This is the
pronunciation key for
IPA transcriptions of Lebanese Arabic on Wikipedia.
It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Lebanese Arabic in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing
consensus on the
talk page first.
Throughout Wikipedia, the pronunciation of words is indicated by means of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The following tables list the IPA symbols used for
Lebanese Arabic words and pronunciations. Please note that several of these symbols are used in ways that are specific to Wikipedia and differ from those used by dictionaries.
If the IPA symbols are not displayed properly by your browser, see the
links below.
Wikipedia transcriptions for Lebanese Arabic vowels may be either more general and abstract, using only the symbols from the first column (primary vowel), or more detailed and precise, using the symbols from the second column (variants, allophones); see
narrow versus broad transcription. In narrower transcription, if the "variants, allophones" column shows two vowels joined by a tilde (as in ɑ~ʌ, for example), the first one should be used on Wikipedia — even if the second is slightly closer to the sound being transcribed.
The definite article ال consists of a single consonant in its own syllable at the beginning of a word. Its default form is [l], but it
assimilates to a following
coronal consonant, namely any of [tdtˤdˤrszsˤzˤʃʒ].
[zˈzeːn]الزين ("the beauty")
See also
If your browser does not display IPA symbols, you probably need to install a font that includes the IPA. Good free IPA fonts include
Gentium and
Charis SIL (more complete); a monospaced font is
Everson Mono which is complete; download links can be found on those pages.
For a guide to adding pronunciations to Wikipedia articles, see the {{IPA}} template.
^
abcdefظ ,
ذ ,
ث represent [
s, [
z, [zˤ], respectively, except in certain words borrowed from
Modern Standard Arabic, where they represent [
θ, [
ð, and [ðˤ].
^
abcThe letter ⟨ة⟩ appears
at the end of a word, indicating that it is
singular and
feminine. It represents the sound [-t] when the word is grammatically
possessed by something. Otherwise, the letter only represents a vowel that varies between [a~ɑ] and [e~i]. In broad transcription, use /a/ following an
emphatic consonant or any of /ʔhħʕxɣr/, except following /iːr/, in which case use /e/. Also use /e/ after all other consonants. In narrow transcription, follow the same rules, except use [ɑ] after an
emphatic consonant.
^
abOriginal */q/ ق continues to be pronounced as /q/ by the
Lebanese Druze, but speakers in the rest of the country exhibit this pronunciation only marginally and mostly in proper nouns like
/qur.ʔaːn/ “Qur'an”. In all other words, despite occasional regional variation, its most-standard pronunciation is /ʔ/. Therefore, transcribe as /q/ in such proper nouns and in terms pertaining to the Druze, and as /ʔ/ otherwise.
^Broad transcription should use /a/ exclusively. Narrow transcription should instead use [ɑ] when either immediately after an
emphatic consonant or anywhere before one in the same word.
^
abExcept word-finally, there is no functional phonemic distinction between "tense" [iu] and their "lax" counterparts [ɪʊ], and for some speakers they are in free variation. Broad transcription should use /iu/ exclusively. Narrow transcription can use [iu] invariably before the semivowels [jw] and in light syllables, but [ɪʊ] in stressed and heavy/superheavy syllables. If a consonant-final word ends in an unstressed syllable containing /i/, however, use [i] in narrow transcription rather than [ɪ].
^Inserted sometimes to break up a
cluster of two consonants at the
end of a syllable, creating an extra syllable that can never be stressed. Prefer not to transcribe, as in برد /bard/ “cold”, but if the intent is to match an English transliteration that represents it, then use parentheses as in برد /bar(ə)d/.
