1.1: Introduction
In this section, you will be able to:
- Review Arabic letters and their shapes
- Review the diacritics, short and long vowels
Arabic Alphabet
Arabic letters have four shapes, and each shape is distinguished by its location. Arabic letters are connected except for six letters which are only joined with the preceding letter and marked with an asterisk (*) in the table below. The Arabic written system is regularly phonetic, meaning the words are generally written as pronounced.
Arabic Diacritical Marks
- Arabic diacritical marks are placed over or under the regular consonant letters. The most basic are the three short vowels: Fat'ha الفتحة, pronounced as short "a," Dhama الضمة, pronounced as short "u," and Kasra الكسرة, pronounced as short "e," and placed under the letter.
- The Sukoon السكون, the absence of the three short vowels, is placed over the letter. You can review this information in " Introduction to Arabic I ."
You can review the table with the Arabic Alphabet with four shapes of each letter, and listen to the audio of the name of the letter and the sound of the letter with the short vowels and sukoon.
|
Audio |
Arabic letter Final Shape |
Arabic letter Medial Shape |
Arabic letter Initial Shape |
Arabic letter Original Shape |
Arabic letter Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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ـــأْ / أْ * | ـــأِ / أِ * | أُ * | أَ * | ألِف (همزة)* |
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ْــب | ــبـِـ | ُبــ | َب | باء |
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ـــتْ | ــتِــ | تُـ | َت | تاء |
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ــثْ | ــثِــ | ثُــ | ثَ | ثاء |
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ـجْ | ــجِــ | جُــ | جَ | جيم |
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ــحْ | ــــحــِ | حُـ | َح | حاء |
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ــخْ | ــخِــ | خُـ | خَ | خاء |
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ـــدْ / دْ | ـــدِ | دُ * | دَ * | دال * |
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ـــذْ / ذْ | ـــذِ | دُ * | ذَ * | ذال * |
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ــرْ / رْ | ِــرِ | رُ * | رَ * | راء * |
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ــزْ/ زْ | ــزِ | زُ * | زَ * | زاي * |
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ــسْ | ــــسِــ | سُـــــــ | سَ | سين |
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ــشْ | ـــشِـــ | شـُـــ | شَ | شين |
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ــصْ | ــصِــ | صـُـ | صَ | صاد |
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ــضِ | ــضِــ | ضُــ | ضَ | ضاد |
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ـــطْ | ـــطِــ | طُــ | طَ | طاء |
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ــظْ | ــظِــ | ظُـــ | ظَ | ظاء |
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ــعْ | ــعِــ | عُـــ | عَ | عَيْن |
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ــغْ | ــغِــ | غُـــ | غَ | غَيْن |
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ــفْ | ــفِــ | فُـــ | فَ | فاء |
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ــقْ | ـــقِـــ | قــُــ | قَ | قاف |
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ــكْ | ــــكِــ | كُــ | كَ | كاف |
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ــلْ | ــلِــ | لُــ | لَ | لام |
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ــمْ | ــمِــ | مُـــ | مَ | ميم |
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ــنْ | ــنِــ | نُــ | نَ | نون |
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ــهْ/هْ | ــهِـــ | هُــ | هـَ | هاء |
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ــوْ | ـــوِ | وُ | وَ * | واو * |
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ــيْ | ــيِـــ | يُـــ | يَ | ياء |
Shadda الشَّدَّة
Shadda الشّدََة is a diacritic mark shaped like the lower case "w." Shadda doubles the consonant it is written on. The first consonant is silent, and the second carries one of the diacritical marks except " Sukoon ." The technique of pronouncing the consonant with " Shadda " is to stress it, like stressing the letter "T" in the English word "Skittle" and stressing the letter "Z" in the word "Sizzle." " Shadda " can carry the short vowels, and " Tanween ." You should know that words can't start with Shadda because it is difficult to pronounce.
