Learn the letters of the Arabic alphabet, their names and sounds, plus the basic vowel and spelling marks.
ا
Alif (a)
ب
Baa (b)
ت
Taa (t)
ث
Thaa (th as in "think")
ج
Jeem (j)
ح
Haa (breathy h)
خ
Khaa (kh as in "loch")
د
Daal (d)
ذ
Dhaal (th as in "this")
ر
Raa (rolled r)
ز
Zay (z)
س
Seen (s)
ش
Sheen (sh)
ص
Saad (emphatic s)
ض
Daad (emphatic d)
ط
Taa (emphatic t)
ظ
Dhaa / Zhaa (emphatic dh)
ع
Ayn (voiced throat sound)
غ
Ghayn (gh, like a French r)
ف
Faa (f)
ق
Qaaf (deep q)
ك
Kaaf (k)
ل
Laam (l)
م
Meem (m)
ن
Noon (n)
ه
Haa (h)
و
Waw (w / long u)
ي
Yaa (y / long i)
الحروف الساكنة
consonants
الحروف المتحركة
vowels (vowelled letters)
فتحة
Fatha (short a)
كسرة
Kasra (short i)
ضمة
Damma (short u)
سكون
Sukun (no vowel)
شدة
Shadda (doubled consonant)
همزة
Hamza (glottal stop)
ء
the hamza symbol
ة
Taa marbuta (feminine ending -a / -at)
ى
Alif maqsura (final long a, written like a dotless yaa)
ْ
the sukun symbol (no vowel)