Editing Classical Arabic (section)

=== Consonants ===
{{See also|Arabic phonology}}
Like Modern Standard Arabic, Classical Arabic had 28 consonant phonemes:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+Classical Arabic consonant phonemes{{sfn|Watson|2002|p=13}}
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" |[[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! colspan="2" |[[Denti-alveolar consonant|Denti-alveolar]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Pharyngeal consonant|Pharyngeal]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! style="font-size: 80%;" |plain
! style="font-size: 80%;" |[[Velarization|emphatic]]
|-
! colspan="2" style="text-align: left;" |[[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
|{{IPA link|m}} {{lang|ar|م}}
|
|{{IPA link|n}} {{lang|ar|ن}}
|  ||  ||  ||  ||  ||
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align: left;" |[[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]
! style="text-align: left; font-size: 80%;" |[[Voiceless consonant|voiceless]]
|
|
|{{IPA link|t}} {{lang|ar|ت}}
|{{IPA link|ˁ|tˁ}}{{ref|d|1}} {{lang|ar|ط}}
|
|{{IPA link|k}} {{lang|ar|ك}}
|{{IPA link|q|q}}{{ref|g|2}} {{lang|ar|ق}}
|
|{{IPA link|ʔ}} {{lang|ar|[[hamza|ء]]}}
|-
! style="text-align: left; font-size: 80%;" |[[Voiced consonant|voiced]]
|{{IPA link|b}} {{lang|ar|ب}}
|
|{{IPA link|d}} {{lang|ar|د}}
|{{IPA link|ɮ}}{{IPA link|ˁ}}{{ref|d|5}} ~ {{IPA link|dˤ}} {{lang|ar|ض}}
|{{IPA link|ɟ}}{{ref|j|3}} {{lang|ar|ج}}
|
|
|  ||
|-
! rowspan="2" style="text-align: left;" |[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
! style="text-align: left; font-size: 80%;" |[[Voiceless consonant|voiceless]]
|{{IPA link|f}} {{lang|ar|ف}}
|{{IPA link|θ}} {{lang|ar|ث}}
|{{IPA link|s}} {{lang|ar|س}}
|{{IPA link|ˁ|sˁ}} {{lang|ar|ص}}
|{{IPA link|ʃ}} {{lang|ar|ش}}
|  ||{{IPA link|χ|χ}} {{lang|ar|خ}}
|{{IPA link|ħ}} {{lang|ar|ح}}
|{{IPA link|h}} {{lang|ar|ه}}
|-
! style="text-align: left; font-size: 80%;" |[[Voiced consonant|voiced]]
|
|{{IPA link|ð}} {{lang|ar|ذ}}
|{{IPA link|z}} {{lang|ar|ز}}
|{{IPA link|ˁ|ðˁ}} {{lang|ar|ظ}}
|  ||
|{{IPA link|ʁ|ʁ}} {{lang|ar|غ}}
|{{IPA link|ʕ}} {{lang|ar|ع}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" style="text-align: left;" |[[Trill consonant|Trill]] / [[Tap consonant|Tap]]
| ||
|{{IPA link|r}}{{ref|r|7}} {{lang|ar|ر}}
| || || || || ||
|-
! colspan="2" style="text-align: left;" |[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| || ||  {{IPA link|l}} {{lang|ar|ل}}||({{IPA link|ɫ|lˁ}})<sup>{{ref|l|6}}</sup> {{lang|ar|ل}}
|{{IPA link|j}} {{lang|ar|[[yāʼ#Arabic yāʼ|ي]]}}
|{{IPA link|w}} {{lang|ar|[[Waw (letter)#Arabic wāw|و]]}}
|  ||  ||
|}
Notes:

:{{note|d|1}}[[Sibawayh]] described the consonant {{angbr|{{lang|ar|ط}}}} as voiced ({{IPA|/dˁ/}}), but some modern linguists cast doubt upon this testimony.<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics |last1=Danecki |first1=Janusz |date=2008 |publisher=Brill |volume=III |page=124 |chapter=Majhūra/Mahmūsa}}</ref> It is likely that the word used to describe it did not mean voiced but rather unaspirated.
:{{note|g|2}}The 14th century historian [[Ibn Khaldun]] described the pronunciation of {{angbr|{{lang|ar|ق}}}} as a voiced velar {{IPAslink|ɡ}} and that it might have been the old Arabic pronunciation of the letter, he even describes that the [[Muhammad|prophet Muhammad]] may have used the {{IPAslink|ɡ}} pronunciation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Heinrichs |first=Wolfhart |title=Ibn Khaldūn as a Historical Linguist with an Excursus on the Question of Ancient gāf |url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8F_PW9P6dqlcWc1OUpBcFpLZTA/view |journal=Harvard University}}</ref>
:{{note|j|3}}As it derives from [[Proto-Semitic]] *g, {{IPAslink|ɟ}} may have been a palatalized velar: {{IPAslink|ɡʲ}}.

:{{note|d|5}}This is retrospectively reconstructed based on ancient texts describing the proper pronunciation and discouraging the use of any other pronunciation.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Kinberg |first=Naphtali |url=https://archive.org/details/studieslinguisti00kinb |title=Studies in the Linguistic Structure of Classical Arabic |publisher=Brill |year=2001 |isbn=9004117652 |editor-last=Kinberg |editor-first=Leah |location=Leiden; Boston; Koln |pages=[https://archive.org/details/studieslinguisti00kinb/page/n207 197]-267 |chapter=Treatise on the Pronunciation of the Dad |editor-last2=Versteegh |editor-first2=Kees |url-access=limited}}</ref>

:{{note|l|6}}{{IPAslink|ɫ|lˁ}} is a marginal phoneme that only appears in {{IPA|/(ʔa)lːˁɑːh/}}, the name of God, [[Allah]],{{sfn|Watson|2002|p=16}} except after {{IPA|/i/}} or {{IPA|/iː/}} when it becomes unemphatic {{IPA|/l/}}: ''{{Transliteration|ar|bismi&nbsp;l–lāhi}}'' {{IPA|/bismi‿lːaːhi/}} ('in the name of God').

:{{note|r|7}}{{IPAslink|rˁ}} is emphatic except before {{IPA|/i/}}, {{IPA|/iː/}} and {{IPA|/j/}} when it becomes unemphatic {{IPAblink|r}}.