Course Code: TAS001A

Saqib Hussain
Saqib Hussain 2009. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced stored or
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copyright holder.
Contents
"ntroduction.....................................................................................................................................2
# $he Alphabet..................................................................................................................................%
A $he &rimary 'etters..................................................................................................................%
( &ronunciation...........................................................................................................................)
* Supplementary 'etters.............................................................................................................+
2 ,riting...........................................................................................................................................-
% $he .o!els and the Su/0n..........................................................................................................#0
A $he Short .o!els and the Su/0n...........................................................................................#0
( 'ong .o!els...........................................................................................................................#0
* 1iphthongs.............................................................................................................................##
1 Shaddah 2 $ashd3d..................................................................................................................#2
4 $an!3n 2 Nunation..................................................................................................................#2
5 &ausing !hen Spea/ing or 6eading Aloud.............................................................................#2
) $he $!o Ham7ahs.......................................................................................................................#)
A $he &ermanent Ham7ah.........................................................................................................#)
( $he *onnecting Ham7ah........................................................................................................#8
+ 4lision..........................................................................................................................................#-
A $he Sun and 9oon 'etters.....................................................................................................#-
Appendi: A....................................................................................................................................20
#
Introduction
There are five free video lectures which accompany this text. They can be downloaded at
www.arabic-studio.com.
$his course has been designed to teach the complete beginner ho! to read and !rite the Arabic
script. "t assumes no prior /no!ledge of Arabic.
$he course covers most of the rules a beginner needs to correctly read and pronounce Arabic.
Ho!ever a fe! rules can only be fully understood and applied after learning some grammar and
these !ill be covered in the course Basic Arabic Grammar ;$AS00)A<.
"n Appendi: A at the end of this te:t an alphabet cut=out has been provided !hich the student can
use to ma/e alphabet cards. $hese can be used to practice letter recognition and for !riting
e:ercises as e:plained in the accompanying video lectures.
2
1 The Alphabet
A The Primary Letters
$here are t!enty=eight letters in the Arabic alphabet sho!n in the table belo!. 5or each letter the
table also gives the transliteration of its name and an e:ample 4nglish !ord !hich begins !ith the
sound made by that letter. Some letters don>t have a corresponding 4nglish sound? the correct
pronunciation for these is given in @#(.
etter
Transliteration of the letter!s
name
"n#lish word which be#ins
with the sound of this letter

Aalif ;see @#*<

bBA boo/
tBA table
thBA thin
C3m $ac/
DBA =
/hBA =
dBl dolly
dhBl that
rBA =
7By %ebra
s3n sun
sh3n shatter
EBd =
FBd =
%
GBA =
HBA =
Iayn =
ghayn =
fBA fat
qBf =
/Bf &ing
lBm light
m3m mad
n0n night
hBA hello
!a! wing
yBA yello!
B Pronunciation
9ost Arabic letters have an 4nglish equivalent as you !ill have noticed from the previous section.
A fe! ho!ever don>t have corresponding 4nglish sounds. $he correct !ay to pronounce these is as
follo!sJ

$his is similar to the 4nglish h e:cept that you must constrict the throat !hen
e:haling as is sometimes heard in the e:clamationJ >ahaK>

$his sound is sometimes heard in Scottish 4nglish? it is li/e the ch in the !ord >loch>.

"magine isolating a single >tap> !hich the tongue ma/es !hen roll your r>s = that>s the
sound you need for this letter. "t is often heard in Scottish 4nglish for the letter r such
as in the !ord >free>.
)

$hese are deeper or emphatic versions of 1 , 1 and 1 respectively. "n each
case the tongue is pressed harder against the mouth although its position ;i.e. the
point of contact !ith the mouth< doesn>t change. At the same time the bac/ of the
tongue is raised !hich constricts the pharyn:. 5or this reason these letters are
sometimes said to be pharyngealized.

$his is a difficult sound to get right. "t is made by using the left or right side of the
tongue !ith the premolar and molar teeth. "t is again a deep sound and as a first
appro:imation may be considered the emphatic version of 1 . Along !ith the above
three letters 1 is also said to be pharyngealized for the same reasons.

