UNIT I

Part I
ACQUIRING THE ALPHABET

LESSON 1
SOUNDS & APPEARANCES

The Arabic Alphabet

The Appearance of each letter within a word
The sound of the letter is the first sound of its name

The name of the letter

Connected with another letter from the right side or at the end of a word
Located between two letters Connected to the letter from the left side or at
the beginning of a word
Final connected Final separated from the: Medial
(a) as in apple
‘alif
(b) as in bat
ba'

(t) as in tab
Ta’
(th) as in three
Tha’a
(j) as in jet
Jeem
(h) as in Hayat
Ha’a
(ch) as in Bach
Kh’a
d)
Da’al
(th’u) as in thus Tha’al
(r)
Ra’a
 (z)
Za’ayn
(s)
See’n
(sh)
Shee’n
(s) as in saw
Sau’d
(d) as in dawn
Ddau’d
(t) as in tall
Tta’a
(z)
Zu’a
(a)
Ay’nn
(gh’a)
Gha’yn
(f)
Fa’a
(qa) as in cub
Qu’af
(k)
Kaa’f
(l) Laa’m
(m)
Mee’m
(n)
Nuu’n
(h) as in hat
Ha’a
(wa) as in one
Wo’w
(ya) as in young
Ya’a
- Notice that the Arabic writing starts from the right side of a page.
- Notice that the letters and (one-way connectors)are not
connected to another letter from the left side of a word: .

SECTION 1
THE LANUAGE:
PEOPLE AND COUNTRIES
From The Arab League Web Site with some editing:
ARAB
IC ranks fifth in the world s league table of languages, with an estimated 350 m
illion native speakers. As the language of the Qur an, the holy boo
k of Islam, it is also widely used throughout the Muslim world. It belongs to th
e Semitic group of languages, which also includes Hebrew and Amharic, the main l
anguage of Ethiopia.
There are many Arabic dialects. Classical Arabic – the language of the Qur an –
was originally the dialect of Mecca in what is now Saudi Arabia. An adapted form
of this, known as Modern Standard Arabic, is used in books, newspap
ers, on television and radio, in the mosques, and in conversation between educat
ed Arabs from different countries (for example at international conferences).
Local dialects vary, and a Moroccan might have difficulty understan
ding an Iraqi, even though they speak the same language. MAJOR LA
NGUAGES
OF THE WORLD
(Number of native speakers)
1. Mandarin Chinese 900,000,000
2. Hindi 450,000,000
3. Spanish 420,000,000
4. English 400,000,000
5. Arabic 350,000,000
6. Bengali 220,000,000
7. Russian 200,000,000
8. Portuguese 180,000,000
9. Japanese 125,000,000
10. German 98,000,000
11. French 72,000,000
12. Malay 50,000,000
THE ARAB WORLD: Arabic is the official Language in 22 countries located in Nort
h Africa and South East Asia. Mauritania ( ), Morocco ( ), Algeria
( ), Tunisia ( ), Libya ( ), Egypt ( ), Sudan ( ), Comoros
Islands ( ), Djibouti ( ), and Somalia ( ) in Africa (
). Oman( ), Yemen( ), Bahrain( ), Qatar( ), Kuwait( ), Unite
d Arab Emirates( ) (U.A.E), Iraq( ), Saudi Arabia(
), Syria( ), Jordan( ), Lebanon( ), and Pales
tine( ) (West Bank, Gaza) in Asia. Note: Israel has two official languages
: Hebrew and Arabic.
SECTION 2
The Sounds of the Language
The Arabic language has twenty-eight different characters. Each one of them has
a special appearance depending on its location within a word. There are no capi
tal letters in Arabic.
Arabic is written from the right side of the margin to the left side. There are
three long vowels and three short vowels. Although most of the Arabic letters
change their appearance, their sound does not change.
The letter dal ( , d) will be used to introduce the sounds and the vowels.
(1) The Short Vowels
Al-fat’ ha’. It is always located above the letter: . It sounds like (a) in: (
d’a).
Al-da’mma’. It is also located above the letter: . It sounds like (ou) in:(d’u
).
Al-kass’ra’. It is located below the letter: . It sounds like (e) in: (de).
(2) A ssu kuun
A’ssu’kuun. The is the absence of vowelization. It does not carry the origi
nal sound, rather it prevents any syllable from being produced. It is located ab
ove the letter. It carries lesser sound than the original sound of (d): . Late
r on, with more practice, this symbol will be more clearified.
(3) The long vowels
The long vowels in Arabic sound the same as the short ones, but they are pronoun
ced with longer tonalities.
The long fat’ha’(alif). It looks like the letter ( ): . The sound (a) is lo
nger as in: daa.
The long da’mma’ (waw). It looks like the letter :( ). The sound (u) is longe
r as in: duu.
The long kass’ra’ (ya). It looks like the letter ( ): . The sound (e) is exten
ded as in: dee.
(4) Attan’ween
Attan’ween is a sound that appears at the end of a noun when it is indefinite. T
he location of attan’ween is the same as that of the short vowels.
Al-fatt’ha’teyn.(the two fa’tha’) Most of the time it looks like: . It gives t
he sound letter ( ) without the presence of that letter. It gives the sound of
(ann) in English: (dann).
Al- da’mma’ tayn. (the two da’mma’) It gives the sound of (unn)in English: . (d
unn)
Al-kass’ra’tayn. (the two ka’ssra’) It gives the sound of (enn) English: . (de
nn)
(5) A’shadd’ah
A’shadd’ah. It is located above the letter. The sound of the letter is enhance
d: . We do not repeat the sound of the letter. The sound of the letter is enhan
ced. This will be more clearified in later lessons.
Reading Exercises
• Exercise 1: a- Listen to the CD and repeat the following sounds of the l
etter (dal) . The sound of the letter will be the first sound of its name: (d)
.
- Start from the right side of the page.
1- (da):
(d’u):2-

