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Word Stress and Vowel Neutralization in Modern Standard Arabic
Jack Halpern (春遍雀來)
The CJK Dictionary Institute (日中韓辭典研究所)
34-14, 2-chome, Tohoku, Niiza-shi, Saitama 352-0001, Japan
jack@cjki.org
rules differ somewhat from those used in liturgi-
Abstract cal Arabic.
Word stress in Modern Standard Arabic is of Arabic word stress and vowel neutralization
great importance to language learners, while rules have been the object of various studies,
precise stress rules can help enhance Arabic such as Janssens (1972), Mitchell (1990) and
speech technology applications. Though Ara- Ryding (2005). Though some grammar books
bic word stress and vowel neutralization rules offer stress rules that appear short and simple,
have been the object of various studies, the lit- upon careful examination they turn out to be in-
erature is sometimes inaccurate or contradic- complete, ambiguous or inaccurate. Moreover,
tory. Most Arabic grammar books give stress the linguistic literature often contains inaccura-
rules that are inadequate or incomplete, while cies, partially because little or no distinction is
vowel neutralization is hardly mentioned. The
aim of this paper is to present stress and neu- made between MSA and liturgical Arabic, or
tralization rules that are both linguistically ac- because the rules are based on Egyptian-accented
curate and pedagogically useful based on how MSA (Mitchell, 1990), which differs from stan-
spoken MSA is actually pronounced. dard MSA in important ways.
1 Introduction
Arabic stress and neutralization rules are wor-
Word stress in both Modern Standard Arabic thy of serious investigation. Other than being of
(MSA) and the dialects is non-phonemic. great academic and theoretical interest, these
Whereas in English words like the noun permit rules have practical applications in pedagogy,
are distinguished from the verb permit by stress speech technology, lexicography and the compi-
alone, stress cannot be used to distinguish mean- lation of learning materials such as grammar
ings in Arabic. Thus even though Cariene speak- books and textbooks. Unfortunately, the results
ers by influence of their dialect may deviate from of linguistic research in this area have hardly
the standard and stress words like ُﻪ ُﺘ ﺒْ ﺘَ آَ 'I wrote it' made their way into Arabic pedagogical materi-
as /ka-tab-tu-hu/ rather than the standard /ka- als, including dictionaries. Consequently, almost
tab-tu-hu/, this difference in stress does not all grammar books give stress rules that are in-
change the meaning of the word (with rare ex- adequate or incomplete, while vowel neutraliza-
ceptions discussed below). tion is rarely mentioned.
Standard MSA stress is based on the dialects The aim of this paper is to present stress and
spoken in the Mashriq (east of Egypt and north neutralization rules and exceptions that are both
of the Arabian Peninsula). Some fluctuations linguistically accurate and pedagogically useful.
may occur in informally spoken MSA by influ- The rules are presented from a pedagogical,
ence of the local vernacular. For example, Egyp- rather than a formal linguistic, point of view.
tians may apply dialectical stress patterns that Based on considerable research of the literature
sometimes differ from standard MSA, as in on how MSA is actually spoken, and on informal
ﺔَﺳَرْﺪ ﻣَ ‘school', stressed as /mad-ra-sa/ rather interviews with informants, the rules given here
than the standard mad-ra-sa/. Although on the aim to be unambiguous and complete.
whole stress in formal MSA (as for example in
newscasts) is fairly uniform throughout the Arab
world, it is important to note that MSA stress
1
2 Format and Definitions 3. CVC ْﺐﺏَ consonant followed by a
Phonemic transcriptions are surrounded by /bab/ short vowel and a conso-
nant
slashes (except inside tables), while syllable
boundaries, which do not necessarily coincide 3. A superheavy syllable consists of a conso-
with morphemic boundaries, are indicated by nant followed by one or two vowels fol-
hyphens. Parentheses indicate the second half of lowed by one or two consonants:
a long vowel or consonant that is not pronounced
(neutralized), as in /ya(a)-baan/, or possibly pro- 4. CVVC نﻮُﻧ consonant + long vowel +
nounced half-long. Boldface is used to indicate /nuun/ consonant
the stressed syllable. CVVC مْﻮَﻳ consonant + diphthong +
/yawm/ consonant
Two consecutive vowels (as in CVV or 5. CVCC ّﺐ آَ consonant + short vowel +
CVVC) represent either a long vowel (نﻮُﻧ 'the /kabb/ double consonant
letter nuun' /nuun/) or a diphthong (مْﻮَﻳ 'day' CVCC قْﺮﺏَ consonant + short vowel +
/yawm/). Similarly, two consonants (as in /barq/ consonant + consonant
CVCC) represent either a double consonant, in- 6. CVVCC ّب ﺎ ﺷَ consonant + long vowel+
dicated by a shadda (ّﺞ َﺣ 'pilgrimage' /Haj(j)/), or /shaabb/ double consonant
distinct consonants (قْﺮَﺏ 'lightning' /barq/).