^(The pronunciation of
"long a" in a given context varies greatly from region to region, so if a word can be demonstrated to have a common pronunciation in violation of the following guidelines, record it as well.) The default pronunciation is /eː/ [eː]. In broad transcription, use /aː/ when directly adjacent to an
emphatic consonant or /r/, as well as when anywhere before an
emphatic consonant in the same word, and lastly when immediately following any of /xɣħʕʔ/. In narrow transcription, follow the same rules, except use [ɑː] in the same proximities of an
emphatic consonant and [æː] after [ʔ]. (The pronunciation /ɒː~ɔː/ is a regional variant of /ɑː/).
^
abcdIn Lebanese Arabic, the original Arabic diphthongs */ajaw/ are typically preserved in all syllables that are not word-final. In word-final
closed syllables, they are only rarely (and/or regionally) conserved, instead resulting in the monophthongs /eːoː/ in "standard" speech. In both cases, certain speakers may substitute /ejow/, but this should not be favored in transcription.
^Only appears in monosyllables like شِي /ʃi(ː)/ “something” as an alternative realization of /-iː/, as well as traditionally in various suffixes spelled with ـ
ي: the verbal second-person-feminine conjugational suffix seen in تَعِي /taʕi/ “come! (feminine)”, the first-person possessive enclitic seen in كتَابِي /kteːbi/ “my book”, the
nisba suffix as in لِبنانِي /libneːni/ “Lebanese”, and others. The latter set of examples is merged by many speakers into -e, however. Therefore, transcribe with both, as in لِبنانِي /libneːne, -ni/.
^Only appears in monosyllables like شُو /ʃu(ː)/ “what” as an alternative realization of /-uː/, as well as traditionally in the verbal third-person-plural conjugational suffix: إِجُوا /ʔiʒu/ “they came”. The latter is merged by many speakers into /-o/ as seen below, however. Therefore, transcribe with both, as in إِجُوا /ʔiʒu, -o/.
^Traditionally and for certain speakers, only appears in loanwords like French-derived /gatˈto/ and /majˈjo/, as well as in the “he”
enclitic pronoun: كتَابُو /kteːbo/ “his book”. In both cases, it is misleadingly spelled with و in the Arabic script, but do not take this to mean that it should be transcribed /-u/.
This is the
pronunciation key for
IPA transcriptions of Lebanese Arabic on Wikipedia.
It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Lebanese Arabic in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing
consensus on the
talk page first.
Throughout Wikipedia, the pronunciation of words is indicated by means of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The following tables list the IPA symbols used for
Lebanese Arabic words and pronunciations. Please note that several of these symbols are used in ways that are specific to Wikipedia and differ from those used by dictionaries.
If the IPA symbols are not displayed properly by your browser, see the
links below.
Wikipedia transcriptions for Lebanese Arabic vowels may be either more general and abstract, using only the symbols from the first column (primary vowel), or more detailed and precise, using the symbols from the second column (variants, allophones); see
narrow versus broad transcription. In narrower transcription, if the "variants, allophones" column shows two vowels joined by a tilde (as in ɑ~ʌ, for example), the first one should be used on Wikipedia — even if the second is slightly closer to the sound being transcribed.
The definite article ال consists of a single consonant in its own syllable at the beginning of a word. Its default form is [l], but it
assimilates to a following
coronal consonant, namely any of [tdtˤdˤrszsˤzˤʃʒ].
[zˈzeːn]الزين ("the beauty")
See also
If your browser does not display IPA symbols, you probably need to install a font that includes the IPA. Good free IPA fonts include
Gentium and
Charis SIL (more complete); a monospaced font is
Everson Mono which is complete; download links can be found on those pages.
For a guide to adding pronunciations to Wikipedia articles, see the {{IPA}} template.
^
abcdefظ ,
ذ ,
ث represent [
s, [
z, [zˤ], respectively, except in certain words borrowed from
Modern Standard Arabic, where they represent [
θ, [
ð, and [ðˤ].
