Articulation Points of Arabic Letters

The Articulation Points of Arabic Letters and their types:

مخرج الحرف: هو الحيّز الذي يتولّد عنده صوت الحرف ويتميّز به عن غيره،وعليه فالمخرج موضع ينحبس عنده الهواء، أو يضيق مجراه عند النطق بالحرف.

وتقسم المخارج بحسب تعيين موضع انحصار وانقطاع صوت الحرف فيها إلى نوعين، هما:

• Verified articulation points (makhraj): We mean by it the space where the sound of the letter is interrupted; as it relies on a specific part of the throat, tongue, or lips, and the verified articulation points (makhraj) of the letter can be known by pronouncing it silently with inserting a moving hamza before it. If we want to know the pronunciation of the letter "dal" for example, we add a hamzah with a vowel mark before it and pronounce it silently, saying: "ad, ad", and where the sound of the letter is interrupted is its point of articulation(makhraj).
• Estimated articulation points: We mean by it the wide space where the sound does not interrupt at a specific part, but continues with the continuation of breathing air, so it cannot be accurately determined, and includes:
• The cavity of the throat and mouth, from which three letters come out, namely: the silent alif preceded by a letter with a fathah, the silent waw preceded by a letter with a dummah, and the silent ya’ preceded by a letter with a kasrah.
• The nasal cavity, from which the ghunnah is pronounced.

The place of estimated makhraj cannot be precisely determined, but it is estimated; this is because the sound of the letter does not interrupt at a specific point, but continues with the continuation of breathing air; therefore it was called an estimated pronunciation.

أقسام مخارج الحروف:

Arabic letters’ makhraj are divided into five general or main makhraj, each one of these includes one or more specific makhraj, and below is an explanation of makhraj categories through this attached image:

• 1. الجوْف: ويشمل فراغ الحلق (المنطقة باللون الأخضر) وفراغ الفم (المنطقة باللون الأصفر).
• 2.The throat: It is the area in green.
• 3.The tongue..
• 4.The lips..
• 5.The nasal cavity: It is the cavity located above the mouth.

From these five general makhraj branch specific makhraj, seventeen in number, from which one or two or three letters come out, no more than that.

They were called "specific" because each one specializes in one or more letters.

They were called "secondary" because they branch from general makhraj [4].