(de):3-
:4-
* Notice that the (d) in the fourth line does not produce any of the
sounds in the prvious lines. That is why we call the accent on the in Arabic
: which means silence.

b - Read the sounds of the letter with the long vowels.

- Start from the right side of the page.
(daa): - 1
(duu): 2-
(dee): 3-
c - Read the sounds of the letter with (attan’ween and a’shadd’ah).
- Start from the right side of the page.
(dann): 1-
(dunn): 2-
(denn):3-
4- :

• Exercise 2: Practice the writing of the letter . Make sure to writ

e neatly and to say each sound aloud.
(dal)
Write each letter and its sound neatly. Follow the example provided:
The letter connected only from the right side to another letter within a wor
d. Plus: The letter located between two other lett
ers within a word. Plus: The letter connected to
 another letter at the end of a word. Except with:

The letter with the long sounds: The letter with

the “tanween” and the “shaddah”:

SECTION 3
The sounds and appearances of the letters:
- -
Acquiring the forms and sounds of Arabic letters is challenging. The objective
of this lesson is to introduce each of the letters. The 28 letters are divided
into 12 different groups according to their appearances and similarities.
Group 1: (the simple b sound in bat).
( the simple sound t in the word tab).
(the sound of th in three).
Notice the number of dots and their location on each letter. When these letters
are used, their appearance within the word is different depending on their posi
tion within that word. The letter has two extra forms ( and ) that can be
used at the end of a noun only.
Always start from the right side of the page.
The letter is located at the end of a word and not connected to the letters:
The letter is located at the end of a word and connected with an
other letter from the right side only The letter is located between two other
letters The letter is connected with another letter from the left side only
The name of the letter.
.
Final final
Medial initial

Exercise 1: Read the following sounds. Make sure to read right to left.
(be) (b’u) (b’
a)
(te) (t’u)
(t’a)
(th’e) (th’u) (t
h’a)
.1
.2
.3
• Exercise 2: Write the forms of the 3 letters.

Writ each letter and its sound neatly. Follow the example provided.
SECTION 3. B-

Write each letter and its sound neatly. Follow the example provided.

Write each letter and its sound neatly. Follow the example provided.

Exercise 3- Objective: Practice the sounds of the letters: .

.1
.2
.3
.4
.5
• Exercise 4: Practice writing words using the letters: .

– –
1. ___________ 2. __________
3. __________ 3. __________
4. __________ 4- __________
5. __________ 6. __________
7. __________ 8. __________
9. __________ 10. __________
10. __________ 11. __________
12. __________
• Exercise 6: Fill in the correct form of the letter located within each w
ord.
• Write the form of the letter above each line.
pond

( ) (sea)

( )

( )
Bookcase
( ) - -

( ) (a lot)