Helping Vowels

Dina Sarayra 4/22/2020

Arabic Grammar

What is a helping vowel?

When there is a word that begins with a hamza, and it has no vowel, or a silent vowel, that is when the helping vowel comes in.

So why does this happen?

It guarantees a smooth shift from word to word.
This means that a definite article must be involved.
Let’s take a look at the three cases.
The first case is when the arranged vowel has the kasra haraka, and in which case, there would be a fatha on the helping vowel.

For example: هَلِ الولد هنا؟

Transliteration: /haliel waladu hona?
Meaning: Is the boy here?
It is originally هلْ with a sukoon, but in this case, it turns into a kasra.

Case two turns the helping vowel into a fatha because the proceeding vowel has a kasra.

This can be seen through the following example:
هذه الفتاة مِنَ السودان
Transliteration: /hathihi al fataa mina asudan/
Meaning: This girl is from Sudan.
Originally, the word منَ is written like this منْ with a sukoon.

Case three is the only one where both the proceeding and helping vowels are united with the same haraka: the damma.

Let’s see how this happens:
لماذا كتبتمُ القصيدة؟
Transliteration: /limatha katabtomo al qas’eeda/
Meaning: Why did you write the poem?
This is used to refer to a plural male case.
Originally, the word كتبتمْ /katabtom/ is written with a sukoon. So, in this case, it turns into a damma.

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What is a helping vowel?

For example: هَلِ الولد هنا؟

Case two turns the helping vowel into a fatha because the proceeding vowel has a kasra.

Case three is the only one where both the proceeding and helping vowels are united with the same haraka: the damma.

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