ICCH halaqa- Articulation points (togue #3 & Lips & Nose)

4- THE TIP OF THE TONGUE

4- ARTICULATION POINTS OF THE AND THE 

The letter 

This letter is articulated from the tip of the tongue and what lies opposite to it from the gum of the two front top incisors. is articulated a bit forward on the gums from the place of the .

This letter is not always pronounced clearly, and the articulation point is only applied when it is pronounced clearly, namely when it has a vowel on it, or if it has a sukoon on it and is followed by one of the following six letters: 

The rules for the when it has no vowel (saakinah), and is not followed by one of the above six letters, will be explained later, insha’ Allah.

COMMON MISTAKES IN THIS LETTER

The mistakes with this letter tend to be few.  The most common mistake is that of using too large an area of the tongue and including the top of the tongue, instead of just the tip. 

THE LETTER  

This letter is emitted from the tip of the tongue with the top of the tip and what lies opposite to it of the gums of the two front top incisors.  The tip with the top of the tip need to strike the gums to produce this sound correctly.  There should be no trilling of the tongue when pronouncing this letter.

COMMON MISTAKES IN THIS LETTER

The first and most common mistake in the  is not striking the tip with the top of the tip to the gums.  The English “r” is articulated without the tongue striking on any part of the mouth, so many native English speakers have to practice a bit to say the correctly.  One should physically feel the tongue hit the gum of the two top front incisors. 

Another mistake that some have is using the soft tissue behind the gum for a striking place for the tongue.  It is quite difficult to get the tip and the top involved when the soft tissue area is used, so the resultant sound is deep and rolling, but not correct. 

Still other make the aforementioned error of repeated trilling of the tongue when pronouncing the .  The scholars have cautioned against this.  This usually can be fixed by leaving a small space for the sound to run out at the very tip of the tongue.  If the tip is up tight against the gum, there is no place for the sound to run, pressure builds up and can only released by the incorrect excessive trilling.

الحرف	المخرج	الصفات
النون	طرف اللسان مع ما يحاذيه من لثه الاسنان العليا مع مخرج الخيشوم	جهر(صوته عالى) – متوسط (زمنه متوسط) مرقق - الغنه
الراء	طرف اللسان مع ما يحاذيه من لثه الاسنان العليا أدخل من النون قليلا	جهر(صوته عالى) - متوسط (زمنه متوسط) – مرقق - التكرار

Letters	Makhrag	Characters
ن	The tip of the tongue and the bottom of the top teeth	Gahr (loud voice) – Intermediate – Light- Ghonnah
ر	The tip of the tongue and the upper palate slightly inwards than the noon	Gahr (loud voice) – Intermediate – Light

4- THE ARTICULATION POINT OF THE TWO LIPS

1- ARTICULATION POINT OF THE LETTER 

The articulation point of the  is between the inside of the lower lip and the tips (or edges) of the two top front incisors.  This means that there is a meeting of these two parts of articulation to make the correct sound of this letter. 

COMMON MISTAKES IN THIS LETTER

The English letter “f” uses the middle of the lower lip and the edges or tips of the two front top incisors.  As mentioned above in the articulation point definition of the Arabic , the inside of the lower lip is used.  If the English speaking student of the Qur’an does not make a conscience effort to use the inside of the lip, some of the characteristic of the , namely the running of the sound as well as the breath, will be imprisoned.  The sound will not be a true Arabic  then, but an English “f”. 

2- ARTICULATION POINT OF THE TWO LIPS 

There are three letters that are articulated from the two lips, but they do not all three share the same mechanism in articulation. 

The unlengthened  is articulated by forming a circle of the two lips without the two lips meeting completely.

The  is articulated by closing the two lips together

The letter  is articulated by closing the two lips together, but a stronger closing than the meem.

COMMON MISTAKES IN THESE LETTERS

The  is often mispronounced as a “v” by some Urdu speaking Muslims as well as Turkish speaking Muslims from Turkey and former Russian republics.  This is due to the absence of  in the Turkish dialects, and the presence of both the wow and va’ in Urdu.  There is no “v” in Arabic, and “v” has the same articulation point as the “f”.  This problem can be overcome by practicing using both lips and pressing on them when pronouncing the unlengthened . 

Westerners have to take care that they really do put pressure on the two lips when pronouncing the , otherwise the sound comes out weak like a “w”, which is not the same sound as the Arabic . 

The  is not a letter that commonly has mistakes.  The only thing to take heed of is not to press the lips together too hard.

The  sometimes gets air in it, which is not a characteristic of the Arabic , and the resultant sound is that of a “p”, which as stated before, does not exist in the Arabic language.  The pressure on this letter is more on the inside of the lower lip than the outside, whereas “p” uses more of the outside of the lips, and has running air with it.  There is an imprisonment of both the running of the sound and the running of the breath in the letter  which makes it a strong letter.

  

الحرف	المخرج	الصفات
الفاء	أطراف الثنايا العليا مع باطن الشفه السفلى	همس (صوته منخفض) – رخو (زمنه طويل) مرقق
الميم	من الشفتين بانطباقهما مع اشتراك الخيشوم	جهر(صوته عالى) - متوسط (زمنه متوسط) – مرقق
الواو غير المديه	من بين الشفتين بانضمامهما مع بقاء فرجه بينهما	جهر(صوته عالى) - رخو (زمنه طويل) – مرقق - لين
الباء	من الشفتين بانطباقهما	جهر(صوته عالى) – شديد (زمنه قصير) – مرقق - مقلقل

Letters	Makhrag	Characters
ف	The upper teeth with the inner part of the lower lip	soft (low voice) – weak (long time) – Light
م	Both lips with the nose	Gahr (loud voice) – Intermediate – Light
و	Both lips by circling them and leave a space in between	Gahr (loud voice) – Weak (long time)– Light
ب	Both lips together	Gahr (loud voice) – Strong (Short time)– Light- Qalqalah

5- THE NASAL PASSAGE --> THE GHUNNAH

 

The ghunnah is defined as: a nasal sound that is emitted from the nose. This is a required characteristic of the  and .  The ghunnah  cannot be separated from these two letters and is an inherent part of their makeup. 

The ghunnah is not a letter but a characteristic of these two letters, but it has its own distinct place of articulation. 

The ghunnah  is articulated from : the hole in the nose that continues back  towards inside the mouth.

It is a nasal sound coming from the nasopharynx without any influence from the tongue.  If you hold your nose closed you will not be able to produce the ghunnah sound, but the letters themselves that have this associated sound with them are not articulated from the nose.

THE  AND  WITH A SHADDAH

Anytime the letters  and  have a shaddah on them, they are held for a length of time, and the ghunnah described above is present during the lengthening.
 A shaddah represents two of any letter.  When the symbol for a shaddah (a small ) is over any letter, there are two of that same letter recited, the first with a sukoon, the second with the vowel written above or under the shaddah mark. 

The length of time to hold the  and  that have a shaddah on them cannot be given in counts, instead the timing must be picked up from a teacher who has a strong background and has learned their recitation at the hands of masters in recitation.  The concept of two counts for a ghunnah is not a correct concept.  The ghunnah has different timings depending on whether there is a shaddah, or if there is hiding of the  or , or if the two letters are recited clearly with a sukoon on them, or a vowel.  The longest timing for the ghunnah is when there is a shaddah on one of the two letters.