Learn harakat the Arabic Diacritical marks in detail! – 2023

The Arabic language is considered one of the most difficult and complex languages ​​in the world, as it is widespread and isolated from others so that each word has more than one synonym and meaning and this is due to the change of the short vowels”Al harakat”. In importance, the Harakat were called in the past the language of the Holy Qur’an and the Sunna anabawiya(the hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad) because they are not devoid of Harakat and this is to avoid errors in pronunciation.

The word “Al Harakat” is plural which means “diacritical marks” of the Arabic alphabet, it is also called “Short vowels” the singular of harakat is “haraka”, moreover “Al” is a definite article it’s “The” in English so when we say Al harakat is like saying The short vowels.

Al harakat are one of the necessary means to teach the Arabic language, by teaching the correct pronunciation and pronunciation of phrases.

Let’s get started!

What is a Haraka “حركة”?

Al Haraka is a small shape or symbol that is placed above or below the Arabic letter to clarify the method of pronouncing the letter in the correct manner, and this is what made the Arabic language unique in its characteristics from the rest of the languages ​​of the world.

What are these Harakat”حركات”?

Al Harakat in the Arabic language consists of four formations and are organized according to their strength in their effect on the letter from the most powerful to the weakest, and we will present them to you in order:

1. Kasra”الكسرة”:

The kasra is written under the letters in the form of a very small font like that( ـِ )

•Examples of the kasra in the isolated letters:

Arabic	Pronunciation
تِ	Ti
رِ	Ri
صِ	Ssi
كِ	Ki

•Examples of the kasra in the words:

Arabic	English	Pronunciation
تِلفاز	television	Tilfaaz
رِياح	Winds	Riyaah
صِدق	Sincerity	Ssidq
كِتاب	Book	Kitaab

2. Damma”الضمة”:

The damma is written as a lowercase waaw “و” above the letter, like that ( ـُ )

•Examples of the damma in the isolated letters:

Arabic	Pronunciation
تُ	To
رُ	Ro
صُ	Sso
كُ	Ko

•Examples of the damma in the words:

Arabic	English	Pronunciation
تُربة	Soil	Torba
رُعب	Horror	Roab
صُندوف	Box	Ssondoq
كُراس	Copybook	Koraas

3. Fat-ha”الفتحة”:

It is considered one of the lightest haraka in the Arabic language. It is called the fat-ha because it can only be done by opening the mouth.

The Fat-ha is written above the letters in the form of a very small font like that: ( ـَ )

•Examples of the Fat-ha in the isolated letters:

Arabic	Pronunciation
أَ	‘A
بَ	Ba
جَ	Ja
مَ	Ma

•Examples of the Fat-ha in the words:

Arabic	English	Pronunciation
أَلوان	Colors	‘Alwaan
بَركة	Blessing	Baraka
جَدول	Table	Jadwal
مَنزل	Flute	Manzil

4. Sukoon “سكون”:

Sukoon in Arabic language is against the harakat But in the field of grammar, sukoon means the haraka that is placed above the letter.

The Sukoon is written above the letters in the form of a very small circle like that: ( ـْ )

•Examples of the Sukoon in the isolated letters:

Arabic	Pronunciation
بْ	aB
لْ	aL
مْ	aM
سْ	aS

•Examples of the Sukoon in the words:

Arabic	English	Pronunciation
جبْن	Cheese	Jobn
ملْعب	Stadium	Maleab
تمْر	Dates	Tamr
مسْبح	Swimming pool	Masbah

•Note :

1. There are those who consider the sukoon as a haraka, and there are those who call it : The No vowel.

The haraka of sukoon was written in the form of a small letter khaa‘ without the dot above the letter like that ( ـۡ ), and this was ancient, especially in the book of the Holy Qur’an, so do not be surprised if you came across it in some ancient books of the Arabic language.

The importance of Harakat in the Arabic language.

