Learning Arabic can be very intimidating and may take a long time, however, there are a number of practical methods to successfully do that. First of all, you have to learn the Arabic alphabet and memorize the names of its letters, their sounds, and their shapes and forms.
The Arabic letters take on up to four different shapes depending on their position in a word: Isolated, initial, medial, or final. Often, there are systematic relationships between those different shapes. Moreover, many letters share a common base and are distinguished from one another by additional signs (usually dots) above or below their central part.
| Contextual forms | Arabic Name | English Name | Translit. | Description | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isolated | End | Middle | Beginning | ||||
| ا | ـﺎ | ـﺎ | ا | الف | ʾalif | ʾ / ā | ʾalif is a long “a” sound as in the word “salaam” or as in “apple”. |
| ﺏ | ـب | ـبـ | بـ | باء | bāʾ | b | bāʾ is the equivalent of the English letter “b”. It is pronounced like the “b” in “boy” |
| ﺕ | ـت | ـتـ | تـ | تاء | tāʾ | t | tāʾ is one of two “t” sounds, this one is almost like a little “t”. It is pronounced like the “t” in “ten”. |
| ﺙ | ـث | ـثـ | ثـ | ثاء | ṯāʾ | ṯ | ṯāʾ is pronounced like the “th” in the words “thought” and “thanks” |
| ﺝ | ـج | ـجـ | جـ | جيم | ǧīm | ǧ (also j, g) | ǧīm is pronounced like the English “j” such as in the names “Jim” and “Jill”. |
| ﺡ | ـح | ـحـ | حـ | حاء | ḥāʾ | ḥ | ḥāʾ has no exact equivalent in the English language. It is similar to an “h” but it’s heavier. When you are trying to pronounce it try panting while saying “ha”. |
| ﺥ | ـخ | ـخـ | خـ | خاء | ḫāʾ | ḫ (also kh, x) | ḫāʾ(khaa’) has no English equivilent. The closest translation would be to pronounce it like the “ch” in the German word “Bach.” |
| Contextual forms | Arabic Name | English Name | Translit. | Description | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isolated | End | Middle | Beginning | ||||
| ﺩ | ـد | ـد | د | دال | dāl | d | dāl is similar to the English “d”. It is pronounced like the “d” in the word “dream” or in “dead”. |
| ﺫ | ـذ | ـذ | ذ | ذال | ḏāl | ḏ (also dh, ð) | In North African countries, such as Morocco, ḏāl is pronounced like the “th” in the words “this” and “that”. however, this letter has no English equivalent in Middle Eastern countries. It is somewhat similar to a “z” but not exactly. Try saying “z” with a “d” in front of it “dz”. |
| ﺭ | ـر | ـر | ر | راء | rāʾ | r | rāʾ is similar to the rolled “r” in Spanish. As in the word “arriba”. |
| ﺯ | ـز | ـز | ز | زاي | zāy | z | zāy is similar to the English “z”. it is pronounced like the “z” in the word “zoo”. |
| ﺱ | ـس | ـسـ | سـ | سين | sīn | s | sīn is similar to the English “s”. It is pronounced as the “s” in the words “skin” and “Steve”. |
| ﺵ | ـش | ـشـ | شـ | شين | šīn | š (also sh) | šīn (sheen) is similar to the English letter combination “sh”. It is pronounced as the “s” in the words “ship” and “sheet”. |
| ﺹ | ـص | ـصـ | صـ | صاد | ṣād | ṣ | ṣād has no English equivalent but it is a velarized “s”, similar to “s” but produced by elevating the tongue toward the velar ridge. |
| ﺽ | ـض | ـضـ | ضـ | ضاد | ḍād | ḍ | dād has no English equivalent but it is similar to a “d”. It’s a deeper “d ” pronounced with the tongue raised high against the velar ridge. |
| Contextual forms | Arabic Name | English Name | Translit. | Description | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isolated | End | Middle | Beginning | ||||
| ﻁ | ـط | ـطـ | طـ | طاء | ṭāʾ | ṭ | ṭāʾ has no English equivalent but it is similar to a “t”. It’s like a hard “t”. It’s a deeper “t” pronounced with the tongue raised high against the velar ridge. |
