The Arabic script
The Arabic script is one of the most widely used scripts in modern times.
The Arabic alphabet consists of 29 letters, although it is disputed whether the letter ‘Hamsa’ belongs to it. Arabic is a left-to-left cursive script, meaning it is a cursive font that is shifted from right to left. The appearance of the letters depends on where the letter is in the word: at the beginning of the word, within the word, or at the end of the word. 6 letters are not connected to the left and that means that they always have the same appearance in their three possible positions in the word. These letters are the letters ا, د,ذ,ر, ز, و.
The Arabic script: the letters and all their possible manifestations
| Letter (sound) | Name of the letter or the letter at the beginning of the word | Letter within the word | Letter at the word ending |
| ا (a) | أليف | باب | بابا |
| ب (b) | باء | ابن | باب |
| ت (t like the English T) | تاء | اتصال | اثبات |
| ث (like the English ‘th’ in thing) | ثاء | اثبات | ثلاث |
| ج (the English g like in gym) | جيم | اجتماع | أعوج |
| ح (like in the known word ‘habibi’) | حاء | احتمال | أصح |
| خ () | خاء | اخت | أخ |
| د (d like the englisch D) | دال | أداة | ولد |
| ذ (th wie das englische ‘th’ in together) | ذال | إذا | لذيذ |
| ر (rolled ‘r’ the way it is pronounced by some people with accents) | راء | إرسال | كبير |
| ز (z like the English Z) | زاي | إزعاج | جهاز |
| س (s like in absolutely) | سين | أسد | شمس |
| ش (sh like in wish) | شين | اشغال | وحش |
| ص () | صاد | اصابة | باص |
| ض () | ضاد | إضافة | أرض |
| ط () | طاء | إطلاع | بلاط |
| ظ () | ظاء | حافظ | |
| ع () | عين | أعين | مجتمع |
| غ () | غين | اغتسال | |
| ف (f like the english F) | فاء | إفريقياء | كتف |
| ق (q) | قاف | اقتصاد | طلاق |
| ك (k like the english K) | كاف | اكتفاء | شك |
| ل (l like the english L) | لام | البوم | فيل |
| م (m like the English M) | ميم | أمي | أم |
| ن (n wie das deutsche M) | نون | إنسان | إن |
| ه (h wie das deutsch H) | هاء | إهلاك | بنته |
| و (w like the English ‘w’ in want) | واو | أولا | واو |
| ي (j like the English J in ‘January’) | ياء | أين | باي |
| ء (a glottal stop – has all the properties of a letter and can therefore be counted as a letter) | هامزو/ء | أئمة | إكتفاء |
Consonants and vowels in Arabic
In Arabic, there are consonants, so-called middle sounds, and vowels. Mid-sounds and vowels. Mid-sounds are any sounds that, when pronounced, impede the flow of air and narrow the speaker’s vocal range. All letters are actually consonants except و and ي, which are consonants in some cases and vowels in some cases. The vowels are the counterpart of the consonants and are any sound whose pronunciation does not lead to closure or narrowing, allowing the air to flow freely. They can be divided into short and long vowels. The short ones are fatha, kasra, damma, and sukun and the long ones are: بَا, بِي and بُو. The vowels are always above or below the letters and as far as pronunciation is concerned, the letter is pronounced first and the vowel.
ta-marbuta
The ta-marbuta is the feminine suffix with few exceptions. It is only written at the end of a word. When pausing it is pronounced like an -a- and when reading classically the pronunciation is -at-.
That was The Arabic Script. If you enjoyed the article, then why not learn Arabic personal pronouns or suffixes next.
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