Arabic Alphabet Chart [29]

pronunciation	Transliterated	Isolated	Isolated	pronunciation	Initial	Medial	Final	Transcription
أَلِف	̛ālif	ا		Like A in Apple	ا	ـا	ـا	ā
بَاء	bā̛	ب		Like B in Baby	بـ	ـبـ	ـب	b
تَاء	tā̛	ت		Like T in Tree	تـ	ـتـ	ـت ـة	t
ثَاء	thā̛	ث		Like the Th in Theory	ثـ	ـثـ	ـث	th
جِيم	jim	ج		Sometimes like the G in Girl or like the J in Jar	جـ	ـجـ	ـج	j
حَاء	hā̛	ح		Like the h in he yet light in pronunciation	حـ	ـحـ	ـح	h
خَاء	khā̛	خ		Like the Ch in the name Bach	خـ	ـخـ	ـخ	kh
دَال	dāl	د		Like the D in Dad	د	ـد	ـد	d
ذَال	zāl	ذ		Like the Th in The	ذ	ـذ	ـذ	z
رَاء	rā̛	ر		Like the R in Ram	ر	ـر	ـر	r
زَاي	zāy	ز		Like the Z in zoo	ز	ـز	ـز	z
سِين	sin	س		Like the S in See	سـ	ـسـ	ـس	s
شِين	shin	ش		Like the Sh in She	شـ	ـشـ	ـش	sh
صَاد	sād	ص		Like the S in Sad yet heavy in pronunciation	صـ	ـصـ	ـص	s
ضَاد	dād	ض		Like the D in Dead yet heavy in pronunciation	ضـ	ـضـ	ـض	d
طَاء	tā̛	ط		Like the T in Table yet heavy in pronunciation	طـ	ـطـ	ـط	t
ظَاء	ẓā̛	ظ		Like the Z in Zorro yet heavy in pronunciation	ظـ	ـظـ	ـظ	ẓ
عَينٍ	عain	ع		Has no real equivalent sometimes they replace its sound with the A sound like for example the name Ali for علي /عali/	عـ	ـعـ	ـع	ع̛
غَين	ghain	غ		Like the Gh in Ghandi	غـ	ـغـ	ـغ	gh
فَاء	fā̛	ف		Like the F in Fool	فـ	ـفـ	ـف	f
قَاف	qāf	ق		Like the Q in Queen yet heavy velar sound in pronunciation	قـ	ـقـ	ـق	q
كَاف	kāf	ك		Like the K in Kate	كـ	ـكـ	ـك	k
لاَم	lām	ف		Like the L in Love	لـ	ـلـ	ـل	l
مِيم	mim	م		Like the M in Moon	مـ	ـمـ	ـم	m
نُون	nun	ن		Like the N in Noon	نـ	ـنـ	ـن	n
هَاء	hā̛	ه هـ		Like the H in He	هـ	ـهـ	ـه	h
وَاو	wāw	,		Like the W in the reaction of astonishment saying: WAW!	ـو	—-	ـو	W(aw, au, u)
يَاء	yā̛	ي		Like the Y in you	يـ	ـيـ	ـي	Y (ay, ai, ῑ)
هَمزَة	hamza	ء أُ إِ أَ	Seen latter because it differs according to case and context	Latter will be discussed separately	أ ؤ	ـئـ	ئ	̛

 

Now, you can deduce from the herein above Chart that Arabic letters are 29 with the letter hamza, sometimes is regarded as a separate Letter. Further, in the first column above, you can see some dashes or symbols on the Arabic Letter above or below them; they are called Arabic vowels (Described later).

Consider the following three Arabic Letters Characteristics:
a- Letters are connected to form words.
b- Words have vowels on it (described later).
c- Some letters have dots on it.

Do you know that:
1- Arabic structure is different in Alphabet from any other Language.
2- Arabic letters form words by connecting them together.
3- Arabic Alphabet is written and read from right to left.
4- Arabic Letters’ writing has three forms: initial, medial, and final i.e. different in shape according to their position.
5- Letters in isolation and final are mostly the same in shape.
6- Letters in the initial and medial positions are mostly the same in shape.
7- There are many print forms, types of fonts and writing forms for Arabic; yet most common of which is /̛ān-naskh/ (normal writing) النَسخ and /̛ār-ruqعa/ الرِقعة. An elementary/ intermediate Reader/ Learner is advised to use /̛ān-naskh/ writing form.
8- You can find the correct pronunciation in Arabic just from the spelling of the word which is considered a no-trouble-trick of Arabic pronunciation.
9- Arabic Letters can be divided into two groups according to their position

1^st Group 
– Can’t be joined on the left side.
– Can be joined to a preceding letter but never to a following one.
– Then, all Arabic Letters in the Alphabet could be connected from both sides except the following mentioned Letters.(see table below)
2^nd Group 
– Change shape according to their position in the word. 

 

1st Group (Non-Connecting Letters)	1st Group Examples	2nd Group (Connecting Letters)	2nd Group Examples
ālif ا	سَمَاء  /samā̛/  for “sky”	عain   ع	Refer to the three Arabic Letters’ Writing Forms (initial – medial – final)
Dāl د	الدَهر /̛ād-dahr/ for “past life”	ghain غ	Refer to the three Arabic Letters’ Writing Forms (initial – medial – final)
zāl ذ	الذَهب /̛āz-zahab/ For “gold”	kāf ك	Refer to the three Arabic Letters’ Writing Forms (initial – medial – final)
rā̛ ر	الرَمَادِي /̛ā̛r-ramādy/ for “grey color”	hā̛ ه هـ	Refer to the three Arabic Letters’ Writing Forms (initial – medial – final)
zāy ز	الزَمَان /̛āz-zamān/ For “past”	yā̛ ي	Refer to the three Arabic Letters’ Writing Forms (initial – medial – final)
wāw و	الوَطَن /̛āl-watan/ for “homeland”	hamza ء أُ إِ أَ	Refer to the three Arabic Letters’ Writing Forms (initial – medial – final). NB: this letter will be discussed later

10- Few Arabic Written Letters could be only differentiated by their dots :

bā̛    ب  tā̛    ت thā̛    ث	jim    ج  hā̛    ح khā̛   خ	dāl    د Zāl    ذ rā̛    ر Zāy    ز
sin    س shin    ش	sād    ص  dād    ض	tā̛    ط ẓā̛   ظ
عain    ع ghain    غ	fā̛    ف qāf    ق	nun    ن

11- There are Confusing Arabic Written Letters phonetically-wise:

Light Sound in Pronunciation	Heavy Sound in Pronunciation
tā̛    ت	tā̛   ط
Dāl    د	dād    ض
zāl    ذ	ẓā̛    ظ
sin    س	sād   ص
Kāf    ك	qāf    ق

12- The Letter tā̛ ت; sometimes it is written like the letter hā̛ in its final form ـهyet with two dots above it ـة. This letter is mostly seen in its final position to indicate a feminine gender ending and is termed ” tā̛ Marbutah”.

13- The Letters fā̛ and qāf in Moroccan Written Arabic are different in their shape as seen below:

Position in word	Isolated	Initial	Medial	Final
Form of the letter fā̛ in Moroccan Arabic	ڢ	ڢـ	ـڢـ	ـڢ
Form of the letter qāf in Moroccan Arabic	ڡ	ڧـ	ـڧـ	ڡ