The charts below show how the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Hejazi Arabic pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see ((IPA-acw)) and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.

The romanization of the examples is based on the romanization system used on Wiktionary.

See Hejazi Arabic phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Urban Hejazi Arabic.

Consonants
IPA Arabic letter Example Romanization English approximation
ʔ ء, أ, إ, ؤ, ئ سَأَل saʼal uh-(ʔ)oh
ʕ ع عين ʿēn no equivalent
b ب بِسَّة bissa bike
d د (ذ)[1] (ذيل) دُب dubb (dēl or ḏēl) done
dˤ ض (ظ)[2] (ظِفِر) ضَب ḍabb (ḍifir or ẓifir) emphatic /d/
dʒ[3] ج جَريدة jarīda job or vision
ð* ذ[1] ذَكَر ḏakar or dakar this
f ف فين fēn fast
ɡ ق قَمَر gamar gas
h هـ هادي hādi hat
ħ ح حَر ḥarr hat, but pharyngeal
j ي يَد yadd yes
k ك كَلْب kalb cat
l ل لون lōn lip (clear l)
ɫ[4] الله allāh peel (dark l)
m م موية mōya mother
n[5] ن نوم nōm nest
θ* ث[6] ثَوَاب ṯawāb or tawāb think
r[3] ر راس rās trilled r or atom (with flapping)
s س (ث)[6] (ثابِت) سَرير sarīr (sābit or ṯābit) sorry
sˤ ص صَبّار ṣabbār emphatic /s/
ʃ ش شَمْس šams ship
t ة ,ت (ث)[6] (ثوب) تَمُر tamur (tōb or ṯōb) star
tˤ ط طير ṭēr emphatic /t/
w و وَرَقة waraga water
x خ خَس ḵass loch (Scottish)
ɣ غ غَريب ḡarīb French r but softer
z ز (ذ)[1] (ذَكي) زِر zirr (zaki or ḏaki) zebra
zˤ ظ[2] ظَرْف ẓarf emphatic /z/
Notable Allophones
q[7] ق اِسْتِقْلال istiglāl / istiqlāl cat, but uvular
ðˤ* ظ ظِل ḍill or ẓill emphatic /ð/
Non-native Consonants[8]
p* پ پيتزا or بيتزا pītza or bītza put
v* ڤ ڤيروس or فيروس vayrūs or fayrūs view
Vowels
IPA Example Romanization English approximation
Monophthongs
a فَم famm father but shorter
ʊ حُب[9] ḥubb put (or like RP hot)
u قَبُو gabu to
ɪ سِر[10] sirr sit (or like set)
i مَدْرِي madri happy
aː[11] نار nār father
uː نور nūr food
oː صوت ṣōt for
iː مين mīn need
eː بيت bēt hair
Diphthongs
aw دَوْري dawri how
aj لَيْمون laymūn tie
iw تِوْقَف tiwgaf goat (RP)
ij بِيْقول biygūl hey
Suprasegmentals
IPA examples Explanation
ˈ يوم /ˈjoːm/ ("day") Indicates that the following syllable is stressed.
ː سَكِّينَة /sakˈkiːna/ ("knife") Indicates a long vowel or a geminate consonant.

The sounds [ʒ], [ɾ], [θ], [ð] and [ðˤ] and the foreign sounds [v] and [p] marked by an asterisk* are not used by all speakers and their usage depends on the speaker.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c ⟨ذ⟩ represents /d/ as in ذيل /deːl/ & ذكر /dakar/ or /z/ as in ذكي /zaki/, but the classical phoneme /ð/ is still used as well depending on the speaker especially in words of English origin. check Hejazi Arabic phonology
  2. ^ a b ⟨ظ⟩ represents /dˤ/ as in ظفر /dˤifir/ & ظل /dˤilː/ or /zˤ/ as in ظرف /zˤarf/, but the classical allophone [ðˤ] is still used as well depending on the speaker. check Hejazi Arabic phonology
  3. ^ a b the affricate /d͡ʒ/ ⟨ج⟩ and the trill /r/ ⟨ر⟩ are realised as a [ʒ] (English s in pleasure) and a tap [ɾ] respectively by a number of speakers or in a number of words.
  4. ^ The marginal phoneme /ɫ/ only occurs in the word الله /aɫɫaːh/ ('god') and words derived from it, such as يلا /jaɫɫa/ "come on", they contrast in والله /waɫɫa/ ('i swear') vs. ولَّا /walla/ ('or').
  5. ^ [ŋ] is an allophone of /n/ ⟨ن⟩ before velar stops ⟨ق ,ك⟩ /k, ɡ/ as in اَنْكَب [aŋkab] or مِنقَل [mɪŋɡal], and [ɱ] is an allophone before ⟨ڤ ,ف⟩ /f, v/ as in قُرُنْفُل [gʊrʊɱfʊl].
  6. ^ a b c ⟨ث⟩ represents /t/ as in ثوب /toːb/ & ثواب /tawaːb/ or /s/ as in ثابت /saːbit/, but the classical phoneme /θ/ is still used as well depending on the speaker especially in words of English origin. check Hejazi Arabic phonology
  7. ^ [q] is an allophone of /ɡ/ ⟨ق⟩ as in اِسْتِقْلال [ɪstɪqlaːl] or [ɪstɪglaːl]. It occurs in a number of phrases and words due to the influence of Modern Standard Arabic in the 20th century.
  8. ^ The phonemes /p/ and /v/ are only found in loanwords and they can be substituted by /b/ and /f/ respectively depending on the speaker
  9. ^ Word initial and medial /u/ is pronounced [ʊ] or less likely [o̞] as in حُب [ħʊb], but strictly pronounced [u] at the end of words as in قبو [gabu], and before /w/ as in هُوَّ [huwːa]. All are allophones of the phoneme /u/.
  10. ^ Word initial and medial /i/ is pronounced [ɪ] or less likely [e̞] as in سِرّ [sɪr], but strictly pronounced [i] at the end of words as in مدري [madri], and before /j/ as in هِيَّ [hijːa]. All are allophones of the phoneme /i/.
  11. ^ [ɑ] is an allophone for /aː/ and /a/ in some words such as ألمانيا [almɑːnja] ('Germany'), بابا [bɑːbɑ] ('dad') and يابان [jaːbɑːn] ('Japan').
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