Only one superheavy syllable can appear in a
Disyllabic, as is self evident, refers to words word, which almost always occurs at word end.
consisting of two syllables, while polysyllabic But occasionally superheavy syllables can occur
refers to those consisting of three or more sylla- in other positions, as in دﱠﺎَﺷ /shaad-da/ 'he argued'.
bles but excludes those of two syllables.
4 Stress Rules
Proclitics in Arabic refer to one-letter func- 1. Stress always falls on the ultimate syl-
tion words such as the definite article and some lable if that syllable is superheavy.
prepositions attached to the beginning of a word. This rule takes precedence over all oth-
These include ْلاَ /'al/, َو /wa/, َف /fa/, ِب /bi/, ِل /li/, ers.
َل /la/, َك /ka/, َأ /'a/ and َس /sa/, and are ignored in
determining stress.
3 Syllabic Structure Arabic Roman English
To understand stress rules properly, it is neces- ل ﺎ َﺟ ِر ri-jaal men
sary to understand how words are divided into ﺪ ﻳ ِﺪ َﺟ ja-diid new
syllables (syllabic structure). Arabic syllables are نﺎَﺏﺎَﻳ ya(a)-baan
of six structural types that can be classified into ﻲّ ِﻧ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ َﻳ ya(a)-ba(a)-niyy Japanese
the three categories defined below: light, heavy
and superheavy. Table 1: Stress on superheavy
1. A light syllable consists of a consonant fol- 2. In monosyllabic words, stress falls on
lowed by a short vowel (CV). the ultimate syllable.
1. CV َك /ka/ consonant followed by Arabic Roman English
a short vowel. ﺎَﻣ ma(a) what
CV ِب /bi/ consonant followed by ْﺪ ﻗَ qad already
a short vowel. ﺪْ َﻘ َﻟ la-qad already
ﻢَﻜِﺏ bi-kam how much
2. A heavy syllable consists of either a conso- Table 2: Stress on ultimate
nant followed by two vowels (CVV), or of a
consonant followed by a short vowel and a Though it is self-evident that monosyl-
consonant (CVC). labic words can only be stressed on the
single syllable, it is necessary to keep in
2. CVV ﺎَﺏ /baa/ consonant followed by a mind that proclitics are ignored in count-
long vowel ing syllables, so that disyllabic words,
CVV consonant followed by a like ﺪْ َﻘ َﻟ are considered monosyllabic for
ْﻲ آَ /kay/ diphthong stress purposes.
2
3. In disyllabic words, stress falls on the pe-
nultimate syllable. 5. In polysyllabic words, stress falls on the
antepenultimate if the penultimate is light.
