Lengthening in Quranic Performance Acoustic Study in Time and Written symbol

Abstract

Lengthening is one of the acoustic phenomena which have left the holy Quran distinguished but it is still a complex issue for many scholars who are concerned with this area of study especially the period of time which means the time of lengthening that depends upon the performance of present reciters and old reciters. This controversial issue resulted in another complex issue. The acoustic phenomenon can't be only expressed theoretically in expressive terms but it should be expressed in scientific terms. Furthermore, the lengthening particularly -the derived lengthening- is considered as another important issue in the field of research. It is a phenomenon that distinguishes the Quranic performance from the casual linguistic performance of Arabic and other languages, so the scholars face the problem of how to write it morphologically or acoustically. This Study aims to measure the period of time to the lengthening during the Quranic recitation through programs and then comparing the results to the estimations of old reciters. It also suggests a scientific expression for the lengthening period of time and paired with digital measure. Then we put an orthographic symbol in order to express lengthening morphologically and acoustically. Actually, this Study uses (Praat Program) for acoustic analysis. This has come in harmony with what was already determined by the old reciters in which the movement of (half Alef sound) needs (25. of a second) whereas the movement of complete Alef sound needs (50. of a second). This Study also has come in harmony with the estimations of of old reciters in the normal lengthening and connected lengthening but not in the Short compulsory lengthening with the four reciters. According to this practical study, the suggested sound is a number added to the long voiced sign that contains lengthening. This number equals the number of movements after dividing the period of time of reciter 's performance according to the movement time which is (25. of one second.