Pronunciation Guide
Welcome to the Guide to the Aya & Sura Flashcards!
The following guides are intended to be used as a supplement to the Aya & Sura Quranic flashcards. Insha’Allah, whether you are a beginner or more advanced learner, they will provide information to help you form the sounds of the Arabic. These flashcards are useful for all ages. For the more advanced learners, there are helpful hints on how to pronounce those sounds of Arabic which are not in the English language. May Allah guide all of us on our path to learning the Holy Quran!
Elementary
The following guide is intended to be used as a supplement to the Aya & Sura Quranic flashcards for young children or those who are beginners or who want to focus more on the pronunciation and meanings of Quranic vocabulary rather than the Arabic script. There are three tables including: (1) vowels and vowel blends, (2) consonants which have corresponding English equivalents, and (3) an introduction to special marks added to the Quran to help non-Arabs read the words correctly. (For consonant sounds which are not in the English language, the young learner will probably benefit more from the audio recordings.)
Table 1 – Vowels and Vowel Blends*
| English Symbol | How to say it in English |
|---|---|
| A | AS IN CAT |
| AW | AS IN FATHER |
| EY | AS IN THEY |
| I | AS IN INK |
| U | AS IN TOO |
| AU | AS IN OUT |
* Note: The table of Vowels and Vowel Blends is not an all-inclusive table, only the ones that appear in Volume 1 of the Aya & Sura flashcards. As we produce more volumes, we will update the table.
Table 2 – Consonant Sounds That Are Also in English
| English Symbol | How to say it in English |
|---|---|
| TH | AS IN THIN |
| TH | AS IN THAT |
| SH | AS IN SHOE |
| B | AS IN BOY |
| D | AS IN DAY |
| F | AS IN FISH |
| H | AS IN HAT |
| J | AS IN JAM |
| K | AS IN KING |
| L | AS IN LAW |
| M | AS IN MAN |
| N | AS IN NO |
| R | AS IN RUN |
| S | AS IN SUN |
| T | AS IN TOY |
| W | AS IN WALL |
| Y | AS IN YARD |
| Z | AS IN ZOO |
Table 3 – Special Marks**
| Mark | Position | Sound of Mark | Name of Mark |
|---|---|---|---|
ّ |
Above the letter | Makes the letter doubled | Shaddah |
َ |
Above the letter | A, AS IN CAT | Fathah |
ِ |
Below letter or below shaddah | I, AS IN INK | Kasrah |
ُ |
Above letter | U, AS IN TOO | Dhammah |
ْ |
Above letter | Stop on this letter, no vowel after it | Sukoon |
** Note: The table of Special Marks is not an all-inclusive table, only the ones that appear in Volume 1 of the Aya & Sura flashcards. As we produce more volumes, we will update the table.
Intermediate Pronunciation Guide
The following guide is intended to be used as a supplement to the Aya & Sura Quranic flashcards for older children and those who not only want to learn the correct pronunciation and meanings of Quranic vocabulary, but also want to become familiar with the Arabic script. While learning how to read and write the Arabic script is not specifically the subject of this volume, Insha’Allah the Aya & Sura flashcards can be a stepping stone to spark an interest, and the learners will be encouraged to further their studies. (After successfully completing the intermediate guide, they have the option to go on to the advanced guide.)
Included in this guide are three tables including: (1) an explanation of the special marks added to the Quran to help non-Arabs read the words correctly, (2) vowels and vowel blends, and (3) consonants which have corresponding English equivalents. (For Arabic consonants which do not have corresponding English equivalents, refer to the advanced guide.) These tables also have the main form of the corresponding Arabic letters. (Insha’Allah in the future, other forms of the Arabic letters will be added.)
TABLE 1 – EXPLANATION OF MARKS
| Mark | Position | Sound of Mark | Name of Mark |
|---|---|---|---|
ّ |
Above the letter | Makes the letter doubled (More detail at “The Shaddah Symbol.”) | Shaddah |
َ |
Above the letter | A, AS IN CAT | Fathah |
ِ |
Below letter or below shaddah | I, AS IN INK | Kasrah |
ُ |
Above letter | U, AS IN TOO | Dhammah |
ْ |
Above letter | Stop on this letter, no vowel after it (More detail at “The Sukoon Symbol.”) | Sukoon |
The Shaddah Symbol
You may have noticed a symbol that looks like a small English “w” ( ّ ) above some of the letters. This changes the letter into a double letter. The first syllable will end with that letter, and the second syllable will begin with that letter. In English we have many words with double consonants, but they are not equivalent to the Arabic shaddah. The best way to understand it is to imagine two words, for example “ten” and “nails.” Say them together, but hold onto the “n” of ten for a moment before pronouncing the “n” of “nails.”
