This is a quick cheat sheet for the sounds found in Arabic.
There are at least 2 i sounds in Arabic. In terms of all possible i sounds, there is the basic most common i sound, the secondary i sound, and the tertiary i sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
| i | i | Like "ee" sound. | i |
| i% | i_ | Long "ee" sound. | iː |
There is at least 1 e sound in Arabic. In terms of all possible e sounds, there is the basic most common e sound, the secondary e sound, and the tertiary e sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
| e% | e_ | Long "day" sound. | eː |
There are at least 2 a sounds in Arabic. In terms of all possible a sounds, there is the basic most common a sound, the secondary a sound, and the tertiary a sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
| a | a | Like "ah" in father sound. | a ɑ ä |
| a% | a_ | Long "ah" sound. | aː |
There is at least 1 o sound in Arabic. In terms of all possible o sounds, there is the basic most common o sound, the secondary o sound, and the tertiary o sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
| o% | o_ | Long "oh" sound. | oː |
There are at least 2 u sounds in Arabic. In terms of all possible u sounds, there is the basic most common u sound, the secondary u sound, and the tertiary u sound, as well as long and nasal forms of each.
| u | u | Like "oo" in "you" sound. | u |
| u% | u_ | Long "oo" sound. | uː |
There is at least 1 m sound in Arabic. Notice the English m and mm have a similar shape.
| m | m | Regular m | m |
There is at least 1 n sound in Arabic. Notice the English n and nn have a similar shape.
| n | n | Regular n | n |
There is at least 1 q sound in Arabic.
| q5 | Q | Voiced pharygeal fricative (used a lot in Arabic/Hebrew) | ʕ |
There is at least 1 g sound in Arabic.
| g | g | Regular g | ɡ ɢ |
There is at least 1 d sound in Arabic. Notice the English d and dd have a similar shape.
| d | d | Regular d | d |
There is at least 1 b sound in Arabic. Notice the English b and bb have a similar shape.
| b | b | Regular b | b |
There is at least 1 p sound in Arabic.
| p | p | Regular p | p |
There is at least 1 t sound in Arabic.
| t | t | Regular t | t |
There are at least 2 k sounds in Arabic.
| k | k | Regular k | k |
| k6 | K | Deep guttural k (used a lot in Arabic, or Inuktitut) | q |
There are at least 2 h sounds in Arabic.
| h | h | Regular h | h |
| h5 | H | Harsh h (used in Hebrew/Arabic a lot) | χ |
There is at least 1 y sound in Arabic. Notice the English y and yy have a similar shape, although the Tone yy is like a Tone OO with a tail.
| y | y | Regular y | j |
There is at least 1 w sound in Arabic. Notice the English w and ww have a similar shape.
| w | w | Regular w | w |
There is at least 1 ' sound in Arabic. This is a glottal stop in its base form.
| ' | ' | Regular ', used a lot in Hebrew and Arabic, amongst other languages | ʔ |
There is at least 1 sh sound in Arabic.
| x | x | Regular sh | ʃ |
There is at least 1 v sound in Arabic.
| v | v | Regular v | v |
There is at least 1 f sound in Arabic.
| f | f | Regular f | f |
There is at least 1 l sound in Arabic.
| l | l | Regular l | l |
There is at least 1 s sound in Arabic.
| s | s | Regular s | s |
There is at least 1 z sound in Arabic.
| z | z | Regular z | z |
There is at least 1 r sound in Arabic.
| G | G | Velar r like the French r sound | ɣ ʁ |
There are at least 2 th sounds in Arabic.
| c | c | Voiceless th (like English "think") | θ |
| C | C | Voiced th (like English "the") | ð |
There is at least 1 dj sound in Arabic.
| dj | dj | Regular dj (as in "judge") | dʒ |