Table of Contents
General Remarks
For stress, only the last three syllables of a word are taken into consideration. Nunation is counted as a syllable when it is pronounced.
Last Syllable
Stress falls on the final syllable if it contains a long vowel:
ki-tāb
ki-tā-bun
ǧa-dīd
ǧa-dī-dun
ma-ḥā-zin
ma-ḥā-zi-nu
However, stress does not fall on the vocalic ending of the word:
hu-nā
kur-sī (but: kur-sī-yun)
Long Vowels
If the last three syllables contain no long vowel, stress falls on the penultimate syllable, provided it is a closed syllable (sequence consonant – short vowel – consonant):
mu-ʿal-lim
mu-tar-ǧim
or, if the word consists of only two syllables:
an-ta
ra-ǧul
Otherwise, stress generally falls on the antepenultimate syllable, regardless of its structure:
mu-ʿal-li-ma
muǧ-ta-hi-dun
Modern Arabic
The rule valid in modern Arabic that stress must not move further forward than the antepenultimate syllable requires a shift of stress when the number of syllables changes through the pronunciation of nunation or the addition of suffixes:
ṭā-li-ba → ṭā-li-ba-tun
mu-ʿal-li-ma → mu-ʿal-li-ma-tun
ku-tu-bun → ku-tu-bu-nā (كُتُبُن → كُتُبُنَا)
mu-ʿal-li-mun → mu-ʿal-li-mu-nā (مُعَلِّمٌ → مُعَلِّمُنَا)
ṭā-li-ba → ṭā-li-ba-tu-nā (طَالِبَةٌ → طَالِبَتُنَا)
mu-ʿal-li-ma → mu-ʿal-li-ma-tu-nā (مُعَلِّمَةٌ → مُعَلِّمَتُنَا)