Language/Standard-arabic/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation

Hello everyone!

In today's lesson, we are going to talk about the letters and how to spell them In Arabic.

Name	IPA	Letter
		Final	Medial	Initial	Isolated
ألف (Alefun)	/aː/, /ʔ/	ـا		ا
باء (Ba'on)	/b/	ـب	ـبـ	بـ	ب
تاء ( Ta'on)	/t/	ـت	ـتـ	تـ	ت
ثاء (THa'on) like"therapy"	/θ/	ـث	ـثـ	ثـ	ث
جيم (Jeemun)	/d͡ʒ/	ـج	ـجـ	جـ	ج
حاء (ha'on)	/ħ/	ـح	ـحـ	حـ	ح
خاء (kha'on)	/x/	ـخ	ـخـ	خـ	خ
دال (dalun)	/d/	ـد		د
ذال (dalun ) like "the moon"	/ð/	ـذ		ذ
راء (ra'on) like "room"	/r/	ـر		ر
زاي (za'ye)	/z/	ـز		ز
سين (seenun) like "I see"	/s/	ـس	ـسـ	سـ	س
شين (sheenun) like"she"	/ʃ/	ـش	ـشـ	شـ	ش
صاد (Sad) like " Sound"	/sˤ/	ـص	ـصـ	صـ	ص
ضاد (Daad) like "Dallas in USA"	/dˤ/	ـض	ـضـ	ضـ	ض
طاء (Ta'on)	/tˤ/	ـط	ـطـ	طـ	ط
ظاء (Dhadun)	/ðˤ/	ـظ	ـظـ	ظـ	ظ
عين (aeenun)	/ʕ/	ـع	ـعـ	عـ	ع
غين (gheen) like the verb to pick up "Ramasser" in French	/ɣ/	ـغ	ـغـ	غـ	غ
فاء (fa'on)	/f/	ـف	ـفـ	فـ	ف
قاف (qafun)	/q/	ـق	ـقـ	قـ	ق
كاف (kafun)	/k/	ـك	ـكـ	كـ	ك
لام (lamun)	/l/	ـل	ـلـ	لـ	ل
ميم (meemun)	/m/	ـم	ـمـ	مـ	م
نون (nounun)	/n/	ـن	ـنـ	نـ	ن
هاء (Ha'on) like "Hello"	/h/	ـه	ـهـ	هـ	ه
واو (wawun) like "wath?"	/w/, /uː/	ـو		و
ياء (ye'on) like "Yes"	/j/, /iː/	ـي	ـيـ	يـ	ي

In Arabic we have Letters like ا ب ت ث ج ح ..... Each letter has a specific pronunciation.

Then we have these small Symbols ( َ - ُ - ِ ) ( ً - ٌ - ٍ ) ( ّ ) ( ْ) we add to the Letter to change their pronunciation.

symbols: ( َ ) ( ُ ) ( ِ ) "vowels"

• The first one is called in Arabic "Fat'ha" and it means you should open your mouth while saying the letter like "A" in french.
• The second one is called "Damma". Your mouth should have a round shape like you're pronouncing a "O".
• The third one is called "Kasra". Your mouth should have the same shape as when you're pronouncing a "E" .

Note :

• When the letter has no vowel or when you do not stop with a vowel at the end of the sentence, it must be replaced by a sekoun ( ْ ).
• When pronouncing, Arabs do not stop at the end of their sentences with a vowel.

Examples

• If we want to say the letter ( ب ) in Arabic, let's add that Fatha to it ( بَ ). Its pronunciation becomes (Ba). Not a long "a", just a short one.
• if we want to say the letter ( ب ) in Arabic, let's add that Damma to it ( بُ ). Its pronunciation becomes (Bo). Not a long "o", just a short one.
• if we want to say the letter ( ب ) in Arabic, let's add that Kasra to it ( بِ ). Its pronunciation becomes (Be). Not a long "e", just a short one.

The table below will help you with other letters:

letter	name of the letter	pronunciation with Fatha	pronunciation with Damma	pronunciation with Kasra
ا	Alif	A	O	E of english & i in french
ب	Ba'a	Ba	Bo	Be
ت	Ta'a	Ta	To	Te
ث	tha'a (th here must pronounce as [th] in tee[th]	tha	tho	the
ج	jeem	ja	jo	je
ح	ha'a [h]	ha	Ho	He
خ	Kha'a [KH] must pronounce as [X letter in Russian]	Kha	Kho	Khe
د	daal	da	do	de or di in french
ذ	thaal like english word that	tha	tho	the
ر	raa like R in english	ra	ro	re
ز	zayn	za	zo	ze
س	siin	sa	so	se
ش	shiin	sha	sho	she
ص	saad magnify	sa	so	se
ض	daad magnify	da	do	de
ع	aayn as saying : iraq city	aa	ao	ae
غ	Rayn like R in french	ra	ro	re
ف	faa	fa	fo	fe
ق	qaaf close from grand g in french	qa	qo	qe
ك	kaaf	ka	ko	ke
ل	laam	la	lo	le
م	miim	ma	mo	me
ن	noon	na	no	ne
هـ	haa like hello	ha	ho	he
و	waaw	wa	wo	we
ي	yaa	ya	yo	ye

Please note that the second letter you add has a very short pronunciation.

symbols ( ً )-( ٌ )-( ٍ )

• The first one is called in Arabic "Tanween Al Fat'h" and it means you should open your mouth while saying the letter like "A" in french then add N at the end of letter.
• The second one is called "Tanween Al Damm". Your mouth should have a round shape like you're pronouncing a "O" and add N at the End of the letter
• The third one is called "Tanween Al Kasr". Your mouth should have the same shape as when you're pronouncing a "E" .and add N at the End of the letter

Examples

• If we want to say the letter ( ب ) in Arabic, let's add Tanween Al Fat'h to it ( بً ). Its pronunciation becomes (Ban). Not a long "a" in french, just a short one.
• if we want to say the letter ( ب ) in Arabic, let's add Tanween Al Damm to it ( بٌ ). Its pronunciation becomes (Bon). Not a long "o", just a short one.
• if we want to say the letter ( ب ) in Arabic, let's add Tanween Al Kasr to it ( بٍ ). Its pronunciation becomes (Ben). Not a long "e", just a short one.

The table below will help you with other letters:

letter	name of the letter	pronunciation with Tanween Al Fat'h	pronunciation with Tanween Al Damm	pronunciation with Tanween Al Kasr
ا	Alif	An	On	Ee
ب	Ba'a	Ban	Bon	Ben
ت	Ta'a	Tan	Ton	Ten
ث	tha'a (th here must pronounce as [th] in tee[th]	than	thon	then
ج	jeem	jan	jon	jen
ح	ha'a	han	Hon	Hen
خ	Kha'a [KH] must pronounce as [X letter in Russian]	Khan	Khon	Khen

Long pronunciation

We can read an arabic letter with a long pronuciation by using three letters (alif-أ, yaa-ي, waaw) after the one that want to read as long :

• we use alif-أ after the long letter who has "fatha" for example : ( سَ= sa ) long pronunciation is ( سَا=saaa )

• we use waaw-و after the long letter who has "damma" for example : ( سُ= so ) long pronunciation is ( سُو=sooo )

• we use yaa-ي after the long letter who has "kasra" for example : ( سِ= si ) long pronunciation is ( سِي=siii )

NOTE

*When we use the 3 letters (ا,ي,و) to make a long pronunciation, we don't give them any damma or kasra or... they have a name is :

horof al-aela حُرُوفُ الْعِلَةِ