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The phonological system of the Hejazi Arabic consists of approximately 28 consonant phonemes of which two (/θ, ð/) are partially used by a number of speakers, and 8 vowel phonemes /a, u, i, aː, uː, oː, iː, eː/. Consonant length and Vowel length are both distinctive in Hejazi.

• phonemes will be (written inside slashes / /) and allophones (written inside brackets ).

Consonants

Hejazi consonant inventory mostly depends on the speaker, where urban speakers use 26 with no interdental phonemes or 28 phonemes with the phonemes /θ/ ⟨ث⟩ and /ð/ ⟨ذ⟩ being used partially and mostly by younger speakers due to the influence of Modern Standard Arabic, while rural or Bedouin speakers use 27 consonant phonemes completely merging the classical phoneme /dˤ/ ⟨ض⟩ with /ðˤ/ ⟨ظ⟩. The phonemes /p/ ⟨پ⟩, /v/ ⟨ڤ⟩ and /t͡ʃ/ written ⟨تش⟩ (/t/ ⟨ت⟩ + /ʃ/ ⟨ش⟩) are not considered to be part of the phonemic inventory, since they are not used by all speakers and they exist only in foreign words, and they can be pronounced as /b/ ⟨ب⟩, /f/ ⟨ف⟩ and /ʃ/ ⟨ش⟩ respectively depending on the speaker.

Phonetic notes:

• the classicized [q] is an allophone of /ɡ/ ⟨ق⟩ in few words and proper names as in القرآن /algurˈʔaːn/→ ('Quran') and القاهرة /alˈgaːhira/→ ('Cairo').
• the marginal phoneme /ɫ/ only occurs in the word الله /aɫːaːh/ ('god') and words derived from it, it contrasts with /l/ in والله /waɫːa/ ('i swear') vs. ولَّا /walːa/ ('or').
• the phonemes /d͡ʒ/ ⟨ج⟩ and the trill /r/ ⟨ر⟩ are realised as a [ʒ] and a tap [ɾ] respectively by a number of speakers.
• the phonemes /ɣ/ ⟨غ⟩ and /x/ ⟨خ⟩ can be realised as uvular fricatives [ʁ] and [χ] respectively.
• the reintroduced phoneme /θ/ ⟨ث⟩ is partially used as an alternative phoneme, while many speakers merge it with /t/ or /s/ depending on the word.
• the reintroduced phoneme /ð/ ⟨ذ⟩ is partially used as an alternative phoneme, while many speakers merge it with /d/ or /z/ depending on the word.
• the classicized [ðˤ] is an optional allophone for ⟨ظ⟩, but it is always used when pronouncing the letter's name which is . In general, urban Hejazi speakers pronounce it as /zˤ/ or merge it with /dˤ/ depending on the word.

1. ⟨ة⟩ is only used at the end of words and mainly to mark feminine gender for nouns and adjectives with few exceptions (e.g. أسامة; a male noun). phonemically It is silent, except when in construct state it is a /t/, which leads to the word-final /-at/. e.g. رسالة /risaːla/ 'message' →  رسالة أحمد /risaːlat ʔaħmad/ 'Ahmad's message',
2. ⟨ظ⟩ can be substituted completely by the Classical allophone [ðˤ].
3. /zˤ/ is spelled ⟨ض⟩ only in a number of words from the two trilateral root ⟨ض ب ط⟩ and ⟨ض ر ط⟩.
4. with the allophone [q] appearing in few proper nouns and phrases according to the speaker's preference.
5. ⟨هـ⟩ is silent only word-final in some words and 3rd person masculine singular pronouns where it helps in distinguishing minimal pairs with word-final vowel length تبغي /tibɣi/ 'you want f.' vs. تبغيه /tibɣiː/ 'you want him f.'.

Dental Mergers

For Urban Hejazi speakers the Classical Arabic phoneme /ðˤ/ ⟨ظ⟩ had a partial merger with /dˤ/ ⟨ض⟩ in some words like ظلام /dˤalaːm/ and ظفر /dˤifir/, while it is still pronounced distinctly but as /zˤ/ in others like ظاهرة /zˤaːhra/ and ظلم /zˤulm/, it's worth noting that [ðˤ] is still an optional allophone for ⟨ظ⟩. in contrast Classical /dˤ/ ⟨ض⟩ is always pronounced as a /dˤ/ except in words derived from two trilateral roots ⟨ض ب ط⟩ and ⟨ض ر ط⟩ e.g. ضبط /zˤabatˤ/ and ضرطة /zˤartˤa/ in which it's pronounced /zˤ/, this partial merger lead to some homophones that did not exist in Classical Arabic e.g. تظليل 'dimming' and تضليل 'mislead' both pronounced /tadˤliːl/.

Many Urban Hejazi speakers merge the phoneme /θ/ ⟨ث⟩ with the phonemes /t/ or /s/ depending on the word, e.g. ثور /θoːr/ is pronounced /toːr/ by many urban speakers, and while many keep the same Classical Arabic spelling of the words some might change the spelling according to their pronunciation so ثور becomes تور, the same merger appears between the phoneme /ð/ ⟨ذ⟩ and /d/ or /z/ depending on the word, while most words have only one merger, some words have two optional mergers e.g. كذب /kiðib/ might become /kidib/ for some, or /kizib/ for others.

