| |
Read the table in this direction:
| A | B | C | D | E | ... |
the first letter of the alphabet is the #alif.
#alif ألف, and the last is yaa# ياء.The Arabic language has 28 consonant sounds, three short vowels, and three long vowels.
A few letters have special variants:
The common way of writing Arabic uses only these 28 letters. Twenty-five of these 28 letters represent always one each of 25 of the consonant sounds, and these 25 sounds are always represented with their respective letters. The other three letters are ا, و and ي, and are used to represent the three remaining consonant sounds and the three long vowels. These vowels and one of three the three consonants are sometimes not written. Short vowels are never written. It is obvious that this system cannot represent exactly all the sounds of the language, but most of the time it is sufficient for practical purposes.Using a series of additional signs called ta(sh)kiyl تشكيل, which are placed above the letters or below them, all the sounds of every Arabic sentence can be represented exactly. The system is only used when there is a really good reason to use it. Most Arabs have only seen these signs in religious texts, where using them is compulsory.
There are audio files of the sounds of these letters at Arabic 2000 and other websites.
The learner is likely to confuse several of these letters at first. Use the cheatsheet to tell them apart.
Copyright (c) 2001-2008
Jordi Mas Trullenque.
email: jordimastrullenque at gmail dot com
http://purl.oclc.org/net/arabe/alalifba.en.html
Last revised: 2008-09-11
| the #alif |
| Writing Arabic |
|
writing_arabic -> Alphabet Table