GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Elementary Modern Standard Arabic

Professor: David Mehall FALL 1999

The Arabic Alphabet

à — –
÷ ’
· ⁄
Ê Â
4 Í
  » «
œ Œ Õ
‘ ” “
Ÿ ÿ ◊
‰ „ ‚
Ë ‡ 4

Characteristics:

1) Written from right to left.

2) There are 28 consonants and six vowels: 3 long, 3 short.

3) Vowels are generally not represented in print.

4) A letter may or may not connect to the one immediately to the left
of it in the same word. The majority do. Those that do not are called non
connectors and are listed here: Ë “ — – œ «