Arabic Short Vowels and Diacritics (Harakat) Explained

If you open an Arabic newspaper, you'll see rows of letters with hardly any small marks. In a children's book or a Quran, every letter is dressed with them. These marks are called harakat (singular haraka), and they represent the short vowels and a few other features.

The three short vowels

• Fatha ـَ — a small diagonal stroke above the letter, pronounced "a" as in "cat".
• Damma ـُ — a small looped mark above, pronounced "u" as in "put".
• Kasra ـِ — a small diagonal stroke below, pronounced "i" as in "sit".

Using these, the letters ك ت ب can be read as كَتَبَ (kataba, "he wrote"), كُتُب (kutub, "books") or كِتاب (kitab, "book"). The same three consonants, different vowels, different words.

Other marks

• Sukun ـْ — a small circle indicating no vowel after the consonant.
• Shadda ـّ — a small "w" shape above a letter, indicating that the consonant is doubled, as in مدرِّس (mudarris, "teacher").
• Tanwin ـً ـٌ ـٍ — doubled vowel marks at the end of a noun, indicating an "-n" ending, used in formal grammar.

Why they're usually left out

Fluent readers use context and their knowledge of grammar and roots to supply the vowels. In everyday writing, the marks add clutter. They are typically included in:

• The Quran and other religious texts
• Children's books and early schoolbooks
• Textbooks for learners
• Dictionaries, to show pronunciation
• Poetry, where the exact reading matters

The learner's challenge

Without vowels, a word can look ambiguous. Learners who rely only on unvowelled text often mispronounce words or struggle to know how a verb should be conjugated. It is generally recommended to learn with fully vowelled text first and then gradually reduce the training wheels.

Long vowels are written

The long vowels ا (aa), و (uu) and ي (ii) are written as full letters, so they do appear in ordinary text. It is only the short vowels that vanish.

Tips for learners

1. Read vowelled words aloud, exaggerating each vowel at first.
2. Notice how the same root changes meaning with different vowels.
3. Use a dictionary that shows the full vowel marks for new words.
4. Practise reading unvowelled text after you know the word.

Pronunciation and meaning both depend on those small marks, so a dictionary that displays them is a genuine advantage.

Check pronunciation and script details with English Arabic Dictionary →