Definition and benefit
A Sifah (الصِّفَة) is the manner in which a letter is produced at its makhraj: whether breath flows or is held, whether sound flows or is held, whether the tongue rises or stays low, and so on. The makhraj fixes where the letter is made; the sifah fixes how.
- First benefit: distinguishing letters that share a makhraj; without the sifat, Ta', Dal and Ta would be one sound.
- Second: improving the pronunciation of letters from different makharij.
- Third: knowing the strong and weak letters, to know where merging is allowed and where it is not.
Sifat are of two kinds: Sifat Lazimah (الصِّفَات اللَّازِمَة), which never leave the letter and are the subject of this chapter; and Sifat 'Aridah (الصِّفَات العَارِضَة), which appear in some situations and not in others, such as Tafkhim and Tarqiq, Izhar, Idgham, Iqlab, Ikhfa', Madd and Qasr. Ibn al-Jazari counted seventeen permanent qualities, while Makki in ar-Ri'ayah mentioned many more qualities and names. They are of two types: those with an opposite and those without.
Qualities with an opposite
| Quality | Definition | Letters |
|---|---|---|
| Hams (الهَمْس) | Breath flows when the letter is pronounced, because of weak pressure on the makhraj | فَحَثَّهُ شَخْصٌ سَكَتْ (10) |
| Jahr (الجَهْر) | Breath is held because of strong pressure on the makhraj | All the others (18) |
| Shiddah (الشِّدَّة) | Sound is held because of complete pressure on the makhraj | أَجِدْ قَطٍ بَكَتْ (8) |
| Tawassut (التَّوَسُّط) | Sound between Shiddah and Rakhawah | لِنْ عُمَرْ (5) |
| Rakhawah (الرَّخَاوَة) | Sound flows because of weak pressure | The rest (15) |
| Isti'la' (الاسْتِعْلَاء) | The back of the tongue rises towards the palate | خُصَّ ضَغْطٍ قِظْ (7) |
| Istifal (الاسْتِفَال) | The tongue stays low, away from the palate | The rest (21) |
| Itbaq (الإِطْبَاق) | Part of the tongue presses against the palate and the sound is enclosed between them | ص ض ط ظ (4) |
| Infitah (الانْفِتَاح) | The tongue stays apart from the palate and air passes between them | The rest (24) |
| Idhlaq (الإِذْلَاق) | The letter is light and quick, coming from the tip of the tongue or the lip | فِرَّ مِنْ لُبِّ (6) |
| Ismat (الإِصْمَات) | Literally «withholding»; technically heaviness (not Tafkhim): no Arabic word with four or five root letters is built from these alone | The rest (22) |
Qualities without an opposite
| Quality | Definition | Letters |
|---|---|---|
| Safir (الصَّفِير) | An extra sharp sound like the whistle of a bird | ص ز س |
| Qalqalah (القَلْقَلَة) | The makhraj vibrates when the letter is silent, producing a clear echo | قُطْبُ جَدٍ |
| Lin (اللِّين) | The letter comes out easily, without effort | Silent Waw and Ya after a fathah |
| Inhiraf (الانْحِرَاف) | The letter inclines after leaving its makhraj towards another | ل ر |
| Takrir (التَّكْرِير) | The tip of the tongue trembles with Ra'; it is learned in order to be avoided | ر |
| Tafashshi (التَّفَشِّي) | Air spreads through the mouth | ش |
| Istitalah (الاسْتِطَالَة) | The sound extends along the edge of the tongue from front to back | ض |
Some scholars, such as al-Marsafi, add Ghunnah (الغُنَّة) for Nun and Mim, and Khafa' (الخَفَاء) (hiddenness) for the Madd letters and Ha'.
Table of the qualities of each letter
The first five columns give one quality from each pair: (1) Hams or Jahr, (2) Shiddah, Tawassut or Rakhawah, (3) Isti'la' or Istifal, (4) Itbaq or Infitah, (5) Idhlaq or Ismat. Every letter has at least five qualities and may have up to seven.
| Letter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ء | Jahr | Shiddah | Istifal | Infitah | Ismat | · |
| ب | Jahr | Shiddah | Istifal | Infitah | Idhlaq | Qalqalah |
| ت | Hams | Shiddah | Istifal | Infitah | Ismat | · |
| ث | Hams | Rakhawah | Istifal | Infitah | Ismat | · |
| ج | Jahr | Shiddah | Istifal | Infitah | Ismat | Qalqalah |
| ح | Hams | Rakhawah | Istifal | Infitah | Ismat | · |
| خ | Hams | Rakhawah | Isti'la' | Infitah | Ismat | · |
| د | Jahr | Shiddah | Istifal | Infitah | Ismat | Qalqalah |
| ذ | Jahr | Rakhawah | Istifal | Infitah | Ismat | · |
| ر | Jahr | Tawassut | Istifal | Infitah | Idhlaq | Inhiraf، Takrir |
| ز | Jahr | Rakhawah | Istifal | Infitah | Ismat | Safir |
| س | Hams | Rakhawah | Istifal | Infitah | Ismat | Safir |
| ش | Hams | Rakhawah | Istifal | Infitah | Ismat | Tafashshi |
| ص | Hams | Rakhawah | Isti'la' | Itbaq | Ismat | Safir |
| ض | Jahr | Rakhawah | Isti'la' | Itbaq | Ismat | Istitalah |
| ط | Jahr | Shiddah | Isti'la' | Itbaq | Ismat | Qalqalah |
| ظ | Jahr | Rakhawah | Isti'la' | Itbaq | Ismat | · |
| ع | Jahr | Tawassut | Istifal | Infitah | Ismat | · |
| غ | Jahr | Rakhawah | Isti'la' | Infitah | Ismat | · |
| ف | Hams | Rakhawah | Istifal | Infitah | Idhlaq | · |
| ق | Jahr | Shiddah | Isti'la' | Infitah | Ismat | Qalqalah |
| ك | Hams | Shiddah | Istifal | Infitah | Ismat | · |
| ل | Jahr | Tawassut | Istifal | Infitah | Idhlaq | Inhiraf |
| م | Jahr | Tawassut | Istifal | Infitah | Idhlaq | Ghunnah |
| ن | Jahr | Tawassut | Istifal | Infitah | Idhlaq | Ghunnah |
| ه | Hams | Rakhawah | Istifal | Infitah | Ismat | · |
| و | Jahr | Rakhawah | Istifal | Infitah | Ismat | Lin |
| ي | Jahr | Rakhawah | Istifal | Infitah | Ismat | Lin |
Lin in this table applies to Waw and Ya only when they are silent after a fathah.
Strong and weak
Strong qualities: Jahr, Shiddah, Isti'la', Itbaq, Safir, Qalqalah, Inhiraf, Takrir, Tafashshi, Istitalah and Ghunnah. Weak qualities: Hams, Rakhawah, Istifal, Infitah, Lin and Khafa'. Tawassut, Idhlaq and Ismat are described as neither strong nor weak, according to al-Marsafi and others. A letter is strong or weak according to how many strong qualities it gathers; the strongest letter is Ta' and the weakest is Ha'.