$his is not quite a glottal stop ;see @#*< but very close. "ts sound is made by the
throat constricting much as it does for 1 e:cept even more tensely allo!ing less
air to escape.

$his is similar to the gurgling sound in 4nglish.

$his is roughly similar to the 4nglish k but is pronounced from the part of the tongue
closest to the throat ;i.e. the uvula<.
C Supplementary Letters
As !ell as the above t!enty=eight letters there are three supplementary letters. $hese aren>t usually
included in the alphabet but are used frequently nonetheless.
Ham7ah ; !"#$%&#' <
$he ham7ah is !rittenJ ( 1 and is represented in transliteration by a single inverted apostropheJ A .
"t represents a glottal stop. Although there isn>t an equivalent letter for this sound in the 4nglish
alphabet 4nglish spea/ers still ma/e this sound all the timeJ
At the beginning of wordsJ !hen pronouncing a !ord !hich begins !ith a vo!el such as
>in> >on> and >at>.
+
In the middle and end of wordsJ in some 4nglish dialects such as *oc/ney it replaces the t
in the middle and end of some !ords and phrases such as >fitness> >!hat if> and >shut up>.
"f the ham7ah occurs at the start of a !ord it is al!ays !ritten >sitting> on top of or beneath an 1
li/e thisJ ) 1 and * 1 ;see @)<. 5or this reason it is sometimes said that 1 is for >apple>. "n fact it is
the ham7ah sitting on top of the 1 !hich gives us the glottal stop at the beginning of >apple>.
9ore details about the ham7ah are given in Section @).
$ BA 9arb 0 Gah ; #+ ,-.%/01%2#3 4(5 <
$his is !rittenJ " 1 i.e. 1 !ith t!o dots above and it may be thought of as a mi:ture of 1 and
1 . "t only ever occurs at the end of a !ord. ,hen spea/ing or reading aloud if !e stop at a !ord
!hich ends in " 1 such as at the end of a sentence or to dra! breath then !e pronounce it as a 1 .
Lther!ise !e pronounce it as a 1 .
9ore details about the rules for spea/ing and reading aloud are given in @%5.
Alif 9aqE 0rah ; !"#%/0678#3 9:;<-) <
$his is !rittenJ = 1 . "t is !ritten li/e a 1 but !ithout t!o dots beneath it. "t also only occurs at
the end of a !ord and is used to form long vo!els ;see @%(<.
8
2 Writing
Arabic is !ritten from right to left. 9ost of the letters in an Arabic !ord have to be Coined together
li/e Coined=up hand!riting in 4nglish. $here are ho!ever si: letters !hich can>t be Coined on to any
other letter !hich comes after themJ

$o !rite Arabic !e need to /no! !hat each letter loo/s li/e in its initial form ;i.e. !hen there is a
letter attached after it only< its medial form ;i.e. !hen there is a letter on both sides of it< and its
final form ;i.e. !hen there is a letter attached before it only<. "n the table belo! you can see the
electronic or printed forms of the letters. $he hand=!ritten forms of a fe! of the letters is slightly
different from the printed forms and is covered in the video lectures.
'solated (orm
(inal (orm
)A letter attached before it only*
+edial (orm
)etters attached on both sides*
'nitial (orm
)A letter attached after it only*

MN
*annot attach a letter after it.

ON NPN NQ

RN NSN NT

UN NVN NW

XN NYN NZ

[N N\N N]

^N N_N N`

aN
*annot attach a letter after it.

bN
*annot attach a letter after it.

cN
*annot attach a letter after it.

dN
*annot attach a letter after it.
-

eN NfN Ng

hN NiN Nj

kN NlN Nm

nN NoN Np

qN NrN Ns

tN NuN Nv

wN NxN Ny

zN N{N N|

}N N~N N

N NN N

N NN N

N NN N

N NN N

N NN N

N NN N

N
*annot attach a letter after it.