Check the table that has words with Shadda . Notice each word is written with Shadda in the first column, and the same word is written without Shadda as it should be pronounced in the second column. Listen to the audio, and repeat the words.
| Audio | Words without Shadda /pronounced but not written | Words with Shadda |
|---|---|---|
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جَ دْدِ ي | ِجَ دّ ي |
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جَ دْدَ ة | جَ دَّ ة |
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أُمْمٌ | أُمٌّ |
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سَ يْي ارَة | سَ يّ ارَة |
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يُدَ رْرِ سُ | يُدَ رِّ سُ |
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سِ تْتَ ة | سِ تَّ ة |
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طَ يْي ار | طَ يّ ار |
Practice Shadda تدريبات الشدة
Al Maddah المدَّة
Al Maddah " آ " is the Combination of Hamza and the long vowel Alif الألف, or it is a combination of two Hamzas. Madda is a tilde-shaped diacritic and appears on top of the Alif. Al Maddah is a symbol written on the Alif instead of writing the consonant Hamza and then the long vowel Alif. It is pronounced Hamaza with the short vowel "Fat'ha" followed by the long vowel Alif.
أَ + ا = آ / همزة + ألِف = آ
Check the table that has words with Maddah المدة. Notice each word is written with Alif Madda المدة in the first column, and between brackets, the same word is written without Alif Madda المدة as it should be pronounced beside it. In the second column, you see the word's meaning in English. Then, you listen to the audio and repeat the words.
| Audio | Meaning in English | The Word With Maddah |
|---|---|---|
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Sorry | آسِف (أَاسِف) |
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Now | الْآن (الأان) |
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Adam (name) | آدَم (أَادَم) |
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I eat | آكُلُ (أَاكُلُ) |
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Hello (Arabs use it when answering the phone) | آلُوْ |
Practice Al Maddah تدريبات المدة
Tanween
Tanween التنوين function is like the indefinite article "a" or "an" in English. However, "Tanween" can accompany singular and plural nouns in Arabic because it is the sign of the indefinite article. "Tanween" التنوين sign is double of the same short vowel, and it always comes at the end of the nouns only. Tanween is added to the end of the Arabic nouns, adjectives, and adverbs with Tanween Fateh only. Verbs do not take tanween تنوين.
There are three types of "Tanween." "Tanween" التنوين Fat'ha الفتحة, Dhama الضمة and Kasra الكسرة. "Tanween" التنوين indicates the indefinite statute of the word, like using the article "a" or "an" for nouns. "Tanween" Al-Fat'ha تنوين الفتحة needs support, so it always uses an Alif ألِف when it comes at the end of the noun, and Alif ألِف should always be written except for words ending in Taa Marbouta تاء مربوطة and Hamza الهمزة. Tanween Dhama تنوين الضمة does not need support, and Tanween Kasra تنوين الكسرة comes under the letter. Also, the "Tanween" التنوين is the sound of one of the short vowels, and the sound letter "N" نون with sukoon at the end of the word.
Watch these videos reading the Arabic letters with the three types of Tanween: تنوين الكسرة، تنوين الضمة، تنوين الفتحة
Tanween Alfateh تنوين الفتح
Tanween Al- Dham تنوين الضم
Tanween Al-kasrr اتنوين الكسر
Check the table that has words with "Tanween." Notice each word is written with "Tanween" in the right column, and the same word is written in the next column asit should be pronounced as if the letter noon (نون) is attached to the end of the word. Then, you listen to the audio and repeat the words.
| Audio | The Meaning in English | The word pronounced with "Tanween"/ pronounced but not written | The Word With "Tanween" |
|---|---|---|---|
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Thank you | شُكْرَنْ | شُكْراً |
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You are welcome/ Sorry |
عَفْوَنْ | عَفْواً |
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Hello/ Welcome/ Hi (Greeting) | مَرْحَبَـنْ | مَرْحَباً |
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Hello/ Welcome (reply to مرحباً) | أَهْـلَـنْ وَسَهْلَـنْ | أَهْلاً وَسَهْلاً |
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A Car | سَيارَتَنْ | سَيّارَةً |
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A Student | طالِبُـنْ | طالِبٌ |
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A Book | كِتابِـنْ | كِتابٍ |