Arabic Roman English
َﻲ ِه hi-ya she
Arabic Roman English
ﻰَﻨَﺏ ba-na(a) he built َﺐ َﺘ َآ ka-ta-ba he wrote
ﺪَﻟَو wa-lad son ﺎﺒََﺘَآ ka-ta-ba(a) they wrote
ﺪَﻟَﻮْﻟَا ‘al-wa-lad the son َﺐ َﺕ ﺎ آَ kaa-ta-ba(a) he corre-
ﺪَﻟَﻮﻟٱَْ و wal-wa-lad and the son sponded
َت ﺎ ﺏَ baa-ta he spent the night َﺘ َآ ﺖْ َﺒ ka-ta-bat she wrote
اَذﺎﻣَ maa-dha(a) what ﺔَﻤِﻠَآ ka-li-ma word
ﺐِﺕﺎَآ kaa-tib writer ِﺔ َﻤ ِﻠ َآ ka-li-ma-ti my word
ُﻦ ﺤ ﻧَ naH-nu we ﺔٌ َﻤ ِﻠ َآ ka-li-ma-tun word
ﺎَﻨﻠُﻗ qul-na(a) we said ﺔَﻤِﺻﺎَﻋ `aa-Si-ma capital
ﱠد ﺎ ﺷَ shaad-da he argued ﺔٌ َﻤ ِﺻ ﺎ ﻋَ `aa-Si-ma-tun capital
ﻞَﺟَأ 'a-jal indeed ﺔﺒََﺘْﻜَﻣ mak-ta-ba library
Table 3: Penultimate stress in disyllabic words ﻲِﺘَﺒَﺘْﻜَﻣ mak-ta-ba-ti(i) my library
ﺔٌ َﺒ َﺘ ﻜْ َﻣ mak-ta-ba-tun library
• Every possible structure of disyllabic
words, including those with short vowels, Table 5: Antepenultimate stress
long vowels, diphthongs and clitics, is
shown above. In principle, stress is always 5 Applying Stress Rules
on the first syllable of disyllabic words.
However, some words that seem disyllabic, Below are some points to keep in mind when
like ﻢْ َﻜ ِﺏ , are actually monosyllabic with a applying the stress rules.
proclitic attached. Since proclitics are not
stressed, this must be pronounced /bi-kam,
not bi-kam. On the other hand, though /'al- 5.1 Syllabification
wa-lad/ and /wal-wa-lad/ are obviously
polysyllabic, they are stressed like disylla- In standard pronunciation of MSA only the last
bic words because the proclitics /wa/ and three syllables are relevant for determining stress,
/'al/ are ignored in counting syllables. which means that stress never falls on the pre-
• The stress on the ultimate syllable of /'a- antepenultimate syllable or before that. Thus if a
jal/, a rare exception, is explained below. word consists of four or more syllables, only one
of the last three is stressed. Dividing words into
4. In polysyllabic words, stress falls on syllables and counting the number of syllables
the penultimate if that syllable is correctly is essential for determining stress. To
heavy. do so properly, it is necessary to understand the
structure of light, heavy and superheavy syllables.
Arabic Roman English For example, ﺪ ﻳ ِﺪ َﺟ /ja-diid/ 'new' (CV-CVVC) is
ٌﺪ ﻳ ﺪِ ﺟَ ja-dii-dun new disyllabic because it consists of one light and one
ْﻢ ﺘُ ْﺒ ﺘَ آَ ka-tab-tum you wrote superheavy syllable, whereas ٌﺪ ﻳ ﺪِ ﺟَ /ja-dii-dun/
ﻲ ﺕِ ﺎ َﻤ ِﻠ َآ ka-li-maa-ti(i) my words (CV-CVV-CVC) polysyllabic because it consists
ﻲّ ِﻧ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ َﻳ ya(a)-baa-ni(yy) Japanese of one light and two heavy syllables).