In order to explain to you the importance of the short vowels in the Arabic language, we will give you two examples that are free of Harakat:

1. حر:

Notice this example, when you are asked to pronounce it you will be divided into two groups :

The first group will pronounce it Hor “حُرْ“. Which means free in English, and this is correct.

The second group, you will disagree with the opinion and will pronounce it Har “حَرْ”, which means Hot in the English language, and they are also right.

2. علم:

This example is also the same, you will be divided into two groups with ambivalent opinions:

The first group will be pronounced ‘ilm “عِلْمْ“, which means science in the English language, and this is true.

As for the second group, you will pronounce it Alam “عَلَمْ“, which means a flag in the English language, and this is also true.

Have you seen the contradiction that occurred and the great difference in meaning once the harakat changed and from all of this we conclude that the importance of the Harakat lies in:

• The harakat help in pronouncing the phrase in its proper form, allowing the arrival of a synonym for an intended word.

• Communicate the meaning intended by the writer in the words without confusion in understanding. • • •Haraka is of great importance in grammatical parsing (الإعراب “Al ‘ieraab“), because it depends on the harakat of the letters at the end of the words.

The difference between the short vowel and the long vowel:

As it appears to you, and as many people think, how to pronounce the fat-ha is similar to the alif, the damma is similar to the waaw, and the kasra is similar to the letter yaa, so what is the difference between them?

The Alif, Waaw and Yaa’ called the long vowel or Huruf al-elaa(حروف العلة), they came after a consonant and take a longer duration in pronunciation than the short vowel. We will explain this idea to you with examples just to make it easier for you.

The short vowel	The long vowel
Kasra (الكسرة)	Yaa’ (الياء)
Damma (الضمة)	Wow(الواو)
Fat-ha (الفتحة)	Alif (الألف)
Sukoon (السكون)	/

•Examples that show the difference between them :

The short vowel	The long vowel
بَ/Ba	با/Baa
بُ/Bo	بو/Boo
بِ/Be	بي/Bee

The short vowel	The long vowel
قِرد/Qird (Monkey)	جميل/Jameel (Beautiful)
نُجوم/Nojoom (Stars)	نجوم/Nojoom (Stars)
كَأس/Ka‘s (Cup)	سائق/Saa‘iq (Driver)
محْزن/Muhzin (Depressing)	/

The Narcotization”التنوين””Tanween”

What is Tanween?

Tanween is a combination of two similar short vowels that result in the extra letter Noon “ن” with the sukoon in the last word of the noun. It is pronounced and not written. We used the Tanween only with nouns to define them.

Types of Tanween

Tanween is many types, but in our lesson today we will study the three famous ones, Tanween al-Fath, Tanween al-Kasr, and Tanween al-Dhamm.

Tanween al-Kasr

It consists of two kasra placed on top of each other under the last letter of the word like that 🙁 ـٍ ) , immediately followed by the pronunciation of a noon sakina(with fat-ha).

•Examples of Tanween al-kasr in the isolated letters:

Arabic	Pronunciation
مٍ	Min
تٍ	Tin
بٍ	Bin
نٍ	Nin

We note that Tanween al-Kasr in pronunciation consists of:

The letter+the kasra+letter Noon with sukoon.

•Examples of Tanween al-Kasr in the words:

Arabic	English	Pronunciation
قلمٍ	Pen	Qalamin
توتٍ	Blueberry	Totin
ملعبٍ	Stadium	Maleabin
مسكنٍ	Dwelling	Maskanin

Tanween al-Dhamm

It consists of two Damma (two small waaw)placed on top of each other above the last letter of the word like that 🙁 ـٌ ) , immediately followed by the pronunciation of a noon sakina(with fat-ha).

•Examples of Tanween al-Dhamm in the isolated letters:

Arabic	Pronunciation
ةٌ	Ton
رٌ	Ro
زٌ	Zon
نٌ	Non

We note that Tanween al-Dhamm in pronuncuation consists of:

The letter+the Damma+letter Noon with sukoon.

