Arabic phonology is the study of the sound system of the Arabic language. It includes the analysis of consonants, vowels, and the rules governing their combinations. Arabic has a rich set of consonants, including emphatic sounds, which are produced with a constricted throat. Vowels in Arabic can be short or long, and their pronunciation can change the meaning of words. In Modern Standard Arabic, there are 28 consonants and 3 long vowels, along with short vowels that are often not written in texts. The phonological rules also address how sounds interact in different contexts, such as assimilation and elision, which are important for fluent speech.