Arabic Vowels, Auxiliary Signs and Arabic Phrases

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Short vowels and other auxiliary signs

In Arabic short vowels are not a part of the Arabic alphabet. instead they are written as marks over or below the consonant and sometimes over or below a long vowel.

In Arabic script, short vowels are usually omitted except for some religious tests and elementary schoolbooks. However, special auxiliary signs and markers indicate how the words are to be read. If the auxiliary signs are written, the text is called vocalized text, if not, it is an unvocalized text.

There are the following auxiliary signs:

فتحة Fatha	Short ‘A’ sound, small diagonal line above the letter: بَـ ‘ba’, فَـ ‘fa’, وَ ‘wa’, Fatha preceding Alif = long A: مَا ‘maa’.
كسرة Kasra	Short ‘i or e’ sound, small diagonal line below the letter: بِـ ‘bi’, لِـ ‘li’, مِـ ‘mi’, Kasra preceding ي ‘ya’ = long i or e: كبير ‘Kabeer’ (big)
ضمة Damma	Short ‘u or o’ sound, small ‘waw’ above the latter: هُنَا ‘huna’ (here), Damma preceding ‘waw’ = long ‘u or o’: نُون ‘noon’
سكون Sukun	Absence of a vowel: small circle above the letter أَنْتَ ‘anta’ (you), مِنْ ‘min’ (of, form)
شدة Shadda	Doubling sign in the shape of ـّabove the letter, Fatha and Damma are written above, and Kasra below the Shadda: the doubled consonant is pronounced clearly prolonged: شُبَّاك ‘shubbak’ (window), مُعَلِّم ‘mu’allim (teacher)
مدة Madda	Short, slanted line above Alif (آ) marking Hamza and long ‘a’: أَلآن ‘al aan’ (now), قُرْآن qur’an (koran)
Diphthongs:	Vowel combination: Fatha + waw (و) + sukoon or Fatha + Yaa + Sukoon respectively are used for ‘aw’ and ‘ay’: لَوْح ‘lawh’ (blackboard), بَيْت ‘bayt’ (house)
FATHATAIN	double FATHA ـً (FATHA on the top of another FATHA) Ghadan = غدًا = Tomorrow
KASRATAIN	double KASRAH ـٍ (KASRAH on the top of another KASRAH) Kuratin = كرةٍ = a ball
DAMMATAIN	double DAMMAH ـٌ (DAMMAH next to another DAMMAH) Kitabun= كتابٌ = a book

Long Vowels in Arabic:

The table below shows the long vowels in Arabic, they’re considered long vowels because of the stress they put on a given vowel, same thing exists in English, the word exceed should be stressed in the vowels 'ee' or loose the stress in the 'oo'.

ا	aa
و	oo or uu
ي	ee or ii

Some Common Arabic Greeting Phrases

English	Transliteration	Arabic Phrases
Hi!	Salam!	سَلَام
Good Morning!	Sabah el kheer	صَبَاحِ الخَيْر
Good Evening!	Masaa el kheer	مَسَاءِ الخَيْر
Welcome! (to greet someone)	Marhaban	مَرْحَبًا
How Are You?	Kaifa haloka/ haloki (female)	كَيْفَ حَالُكَ، حَالُكِ
I'm Fine, Thanks!	Ana bekhair, shokran!	أَنَا بِخَيْر شُكْرًا
And You?	Wa ant? / Wa anti? (female)	وَأَنْتَ، أَنْتِ
Good/ So-So.	Jayed/ 'aadee	جَيِّد، عَادِي
Thank You (Very Much)!	Shokran (jazeelan)	شُكْرًا (جَزِيْلًا)
You're Welcome! (for thank you)	Al afw	أَلْعَفْوُ
Hey! Friend!	Ahlan sadiqi/ sadiqati! (female)	أَهْلًا صَدِيْقِي، صَدِيْقَتِي
I Missed You So Much!	Eshtaqto elaika/ elaiki (female) katheeran	إِشْتَقْتُ إِلَيْك \ إِلَيْكِ كَثِيْرًا
What's New?	Maljadeed?	مَالْجَدِيْد
Nothing Much	Lashai jadeed	لَا شَيءَ جَدِيْد
Good Night!	Tosbeho/ tosbeheena (female) ala khair/	تُصْبِحُ\ تُصْبِحِيْنَ عَلَى خَيْر
See You Later!	Araka/ Araki (female) fi ma ba'd	أَرَاكَ فِي ما بعد
Good Bye!	Ma a salama	مَعَ السَّلَامَة

LESSON 1 is here

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