•Examples of Tanween al-Dhamm in the words:

Arabic	English	Pronunciation
مساحةٌ	Space	Misahaton
تمرٌ	Dattes	Tamron
جوزٌ	Walnut	Jawzon
حيوانٌ	Animal	Hayawanon

Tanween al-Fath

Tanween al-Fath is letter noon with the sukoon added to the end of the word, the last letter of which is with a fat-ha, like that:( ـً )but the tanween in conquest differs from damm and kasr by adding an extra thousand, called alif tanween”ألف التنوين”.

•Examples of Tanween al-Fath in the isolated letters:

Arabic	Pronunciation
تًا	Tan
رًا	Ran
عًا	Ean
لًا	Lan

We note that Tanween al-Fath in pronunciation consists of

The letter+the fat-ha+letter Noon with sukoon.

•Examples of Tanween al-Fath in the words:

Arabic	English	Pronuncuation
بيتًا	Home	Baytan
جحرًا	Burrow	Johran
ممتعًا	Fun	Momtiean
سروالًا	Pants	Sirwalan

•Note :

There are many types of tanween, such as tanween al-awad, tanween al-muqabala, tanween al-tankeer. But we will dedicate detailed lessons to them later.

The Shadda (الشدَّة)

The Shadda means the doubling of a letter or the stress in the English language.

The form of Shadda in the Arabic language is like the first part of the letter Seen in small size or as a horizontal three , like that:( ـّ )

It is always accompanied by a Haraka that determines how to pronounce it, which is either the fat-ha ( ـَّ ), the damma ( ـُّ ) or the kasra ( ـِّ ).

When we try to spell the Shadda we found two parts:

•The first part: is the letter with sukoon.

•The second part: is the same letter as his haraka.

They should be in that order.

Examples of Shadda in the isolated letters:

type of haraka	Arabic	Letter parts	Pronunciation
The fat-ha	بَّ	بَ+بْ	B•Ba
The damma	بُّ	بُ+بْ	B•Bo
The kasra	بِّ	بِ+بْ	B•Bi

As you can see, the kasra is placed under the Shadda ,but above the letter .

Examples of Shadda in the words :

Arabic	English	Pronunciation
أمِّي	Mom	‘Om•mi
سبُّورة	Blackboard	Sab•bora
معلِّم	Teacher	Mueal•lim
كذَّب	He lie	Kath•thaba

The Shadda is written as one of the Haraka above the letter, but it is considered in the Arabic language as a letter and represents the pronunciation of the letter in an aggravated pronunciation.

How to write Harakat,Tanween and Shadda in the Arabic language on the keyboard?

There are many ways to write harakat, Tanween, and Shadda in the Arabic language on the keyboard, and we have chosen for you a simple way, which is as follows:

1. To write the haraka of Kasra under the letter we press SHIFT & A.

2. To write the haraka of Damma above the letter we press: SHIFT & E.

3. To write the haraka of fat-ha above the letter we press: SHIFT & Q.

4. To write the haraka of Sukoon above the letter we press: SHIFT & X.

5. To write Tanween al-kasr we press: SHIFT & A.

6. To write Tanween al-Dhamm we press : SHIFT & R.

7. To write Tanween al-Fath we press SHIFT & W.

8. To write the Shadda we press SHIFT & ذ.

Thus, we have learned about harakat, tanween, and Shadda. It was a rather long lesson this time, but it is very brief and useful. We have simplified the matter as much as possible, with many examples, you just have to focus a little, and you will see how easy it is, I just want to warn you that all of these things are within it in the field of formation in the Arabic language, and all of them came from the origin of the Holy Qur’an, and the first to put it was Abu Al-Aswad Al-Du’ali, who relied on red ink to place it, so he put it in the form of points only, to avoid errors in the writing and the pronunciation in the book of the Qur’an, if you come across this ancient writing and this type of formation in one of the ancient books, do not be surprised, this is only its story, for any questions we are here just ask us and we will answer you personally, good luck to all.

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