    
Pronunciation
Guide
The letters shown below are meant to be pronounced each in
one unique way. The letters shown in bold are the ones you
need to get acquainted with since they are either pronounced
different or have a new sound to English.
Due to having less Latin letters than the sounds required
three arrangements are made in ṫwo ways:
Traditional LLL:
1. The V rule: V is not pronounced but the letter proceeding
is pronounced harder (thicker).
2. Gh and Kh are used as shown below
3. Role/ stress-on all double letters
New LLL of 2008:
Add dot on top if the letter as in H & Ḣ, S & Ṡ, K & Ḱ etc..
Click on the letter
to hear the pronunciation
Lebanese Latin Letters (LLL) system
Letter
|
English Pronunciation
|
Lebanese word
|
|
A
|
A in car, far, bar and star
|
Ana
|
| ' |
Very short A if in the begining, consider the word of two parts if in the middle of a word |
War’a |
| B |
B in bed |
Beb |
| C |
Sh in she |
Cajra |
| D |
D in door |
Dabke |
| Dv or Ḋ |
Hard D |
Baydva or bayḋa |
| E |
Soft 'a' = 'ai' in main, train and Spain |
Edame |
| F |
F in food, frog, fast and free |
Finjen |
| G |
(G in glass-for English/French words used in Lebanese) |
Guitar*** |
| Gh or Ġ |
G stretching tongue out |
Ghariib or Ġariib |
H
|
H in home
|
Hawa
|
| Hv or Ḣ |
Hard H (H stretching tongue base) |
Hvilo or ḣilo |
| I |
Like 'e' in Ben and Bell |
Inta |
| ii |
Like ee in feed, seed, bee and deed |
iid |
| J |
G in Beige without your tongue touching your jaw |
Jabal |
| K |
K in book |
Kiifak |
| |
|
|
| Kh or Ḱ |
J in Spanish, ch in German |
Khibiz or ḱibiz |
| L |
L in land |
Laban |
| M |
M in man |
Mreye |
| N |
N in name |
Nar |
| O |
O in open |
Moz |
| P |
(P in Peter- for English/French words used in Lebanese) |
Pardon ** |
| Q |
(Hard k - for Aramean/Arabic words) |
iiqax* |
| R |
R in orange |
Ras |
| S |
S in Sam |
Sama |
| Sv or Ṡ |
Hard S |
Svura or ṡura |
| T |
T in toy |
Tor |
| Tv or Ṫ |
Hard T |
Tvarii’ or ṫarii` |
| U |
oo in cool, fool, moon and soon |
Jura |
| V |
Not pronounced in Lebanese words (V in Victory- for English/French words used in Lebanese)
|
Video |
| W |
W in word |
Walad |
| X |
A stretching tongue base |
Xen |
| Y |
Y in yellow |
Yamiin |
| Z |
Z in Zebra |
Zahra |
| Zv or Ż |
Hard Z |
Mazvbut or Mażbuṫ |
|
Letters shown
in bold-blue are pronounced different than in English
* Letters used to pronounce sounds from other
Semitic languages such as Arabic and Aramaic
** French words used in Lebanese
*** English words used in Lebanese |
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About
Lebanese Language
. How was the Lebanese Language
developed?
. How does Lebanese language
differ from Arabic language?
. How does Lebanese language
differ from Aramaic language?
. Who speaks Lebanese?
. What have the Lebanese
spoken through history?
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