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Sukoon

1. What is sukoon in Arabic?
2. Examples of Arabic Sukoon symbol
3. Arabic diphthongs
4. Comparison between long vowels and diphthongs
5. Exercise

What is sukoon in Arabic?

The Arabic word Sukoon سُكُون means still, rest. It is represented by a small circle ـْ above the letter.

The sukoon symbol represents an absence of the vowel on a letter. It means the letter is in a still position (no Harakat حَرَکَات above or below the letter).

In fact, we have already learned Sukoon in the last lesson (long vowels) without showing it on the letters.

بِ + ي ⇜ بِي
بُ + و ⇜ بُو

Here, letters ي and و are without vowels, (because they themselves are vowels) so, we can give sukoon symbols to these two letters.

بِ + ي ⇜ بِيْ
بُ + و ⇜ بُوْ

However, in the case of long vowel ا, we can't put the sukoon symbol on it.

بَ + ا ⇜ بَاْ

The normal role of Sukoon symbol is to cut the sound of the letter on which it is placed. Play the following two sounds to feel the difference.

بَا
بَاْ

The letter on which the Sukoon symbol is placed is called Sakin سَاكِنْ, which means a non-moveable or still letter.

In cases of long vowels ـِ + ي and ـُ + و the Sukoon symbol plays an exceptional role and doesn't cut the voices. For all other letters, including the long vowel ـَ + ا, the letter with the Sukoon symbol shows no movement (a cut or break in the sound).
Please see the below examples for more clarity. (The following words may not be meaningful Arabic words. They are just presented to explain the sound of Sukoon.)

Examples of Arabic Sukoon symbol

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اَبْ

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اِبْ

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In previous lessons, we have been using harakat (vowels) along with letters (consonants), which makes learning to read Arabic easy for beginners. We can also read sukoon in the same manner.

We have two ways to read sukoon:

اَبْ

Alif-ftah-ba⇝ab

A more detailed method:

اَبْ

Alif-ftah-ba-sakin⇝ab

We are going to use the second, more detailed method to read in this lesson. If you like, you can omit the word "sakin".

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اُبْ

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بَاْ

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تَاْ

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ثَاْ

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ثُاْ

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اَتْ

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اَثْ

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اَجْ

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بَحْ

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بَخْ

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بَدْ

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بَذْ

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بَرْ

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بِرْ

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بَزْ

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اَسْ

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اَشْ

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بَصْ

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بَضْ

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بَطْ

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بَظْ

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اَعْ

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اَعْتَغْ

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اَغْ

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اُفْ

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اُفْدَقْ

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اَبْكَا

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اَكْبَا

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اِقْتِبَاسُ

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اِجْلَاسُ

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عِمْرَانُ

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اِنْسَانُ

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اَهْلُ

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Arabic diphthongs

In all the above examples, we haven't seen a word with combinations ـَ + ي or ـَ + و.
This is because the sukoon symbol ـْ on letters و and ي doesn't cut or break the sound of the letter.

From the early discussion, we know that even if we place the sukoon symbol ـْ on the long vowels ـُ + و and ـِ + ي, the sound remains the same (no cut or break in the sound).
Similarly, in case of combinations ـَ + ي or ـَ + و, sounds remain uncut. The combinations ـَ + ي and ـَ + و are two diphthongs in the Arabic language.

Below are some example words with diphthongs combinations.
ـَ + وْ
ـَ + يْ

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اَوْ

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اَيْ

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بَوْ

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بَيْ

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تَوْ

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تَيْ

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ثَوْ

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ثَيْ

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جَوْ

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جَيْ

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دَوْ

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دَيْ

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رَوْ

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رَيْ

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زَوْ

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زَيْ

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سَوْ

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سَيْ

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صَوْ

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صَيْ

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ضَوْ

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ضَيْ

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طَوْ

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طَيْ

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ظَوْ

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ظَيْ

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غَوْ

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غَيْ

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فَوْ

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فَيْ

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قَوْ

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قَيْ

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كَوْ

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كَيْ

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لَوْ

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لَيْ

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مَوْ

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مَيْ

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Comparison between long vowels and diphthongs

The following table compares the sound difference between long vowels and diphthongs.
Please note that in long vowels, the letter و and ي may have sukoon symbol ـْ or may not. Both ways are correct.

Exercise

1. Try to pronounce the following words without listening to the given sounds and compare them with sounds.
2. Write the following words on a separate paper.
3. Extract vowels and diphthongs from the following words.
4. Show answer button is given at the end of the exercise.

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