Many Arabic speakers have difficulty in acquiring English properly. It is hard for them to adjust to a new different language in speaking, listening, reading, writing and particularly pronunciation due to the strong influence of the Arabic language. In the beginning, it is important to understand the characteristics of the Arabic language and the general differences between Arabic and English in order to overcome the pronunciation problems for Arabic speakers. Arabic is the most common language of the Semitic Languages which is spoken by about 175 million people around the world. The similarities between Arabic and English are few, but the differences are significant. Both Arabic and English differ in many respects, according to
Amosava, Arabic has gutturals and emphatic consonants which are absent in English. The speaking sounds of Arabic and English are indeed different and confusing. Vowel sounds in
Arabic are stated as: the vowel sounds of Arabic are simpler than those found in English. Arabic has three primary vowels, represented in English by "i," "a" and "u." Each of these vowels, just like in English, has a short and a long form. Arabic does not have an equivalent vowel sound to the English "e" or
"o"; what we say in English as "Cairo" is pronounced in Arabic as "Kahirah." The only exception to the absence of "e" and "o" is in foreign loan words or brand names that use those letters.
(Robert Allen) The difference in vowel sounds between Arabic and English is
Arabic spread globally as a result of religion, not English. It is clearly stated on pg. 184 of the textbook that “a large percentage of the world’s Muslims have at least some knowledge of Arabic because Islam’s holiest book, the Quran(Koran), was written in that language in the seventh century”. Arabic spread because being that Islam is a universalizing religion, the large amount of people that converted to the religion also had to learned the Arabic language, thus helping it spread. Therefore, Arabic spread globally as a result of religion, not English.
Linguistic discrimination is an important issue; many have been discriminated and excluded from the public sphere due to their disability to practice the standardized language. In the Arab world, when second language speakers try to talk Arabic, they seem to have difficulties with the pronunciations. Consequently, this leads to limitations during the blending in procedures. The explanation
Haisla names and words can be written in a phonetic alphabet developed to allow the sounds of Haisla language to be distinguished.
Assonance - Very similar to alliteration, but with vowels or a group of letters involving one
On the other hand, [eʌ] is always placed before n or m such as the words [leʌm] ‘lamb’ and [pleʌn] ‘plan’.
Orthography is the spelling or alphabetical system of a language, and can be broken down into graphemes. There are two main types of orthographies, deep and shallow. Deeper orthographies are languages that don't have a one-to- one correspondence between letters and the sounds (there is more than one sound for every letter in a language. One such example is the English language because letters like "a" can either be pronounced as ā or ȧ. Languages that are shallower orthographies have a one-to- one correspondence between letters and sounds (one letter for every sound). Examples of Shallow Orthographies include Finnish and the International Phonetic Alphabet,
She uttered a guttural sound as she attempted to weave the syllables together, stopping frequently to match the letter with the appropriate sound. She struggled through the lines, the rhythm and beauty lost in her voice. For thirty minutes, Fatima labored over the page, her head bent over in frustration ignoring her sister’s plea to play. As the time for her break approached, she vehemently protested, choosing instead to clamber into my arms, begging me to translate what she had just read. At her young age, she had fallen in love with the Arabic language. She loved the feeling of serenity that caressed her at hearing its recitation, but even more, she loved reciting it; she loved how it took her entire mouth to say a single word and the rhythm of the stressed and unstressed syllables. However, after months of practicing, she remained a far cry from the harmonious voice she aspired to attain.
are citizens (Aaiusaorg, 2016). Arab Americans origins can be traced back to several continents. Essentially, they descended from twenty different countries (Sue & Sue, 2015, p. 575). Their main language is Arabic with a variance of regional or colloquial Arabic, which is spoken in different areas. To be more specific, even though the main language is Arabic, with the dialect there is a change of several forms within the language: vocabulary can be completely different from region to region, grammar also, and of course the change of accent dealing with vocalization and pronunciation parameters. A Moroccan could understand a Syrian; on the other hand the reversal of a Syrian trying to listen to a Moroccan’s long story would be impossible. The following are the different dialects: Egyptian, North African, Khalijji or Gulf and Levantine. The Levantine dialect comprises Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and Israel. Some dialects are better known and understood for their popular use in films (Egyptian) and songs (Levantine) (Lingualy, 2015). There is a formal standardized Arabic language called Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) used for literary writing of books, newspapers and formal letters. There is an older version of Arabic, Classical Arabic known as Quranic Arabic is still being spoken today; it is also used for literary writing and
Before we identify a few biases associated with the Middle Eastern population, we must first familiarize ourselves with several characteristics of their culture and linguistics.
Arab people stem from many different regions including 22 countries: Algeria, Bahrain, the Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen ("Arab American," 2014). The Arab culture include several ethnicities such as Shias, Sunni, Druze, Ismalites, and Nusayr (Matusiak, 2013). It is important to know Arabs are not a race, but a diverse culture ("Facts about Arabs," 2014). The Arab people are measured as being among the “most educated” population with a higher percentage of college educations than the American population (Matusiak, 2013). Family is important in the Arab culture. Many Arabs live within close proximity of family and have close relationships ("Arab American," 2014).
Many studies have been conducted about the minority languages in Canada as a multilingual and multicultural society (Dweik, Nofal & Qawasmeh, 2014; Qawar, 2014). For example, Dweik et al (2014) investigated the language use and attitudes among the Muslim Arabs of Vancouver in Canada. The results indicated that the Muslim Arabs maintained their Arabic language through multiple factors. These factors relate to the use of Arabic language in different domains such as home, friendship, workplace and neighbourhood. Besides, language maintenance factors such as the use of Arabic in religious activities, the status of the Arabic language, cultural identity, attending Arabic schools and the role of the Arab mass media (TV, radio and newspapers) are
[p] spill b. low front vowel! [æ] tack c. lateral liquid! [l] lip d. velar nasal! [ŋ] sing e. voiced interdental fricative! [th] this f. voiceless affricate! [č] cherry g. palatal glide! [j] yodel h. mid lax front vowel! [ε] head i. high back tense vowel! [u] food j. voiceless aspirated alveolar stop! [th] team
To be considered Arab, you or your ancestors live or lived in the Arab world and speak Arabic. The “Arab world” is made up of 22 states and territories whom are part of the Arab League. However many people in these states do not consider themselves Arab, thus the Arabic language is the unifying factor among the Arabic people. A lot of the individuals who speak Arabic today are very diverse. There is a myriad of dialects of Arabic and over 150 million people speak it. Twenty-five countries consider Arabic an official language (even if few are fluent in it). They vary from African to West Asian countries, however Arabs also live as minorities in many other nations. For example, the United States (Banks, 2009).
[a] is the low vowel, because the tongue is in the lowest position. It’s very open, and
The Muslim migration from Mecca (the “hijra") marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar and the starting point of the Medinan phase of Muhammad’s life. The Muslim umma was established in 622 CE, after the Prophet (Muhammad) and his followers fled from—the persecution they faced in—Mecca to flee to the safety of Medina. Medinan leaders offered Muhammad and his followers safe haven in Medina in hope that he would be able to put an end to the tribal conflicts that were occurring there—in exchange for protection and shelter for his followers, from Mecca. Umma (or ummah) is the Arabic word for “nation” or “community”, in the Fazlur Rahman text, Islam, it is spelled with an “h” at the end—ummah. When it is stated that the “Muslim umma” was established it is saying that the Muslim community (not nation) was