Unit 3 · A first sound preview · Read

A first sound preview

Listen to the contrasts before learning their shapes.

كق

k at the soft palate · q further back, near the uvula

k and q

Hear k/q: dog and heart differ only in their first sound. ق is said further back than ك, near the uvula at the very back of the mouth.

كَلْب

dog

قَلْب

heart

تplain t: lightطemphatic t: deep and heavy

Hear emphatic/plain consonants: figs and mud differ only in their first sound. The emphatic ط sounds deeper and darkens the vowel next to it.

تِين

figs

طِين

mud

هlight h: a breathحthroat ḥ: a tight, rubbing hعʿayn: tight, with a buzzءa glottal stop, as in “uh-oh”

Hear the throat sounds ع ح next to a light ه: pyramid, donkey and grapes. The glottal stop ء, the catch in “uh-oh”, sits in the middle of question.

هَرَم

pyramid

حِمَار

donkey

عِنَب

grapes

سُؤَال

question

مَنshort a: quickمَالlong ā: held longer

Hear short versus long vowels: man, who, and māl, money. Whole-word audio is the pronunciation reference.

مَن

who

مَال

money

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