| ﻅ | ـظ | ـظـ | ظـ | ظاء | Dhaʾ/ẓāʾ | ẓ | while in North African countries, like Morocco, this letter is pronounced as a velarized counterpart to ḏāl, It’s pronounced as a velarized counterpart to “z” in Middle Eastern countries (including Egypt). |
| ﻉ | ـع | ـعـ | عـ | عين | ʿayn | ʿ | ʿayn is probably the hardest sound for an English speaker to produce. It has no English equivalent at all and does not even sound close to any letter in the English language. It feels and sounds somewhat like you are gagging while saying “ah”. It’s like the first sound in the hip-hop “a’ight.” |
| ﻍ | ـغ | ـغـ | غـ | غين | ġayn | ġ (also gh) | ġayn is another unfamiliar sound for an English speaker to produce. it is pronounced like the French “r” in “France”. |
| ف | ـف | ـفـ | فـ | فاء | fāʾ | f | fāʾ is similar to the English “f”.It is pronounced like the “f” in the words “fun” and “life” |
| ﻕ | ـق | ـقـ | قـ | قاف | qāf | q | qāf has no exact English equivalent although it is sometimes similar to the English letter “q”. To pronounce it close the back of your throat and say “chough”. |
| ﻙ | ـك | ـكـ | كـ | كاف | kāf | k | kāf is similar to the English “k”. It is pronounced like the “k” in the words “Keven” and “kit”. |
| ﻝ | ـل | ـلـ | لـ | لام | lām | l | lām is similar to the English “l”. It is pronounced like the “l” in the words “luck” and “love”. |
| ﻡ | ـم | ـمـ | مـ | ميم | mīm | m | mīm is similar to the English “m”. It is pronounced like the “m” in the words “month” and “mice”. |
| Contextual forms | Arabic Name | English Name | Translit. | Description | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isolated | End | Middle | Beginning | ||||
| ن | ـن | ـنـ | نـ | نون | nūn | n | nūn is similar to the English “n”. It is pronounced like the “n” in the words “noon” and “night”. |
| ﻩ | ـه | ـهـ | هـ | هاء | hāʾ | h | hāʾ is similar to the English “h”. It is pronounced like the “h” in the words “have” and “hat”. Ho! Ho! Ho! |
| ﻭ | ـو | ـو | و | واو | wāw | w / ū / aw | wāw is similar to the English letters “w” and “o”. It is pronounced like the “w” in the words “waow” and “William”. It is pronounced like the “oo” in the words “food” and “good”. |
| ﻱ | ـي | ـيـ | يـ | ياء | yāʾ | y / ī / ay | yāʾ is similar to the English “y”. It is pronounced like the “y” in the words “yellow” and “yes”. It is also pronounced like the “ee” in “breeze” and “freeze”. Sometimes the letter ي (yāʾ) will appear without its two dots underneath it. this will be addressed in later lessons. |
Additional Combinations and Signs
| Contextual forms | Name | Translit. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isolated | End | Middle | Beginning | ||
| أ | ـأ | ـأ | أ | ʾalif hamza | á |
| إ | ـإ | ـإ | إ | ʾalif low hamza | ą |
| ﺁ | ـآ | ـآ | آ | ʾalif madda | ʾā |
| ﺓ | ـة | ـة | ﺓ | tāʾ marbūṭa | h or t / h / ẗ |
| ﻯ | ـى | | | ʾalif maqṣūra | ä |
The only two-letter combination to have a separate form in the alphabet is the combination lām + ʼalif:
– Isolated: ﻻ
– final or medial: ـﻼ
The Arabic alphabet has been adapted to countless languages, such as Persian, Ottoman, Urdu, Malay, and Pashto. These Languages use the same writing system as in Arabic with slightly/significantly modified shapes to write any additional letters that show a structural difference from Arabic.
Sure, Why not?
I was hoping to post more articles this month, but It was little bit hard as I am attending school too. If you have any specific topic to suggest, I will definitely write about it.
Best.
thank you for having this site and I found out that it is very interesting to learn the Arabic language. I hope you can help me in my difficulty about the Arabic phonetics