Where do the letters come from? The makharij

The "right" of a letter is first of all the place it comes from: its makhraj (مَخْرَج, plural makhaarij). If you change the place, you change the letter.

The test to find a letter's makhraj: put a sukun on it and a hamza with fatḥa before it, then say it: أَبْ (ab), أَتْ (at), أَقْ (aq). The place where the sound stops is its makhraj.

The five areas:

1. The hollow space of the mouth and throat (al-jawf, الْجَوْف) The three madd letters, which you know from "I read Arabic": ا after a fatḥa, و sakinah after a ḍamma, ي sakinah after a kasra. They have no precise point: the sound flows as long as there is breath.

2. The throat (al-ḥalq, الْحَلْق), on three levels • The bottom of the throat: ء ه • The middle of the throat: ع ح • The top of the throat (closest to the mouth): غ خ These are the six throat letters: you will meet them again in the lesson on noon sakinah.

3. The tongue (al-lisaan, اللِّسَان): the area with the most letters (eighteen) • The back of the tongue: ق (right at the back, against the soft palate) and ك (a little further forward). • The middle of the tongue: ج ش ي. • The side of the tongue, against the upper molars: ض. It is the hardest letter: Arabic is called "the language of the ḍaad". • The tip and edges of the tongue: ل ن ر. • The tip of the tongue against the base of the upper teeth: ط د ت. • The tip of the tongue near the teeth, with a whistle: ص س ز. • The tip of the tongue against the tips of the upper teeth (the tongue barely sticks out): ظ ذ ث.

4. The lips (ash-shafataan, الشَّفَتَان) • ف: the inside of the lower lip against the tips of the upper teeth. • ب م: both lips close. • و (when it is not a madd): the lips round without closing.

5. The nose (al-khayshuum, الْخَيْشُوم) This is where ghunnah comes from, the nasal sound of ن and م. Pinch your nose while saying "nnn": the sound stops. You will see ghunnah in detail later.

Traps for French and English speakers: • ث said like س, ذ said like ز, ظ said like ز: the tongue must touch the tips of the teeth. • ح said like ه, ع said like ء: these letters come from the middle of the throat. • ق said like ك: ق comes from further back.

[À VÉRIFIER : niveau de détail des makharij pour les ados (les dix-sept points d'Ibn al-Jazarî présentés ici en cinq zones)]

Challenge: in front of a mirror, do the أَ + letter-with-sukun test for ث, ذ, ظ, then for ع and ح. Record yourself and compare with your teacher.

Understanding the lesson

Explanation In Arabic, many letters sound alike to a French or English ear, but they come from different places. Changing the place means changing the letter, and so often the word: عَلِيمٌ ('aliim, "the All-Knowing") is not أَلِيمٌ (aliim, "painful"); سَيْف (sayf, the sword) is not صَيْف (ṣayf, summer). That is the obvious mistake from lesson 1. Sorting the letters into five areas helps you find your way: you know where to "aim" before you even speak. Scholars have refined these areas into seventeen points; to begin with, the five areas are enough, and your teacher will fine-tune.

Lessons to draw from it • Work on one area at a time: the throat letters one day, the tip-of-the-tongue letters another. • Use a mirror for the teeth letters (ث ذ ظ) and the lip letters (ف ب م و). • Listen more than you read: it is the ear that learns the right sound. • Be patient with ض, ع and ق: even adults work on them for a long time.

Key points to remember • Makhraj = point of articulation; test: أَ + the letter with sukun. • Five areas: mouth space (madd letters), throat (ء ه / ع ح / غ خ), tongue (eighteen letters), lips (ف ب م و), nose (ghunnah). • Changing the makhraj changes the letter: عَلِيم / أَلِيم, سَيْف / صَيْف.

The main message Every letter of the Qur'an has its exact place: pronouncing it from where it comes is respecting the word Allah chose.