Contrastive Analysis of English and Arabic Vowels

Introduction:
Sounds are divided into consonants and vowels. A consonant is a speech
sound which obstructs the flow of air through the vocal tract. A vowel is the
class of sound which makes the least obstruction to the flow of air. Vowels
are almost always found at the centre of a syllable, and it rare to find any
sound other than a vowel which is able to stand alone as a whole syllable
(Roach, 1992). Each vowel has a number of properties that distinguish it
from other vowels. These include; the shape of the lips, which may be
rounded, neutral, or spread. The second property is the position of the
tongue, which could be front, middle, or back. Finally, the tongue may be
raised giving different vowel qualities.
Vowels in English and Arabic have similarities and differences. They are
different in number; English has more vowels than Arabic. They also differ
in distribution; English words can begin with vowels, whereas Arabic words
can only begin with consonants. Both languages have some common
vowels, but at the same time, there are some vowels that are restricted to
each one of them.

Contrary to English which has a larger vowel system containing about

nine simple vowels and seven longer vowels, Arabic has only three short and
three long vowels. (Kara, 1976).
This paper presents a contrastive analysis of English and Arabic vowels,
showing the differences between them in production and use. It also
discusses the difficulties that Arabs learning English face when learning
English. The discussion will be based on the comparison between standard
American English and standard Arabic.
The Arabic Vowels:
In (Bakalla, 1982), it was stated that the Arabic vowels are voiced and
produced with no obstruction or constriction in the mouth. According to Ibn
Jinni, who called the vowels huruf madd wa ?istitalah are rendered as the
sounds of lengthening and prolongation and may be short (harakat) or long
(huruf madd). This idea of prolongation points to the fact that Arabic vowels
being produced without constriction in the mouth, may further be
lengthened, i.e. held, as long as the breath allows, and, a glottal stop begins
wherever the vowels end.
Long vowels are also called the sounds of softness. Ibn Jinni says:
When the point of articulation (maxraj-ul-harf) widens (i.e. the vocal tract is not
restricted) so as to keep the sound ( i.e. the vowel) constantly enuciated and continued

until it can no longer be prolonged, it will end by the articulation of the glottal stop
(hamza). It will necessarily come to an end at this point the sounds (huruf) which are
produced with open stricture at the places of articulation are three; a, i, and u. However, a
is more open (?awsa ) and softer (?alyan) than the others and for this reason it is
auditorily different from both i and u, and vice versa.

In Arabic, a long vowel can be heard with further prolongation in three

cases; if it is followed by a glottal stop (hamza), if it followed by a geminate
(harf mushaddad), and if it is paused upon for the purpose of recollection.
On the other hand, long vowels are given alphabetical names, whereas the
corresponding short vowels are actually given names that suggest phonetic
distinctive features, they are called case markers.
Ibn Jinni defines al harakat as the element which if occurs between two
identical consonants it will prevent them from being doubled. He also states
that short vowels are in par with consonants in that they are all regarded as
elements of speech.
In (Abdul-Rauf, 1977), it was mentioned that as in English the full sound
of consonant is achieved by the application of the vowel, but there are only
three vowels in Arabic. One has the value of a in bat, or u in but
another has the value of i in fit, and the third has the value of u in
put, they are all short. These vowels are not represented by characters

following the consonants; but are represented by signs written above or

below the consonants.
One of the basic distinctions in Arabic sounds is that between short and
long vowels that it may make the difference between: singular and plural; as
in colloquial: gamal (s.) and gima:l (pl.) camal, in formal: musa:firun (s.)
musa:firu:n (pl.) traveler. Vowels also indicate object and absence of
object; as in katabu they wrote and katabu:h they wrote it. Finaly, they
indicate one meaning and another as in; gamal camel and gama:l beauty.
(Hanna and Greis, 1972).
Description of vowels in Arabic:
Arabic vowels are divided into long and short vowels. In the description
of long vowels in (Saleh, __) it was explained that the letter ( ) called alif is
a vertical line and represents the vowel a. this a is pronounced like a of
father or a of dad. The letter ( ) is called waw and represents the
vowel u. this u is pronounced like the vowel of food. The letter ( ) is
called ya and represents the vowel i. this i is pronounced like the vowel of
deep. The short vowels were also explained as follows; first, the diacritic
( __ ) written on the top of the consonant, stands for the vowel a and is
pronounced like a of hat. Its usage indicates that such a consonant is
followed by the vowel a. this diacritic is called in Arabic fathah ( ___),

