Arabic vowels Pardon the transcriptions. Am I to understand there are 3 vowels, with two types: long and short. The short called 'fathah,' 'kasrah' and 'dammah' and the long called 'alif maad' 'waaw maad' and 'yaa maad'? And that the names of the letters themselves are simply "alif' 'waaw' and 'yaa'?