If any letter other than the letters of Ith-har, Iqlab or Idgham letters follows the Noon saakinah in the same word or between two words or follows Tanween at the beginning of the next word, then the Noon sound is hidden with ghunnah sound.

Letters of Ikhfaa: Any letter other than the lettes of Izhaar, Iqlaab or Idghaam letters.

It sits above if it is followed by either of the vowels a ( fatHa ) or u ( Damma ), and below if followed by i ( kasra ).

This covers everything you need to know to get started with reading and pronouncing Arabic correctly.

Our point of reference is Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), i.e.

Arab world, but we also discuss variations in colloquial Lebanese Arabic.

If you are looking for a concise presentation of this information, please see the key to our transcription system.

This script is written from right to left in a cursive style, in print as well as in handwriting.

Letter case does not exist, i.e.

All letters can connect from the right side (i.e.

Therefore, every letter may be classified either as a connector, i.e.

For example, a connector will take an initial shape in word-medial position if it follows a non-connector, and a non-connector will take an independent shape in word-final position if it follows another non-connector.

Three letters can also represent long vowels in certain contexts, namely alif ( ), ww ( ), and y ( ).

Most of the letters are arranged in groups of two or three with similar shapes, and are distinguished only by the presence and placement of small dots above or below the basic structure of the letter.

These include variant spellings, short vowel markers, various other markers of pronunciation and grammar, and a peculiar shape-shifting consonant called hamza.

Some of these characters are required for correct writing, while others are optional in most texts and seldom written.

There is no letter representing the glottal stop in English, although the sound itself is common.

For example, it occurs between the two syllables of uh-oh, and it often replaces t in the informal pronunciation of words like fountain, cotton, network, football, caught, right, cat, etc.

It is also articulated at the beginning of any English word starting with a vowel, such as at, in or out.

It is written in various ways, depending upon its position in the word as well as upon the surrounding vowels.

The rules for writing the hamza in Arabic script are complex, and will not be discussed here in any detail.

The important thing for now is to learn to recognize the hamza in all of its various forms.

When it is not part of a word, this symbol is always written by itself on the line.

It is sometimes also written this way when it is part of a word, although never in word-initial position.

Thus, a connector immediately preceding will take its independent or final shape, and not its initial or medial shape.

For example, y takes its independent rather than initial shape in, and lm takes its final rather than medial shape in.) This is the only time this happens with connectors which are not at the end of a word.

At the beginning of a word, hamza cannot be written on the line nor can it take any seat other than alif.

It sits either above or below the alif ( or ), depending upon the following vowel.

Heavy Letters Arabic