N NN N

"n addition there are some combinations of letters !hich Coin together in special !ays. "t is
recommended that the student Cust pic/ these combinations up as he or she progresses. $he only one
to bear in mind at this stage is a 1 follo!ed by an 1 J
'solated (orm
(inal (orm
)A letter attached before it only*
+edial (orm
)etters attached on both sides*
'nitial (orm
)A letter attached after it only*
>? *annot attach a letter after it.
9
3 The o!els and the Su"#n
A The Short o!els and the Su"#n
"n 4nglish !e use the five vo!els a e i o and u after the consonants to sho! !hat sound each
consonant should ma/e ;e.g. >ma> >me> >mo><.
"n Arabic !e use diacritical mar/s in place of vo!els. $hese are signs made above and belo! the
letters. $he three short Arabic vo!els are sho!n in the table belo!J
,owel "xample Transliteration
"n#lish word which
be#ins with this sound
Fammah ;!,@&#A<J B 0 fu foot
fatDah ;!,#C%D-E<J F # ra run
/asrah ;!"#2%G-H<J I J bi bit
'etters in 4nglish may be unvo!elled i.e. have no vo!el sound immediately after them such as the
n the s and the c in the !ord >fantastic>. "n Arabic !e sho! this using a diacritical mar/ called a
called a sukn ;!/KL0M< above the unvo!elled letterJ N.
"xample Transliteration
7OKP qul
7O#' hal
%Q;3 min
B Long o!els
A long vo!el is Cust a lengthened vo!el sound. "n 4nglish !e usually form long vo!els by using a
double=vo!el e.g. >fool> and >!eep>. 'ong vo!els in Arabic are formed in the follo!ing mannerJ
%/R? 1 ;i.e. any letter !hich has a Fammah follo!ed by a 1 !ith a su/0n<
#0
75S? 1 and %TS? 1 ;i.e. any letter !hich has a fatDah follo!ed by an 1 or an = 1 !ith a
su/0n<
%UV? 1 ;i.e. any letter !hich has a /asrah follo!ed by a 1 !ith a su/0n<
As such the letters 1 , 1 and 1 are said to >correspond> !ith the vo!els Fammah fatDah and
/asrah respectively.
*onsider the e:amples in the table belo!J
on# ,owel "xample Transliteration
"n#lish word which
be#ins with this sound
%/R? %/0W sh0 shoot
75S? 75#' hB heart
%UV? %U;E f3 feet
"n a fe! !ords !e use the sign N # above a letter to indicate a long fatDah vo!el in place of 75S? 1
such as above the 1 in 0QX&%Y# 1 Z[\]^_`a ;instead of K75#&%Y# 1 <.
,hen a ham7ah is follo!ed by an 7 1 !e !rite it as b 1 such as in the !ord !b%2KP 1 Quran. $his sign
above the 1 is called a maddah ;!"@c#3<.
C $iphthongs
1iphthongs are combinations of t!o vo!els in a single syllable as in the !ords >coin> and >loud>. "n
Arabic there are t!o diphthongs !hich are formed in the follo!ing mannerJ
-iphthon# "xample Transliteration
"n#lish word which
be#ins with this sound
%/S? %/-< la! lonely
%US? %# !ay !ait
##
$ Sh addah % Tashd&d
9any vo!elled letters in Arabic have a d sign !ith their vo!els. $his is called a shaddah ;!"@c#W< or
tashdd ;9c%e;c%f#+<. "t indicates a double=letter the first of !hich has a su/0n and the second has
!hatever vo!el appears !ith the shaddah.
*onsider the e:amples in the table belo!. Note that !here !e have a /asrah it is !ritten beneath
the shaddah ;rather than beneath the letter as is usually the case<.
"xample .hat the shaddah indicates Transliteration
#gc#h #0%c#h Caddu/a
#ijk#l #i-k7k#l Iallama
-OmDKP -O;D%DKP quttila
' Tan!&n % (unation
$he ends of some Arabic !ords ta/e t!o vo!el mar/ers ;e.g. a double=/asrahJ N # <. $his is /no!n
as tanwn ;9Q%eJ/%n# +< or nunation. "t indicates a final n sound after the vo!el.
"n the e:amples belo! note the !ay in !hich the Fammah tan!3n is !rittenJ

N # . Also note that

!hen a !ord ends !ith a fatDah tan!3n !e add a final 1 to the !ord
#
!hich can usually Cust be
ignored ;but see the ne:t section<.
"xample Transliteration
9i7k;l Iilmun
5o&7k;l Iilman
pi7k;l Iilmin
) Pausing !hen Spea"ing or *eading Aloud
,hen spea/ing Arabic or reading it out loud !e usually don>t pronounce the last short vo!el or
# $his is further discussed in the course Basic Arabic Grammar - art A ;$AS00)A<.
#2
tan!3n of the !ord !e stop at. 5or e:ample !e !ould read aloud the sentence p75#&;Y %T-k#l #q- k#h 1 !e
sat on a donkey as %75#&;Y %T-k#l #q-k#h 1 . "n other !ords !e ignore the tan!3n on the final letter 1 and
treat it as if it had a su/0n.
$he e:ception to this is !hen the final !ord ends in 5r? 1 i.e. a fatDah tan!3n. "n this case !e read
it !ith the long fatDah soundJ B. 5or e:ample !e !ould read the sentence 5o175#D;H 0s%tJ1 1 I sold a book
as 5#175#D;H 0s%tJ1 1 .
#%
+ The T!o ,am-ahs
$here are t!o types of ham7ahs in Arabic? the permanent hamzah ;Ju7v-87< K"#$%&#'< and the connecting
hamzah ;JO%w#/7< K"#$%&#'<.
A The Permanent ,am-ah
$he permanent ham7ah can be !ritten in a number of !aysJ
"t can >sit> above the 1 , 1 or 1 ;i.e. x 1 ) , 1 and y 1 = note that !e remove the t!o
dots from the 1 !hen the ham7ah is sitting on it<?
"t can sit beneath the 1 ;i.e. * 1 <?
"t can sit >on the line> = in other !ords neither above nor beneath another letter ;i.e. ( 1 <.
$he correct !ay to !rite the ham7ah in any given !ord !ill depend on its position !ithin that !ord
and the vo!els before it and on it.
$he (eginning of a ,ord
At the beginning of a !ord the ham7ah sits above the 1 if it ta/es a Fammah or a fatDah and
belo! the 1 if it ta/es a /asrahJ
.ord Transliteration
zK) Aummun
9-) Aa/hun
7J* Ain
$he 4nd of ,ord
At the end of a !ord the ham7ah sits on the letter !hich corresponds ;see @%(< to the short vo!el
immediately before it. "f there is a su/0n or a long vo!el immediately before the ham7ah then it
sits on the line.
#)
.ord Transliteration
#x02#h CaruAa
K)#278#e yaqraAu
-{;k03 muliAa
4(%$0h Cu7Aun
4(75#nJ1 binBAun
$he 9iddle of a ,ord
"n the middle of a !ord !e need to consider ;i< the long or short vo!el immediately before the
ham7ah and ;ii< the vo!el on the ham7ah itself. ,e then apply the follo!ing rules in the follo!ing
orderJ
#. "f either ;i< or ;ii< is a /asrah then the ham7ah sits on a 1 other!ise go to 6ule 2 belo!?
2. "f either ;i< or ;ii< is a Fammah then the ham7ah sits on a 1 other!ise go to 6ule % belo!?
%. "f either ;i< or ;ii< is a fatDah then the ham7ah sits on an 1 unless it occurs after an 7 1 in
!hich case go to 6ule %.a belo!J
%.a $he ham7ah sits on the line.
Lne must apply the above rules in the correct order. So for e:ample if 6ule # applies then !e
don>t need to !orry about 6ules 2 and %.
$here are a fe! e:ceptions to the above rules !hich the student should learn as he or she
progresses.
#+
/ule .ord Transliteration
# -O;|0M suAila
2 #0}#1 baAusa
% #-~#W shaAama
%.a -%/K<S(75#G#D#e yatasBAal0na
B The Connecting ,am-ah
$his is only ever used at the start of a fe! !ords ;and therefore al!ays sits above or belo! an 1 <.
5or e:ample the !ord 9i%MJ* 1 name starts !ith a connecting ham7ah.
,e only pronounce the connecting ham7ah !hen the !ord in !hich it occurs is at the start of a
sentence ;or a pronouncement<. $o sho! this !e don>t usually !rite the ham7ah = !e Cust !rite the
vo!el that it ta/es above or belo! the 1 e.g. 9i%M; 1 .
ou should note that !henever a !ord appears to begin !ith 1 it is in fact beginning !ith a
connecting ham7ah !hich is invisibly sitting above or belo! the 1 .
,hen the !ord !hich starts !ith a connecting ham7ah occurs in the middle of a sentence ;or
pronouncement in spo/en Arabic< the ham7ah is totally ignored. $o indicate this !e can use the
symbol