The Sukoon Symbol
You may have noticed that some letters have a mark above them that looks like a tiny circle. (In some Qurans it may appear as a half circle.) When this symbol is above a letter, this will be the last sound of the syllable. In other words, there is no vowel sound pronounced after it. (You may also have noticed that the blends discussed in the vowel section end with a sukoon symbol.)
TABLE 2 – VOWELS AND VOWEL BLENDS
| English Symbol | How to say it in English | Arabic Letter(s) or Mark(s) |
|---|---|---|
| A | AS IN CAT | أَ / َ |
| AW* | AS IN FATHER | أَ / َ |
*follows one of the 8 “throat” letters
| EY | AS IN THEY | ( أَ + ىْ ) or ( ىْ + َ ) |
| I | AS IN INK | ى / ي / إِ / ِ |
| U | AS IN TOO | و / ُ |
| AU | AS IN OUT | ( أَ + وْ ) or ( وْ + َ ) |
TABLE 3 – CONSONANT SOUNDS SIMILAR TO ENGLISH
| English Symbol | How to say it in English | Arabic Letter(s) or Mark(s) |
|---|---|---|
| TH | AS IN THIN | ث |
| TH | AS IN THAT | ذ |
| SH | AS IN SHOE | ش |
| B | AS IN BOY | ب |
| D | AS IN DAY | د |
| F | AS IN FISH | ف |
| H | AS IN HAT | ه / ه / ة |
| J | AS IN JAM | ج |
| K | AS IN KING | ك |
| L | AS IN LAW | ل |
| M | AS IN MAN | م |
| N | AS IN NO | ن |
| R | AS IN RUN | ر |
| S | AS IN SUN | س |
| T | AS IN TOY | ت |
| W | AS IN WALL | و* |
| Y | AS IN YARD | ى* |
| Z | AS IN ZOO | ز |
* You may have noticed that these two letters are also included in the vowel table, which means sometimes they are vowels and sometimes they are consonants (similar to the “Y” in English.) How will you know when it’s a consonant sound and not a vowel sound? If it has a vowel mark above or below it, then it’s the consonant sound.
ABOUT THE SOUND AW AND THE “THROAT” LETTERS
There are eight “throat” letters which cannot be followed by the sound A. Because these letters are made from the throat, it is difficult for the sound A to be pronounced after them. Instead of A as in CAT, they are followed by the sound AW as in FATHER. These letters are:
ق غ ر ط ظ ص ض خ
For more detail, refer to TABLE 5 in the Advanced Section.
Advanced
The following guide is intended to be used as a supplement to the Aya & Sura Quranic flashcards. We encourage the users to take advantage of this advanced pronunciation guide, as well as the recordings in the audio section, to learn how to correctly pronounce the words of the Holy Quran, We also encourage everyone who handles these cards to have wudhoo.
While learning how to read and write the Arabic script is not specifically the subject of this volume, Insha’Allah the Aya & Sura flashcards can be a stepping stone to spark your interest, and you will be encouraged to further your studies. For those who desire more detailed assistance in learning the Arabic sounds, we encourage you to refer to the eight tables included here which contain some hints on how to pronounce those sounds which are not in the English language. These tables contain the main form of the corresponding Arabic letters. (Insha’Allah in the future, other forms of the Arabic letters will be added.)
