Pronunciation Tip

Introduction

As in any other language, Arabic reserves special kinds of intonation for asking questions. Although these kinds of intonation may vary regionally throughout the Arab world, the conventions predominantly adopted when speaking or reading in modern standard Arabic or الفُصحى are presented here.  The tips presented will help you better pronounce and understand questions as well as distinguish them from affirmative sentences.
It should be noted at first that, as in English:

1. The distinction between affirmative and interrogative speech in Arabic can be signaled entirely through intonation.
2. When question words are used to ask questions, intonation in wh-questions (treated in Chapter 1) differs from intonation in yes/no questions (treated in Chapter 2). In English, wh-questions start with where, when, what, who, why, which, and how.  Yes/No questions are questions that are typically answered with a yes or a no.  

Wh-Questions Intonation Tips
The following list contains some of the question words that you need in Arabic to ask the equivalent of English wh-questions. Review AK pages 13-15 for rules regarding using all of these question words except for the last two (presented consecutively in Chapters 5 and 6).

In this type of question the question word is the word that is stressed in speech. Pay attention to the intonation in these examples and notice how the highlighted question words bear the stress in these interrogative sentences.

Notice how in example 3 the stress is put on the question word مَن even though it is preceded by the accompanying preposition مَعَ. The same applies to أينَ and أيّ in  مِن أينَ and في أيّ.

Practice

Listen to questions 1-10 and practice asking them aloud several times, making sure to put the stress on the question word. Click to check your answers and practice some more.

Speak to Your Instructor
Practice listening and saying the following sentences in preparation for the chat session where you will be asked to read them aloud to your instructor.

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