Arabic Alphabet – Learn Arabic Grammer Online 1
| Arabic letters usage in Literary Arabic | ||||||
| Name | Translit. | Value (IPA) | Contextual forms | Isolated | ||
| Final | Medial | Initial | ||||
| alif | ā / ’ (also ʾ ) | various, | ـا | ـا | ا | ا |
| including /aː/ [a] | ||||||
| bā’ | b | /b/ | ـب | ـبـ | بـ | ب |
| (sometimes /p/ in loanwords)[b] | ||||||
| tā’ | t | /t/ | ـت | ـتـ | تـ | ت |
| thā’ | th (also ṯ ) | /θ/ | ـث | ـثـ | ثـ | ث |
| jīm | j (also ǧ, g ) | [d͡ʒ] ~ [ʒ] ~ [ɡ] [c] | ـج | ـجـ | جـ | ج |
| ḥā’ | ḥ | /ħ/ | ـح | ـحـ | حـ | ح |
| khā’ | kh (also ḫ, ḵ ) | /x/ | ـخ | ـخـ | خـ | خ |
| dāl | d | /d/ | ـد | ـد | د | د |
| dhāl | dh (also ḏ ) | /ð/ | ـذ | ـذ | ذ | ذ |
| rā’ | r | /r/ | ـر | ـر | ر | ر |
| zayn / zāy | z | /z/ | ـز | ـز | ز | ز |
| sīn | s | /s/ | ـس | ـسـ | سـ | س |
| shīn | sh (also š ) | /ʃ/ | ـش | ـشـ | شـ | ش |
| ṣād | ṣ | /sˤ/ | ـص | ـصـ | صـ | ص |
| ḍād | ḍ | /dˤ/ | ـض | ـضـ | ضـ | ض |
| ṭā’ | ṭ | /tˤ/ | ـط | ـطـ | طـ | ط |
| ẓā’ | ẓ | [ðˤ] ~ [zˤ] | ـظ | ـظـ | ظـ | ظ |
| ‘ayn | ‘ (also ʿ ) | /ʕ/ | ـع | ع | عـ | ع |
| ghayn | gh (also ġ, ḡ ) | /ɣ/ | ـغ | ـغـ | غـ | غ |
| (sometimes /ɡ/ in loanwords)[c] | ||||||
| fā’ | f | /f/ | ـف | ـفـ | فـ | ف[d] |
| (sometimes /v/ in loanwords)[b] | ||||||
| qāf | q | /q/ | ـق | ـقـ | قـ | ق[d] |
| (sometimes /ɡ/ in loanwords)[c] | ||||||
| kāf | k | /k/ | ـك | ـكـ | كـ | ك |
| (sometimes /ɡ/ in loanwords)[c] | ||||||
| lām | l | /l/ | ـل | ـلـ | لـ | ل |
| mīm | m | /m/ | ـم | ـمـ | مـ | م |
| nūn | n | /n/ | ـن | ـنـ | نـ | ن |
| hā’ | h | /h/ | ـه | ـهـ | هـ | ه |
| wāw | w / ū / aw | /w/, /uː/, /aw/, | ـو | ـو | و | و |
| sometimes /u/, /o/, and /oː/ in loanwords | ||||||
| yā’ | y / ī / ay | /j/, /iː/, /aj/, | ـي | ـيـ | يـ | ي[e] |
| sometimes /i/, /e/, and /eː/ in loanwords | ||||||
| ي | و | ه | ن | م | ل | ك | ق | ف | غ | ع | ظ | ط | ض | ص | ش | س | ز | ر | ذ | د | خ | ح | ج | ث | ت | ب | ا |
| y | w | h | n | m | l | k | q | f | gh | ‘ | ẓ | ṭ | ḍ | ṣ | sh | s | z | r | dh | d | kh | ḥ | j | th | t | b | ā |
| غ | ظ | ض | ذ | خ | ث | ت | ش | ر | ق | ص | ف | ع | س | ن | م | ل | ك | ي | ط | ح | ز | و | ه | د | ج | ب | ا |
| gh | ẓ | ḍ | dh | kh | th | t | sh | r | q | ṣ | f | ‘ | s | n | m | l | k | y | ṭ | ḥ | z | w | h | d | j | b | ā |
^a Alif can represent many phonemes in Literary Arabic:
Without diacritics: ا
initially: a, i /a, i/ or sometimes silent in the definite article ال (a)l-
medially or finally: ā /aː/.
Alif with hamzah above: أ
initially: ʾa, ʾu /ʔa, ʔu/
medially or finally: aʾ /ʔa/.
Alif with hamzah under: إ
initially: ʾi /ʔi/; doesn’t appear medially or finally (see hamza).
Alif with maddah : آ
initially, medially or finally: ʾā /ʔaː/.
^b /p/ and /v/ can be represented by پ and ڤ/ڥ or if unavailable, ب and ف/ڢ are used, respectively. The letters ب and ف can also be used for /p/ and /v/, or the letters پ and ڤ can be used in Egypt.
^c For Arabic language speakers, the phoneme /ɡ/ can be represented using different letters, depending on local dialects. ج is normally used in Egypt, also sometimes Yemen and Oman. ق is used where it represents the [ɡ] in local dialects. ك or غ are used where /ɡ/ doesn’t exist in local dialects. Other letters such as گ, ݣ or ڨ may also be used, but are not regarded as standard Arabic letters. Likewise, where ج represents [ɡ], it can be also used for /ʒ/~/d͡ʒ/, or the letter چ can be used in Egypt.
^d Fā’ and qāf are traditionally written in northwestern Africa as ڢ and ڧـ ـڧـ ـٯ, respectively, while the latter’s dot is only added initially or medially.
^e Yā’ in the isolated and the final forms in handwriting and print in Egypt, Sudan and sometimes other places, is always undotted ى, making it only contextually distinguishable from alif maqṣūrah.
See also Additional letters below.
Further notes
The letter alif originated in the Phoenician alphabet as a consonant-sign indicating a glottal stop. Today it has lost its function as a consonant, and, together with ya’ and wāw, is a mater lectionis, a consonant sign standing in for a long vowel (see below), or as support for certain diacritics (maddah and hamzah).
Arabic currently uses a diacritic sign, ء, called hamzah, to denote the glottal stop [ʔ], written alone or with a carrier:
alone: ء
with a carrier: إ أ (above or under a alif), ؤ (above a wāw), ئ (above a dotless yā’ or yā’ hamzah).
In academic work, the hamzah (ء) is transliterated with the modifier letter right half ring (ʾ), while the modifier letter left half ring (ʿ) transliterates the letter ‘ayn (ع), which represents a different sound, not found in English.