^
abcThe letter ⟨ة⟩ appears
at the end of a word, indicating that it is
singular and
feminine. It represents the sound [-t] when the word is grammatically
possessed by something. Otherwise, the letter only represents a vowel that varies between [a~ɑ] and [e~i]. In broad transcription, use /a/ following an
emphatic consonant or any of /ʔhħʕxɣr/, except following /iːr/, in which case use /e/. Also use /e/ after all other consonants. In narrow transcription, follow the same rules, except use [ɑ] after an
emphatic consonant.
^
abOriginal */q/ ق continues to be pronounced as /q/ by the
Lebanese Druze, but speakers in the rest of the country exhibit this pronunciation only marginally and mostly in proper nouns like
/qur.ʔaːn/ “Qur'an”. In all other words, despite occasional regional variation, its most-standard pronunciation is /ʔ/. Therefore, transcribe as /q/ in such proper nouns and in terms pertaining to the Druze, and as /ʔ/ otherwise.
^Broad transcription should use /a/ exclusively. Narrow transcription should instead use [ɑ] when either immediately after an
emphatic consonant or anywhere before one in the same word.
^
abExcept word-finally, there is no functional phonemic distinction between "tense" [iu] and their "lax" counterparts [ɪʊ], and for some speakers they are in free variation. Broad transcription should use /iu/ exclusively. Narrow transcription can use [iu] invariably before the semivowels [jw] and in light syllables, but [ɪʊ] in stressed and heavy/superheavy syllables. If a consonant-final word ends in an unstressed syllable containing /i/, however, use [i] in narrow transcription rather than [ɪ].
^Inserted sometimes to break up a
cluster of two consonants at the
end of a syllable, creating an extra syllable that can never be stressed. Prefer not to transcribe, as in برد /bard/ “cold”, but if the intent is to match an English transliteration that represents it, then use parentheses as in برد /bar(ə)d/.
^(The pronunciation of
"long a" in a given context varies greatly from region to region, so if a word can be demonstrated to have a common pronunciation in violation of the following guidelines, record it as well.) The default pronunciation is /eː/ [eː]. In broad transcription, use /aː/ when directly adjacent to an
emphatic consonant or /r/, as well as when anywhere before an
emphatic consonant in the same word, and lastly when immediately following any of /xɣħʕʔ/. In narrow transcription, follow the same rules, except use [ɑː] in the same proximities of an
emphatic consonant and [æː] after [ʔ]. (The pronunciation /ɒː~ɔː/ is a regional variant of /ɑː/).
^
abcdIn Lebanese Arabic, the original Arabic diphthongs */ajaw/ are typically preserved in all syllables that are not word-final. In word-final
closed syllables, they are only rarely (and/or regionally) conserved, instead resulting in the monophthongs /eːoː/ in "standard" speech. In both cases, certain speakers may substitute /ejow/, but this should not be favored in transcription.
^Only appears in monosyllables like شِي /ʃi(ː)/ “something” as an alternative realization of /-iː/, as well as traditionally in various suffixes spelled with ـ
ي: the verbal second-person-feminine conjugational suffix seen in تَعِي /taʕi/ “come! (feminine)”, the first-person possessive enclitic seen in كتَابِي /kteːbi/ “my book”, the
nisba suffix as in لِبنانِي /libneːni/ “Lebanese”, and others. The latter set of examples is merged by many speakers into -e, however. Therefore, transcribe with both, as in لِبنانِي /libneːne, -ni/.
^Only appears in monosyllables like شُو /ʃu(ː)/ “what” as an alternative realization of /-uː/, as well as traditionally in the verbal third-person-plural conjugational suffix: إِجُوا /ʔiʒu/ “they came”. The latter is merged by many speakers into /-o/ as seen below, however. Therefore, transcribe with both, as in إِجُوا /ʔiʒu, -o/.
^Traditionally and for certain speakers, only appears in loanwords like French-derived /gatˈto/ and /majˈjo/, as well as in the “he”
enclitic pronoun: كتَابُو /kteːbo/ “his book”. In both cases, it is misleadingly spelled with و in the Arabic script, but do not take this to mean that it should be transcribed /-u/.