But when speaking, reading Modern Standard Arabic or reciting the Quran, all Urban Hejazi speakers would not merge any of the phonemes and would pronounce each phoneme /θ/, /ð/, /dˤ/ and /ðˤ/ distinctly according to its Classical phonemic status, and any mergers in those situations are completely stigmatized, also the complete merger of /ðˤ/ and /dˤ/ as /ðˤ/ which happens in rural Hejazi, Najdi and other Gulf Arabic speakers might be stigmatized by Urban Hejazi speakers.

These mergers completely depend on the speakers themselves, many might refrain from the usage of /s/ as a pronunciation for ⟨ث⟩ and only merge /θ/ ⟨ث⟩ with /t/ in some words while keeping /θ/ in others, this phenomenon might be due to the influence of Modern Standard Arabic and neighboring dialects.

Pronunciation of ⟨ق⟩

A notable feature of general Hejazi (both urban and rural alike) is the pronunciation of ⟨ق⟩ as a voiced velar stop (/ɡ/ instead of the Classical /q/) which Ibn Khaldun described as that it might have been the Old Arabic pronunciation of the letter, and he even described that the Islamic prophet Muhammad may have had the /g/ pronunciation, but due to the influence of Modern Standard Arabic the [q] has been reintroduced as an allophone of /ɡ/ ⟨ق⟩ in few words and phrases.

Vowels

Hejazi has eight vowel phonemes: three short /a/, /u/, /i/ and five long /aː/, /uː/, /oː/, /iː/ and /eː/, with length as a distinctive feature, and two diphthongs /aw/ and /aj/. Unlike other Arabic dialects, Hejazi did not develop allophones for the vowels /a/ and /aː/ in the vicinity of emphatic consonants, and retains most of the long and short vowels of Classical Arabic with no vowel reduction, though in a few number of foreign words the long /aː/ is optionally pronounced [ɑː]. The pronunciation of word initial and medial /u/ and /i/ depends on the nature of the surrounding consonants, whether the syllable is stressed or unstressed, and on the accent of the speaker and the speech rate. As a general rule, word initial or medial /u/ is pronounced [ʊ] or [o̞], but strictly as an [u] at the end of the word or before /w/ (as in هُوَّ ), while word initial or medial /i/ is pronounced [ɪ] or [e̞], and strictly as an [i] at the end of the word or before /j/ (as in هِيَّ ), though this free variation in allophones is not found among all speakers of Hejazi. Most of the two diphthongs /aj/ and /aw/ from the classical period underwent monophthongization and are realised as the long vowels /eː/ and /oː/ respectively, but they still occur as diphthongs in a number of words as in حَيْوان /ħajwaːn/ ('animal') and contrast with the long vowels as in دَوْري /dawri/ ('league') vs. دوري /doːri/ ('my turn') vs. دوري /duːri/ ('turn around!').

Phonetic notes:

• /a/ and /aː/ are pronounced either as an open front vowel [a] or an open central vowel [ä].
• /oː/ and /eː/ are pronounced as true mid vowels [o̞ː] and [e̞ː] respectively.
• /u/ is pronounced allophonically as [ʊ] or [o̞] in word initial or medial syllables and strictly as [u] at the end of words or before [w] or when isolate.
• /i/ is pronounced allophonically as [ɪ] or [e̞] in word initial or medial syllables and strictly as [i] at the end of words or before [j] or when isolate.
• [ɑː] is an optional allophone for /aː/ in some words such as ألمانيا ('Germany') and يابان ('Japan').

Phonological Processes

The linking conjunction و ('and') pronounced is often linked with the consonant (before it) or the vowel (before or after it) or for emphasis only left as it is :-

• ِانا و إنتِ /ana u inti/ ('me and you') is either pronounced as where the connected to the vowel before it or pronounced as where the connected to the vowel after it or left as it is for emphasis .
• واحد و خمسين /waːħid u xamsiːn/ ('fifty one') is either pronounced or for emphasis .
• خمسة و سبعين /xamsa u sabʕiːn/ ('seventy five') is either pronounced or for emphasis .

References

1. Abdoh (2010:84)
2. Omar (1975:xv)
3. Abdoh (2010:83)
4. Watson (2002:16)
5. Heinrichs, Wolfhart. "Ibn Khaldūn as a Historical Linguist with an Excursus on the Question of Ancient gāf". Harvard University.
6. Abdoh (2010:84)
7. Omar (1975:xv)

Bibliography

• Abdoh, Eman Mohammed (2010). A Study of the Phonological Structure and Representation of First Words in Arabic (PDF) (Thesis). {{cite thesis}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Omar, Margaret k. (1975). "Saudi Arabic, Urban Hijazi Dialect" (PDF). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Watson, Janet C. E. (2002). The Phonology and Morphology of Arabic (PDF). {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)