The Vowels – with audio
a
The arabic letter “ta mabuta” [ة], which can be found at the end of feminine nouns and adjectives, or the short vowel [ َ ] which has the phonetic symbol /a/. This sound is pronounced like the “a” in “cat”.
Examples:
| a | Audio |
|---|---|
mdrasa[مدرَسة] (school), Tbla[طبلة] (table), bSla[بصلة] (onion) |
aa
The arabic letter “alif” [ى/ﺍ ], represented by the phonetic symbol /aː/. A long “a” sound which doesn’t exist in English.
Examples:
| aa | Audio |
|---|---|
raas[راس] (head), baan[بان] (appear), daar[دار] (do) |
ee
The arabic letter “ya” [ﻱ ], represented by the phonetic symbol /iː/. Pronounced like the “ee” in “seen”.
Examples :
| ee | Audio |
|---|---|
saafee[صافي] (it’s enough), beet[بيت] (room), mtshrfeen[متشرفين] (pleased to meet you) |
o
[ُ ] in Arabic, represented by the phonetic symbol /u/.
Examples:
| o | Audio |
|---|---|
modeer[مُدير] (director), Tomoobeela[طُموبيلة] (car), momil[مُمِل] (boring) |
oo
The Arabic letter “waw” [ﻭ ], represented by the phonetic symbol /uː/. Pronounced like the “oo” in “boot”.
Examples:
| oo | Audio |
|---|---|
‘ashnoo[أشنو] (what), joo3[جوع] (hunger), faboor[فابور] (free) |
e
Several Moroccan Arabic words are composed entirely of consonants. So to help with the pronunciation, we have added the letter “e”. Pronounced like the “e” in «the».
Examples:
| e | Audio |
|---|---|
tleb[طلب] (ask / beg), bHer[بحر] (see) |