TABLE 1 – EXPLANATION OF MARKS
You might have noticed that some of the vowel sounds in Arabic are represented by marks above or below the letters, while others are actual letters. These marks were not in the earliest Qurans, but were added later so that non-Arabs would be able to pronounce the Quran correctly.
| Mark | Position | Sound of Mark | Name of Mark |
|---|---|---|---|
| ّ | Above the letter | Makes the letter doubled (More detail at “The Shaddah Symbol.”) | Shaddah |
| َ | Above the letter | A, AS IN CAT | Fathah |
| ِ | Below letter or below shaddah | I, AS IN INK | Kasrah |
| ُ | Above letter | U, AS IN TOO | Dhammah |
| ْ | Above letter | Stop on this letter, no vowel after it (More detail at “The Sukoon Symbol.”) | Sukoon |
The Shaddah Symbol
You may have noticed a symbol that looks like a small English “w” ( ّ ) above some of the letters. This changes the letter into a double letter. The first syllable will end with that letter, and the second syllable will begin with that letter. In English we have many words with double consonants, but they are not equivalent to the Arabic shaddah. In these English words, there is no extra pronunciation of the letter. The best way to understand it is to imagine two words, for example “ten” and “nails.” Say them together, but hold onto the “n” of ten for a moment before pronouncing “nails.”
The Sukoon Symbol
You may have noticed that some letters have a mark above them that looks like a tiny circle. (In some Qurans it may appear as a half circle.) When this symbol is above a letter, this will be the last sound of the syllable. In other words, there is no vowel sound pronounced after it. (You may also have noticed that the blends discussed in the vowel section end with a sukoon symbol.)
TABLE 2 – VOWELS AND VOWEL BLENDS
This table contains only the vowel sounds that appear in Volume 1 of the Aya & Sura flashcards. In the case of vowel blends, you will see a plus (+) sign. Remember to read the explanation from right to left since Arabic is written from the right to the left.
| English Symbol | How to say it | Arabic Letter(s) or Mark(s) (Isolated) |
|---|---|---|
| A | AS IN CAT | أَ / َ |
| AW | AS IN FATHER | أَ / َ (follows one of the 8 “throat” letters) |
| EY | AS IN THEY | ( أَ + ىْ ) or ( ىْ + َ ) |
| I | AS IN INK | ى / ي / إِ / ِ |
| U | AS IN TOO | و / ُ |
| AU | AS IN OUT | ( أَ + وْ ) or ( وْ + َ ) |
TABLE 3 – CONSONANT SOUNDS SIMILAR TO ENGLISH
| English Symbol | How to say it | Main Arabic Form or Mark |
|---|---|---|
| TH | AS IN THIN | ث |
| TH | AS IN THAT | ذ |
| SH | AS IN SHOE | ش |
| B | AS IN BOY | ب |
| D | AS IN DAY | د |
| F | AS IN FISH | ف |
| H | AS IN HAT | ه / ه / ة |
| J | AS IN JAM | ج |
| K | AS IN KING | ك |
| L | AS IN LAW | ل |
| M | AS IN MAN | م |
| N | AS IN NO | ن |
| R | AS IN RUN | ر |
| S | AS IN SUN | س |
| T | AS IN TOY | ت |
| W | AS IN WALL | و* |
| Y | AS IN YARD | ى* |
| Z | AS IN ZOO | ز |
* You may have noticed that these two letters are also included in the vowel table, which means sometimes they are vowels and sometimes they are consonants (similar to the “Y” in English.) How will you know when it’s a consonant sound and not a vowel sound? If it has a vowel mark above or below it, then it’s the consonant sound.
TABLE 4- CONSONANT SOUNDS NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
| English Symbol | Main Arabic Form(s) |
|---|---|
| Ṣ | ص |
Similar to English “S”, but the back part of the tongue is raised up close to the roof of the mouth.
| DH | ض |
Similar to English “D”, but the two sides of the tongue should touch the roof of the mouth.
| KH | خ |
To form this sound, first. with the tip of your tongue, find the “soft palate” which is at the very back of the roof of your mouth. Now, start out by making the “H” sound, then slowly bring the back of your tongue closer to the soft palate until almost touching. It is very similar to the sound you make when trying to clear mucous/phlegm from the back of your throat when you have a cold.
| Ġ | غ |
Once you have mastered the KH sound, it will be easy to make this sound. You simply give a “voice” to this sound by vibrating your vocal cords. (For more information see Voice and Voiceless)
| Ṭ | ط |
Similar to English “T”, but the back of the tongue is slightly raised.
| Ḥ | ح |
Pronounced like a heavy “H”, like you want to fog up your mirror.
| Ẓ | ظ |
Similar to voiced TH, but the back of the tongue is raised up close to the roof of the mouth.
| Q | ق |
Pronounced by raising the back of your tongue to the uvula and vibrating the vocal cords. (The uvula is the teardrop tissue that you can see in the back of your throat when you open your mouth wide.)
