Hard letters

There are 7 heavy letters in Arabic (حُرُوفُ الْإِسْتِعْلَاءِ — huruf al Isti’laa):

These letters are always read heavily (giving the letter quality of heaviness by elevation of the tongue), they are represented in these words:

The following three letters:

are read more softly when vocalized by kasrah, as a result, we hear that «e» sound, which is typical of soft letters. When they are vocalized by fathah or dammah, they retain their heaviness. The other four letters are itbaq:

they retain their heaviness in any case. So, when they are vocalized by kasrah the sound «e» changes to a thicker one.

al-Istiala (الْإِسْتِعْلَاءُ) — means raising the back of the tongue to the upper palate during the pronunciation of the letters.

There are five degrees of heavy-mouthed pronunciation:

1. When a heavy letter vocalized by fathah is followed by alif:

2. When a heavy letter vocalized by fathah is not followed by alif:

3. When a heavy letter is vocalized by dammah:

4. When a heavy letter is vocalized by sukoon:

5. When a heavy letter is vocalized by kasrah:

Exercises:

1. Read verses 1-12 in surah ash-Shams and find the heavy letters from the verses:

2. Read surah at-Tariq and find the heavy letters from the surah.

Questions:

1. How many heavy letters are there?

2. What is al-Istiala?

3. How many degrees of heavy-mouthed pronunciation are there?