second, the marker (___) on the consonants stands for short u and
indicates that such a consonant is followed by the vowel u. This u is
pronounced as the vowel in pull. This marker is called in Arabic dammah
(___), third, is the diacritic (___) written below the consonant, stands for
short i and indicates that such a consonant is followed by the vowel i. this
is pronounced like the vowel in tin. This marker is called in Arabic kasrah.
Finally, it was mentioned that the absence of the vowel is indicated by a
small circle over the consonant meaning that this consonant is not followed
by any vowel sound. This marker is called in Arabic sukun.
According to (Prochazka, 1988), in a discussion of Saudi Arabian
dialects, the vowels in Arabic are of two kinds: oral and nasal. Oral vowels
are divided into simple vowels and diphthongs. Simple vowels are divided
into long and short. On the other hand, dipthongs include aw and ay
which occur in non-final positions. It was also mentioned that in all dialects
dipthongs occur in final positions. The author also adds that some vowels
may be nasalized in forms ending in un and un in those dialects.
In (Watson,2002) Arabic vowels were explained and it was mentioned
that the major lexical contrasts in Arabic are indicated through the
consonants. This is reflected in the Arabic script which is based on roots of
consonants and glides, which inserts short vowels when necessary as

diacritics above and below the consonant. Thus, Arabic was a very rich
consonantal system and a relatively impoverished vocalic system.
Vowels in Standard American English:
In (Kurath, 1977), English vowels were described. They were explained
as follows:
The vowel /I/ is a lax high-front monophthong. It does not occur finally
or before vowels. It becomes stressed before all consonants, as in lip, bit,
ditch. /I/ can be followed by clusters consisting of a resonant and an
obstruent, as in limp, hint. It occurs in the final member of complex words,
in prefixes and suffixes, and medially. Examples of such cases are the words
biscuit, benefit, infinite.
The vowel /E/ is a lax front monophthong. It does not occur at the end of
words and morphemes, or before vowels. /E/ appears before all consonants
except /h, j, w/ as in step, pepper. It is rare before /z, z, ng/. Like other
checked vowels, /E/ occurs before /s, m, n, l/ clusters, as in best and escort.
The vowel /ae/ is a raised low-front monophthong, usually short.
Prolongation occurs in monosyllables, especially before voices consonants,
as in sad, bag, and man. This phoneme does not occur at the end of words
and morphemes or before vowels. /ae/ is found before all consonants, except
/th, z, z, h, r, j, w/, as in lap, hat, latch. It also occurs before all medial

consonants, except / ng, j, w/, as in dapper, batter, tackle. Finally and

medially, /ae/ can be followed by clusters consisting of a resonant and an
obstruent, as in lamp, hamper, and ant.
The vowel /a/ is current in most varieties of American English. It is an
unrounded low-central vowel, often prolonged before voiced consonants, as
in rob, nod, bother. It does not occur at the end of words and morphemes, or
before vowels. it appears before all consonants except /h, j, w, z/, and rarely
before /c, th, s, th/. Examples of the distribution of /a/ include; hop, proper,
lock. /a/ also occurs before /m, n, l, r/ clusters, as in pomp, font, monster, and
before /s/ clusters, as in hospital, mosque.
The phoneme / / is an unrouded mid-back vowel more or less lowered
and fronted. It occurs before all consonants except / /h, z, j, w/ as in cup,
supper, nut. It can be followed by clusters consisting of a resonant and a
plosive, as in hunt, punch, bundle, and by clusters consisting of /s/ and a
plosive as in lust, husk.
The vowel /U/ is a short rounded lowered high-back monophthong. It
occurs before /d/ as in good and stood, and before /k/ as in book, look, and
before /l/ as in bull. It is rare before /t, c, s, z/ as in foot, butcher, put. It
occurs before bilabials, as in hoop, roof, room, and also before /n/, as in
soon and spoon. /U/ does not occur before / g, v, th, th, ng/.

The vowel /O/ is slightly rounded mid-back vowel, always short and
often ingliding. It contrasts with / /, as in stone = stun, whole = hull.
The free vowel /i/ is articulated either as upgliding [ ij] or as a
monophthongal [i.] as in three. It occurs finally in words and morphemes as
in see and pea, before a vowel within a morpheme as in peon and real, and
before all consonants except /b, h, j, w, ng/ as in leap, beat, seek. The
vowel /i/ is rare before /s, z, g/. It can be followed by clusters /ld/ and /st/ as
in field and east.
The free mid-front vowel /e/ is an upgliding diphthong [eI EI], starting in
mid-front position, close or open. It occurs at the end of words and
morphemes, as in day, daily, play, and before all consonants except /ng, j, w,
h/ as in tape, late, Asia, shame. It is rare before /c, s, z/. /e/ occurs also
before the clusters /st, ng/ as in haste and range.
The free low-to-mid back vowel /c / has rather regional diaphones. It
occurs at the end of words and morphemes as in draw, law, and before all
consonants except / g, v, th/ as in caught, water, talk, sauce. It is rare before /
p, b, c, z, m/. It appears before the clusters in launch, salt, false, soft, and
following /w/ as in swamp and want.
The free vowel /o/ is most widely pronounced as an upgliding [ou]
starting mid-back-close and rather well rounded. It occurs finally as in go,

toe, and before vowels as in going and poet. It also occurs before all
consonants except /ng, h, j, w/ as in hope, boat.
The free rounded high-back vowel /u/ is articulated either as a
monophthongal [u.] or as an upgliding [uw], or after /j/ as in few, music. It
occurs at the end of words and morphemes as in do, few, true, and before all
consonants except /ng, j, w/ as in droop, mute. It is rare before / c, g, g, s, th/.
The unstressed free vowel / / occurs in checked as well as in free
position. Appearing initially, medially, and finally, but not before vowels it is
confined to unstressed syllables. Initially, / / occurs in arise, again, and
account.