‘ |
ؤْ / ء / عْ |
Pronounced by closing off the back of throat with the tongue. Known in English as a “glottal stop,” it is similar to the sound made after the first syllable in the word “button” (when pronounced by a native speaker of English.)
| ‘A, ‘I, and ‘U | ع |
As in the glottal stop ( ‘ ) mentioned previously, it is pronounced by first closing off the back of the throat. Then when it is accompanied by a mark for one of the vowel sounds (A, I, or U), to English speakers the glottal stop appears to have a vowel-like quality. However, it is traditionally categorized as a consonant.
TABLE 5 – THE 8 “THROAT” LETTERS
There are eight letters which cannot be followed by the sound A as in CAT. Because these letters are made from the throat, it is difficult for the sound A to be pronounced after them. Instead of A, they are followed by the sound AW as in FATHER. (Refer to TABLE 5 for more detail.)
| Throat Letter | …… when followed by sound A |
|---|---|
| خ | KHAW |
| ص | ṢAW |
| ض | DHAW |
| ط | ṬAW |
| ظ | ẒAW |
| ر | RAW |
| غ | ĠAW |
| ق | QAW |
TABLE 6 – EXPLANATION FOR UNDERLINED VOWELS
You probably noticed on the flashcards that sometimes the vowel symbols were underlined (A, AW, I, and U). This is to indicate that these vowels should be stretched to a count of 2 (in other words, twice as long as you would pronounce the vowels A, AW, I, and U.) This happens when a vowel mark is followed by a vowel letter with no mark on it. You can see examples in the Table 6.
| English Symbol | What to do…. | Examples ( from right to left) |
|---|---|---|
| A | Stretch A for two counts | ا + َ |
| I | Stretch I for two counts | ى + ِ |
| U | Stretch U for two counts | و + ُ |
| AW | Stretch AW for two counts | ا + َ (follows one of the 8 “throat” letters) |
TABLE 7 – VOICELESS AND VOICED LETTERS
To better understand the concept of voiced vs. voiceless sounds, think about the difference in the following pairs of letters in TABLE 7, such as “S” and “Z”. The letters in the first column are voiceless. Say the sounds of the letters (NOT the names of the letters), and at the same time place your hand on your throat. Do you feel any vibration from your vocal chords? The answer should be “no’. Now say the sound of the corresponding letter in the second column. Do you feel any vibration from your vocal chords? Now the answer should be “yes.” So the only difference between the letter sounds in the first and second columns is that the second one has added a vocalization, or a “voice”. This is also true of the two TH sounds in English words. (You may have noticed that the voiced TH has been italicized to distinguish it from the voiceless TH.) The TH sound is voiceless, as in “thin”, “think”, and “thanks”, and voiced as in words like “this”, “that”, “these”, and “those”. This also holds true for the Arabic letters KH ( خ ) and Ġ ( غ ).
| Voiceless Letter | Corresponding Voiced Letter |
|---|---|
| s | z |
| T | D |
| TH (in thin) | TH (in that) |
| KH | Ġ |
TABLE 8 – 5 VIBRATION LETTERS
There are five Arabic letters which when they have a sukoon, or when stopping on those letters, they have a vibration. The best way to understand this is to listen to the recordings of the words which contain these sounds.
| English Symbol | Arabic Letter | Examples in Flashcards |
|---|---|---|
| B | ب | KITAB , TURAWB, ṢAWBR, IBLIS , RAWB |
| D | د | ḤAMD , ‘IBAD |
| J | ج | No example from Volume 1 cards |
| Ṭ | ط | ṢIRAWT |
| Q | ق | No example from Volume 1 cards |
Note for Parents
Salam Alaikum Dear Parents. Insha’Allah your child will enjoy the attractive and colorful Aya & Sura flashcards. Even if your child has not yet learned how to read, he or she can benefit from them because you can assist them in reading the meanings of the words and the respective Quranic verses as well as the game play. It is a well-known fact that young children are better language learners than adults are. Allah has created them with the ability to achieve native pronunciation, whereas adults often have to struggle to be able to achieve a near-native accent. Therefore, the young learner will benefit greatly by listening to the pronunciation in the audio recordings located in the Audio section. Even so, some simple tables have been included for those children who have some reading skills.