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7.1: Letter Seen

  • Page ID
    271500
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    Learning Objectives

    In this section, you will be able to:

    • Read and write س in its different shapes.
    • Pronounce the letter س with short and long vowels.

    Introduction

    The letter "س" (seen) is the twelfth letter in the Arabic alphabet. Pronounced like the "s" in the English word "sun," "seen" is a voiceless alveolar fricative, adding a crisp, hissing sound to the language. Its shape is distinctive and easily recognizable, consisting of three teeth-like peaks with a smooth curve underneath them when written in isolation or at the end of a word.

    "Seen" also appears in many everyday Arabic phrases and expressions, making it an important letter to recognize and use. Its presence in common greetings, such as "السلام عليكم" (as-salaamu 'alaykum), which means "peace be upon you," highlights its significance in daily communication.

    The Letter Seen س

    The letter “Seen” “س” is the name of the Arabic letter that corresponds to English “s”, as in the word seen itself. However, remember that English “s” is often pronounced as “z”, such as in “easy” and “optimism”, and in many plurals like “dogs”. Arabic “س”, on the other hand, always retains the soft “s” sound. “س” is a frontal consonant, which means that surrounding vowels take a frontal quality, especially Alif (the long vowel), and fathah, which sound like the “e” in bet.

    The articulation point of the letter “س” is the tongue and the tip top edge of the two frontal low incisors. There is a space left in between the tip of the tongue and the plates of the teeth when pronouncing this letter. A whistle-like sound should accompany its pronunciation.

    Cross section of the head to show the articulation of the letter س
    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Cross section of the head to show the articulation of the letter س

    Pronunciation of letter Seen "س" with short vowels الحركات and absence of short vowels السكون.

    Pronunciation of the Letter Seen with Short Vowels and Sukoon
    The Marks (Harakat الحركات) The Letter with the mark Audio

    Fataha

    الفتحة

    سَ

    Dhama

    الضمة

    سُ

    Kasra

    الكسرة

    سِ

    Absence of short vowel

    Sukoon

    السكون

    سْ

    Pronunciation of the letter Seen "س" with long vowels.

    Pronunciation of Letter س with Long Vowels
    The Long Vowel المدود The Letter with a long vowel Audio

    The long vowel "ا"=aa

    سا

    The long vowel "و"= oo/uu

    سو

    The long vowel "ي"=ee/ii سي

    How to Write The Letter س

    The letter "س" is a connecting letter distinguished in print by its three teeth. In handwriting, the letter "س" is often written without its teeth (as straight line). To write the independent "س", begin on the line and draw a tiny hook and three teeth (like a toothbrush) then dip below the line into the tail, almost like a semicircle. In the beginning of the word, "ســــ" is written like independent "س", but without the tail - the segment should be longer to distinguish the letter.

    When "س" is connected to a preceding letter, the connecting segment and the body of the letter are indistinguishable, and there is no hook in the beginning. This means that the connecting segment and the letter should form a line like this "ــســـــ". The body should be long enough to distinguish it from a connecting segment.

    The final "ـــس" is written with a tail, which must come all the way back up to the line. (Watch the video)

    Writing Letter س
    Final Medial Initial Isolated
    ـــس ـســـ ســــــــ س

    Watch the video to learn how to write the letter Seen

    Watch the video to learn more about the letter Seen الحرف س. The letter changes shape depending on their position in a word.

    Activities

    Query \(\PageIndex{1}\)
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    Query \(\PageIndex{5}\)

    7.1: Letter Seen is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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