ya(a)-ba(a)-niy-
ﱞﻲ ِﻧ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ َﻳ yun Japanese
ن ﻮ ﻴُ ِﻧ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ َﻳ َ ya(a)-ba(a)-ni- Japanese
yuu-na
Table 4: Penultimate stress on heavy syllables
3
5.2 Ignoring Proclitics 5.4 Nisba Adjectives
Proclitics are not stressed and must be disre- The nisba is a type of adjective that indicates
garded when applying stress rules. For example, relation or pertinence, such as nationality. The
ﺪَﻟَو /wa-lad/ 'boy', stressed on the penultimate masculine is formed by adding the suffix ّي /iyy/
according to Rule 3, maintains the stress on the َو and the feminine by addingِ ﺔﱠﻳ /iyya/. For exam-
/wa/ even when combined with the definite arti- ple, the nisba for نُ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ َﻴ ﻟْ َا /'al-ya(a)-baa-nu/ 'Japan'
cle; i.e., ﺪَﻟَﻮْﻟَأ is stressed /'al-wa-lad/, not /'al-wa- becomes ﻲّ ِﻧ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ َﻳ /ya(a)-ba(a)-niyy 'Japanese' in the
lad/, as one would expect from Rule 5. To re- masculine and ﺔﻴِّﻧﺎَﺏﺎَﻳ /ya(a)-ba(a)-niy-ya/ in the
phrase, although /'al-wa-lad/ consists of three feminine/. Strictly speaking, in formal MSA
syllables, the first is ignored so that stress rules ﻲّ ِﻧ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ َﻳ should be pronounced /ya(a)-ba(a)-niyy/
are applied as if it were a disyllabic word (Rule (or ﱞﻲ ِﻧ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ َﻳ /ya(a)-ba(a)-niy-yun/ if the case ending
3). is pronounced). Note that the stress is on the
/niyy/ according to Rule 1 because /niyy/ is a
There is a small set of disyllabic words that superheavy syllable consisting of CVCC. In real-
consist of a proclitic followed by a single sylla- ity, however, the masculine nisba suffix is often
ble. For example,
ﻢْ َﻜ ِﺏ /bi-kam/ 'how much' con- pronounced /ii/ or /iiy/ (normally shortend to /i/),
sists of the proclitic ِب /bi/ and ْﻢآَ /kam/ 'how rather than the formal /iyy/, causing the stress to
much'. If proclitics were not ignored, this word shift to the penultimate -- in this case /ya(a)-baa-
would be stressed on the penultimate as /bi-kam/ ni(yy)/ -- according to Rule 4 (see more below).
according to Rule 3. Ignoring the proclitic means In short, ﻲّ ِﻧ ﺎ ﺏَ ﺎ َﻳ can have at least two pronuncia-
that it should be pronounced /bi-kam/, so that it tions: the formal /ya(a)-ba(a)-niyy and the more
is stressed as if it were monosyllabic according common /ya(a)-baa-ni(yy)/.
to Rule 2 though in fact it is disyllabic. By ex-
actly the same logic, ﺪْ َﻘ َﻟ 'already', which consists Note that none of these subtleties regarding
the proclitic َل /la/ combined with ﺪَﻗ /qad/ 'al- nisba pronunciation constitutes an exception to
ready', is pronounced /la-qad/ according to Rule the stress rules. As long as the rules are applied
2, not /la-qad/ according to Rule 3. strictly based on how the word is pronounced,
the stressed syllable can be predicted by the rules.
5.3 Stress Shift The reason that nisba adjectives can have two
different stress patterns is because they can have
The number of syllables is determined by how two (or more) different pronunciations. Since the
the word is actually pronounced, not by how it syllabic structures for these different pronuncia-
"should" be pronounced. Even in highly formal tions are not the same, different rules need to be
spoken MSA case endings and some final vowels applied (Rule 1 or Rule 4).
are often omitted, which cause the syllable count
to decrease and the stress to shift backwards. For 5.5 Final Long Vowels
example, if the case ending ٌة /tun/ of ﺔٌ َﺒ َﺘ ﻜْ َﻣ 'li-
brary', pronounced /mak-ta-ba-tun/ according to Final long vowels, which are normally neutral-
Rule 5, is omitted, the syllable count decreases ized, are not stressed. Thus
from four to three. This causes the stress to shift ﺎَﻤُه 'they two' is pro-
backwards from /ta/ to /mak/ according to Rule 5 nounced /hu-ma(a)/, not /hu-maa/. This is nei-
so that the word is pronounced /mak-ta-ba/. ther a rule nor an exception, but a logical corol-
lary derived from the rules. For /hu-ma(a)/, ap-
On the other hand, when words like ٌب ﺎ ﺘَ آِ plying Rule 3 yields the correct stress.
'book', pronounced /ki-taa-bun/ according to Arabic Roman English
Rule 4, are shortened to ب ﺎ َﺘ ِآ /ki-taab/, the stress ﺎَﻤُه hu-ma(a) They
shifts forward by one syllable according to Rule ﺎَﻨُه hu-na(a) Here
1 (stress on superheavy). Interestingly, though ﻰَﻨَﺏ ba-na(a) he built
the stress shifts from the penultimate /taa/ to the اَذﺎﻣَ maa-dha(a) What
ultimate syllable /taab/, the stress is still on the ﺎَﻨﻠُﻗ qul-na(a) we said
same long vowel /aa/. Table 6: Final long vowels
4
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