Terminology issues in the tradition of Arabic phonetics

Abstract EN

The study of speech sounds in traditional studies on Arabic covered the fundamentals of articulatory phonetics: place and manner of articulation.

On the other hand, early Arab scholars were accused of confusing the term “sound” with “letter” as well as neglecting the vowels in their study of Arabic sounds.

This article studies issues related to certain terms utilized in the tradition of Arabic phonetics whose meanings appear to be confusing.

In particular, it explores basic terms such as ḥarf, ṣawt, and nafas(†) (roughly, letter, sound, and breath, respectively) in an attempt to clarify their meanings and thus improve our understanding of phonetics in early Arabic works.

Additionally, the article discusses the terminology used in describing manners of articulation as presented by Sībawayhi and other early Arab scholars in light of current findings in the study of speech sound production.