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This is among the most important lessons when it comes to learning Tajweed, and in particular, I am very hard on it with my students. Some end up spending two – three lessons on the pronunciation of one particular letter so as to get it right and so, I may be expecting some questions in this lesson. If you need audio assistance with this one, I am willing to sort this out for you. Just let me know.
What is Makhraj?
Makhraj can be defined as the articulation point of a letter, or place of origin in terms of pronunciation, or more simply, where the letter is emitted. Using the correct articulation point of a letter is necessary to utter the letter correctly, especially in regards to Quran recitation. There are five areas of the mouth and throat where the sound of the (Arabic) letters originates from. There are seventeen specific areas from which the sounds originate. These are listed below.
Because I feel the other letters are relatively easier to understand and pronounce, I will only go into the three areas of the throat, as they are the most common mistakes made by non-Arabs (not necessarily Pakhtuns. Apparently, we’re good at pronouncing). The throat can be divided into three areas; the lowest, the middle and the highest. These points (with reference to the diagram) have two letters each.
Lowest --> the hamza and the ha ه
Middle --> the ‘ayn ع and hha ح
Highest --> the ghain غand kha خ
Given that this section of the forum is not very active, I thought we can inject some activity and that would be by asking questions. So, let’s begin.
Question: There are seven heavy letters in the Arabic alphabet and are often confused with the lighter of similar pronunciation. What are they? And what are they confused with?
What is Makhraj?
Makhraj can be defined as the articulation point of a letter, or place of origin in terms of pronunciation, or more simply, where the letter is emitted. Using the correct articulation point of a letter is necessary to utter the letter correctly, especially in regards to Quran recitation. There are five areas of the mouth and throat where the sound of the (Arabic) letters originates from. There are seventeen specific areas from which the sounds originate. These are listed below.
- The empty space between the mouth and throat (one area/vowels) – one point for vowels
- Throat (three areas) – three points for six letters
- Tongue (ten areas) – ten points for eighteen letters
- Lips (two areas) – two points for four letter
- Nose/nasal passage (one area/sound) – one point for ghunnah
Because I feel the other letters are relatively easier to understand and pronounce, I will only go into the three areas of the throat, as they are the most common mistakes made by non-Arabs (not necessarily Pakhtuns. Apparently, we’re good at pronouncing). The throat can be divided into three areas; the lowest, the middle and the highest. These points (with reference to the diagram) have two letters each.
Lowest --> the hamza and the ha ه
Middle --> the ‘ayn ع and hha ح
Highest --> the ghain غand kha خ
Given that this section of the forum is not very active, I thought we can inject some activity and that would be by asking questions. So, let’s begin.
Question: There are seven heavy letters in the Arabic alphabet and are often confused with the lighter of similar pronunciation. What are they? And what are they confused with?
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