of the preceding or following letters or sounds, as in the following examples:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Isolated words:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u0623\u064e\u062d\u0652\u0645\u064e\u062f<\/strong> \u2018Ahmed\u2019<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0623\u064e\u0634\u0652\u0631\u064e\u0628\u064f<\/strong> \u2018I drink\u2019<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0623\u064e\u0646\u0651\u064e<\/strong> \u2018.. that&#8217; (as in <strong>\u0642\u064e\u0627\u0644\u064e \u0623\u0651\u064e\u0646\u0651\u064e \u0627\u0644\u0628\u0650\u0646\u0652\u062a\u064e \u062c\u064e\u0645\u0650\u064a\u0644\u064e\u0629\u064c<\/strong> \u2018he said that the girl was pretty.\u2019)<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0623\u064e\u0643\u0652\u0645\u0650\u0644<\/strong> \u2018complete!\u2019 [imperative\/order]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In contexts:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u0648\u064e\u0623\u064e\u062d\u0652\u0645\u064e\u062f<\/strong> \u2018and Ahmed\u2019, no change in pronunciation<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0628\u0650\u0623\u064e\u0646\u0651\u064e<\/strong> \u2018such that\u2019, no change in pronunciation<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0623\u064e\u0646\u064e\u0627 \u0623\u064e\u0634\u064e\u0631\u064e\u0628\u064f \u0645\u064e\u0627\u0621\u064b \u0628\u064e\u0627\u0631\u0650\u062f\u064b\u0627<\/strong> \u2018I am drinking cold water.\u2019, no change in pronunciation<\/li>\n<li><strong>\u0627\u0650\u0633\u0652\u062a\u064e\u0645\u0650\u0639 \u0648\u064e\u0623\u064e\u0643\u0652\u0645\u0650\u0644<\/strong> \u2018listen and complete!\u2019 [imperative], no change in pronunciation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Knowing these rules help you comprehend the speech of native speakers of Arabic more easily. Besides, putting them into practice makes your speech of Arabic more intelligible. More importantly, you will certainly speak a lot more fluently. To change these rule from mere knowledge about the language to actual linguistic ability in your speech, it is important that you practice them as much as possible so that they become commonplace and automatic for you. This said, let\u2019s put what we just learned into practice.<\/p>\n<p>a) Read loudly paying attention <strong>\u0623\u064e\u0644\u0650\u0641\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0648\u064e\u0635\u0644<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u0630\u064e\u0647\u064e\u0628\u0652\u062a\u064f \u0625\u0650\u0644\u064e\u0649 \u0627\u0644\u0634\u0651\u064e\u0631\u0650\u0643\u064e\u0629.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u0647\u064e\u0630\u064e\u0627 \u0645\u064e\u0643\u0652\u062a\u064e\u0628\u064f \u0627\u0650\u0633\u062a\u0650\u0642\u0628\u064e\u0627\u0644.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u0627\u0644\u0648\u064e\u0642\u0652\u062a\u064f \u0643\u064e\u0627\u0644\u0633\u0651\u064e\u064a\u0652\u0641. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u0648\u064e\u0636\u064e\u0639\u0652\u062a\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0635\u0651\u064f\u0648\u0631\u064e\u0629 \u0641\u064e\u0648\u0642\u064e \u0627\u0644\u0646\u0651\u064e\u0627\u0641\u0650\u0630\u064e\u0629.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>b) Distinguish between <strong>\u0623\u064e\u0644\u0650\u0641\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0648\u064e\u0635\u0644<\/strong> and <strong>\u0623\u064e\u0644\u0650\u0641\u064f \u0627\u0644\u0642\u064e\u0637\u0652\u0639<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u0623\u064e\u0646\u064e\u0627 \u0623\u064f\u0634\u064e\u0627\u0647\u0650\u062f\u064f \u0627\u0644\u062a\u0651\u0650\u0644\u0652\u0641\u0650\u0632\u0650\u064a\u0648\u0646. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u0623\u064e\u0643\u0652\u0631\u064e\u0645 \u0648\u064e\u0627\u0644\u0648\u064e\u0644\u064e\u062f \u064a\u064e\u0644\u0652\u0639\u064e\u0628\u064e\u0627\u0646 \u0641\u0650\u064a \u0627\u0644\u062d\u064e\u062f\u0650\u064a\u0642\u064e\u0629. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u0642\u064e\u0627\u0644\u064e \u0628\u0650\u0623\u064e\u0646\u0651\u064e \u0627\u0644\u0633\u0651\u064e\u064a\u0651\u064e\u0627\u0631\u064e\u0629\u064e \u062c\u064e\u062f\u0650\u064a\u062f\u064e\u0629\u064c. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u0647\u064e\u0630\u064e\u0627 \u0627\u0644\u0628\u064e\u0627\u0628 \u0643\u064e\u0628\u0650\u064a\u0631\u064c \u0648\u062a\u0650\u0644\u0652\u0643\u064e \u0627\u0644\u0646\u0651\u064e\u0627\u0641\u0650\u0630\u064e\u0629\u064f \u0635\u064e\u063a\u0650\u064a\u0631\u064e\u0629.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"226\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/04\/hamzatul-wasl-wa-hamzatul-qaT-350x226.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Hamzah Types\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/04\/hamzatul-wasl-wa-hamzatul-qaT-350x226.png 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2017\/04\/hamzatul-wasl-wa-hamzatul-qaT-e1492719992121.png 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>When people speak, it is common that certain sounds get assimilated, dropped, or blended. In English, for example, \u201cdoes she\u201d is pronounced as \u201cdushee\u201d in connected speech. In Arabic, the most common assimilation and\/or dropping occurs with the definite article \u0627\u0644 and with the alif of imperative tri-consonantal verbs (i.e. verbs that have a root&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/arabic-speech-what-gets-assimilated\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":14184,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3525,6,11,13],"tags":[462574,462573,462575,462576,462578,462577,462580,462579,462582,462581],"class_list":["post-14183","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arabic-language","category-grammar","category-pronunciation","category-vocabulary","tag-alif-al-qat","tag-alif-al-wasl","tag-alif-assimilation","tag-hamzah","tag-hamzat-al-qat","tag-hamzat-al-wasl","tag-462580","tag-462579","tag-462582","tag-462581"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14183"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14192,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14183\/revisions\/14192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/arabic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}