Arabic Keyboard With Diacritics (Harakat)
Use this Arabic harakat keyboard to add vowel and pronunciation marks to text you type or paste. Place the cursor after a letter and choose a mark, or use Word tashkeel or Text tashkeel to request suggestions. Review suggested marks before accepting them: some may be missing or incorrect. Tashkeel processing stays on your device.
Typing and suggestions are processed locally in your browser. The magnifying-glass keys search the current text on Google or YouTube; text is shared with the chosen service only when you activate that search. Read the privacy details
Examples
What are harakat, and how are they like vowels?
Harakat show the short vowel after an Arabic consonant. Fatha gives a, kasra i, and damma u: كَ = ka, كِ = ki, كُ = ku. These marks make the vowel sound explicit. Tashkeel also includes other pronunciation marks, such as sukun and shadda; they do not add a vowel.
Why are vowel marks often missing from Arabic text?
Everyday Arabic writing often leaves out short-vowel marks. Readers use the word and its context to work out the pronunciation; adding marks helps learners see that reading. Long vowels are commonly written with letters: ا for ā, و for ū, and ي for ī. For example, كَ is ka, while كَا is kā, with a longer a. The letters و and ي can also represent the consonants w and y.
- كتبكَتَبَ"kataba" (he wrote), fully voweled with fatha
This is one reading of كتب; the correct reading depends on context.
How do I add a haraka to one letter?
- Type or paste the Arabic text.
- Place the cursor immediately after the letter you want to mark, without selecting other text.
- Choose the mark in the harakat row. For example, type ب, then choose fatha to get بَ, pronounced ba.
How do I add tashkeel to one word?
Place the cursor inside the word, or select that word, and choose Word tashkeel — تشكيل الكلمة. Review the offered spellings and choose the one that fits your sentence. A suggestion is applied only when you choose it; the available alternatives depend on the word and context.
How do I add tashkeel to a sentence or passage?
- Select at least two Arabic words.
- Choose Text tashkeel — تشكيل النص.
- Review the preview, then choose Apply to accept it or Cancel to leave the text unchanged.
Some marks may be missing or wrong. Check the reading before applying it. After applying the passage suggestion, one Undo restores the original text.
How can I listen to the result?
Accept any tashkeel suggestions you want to keep, then follow Continue in the full keyboard to listen to your text. below the editor. In the full editor, select a passage or leave nothing selected to use all the text, then choose Listen. The speech engine downloads on first use and runs in your browser. Listening is a reading aid; check the marks and meaning yourself.
Reference table
Harakat pronunciation guide
The readings below show pronunciation in Latin letters, not a translation. u represents the short “oo” sound; ā represents a long a; ḥ represents ح. The tanwin examples use Standard Arabic readings with the formal ending pronounced.
| Diacritic | Examples and pronunciation | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Fatha َ | كَka بَba مَma | Adds a short a after the marked consonant. |
| Fathatan (tanwin) ً | سَمَكًاsamakan كِتَابًاkitāban قَلَمًاqalaman | Gives the ending -an: a short a, then n. |
| Damma ُ | كُku بُbu مُmu | Adds a short u after the marked consonant. |
| Dammatan (tanwin) ٌ | سَمَكٌsamakun كِتَابٌkitābun قَلَمٌqalamun | Gives the ending -un: a short u, then n. |
| Kasra ِ | كِki بِbi مِmi | Adds a short i after the marked consonant. |
| Kasratan (tanwin) ٍ | سَمَكٍsamakin كِتَابٍkitābin قَلَمٍqalamin | Gives the ending -in: a short i, then n. |
| Sukun ْ | يَكْتُبُyaktubu سَبْتsabt شَمْسshams | No vowel follows the marked consonant. |
| Shadda ّ | سُكَّرsukkar حُبّḥubb أُمّumm | Doubles the marked consonant. |
سمك (samak) means “fish,” كتاب (kitāb) means “book,” and قلم (qalam) means “pen” — their tanwin endings above show the formal ending pronounced when continuing speech; at a pause, these endings can change or be omitted. يَكْتُبُ means “he writes”; سَبْت means “Saturday”; شَمْس means “sun.” سُكَّر means “sugar”; حُبّ means “love”; أُمّ means “mother.”
Supported layouts and modes
- All eight core Arabic diacritics: fatha, kasra, damma, their tanwin forms, sukun, and shadda
- Insert a mark after any letter you've already typed, or right after typing it
- Works no matter how the Arabic got there — typed directly, pasted, or applied from a suggestion
- The harakat panel stays open on this page; show the full Arabic keyboard only when you need letters, and hide it again without losing your text
- Word tashkeel — تشكيل الكلمة: built-in alternatives for common words, otherwise a suggestion from its sentence
- Text tashkeel — تشكيل النص: suggestions for a selected passage of at least two words, with Apply/Cancel and one Undo
Limitations
- Suggestions are prepared on your device. The model filters out some lower-confidence suggestions, so the result may be only partly vocalized, and suggested marks can still be wrong. Nothing is applied until you choose a suggestion or press Apply, so review the result first.
- Combining a diacritic with the wrong letter, or twice on the same letter, is not validated; the editor accepts whatever you insert.
- On this page, add diacritics with the on-screen panel. In the full Arabic keyboard, choose “Type Arabic with a Latin keyboard” to type them with your device keyboard’s physical Shift key as well, following the QWERTY or AZERTY layout selected in Options — for example, physical Shift+Q adds a fatha on QWERTY. This is your keyboard hardware’s Shift key, not the on-screen Shift key, which no longer offers diacritics as a choice. In normal typing mode your keys type Latin letters, and your operating system’s own Arabic layout uses its own shortcuts.
Updated: