Learn Moroccan: Words & Syllables Without Vowels

Sometimes you will see syllables or even whole words without any vowels written in them. This is normal in Moroccan Arabic. To the English speaker, however, this seems impossible, since we have always been taught that all words must contain a vowel sound. Which side is correct? Well, in a sense they both are. In reality, it is indeed possible to pronounce consonants together without articulating a
vowel sound; we do it a lot in English at the beginning of words. Think about the word street. We pronounce three consonants—s, t, and r—without any vowels between them. So it is possible. The only challenge with Arabic is that the consonant combinations are new for English speakers (we don’t put the /sh/ sound next to the /m/ sound, for example, but in Arabic they do).

However, try for a moment to pronounce only the letters “str,” not the whole word “street.” In this case, most English speakers will hear something that sounds like the word “stir.” With certain consonant combinations, that is to say, it sounds to the English speaker like there is a vowel in the middle, even if there isn’t. The “vowel” is in reality just the normal sound made as one consonant sound transitions to another.

Part of learning Moroccan Arabic is becoming comfortable with new consonant combinations and practicing those combinations without necessarily placing a vowel in the middle. The transcription words, you will notice, only include characters for vowels when there really is a vowel in the word. It may seem difficult at first, but it is better to accustom yourself to this as early as you can.