Writing & Pronouncing of Arabic names
This is not an expert analysis of this subject but it is one way of achieving the results for the writing and pronouncing of Arabic names. The Arabic language is a phonetic one with an alphabet that contains few letters that are not found in other languages nor can be pronounced by a foreigner except with training and practice. As such, the names here are written in English in a way that when read in English they may sound as near as possible to the Arabic pronounciation. See Notes & Rules.
In Arabic, there are certain signs or marks that are added to the top or bottom of letters to give them certain sounds. They are:
1-fat-ha: َ for the ah sound and is presented as "a" e.g
Hamad حَمَد
2-damma: ُ for the oh sound and is presented as "o" or "u" e.g.
Dunia دُنيا or Sobhi صُبحي
3-kassra: ِ for the eh or ih sound and is presented as "e" or "i"
e.g. Adel عادِل or Jihad جِهاد
4-shaddah: ّ which is presented as "double constant letter"
e.g. Waddah' وضّاح
5-sukoon: ْ which is presented as "two consecutive constants"
e.g. Bahjat بهْجت or Yusra يسْرى
Letters Arabic to English
See Notes & Rules below for further clarification.
Learning Material
Here is a selection of books, Cds and DVDs that will eventually cover various subjects related to Arabic Language and Dialects.
Click on the book title for full details and reviews.
Books
Ahlan Wa Sahlan
Functional Modern Standard
Arabic for Beginners
By Mahdi Alosh
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Alif Baa
Introduction to Arabic
Letters and Sounds
Book & Audio CD Edition
By Kristen Brustad, Mahmoud Al-Batal
Abbas Al-Tonsi
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Alif Baa
Introduction to Arabic
Letters and Sounds
Answer Key
By Kristen Brustad, Mahmoud Al-Batal
Abbas Al-Tonsi
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Al-Kitaab fii Ta'allum al-'Arabiyya
A Textbook for Beginning Arabic
Part One
By Kristen Brustad, Mahmoud Al-Batal
Abbas Al-Tonsi
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Al-Kitaab fii Ta'allum al-'Arabiyya
Answer Key
By Kristen Brustad, Mahmoud Al-Batal
Abbas Al-Tonsi
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The Arabic Alphabet
How to Read and Write It
By Nicholas Awde, Putros Samano
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Arabic-English Dictionary
The Hans Wehr Dictionary
of Modern Written Arabic
By Hans Wehr
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Arabic For Dummies
Language & Literature
By Amine Bouchentouf
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Arabic Verbs and Essentials of Grammar
A Practical Guide to the
Mastery of Arabic
By Jane Wightwick, Mahmoud Gaafar
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A Basic Course in Moroccan Arabic
By Richard S. Harrell, Mohammed Abu-Talib
William S. Carroll
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Fun with Arabic
Learn Arabic
the Fun and Easy Way
By Naglaa Ghali
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Gulf Arabic Complete Course
By Jack Smart, Frances Altorfer
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An Introduction to Koranic and Classical Arabic
An Elementary Grammar
of the Language
By Wheeler M. Thackston
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Mastering Arabic
By Jane Wightwick, Mahmoud Gaafar
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Moroccan Arabic Phrasebook
With complimentary dictionary
By Dan Bacon, Bichr Andjar
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A New Arabic Grammar of the Written Language
By John A. Haywood, H. M. Nahmad
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Read and Speak Arabic for Beginners
By Jane Wightwick, Mahmoud Gaafar
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Standard Arabic
An Elementary-Intermediate Course
By Eckehard Schulz
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A Student Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic
By Eckehard Schulz
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Teach Yourself Beginner's Arabic Script
By John Mace
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Your First 100 Words in Arabic
Beginner's Quick & Easy Guide to
Demystifying Non-Roman Scripts
By Jane Wightwick
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Audio
Software
For more books, DVDs, CDs and others visit:
For links to the Middle East, North Africa, Arab and regional information
or a specific country resources, choose the country from the list below.
The Countries & People of Arabia
Notes:
The following will be used as standard through out my pages:
Note 1: "A", "E" and "O" when used for "ain" they are considered as vowels at the beging of a word e.g. Omar (O-mar), and
a double letter in the middle; the first is considerd a constant and the second a vowel depending on the mark e.g.
Sae'd (Sa-eed), Sua'd (Su-aad). Exception is if the mark is "skoon" or at the end where it may be marked by " ' " e.g.
Sad (Sa'd), Taye' (Ta-ye'), Juma' (Jum-a').
Note 2: At the begining of a word, "alef" with kassra is written as English "I" and is pronounced as in "inn" to differentiate it
from "ain" with kassra which is written as English "E" or "E' " and is pronounced as in "ego" e.g. :
Iman (E-man), Esam or E'sam (E-sam).
Note 3: At the begining of a word, "alef" with damma is written as English "U" and is pronounced as in "Uno" to differentiate it
from "ain" with damma which is written as English "O" or "O' " and is pronounced as in "own" e.g. :
Usama (U-sa-ma), Omar or O'mar (O-mar).
Note 4: All the vowels with a hamza are considered as constants and the rules below apply e.g Fua~d or Fuad (Fu-ad),
Rae~d or Raed (Ra-ed)..
Note 5: When placed at the begining, "ai" and "ay" are interchangable; they almost sound like "eye" e.g. (Ai-man or Ay-man).
Any where else the rules below apply.
Note 6: "ia" and "ya" are interchangable and are considered as a syllable e.g. (Fad-ia or Fad-ya), (Mun-ia-ti or Mun-ya-ti).
Note 7: "H" is always considered as a constant and is silent when placed at the end of a name.
Note 8: sh, kh, th and gh are considered as one constant e.g. Morshed (Mor-shed), Khaled (Kha-led) otherwise if they are to
be pronounced separetly, rule 4 below applies.
Note 9: A name of foreign origin used here may be written in that language rather than how it sounds in Arabic e.g. :
Sue not Soo, Joseph not Josef, Isabelle not Izabel, Mariam not Maryam ....
Rules:
When reading a name it should be divided into syllables according to the following rules in conjuction with the notes above:
Rule 1: A vowel at the begining of a word is a syllable if followed by one constant only e.g. Omar (O-mar) or Iman (I-man).
Rule 2: Two vowels at the begining of the word are a syllable e.g. Aida (Ai-da) or Eid (Ei-d).
Rule 3: Where a name contains two consecutive vowels such as ee/oo/ou/ai/ia it is considered as a single long sounding letter
and part of a syllable begining with the preceeding constant e.g. (Ya-seen, Mah-mood, You-sef or Hu-sain)
Rule 4: Two consecutive constants can not be in the same syllable e.g. A'mr (A'm-r), Abdallah (Ab-dal-lah), Fathi (Fat-hi).
i.e. the first constant will be the end of the first syllable and the second will be the begining of the next syllable
See note 7 above for exceptions.
Rule 5: Taking the above notes & rules into consideration, all other syllables must begin with a constant followed by a vowel
and may or may not end with a constant e.g. (Ra-mi), (Ja-meel), (You-sef), (Zah-ra), (Bad-r), (Bad-ri), (Ab-dal-lah).
Rule6: There are always other exceptions but you will figure them out.
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Created 22 July 1998. Last updated 10 December 2009
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(C)Copyright 1998-2009 Mazen Hejleh, Perth, Western Australia. All rights reserved.
