Twenty-nine letters, each with a home: The Arabic alphabet has 29 letters. In Tajweed, every one of these letters has its own Makhraj — its own place of birth in the mouth or throat — and its own Sifat, or sound qualities. There are no two letters that are exactly alike in both place and sound.
Seventeen places, five regions: Scholars count 17 Makharij, grouped into 5 regions, from the throat to the lips. The regions are: al-Jawf (الجَوف) — the hollow space of the mouth and throat, home of the long vowel letters ا و ي; al-Halq (الحَلق) — the throat, home of 6 letters; al-Lisan (اللِّسَان) — the tongue, the largest group with 18 letters and 10 Makharij; al-Shafatan (الشَّفَتَان) — the two lips, home of 4 letters; and al-Khayshum (الخَيشُوم) — the nasal cavity, which produces the Ghunnah (غُنَّة), the nasal hum of ن and م.
Why place matters: Two letters can sound similar to an untrained ear but come from completely different places. For example, ح comes from the middle of the throat, while ه comes from the deepest part of the throat. If you do not know the place, you will mix the letters — and mixing letters can change the meaning.
Letter families to know: The letters also fall into useful families. Solar letters (الحُرُوف الشَّمسِيَّة, 14) make the Lam of al- (ال) disappear into them, as in ash-Shams (الشَّمس). Lunar letters (الحُرُوف القَمَرِيَّة, 14) keep the Lam clear, as in al-Qamar (القَمَر). And ن and م are the nasal letters (حُرُوف الغُنَّة), the two letters that carry the nasal hum.
Example
Think of a piano. Each key sits in a different place and makes a different note. If you press the wrong key, you play the wrong note — even if your finger moves the same way.
The mouth is like that piano: each letter is a key in its own place. Tajweed is learning to press the right key every time.
Key Terms
- Makhraj (مَخرَج) — the place in the mouth or throat where a letter is produced (plural: Makharij)
- al-Jawf (الجَوف) — the hollow space of the mouth and throat
- Ghunnah (غُنَّة) — the nasal hum, the sound of ن and م through the nose
- Solar letters (الحُرُوف الشَّمسِيَّة) — the 14 letters before which the Lam of al- disappears
Quran or Hadith
None used in this topic.
Fresh diagram to be drawn: A side-view diagram of the mouth and throat with the five Makhraj regions coloured and labelled — Jawf, Halq, Lisan, Shafatan, Khayshum — in Project Desk colours.
- Arabic has 29 letters; each has its own Makhraj and Sifat.
- There are 17 Makharij in 5 regions: Jawf, throat, tongue, lips, and nasal cavity.
- The tongue is the largest region — 18 letters, 10 Makharij.