ICCH Halaqa- Articulation points (Al Gawf)

PLACES OF ARTICULATION

INTRODUCTION TO ARTICULATION POINTS OF THE ARABIC LETTERS

The articulation point of a letter is the place the letter is emitted, meaning a sound that comes out of the mouth relying on a specific place of articulation or an approximate one.  Using the correct articulation point of a letter is necessary to utter the letter correctly, and of course this is even more important when reciting the book of Allah, the Holy Qur’an. 

Almost all the articulation points in Arabic are specific places, but there are some that have a general area of articulation. 

There are ways for you to see what articulation point YOU are using for a letter (not necessarily the correct one), so that you can compare what you are using to the correct way of articulating a letter:

1.      Pronounce the letter with a shaddah; in other words, double the letter. 

2.      Pronounce the letter with no vowel and put a hamzah before the letter you are checking.

You can then check the position of your tongue, mouth, or feel what area of the throat you are using.

There are five general areas of the throat and mouth that have within them the specific or general articulation points of the Arabic letters. 

1- The empty space in the mouth and throat has in it one articulation point for the three lengthened letters, which are wow with no vowel with a dhammah before it, ya’ with no vowel with a kasrah before it, and an alif with a fath before it. 

2- The Throat: It has three articulation points for six different letters which are pronounced from the deepest, middle, and closest part of the throat

3-The Tongue: It has ten articulation points for eighteen letters

4- The Two Lips: The lips have two articulation points for four letters

5- The nasal passage: From the hole of nose towards the inside of the mouth, here there is one articulation point, that of the ghunnah

The following pictures shows these areas:

1- مخرج الجوف:
هو الفراغ الذي بداخل الفم والحلق - منطقة التجويف الحلقي والفموي - وهذا 

المخرج  مُقَدَّرويخرج منه حروف المد الثلاثة :

 الألف الساكنة المفتوح ما قبلها نحو : ( ءامن) 

والواو الساكنة المضموم ما قبلها نحو ( أوتوا )

 والياء الساكنة المكسور ما  قبلها نحو : ( إيمانا )

وهذه الحروف الثلاثة تُلقب بالحروف المديَّة أو الهوائيَّة أوالجوفيَّة ؛ لخروجها من 
الجوف.

ويوضح الشكل التالي الجوف, وقد لوِّن باللونين الأزرق والأخضر, حيث إن 
مجموعهما يُشكِّل الجوف

كلمة نوحيها، أوأوذينا

1- THE EMPTY SPACE IN THE THROAT AND MOUTH

1. The Alf with a sukoon preceded by a letter with a fathaa

2. The wow with a sukoon preceded by a letter with a dhammah 
3. The ya’ with a sukoon preceded by a letter with a kasrah 

Gawf:

The empty space in the mouth and throat is a place and an articulation point at the same time.  The three medd (lengthened) letters originate from this general area, these letters are:

1.The alif preceded by a letter with a fat-hah (and the true alif is only in this state); the Arabic alif never takes a vowel and is always preceded by a fathah  ( )

2. The wow with a sukoon preceded by a letter with a dhammah 

3. The ya’ with a sukoon preceded by a letter with a kasrah 

These three medd letters do not have a specific place that they are pronounced from, unlike all the other letters; instead these letters finish articulating with the stopping of the sound. 

The medd letters are lengthened two counts if they are not followed by a hamzah or a sukoon.  The lengthening when there is a hamzah or sukoon after the medd letter will be covered, insha’ Allah, in future lessons. 

COMMON MISTAKES IN THESE LETTERS

1- Many times a reciter lets the sound of some or all of these letters come up from the empty space of the throat into the nose, and a nasalization (or ghunnah) of one or all of these letters then occurs.  The most common letter for this to happen with is the lengthened “wow”.       

To rid oneself of this error, the sound needs to be focused up and out the mouth.  To practice and see if this error is present one should close off the nostrils and say the medd letter; if the sound becomes muted with the pinching off of the nostrils, or if it sounds like one has a cold, it is indeed coming up through the nose, and therefore incorrect.  

These medd letters should be pronounced with using only the vibration of the vocal cords and an accompanying opening of the mouth for the alif, a circling of the lips for the lengthened wow,and a lowering of the jaw with the lengthened ya’.

2- Some people prolong the harakah of a letter even if it is not followed by a madd letter, hence adding a madd to the word. other prople do not prolong the harakah of a letter even if it is followed by a madd letter, hence removing the madd from the word.