Makharij al-Huruf
Click a letter and see where it comes from — seventeen articulation points across five regions.
Start wherever you like
Click a letter in the strip below the diagram and its makhraj lights up on the section, with the description beside it.
Pick one of the five regions — the oral cavity, the throat, the tongue, the lips or the nasal cavity — to see the makharij and letters it holds.
Click a position on the section directly, or switch to “the seventeen makharij” to see all of them at once.
The five regions
The nasal cavityThe seat of the ghunnah — a nasal resonance that always accompanies nun and mim, and is fullest when either is doubled.
The throatThree makharij — the deepest, the middle and the nearest part of the throat — producing six letters.
The tongueBy far the largest region: ten makharij accounting for eighteen of the letters.
The two lipsTwo makharij: the inside of the lower lip against the upper incisor tips for fa, and the two lips together for ba, mim and waw.
The oral cavityThe empty column of air running from the depth of the throat to the mouth. The three letters of madd come from it.
Frequently asked questions
How many makharij are there?
Seventeen, following Ibn al-Jazari — the position most curricula teach. Other scholars counted differently: fourteen for al-Farra’ and Qutrub, sixteen for Sibawayh and al-Shatibi. The disagreement is about the oral cavity and the letters of madd, not about the rest of the letters.
What are the five regions?
The oral cavity (one makhraj, for the letters of madd), the throat (three makharij, six letters), the tongue (ten makharij, eighteen letters), the two lips (two makharij, four letters) and the nasal cavity (one makhraj, for the ghunnah).
Why do waw and ya appear at more than one point?
Because their makhraj follows how they are voiced: as letters of madd they come from the oral cavity, while a voiced waw comes from the lips and a voiced ya from the middle of the tongue. The tool flags this when you select either one.
What is the difference between a makhraj and a sifah?
The makhraj is where a letter is produced. The sifah is how it is produced from there — voiced or voiceless, plosive or continuant, raised or lowered, and so on. This tool covers makharij only: two letters can share a makhraj and differ entirely in sifah, as ta and ta do.
Is the tool free?
Yes. It runs in the browser with no install and no sign-up, and you can export the diagram as an image to use in a lesson or a handout.
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