Arabic alphabet

نوفمبر 17th, 2007
Arabic has 28 letters:

ا alif
ب ba
ت ta
ث tha
ج gim (jeem)
ح ha
خ kha
د dal
ذ thal
ر ra roll the r, like in Spanish
ز za
س sin (seen)
ش sheen
ص sod
ض dod
ط ta pronounce “t” heavier than for ت
ظ tha pronounce “tha” heavier and like “that”
ع ayn
غ gayn
ف fa
ق qaf pronounce “qa” like “ka”, but heavier than ك
ك kaf
ل lam
م mim
ن nun (noon)
ه ha
و waw (wow) can be consonant “w” or vowel “u”
ي ya can be consonant “y” or vowel “ee”

The letters often vary in how they are written, depending on their position in a word or sentence.
For example, look at the س
طقس - weather, pronounced “taqs” or “tox”
سيارة - car, pronounced “sayyarra”
س - unconnected letter

About This Blog

I am studying Arabic at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC, and will be in Egypt in the summer. This site covers Arabic grammar, vocabulary, and other aspects of the Arabic language, and makes frequent use of YouTube videos, news, and other Arabic language resources on the Internet.