Contrastive Analysis and possible problems:

Some Arabic speakers perform oddly on a range of experimental tasks
which involve word discrimination. All these tasks involve discriminating
words with identical consonant patterns, but differing in their vowels. Some
Arabic speakers, it seems, are conspicuoulsy inaccurate in handling vowels
in English words, and are much more prone to make errors involving vowels
than subjects of other L1 backgrounds.

One possible explanation for these effects is that Arabic speakers may
transfer to English a set of psycholinguistic strategies that are more
appropriately deployed in processing Arabic words. In Arabic, vowels are of
secondary importance both in script and in word building, and the word
recognition system depends heavily on the tri-consonantal roots which are
the basis of most Arabic words. Word families in Arabic are made up of sets
of words which all share a common set of three consonants, but vary in the
way vowels are placed within this consonantal framework. Thus, katab he
wrote, yiktib he writes, kaatib clerk, kitaab book, maktab office, maktaba
library, etc, are all variations on a single tri-consonantal theme, K-T-B
(Mitchell 1962). Such a writing system works well with Semitic languages,
but creates problems for readers when they start learning a language which
follows different structural rules. A system which encourages the reader to
focus on the consonantal framework of a word does not allow sufficient
discrimination between words when it is transferred to the lexical system of
English, where consonants are not the only key signals for a reader. Thus rd-r is an inadequate representation for 'reader', since this consonantal code is
shared with several other unrelated words (raider, rider, rudder, ardour,
ordure, order, redraw, etc...).

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It was suggested that a substantial number of Arabic speaking learners of

English may be using inappropriate word recognition strategies of this sort.
Most Arabic learners will use a system of this sort in the early stages of
learning English, although we do not have hard evidence to back this hunch
up. Most learners, it seems, succeed in developing a word-handling system
that is appropriate to English in the long run. However, a number of learners
continue to have difficulties with English words, and continue to make
confusions like "dismal numbers" for "decimal numbers". Indeed, some may
never get past this problem (Ryan & Meara, 1996).
When teaching pronunciation to Arabic-speaking students, there is a
difference in the comparative force of pronunciation of stressed and
unstressed syllables in English and Arabic. In English there is a great
difference in force: unstressed syllables can be pronounced very weakly;
stressed syllables can be fully pronounced. In Arabic this difference is not
nearly so extreme; unstressed syllables can have full vowels and be
pronounced fairly clearly.
Sentence stress in Arabic is similar to that in English. Content words are
usually stressed, and function words are usually unstressed. However,
function words in Arabic do not have two forms. Vowels in words in an

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unstressed position keep their "full" value, unlike vowels in unstressed

words in English, which are reduced to "schwa." (Wahba, 1998).
Conclusion:
Vowels can be described in terms of three factors; the height of the
body of the tongue, the front-back position of the tongue and the degree of
lip rounding. It is very difficult to be aware of the position of the tongue in
vowels, but it is possible to get an impression of the tongue height by
observing the position of the jaw while saying the words ( Ladefoged, 1975).
Whereas the English vowels have their full place and independent
existence in the English alphabet and constitute integral parts of the English
words, the short vowels in Arabic are merely oral. Signs indicating these
vowels on top of or below the consonants are used only in teaching texts for
guiding learners and in important religious texts.

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References:
Abdul-Rauf, M. 1977. Arabic for English speaking students. Chicago :Kazi
publications.
Hanna, S. & Greis, N. 1972. Beginning Arabic a linguistic approach: from
cultivated cairene to formal Arabic. Leiden: Netherlands.
Kara, R. 1976. The problems encountered by English speakers in learning
Arabic. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California,
Berkeley.
Kurath, H. 1977. A phonology and prosody of modern English. Michigan,
USA: Michigan University Press.
Ladefoged, P. 1975. A course in phonetics. New York: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, Inc.
Mitchell, T. 1962. Colloquial Arabic. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Mitchell, T. 1993. Pronouncing Arabic 2. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Prochazka Jr, T. 1988. Saudi Arabian dialects. London: Kegan Paul
International.

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Roach, P. 1992. Introducing phonetics. London: Penguin English.

Ryan, A. & Paul, M. A diagnostic test for 'vowel blindness' in Arabic
speaking learners of English. Retrieved on 13. 1. 2006 from:
http://www.swan.ac.uk/cals/calsres/vlibrary/arpm96c.htm
Saleh, M. nd. Learning Arabic: step by step approach to reading and
writing Arabic. International Islamic Publishing House.
Wahba, (1998). Teaching pronunciation- why?. Forum, 36, ( 3), pp 32.
retrieved on 11.1. 2006. from:
http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol36/no3/p32.htm
Watson, J.C.E. 2002. The phonology and morphology of Arabic. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.

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