N # above the 1 e.g. 9i%M 1 . 9ore often !e Cust sho! the 1 by itselfJ 9i%M 1 . So !e !ould
read the sentence 75#';c-k#1 #i%M 0J2%t# 1 "e know the name of her city as 75#';c-k#1 #i%M 0J2%t# 1 as if the 1
!eren>t there.
#8
. 'lision
Some combinations of consonants are difficult to say so !e leave out some of the sounds. 5or
e:ample !hen !e say the phrase >ne:t day> !e usually leave out the final t of the first !ord as if it
!ere >ne: day>. $his is called elisionJ the t is elided into the d because it is too difficult to pronounce
both of them together.
$he same principle applies in Arabic particularly in the Arabic of the urABn and Dadith literature.
4lision can occur bet!een t!o letters if the first has a su/0n and the second is vo!elled. "f it is
difficult to pronounce the t!o letters together then the first is elided into the second. $o sho! this
the first letter loses its diacritical mar/ ;it becomes >silent> li/e the t in the above e:ample and so is
ignored< and second ta/es a shaddah.
*onsider the e:amples belo! !hich are all ta/en from the urABn. ou can see the vo!els on each
phrase before and after elision.
etters which are elided 0efore "lision After "lision
elides into %iJm1# %Q;3 %iJm1@ Q;3
elides into 75@0c-< %Q;3 75@0cj< Q;3
elides into %i0+%c##l %ig+c##l
elides into %i0D%&-k- 7J* %i0D%&-kj J*
All letters elide into themselves %i0D%#G-H 75#3 %iKL-< %i0D%#G-H 75@3 iKL-<
$he complete rules for ho! letters elide are studied as part of the subCect called ta#wd and !ill not
be dealt !ith here.
A The Sun and /oon Letters
$he !ord for >the> in Arabic is 7- 1 . ,hen !e !ant say >the boy> for e:ample !e ta/e the !ord for
boy 9c-<# 1 and attach 7- 1 to the beginningJ 0c-<#/7<- 1 .
Ho!ever !hen 7- 1 is attached to !ords beginning !ith certain letters /no!n as the Sun 'etters
!e have to elide the 1 into the sun letter !ith !hich the !ord begins. 5or the rest of the letters in
#-
the alphabet !e don>t elide the 1 ? these are called the 9oon 'etters.
+oon etters "xample Transliteration
( 075#t%S- al=anIBm
K"#2-8#7<- al=baqarah
K,#;75#7<- al=CBthiyah
02%;C7<- al=DiCr
-%02;M75#7<- al=/hBsir0n
0%/0-L%n#t7<- al=Ian/ab0t
K,#;W75#7<- al=ghBshiyah
K75-P%2K7<- al=furqBn
0#6-87<- al=qaEaE
0:%-L7<- al=/ahf
K"#c;75#&7<- al=mBAidah
K"#$#&07<- al=huma7ah
K,#t;P7#/7< al=!BqiIah
0Q%;8#7<- al=yaq3n
Sun etters "xample Transliteration
K,#1%/@D<- at=ta!bah
0;P75j<- ath=thBqib
K5#gc<- ad=du/hBn
075#eJ7j<- adh=dhBriyBt
#
0c%l@2<- ar=raId
02#3g$< a7=7umar
K"#c%@G<- as=saCdah
R(7#2#tgf<- ash=shuIarBA
05jE5@6<- aE=EBffBt
T#Cg<- aF=FuDB
0%/v< aG=G0r
-%/0&;<75j<- aH=HBlim0na
0#jk<- al=lahab
R(75#Gmn<- an=nisBA
Note that 7- 1 begins !ith a connecting ham7ah. So if the 7- 1 is attached to a sun letter and occurs
in the middle of a sentence it means !e ignore both the ham7ah ;as it is a connecting ham7ah< and
the 1 ;as it is elided into the sun letter< e.g. #s%C#+ #q-k#h !"#$% & he sat under the tree$
#9
Appendi0 A





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20