Arabic alphabet and spelling of Arabic letters

The Arabic alphabet has 28 letters. Some letters are connected with neighboring letters in words on both sides, while others are connected only on the right, so their spelling is the same in the initial and isolated versions, as well as in the middle and final.

Since the Arabic letter forms a “ligature”, each letter of the Arabic alphabet has four spellings: isolated, initial, middle and final. In the table below, each letter of the Arabic alphabet is shown in several spellings.

№	Name	Separate	Initial	Middle	Final	Pronunciation
1	ألِفٌ Alif	ا	ا	ـا	ـا	Has no its own sound! It is pronounced only in combination with vowels: اَ - [a]; اِ - [i]; اُ - [u].
2	بَاءٌ Ba:'	ب	بـ	ـبـ	ـب	Just like English [b].
3	تَاءٌ Ta:'	ت	تـ	ـتـ	ـت	Just like English [t].
4	ثَاءٌ Tha:'	ث	ثـ	ـثـ	ـث	Like English [th] in 'think'.
5	جِيمٌ Jeem	ج	جـ	ـجـ	ـج	Like English [j] in 'jam'.
6	حَاءٌ 7a:' or Ha:'	ح	حـ	ـحـ	ـح	Strongly aspirated [H], deeper than in English. Very soft sound, pronounced on exhalation from the depths of the larynx.
7	خَاءٌ Kha:'	خ	خـ	ـخـ	ـخ	A hard scraping sound, like [kh] in "Bach" or Spanish 'José'.
8	دَالٌ Da:l	د	د	ـد	ـد	Just like English [d].
9	ذَالٌ The:l	ذ	ذ	ـذ	ـذ	Like English [th] in 'this'.
10	رَاءٌ Ra:'	ر	ر	ـر	ـر	Rolled [r], like in Spanish.
11	زَايٌ Zay	ز	ز	ـز	ـز	Like English [z] in 'zebra'.
12	سِينٌ Seen	س	سـ	ـسـ	ـس	Like English [s] in 'sun'.
13	شِينٌ Sheen	ش	شـ	ـشـ	ـش	Sheen
14	صَادٌ So:d	ص	صـ	ـصـ	ـص	Deep emphatic [S], stronger than English.
15	ضَادٌ Dho:d	ض	ضـ	ـضـ	ـض	Emphatic [Dh], unique to Arabic. Has a double sound, similar to [d] and [z] at the same time.
16	طَاءٌ To:'	ط	طـ	ـطـ	ـط	Emphatic [T], deeper than English.
17	ظَاءٌ Tho:'	ظ	ظـ	ـظـ	ـظ	Strong interproximal articulated sound [TH]. It's pronounced like ذ, but more firmly and energetically.
18	عَيْنٌ 3ayn or 'ayn	ع	عـ	ـعـ	ـع	The guttural (voiced pharyngeal fricative) sound [3] has no analogues in European languages.
19	غَيْنٌ Ghayn	غ	غـ	ـغـ	ـغ	The guttural sound [gh]. Similar to Spanish in the word 'fuego' or like French [r] in 'rouge'.
20	فَاءٌ Fa:'	ف	فـ	ـفـ	ـف	Like English [f].
21	قَافٌ Qo:f	ق	قـ	ـقـ	ـق	Deep guttural [K].
22	كافٌ Ka:f	ك	كـ	ـكـ	ـك	Like English [k].
23	لَامٌ La:m	ل	لـ	ـلـ	ـل	Similar to English [l], but softly pronounced like in the word 'sleep'.
24	مِيمٌ Meem	م	مـ	ـمـ	ـم	Like English [m] in 'moon'.
25	نُونٌ Noon	ن	نـ	ـنـ	ـن	Like English [n] in 'nice'.
26	هَاءٌ ha:'	ه	هـ	ـهـ	ـه	Like English [h] in 'hat'.
27	وَاوٌ Wa:w	و	و	ـو	ـو	Like English [w] in 'why', 'where'.
28	يَاءٌ Ya:'	ي	يـ	ـيـ	ـي	Like English [y] in 'yes', 'yellow' and 'toy'.

Vowels in Arabic

Arabic alphabet and writing system largely repeat the languages of its predecessors (Aramaic, Phoenician), including the absence of vowels in the alphabet. Instead of letters, special diacritical signs (vowel marks) are used to represent vowel sounds, which are written above and below the letters. The following table shows all the vowel marks and some signs, and the letters Alif ans Bah is shown as an example of their use.

Written Examples	Naming	Designation	Explanation
اَ بَ	فَتْحَةٌ FatHa	[a]	Represents a short vowel [æ], written as a slanted line above letters, similar to A in English 'cat' or 'fun'.
اِ بِ	كَسْرَةٌ Kasra	[i]	Represents a short vowel [i], written as a slanted line under letters, similar to i in English 'bit'.
اُ بُ	ضَمَّةٌ Dhamma	[u]	Represents a short vowel [u], written as an apostrophe-like shape above letters, similar to u in English 'push', 'pull'.

The Long Vowels In Arabic

Written Examples	Naming	Designation	Explanation
آ بَا	مَدٌّ بِالْأَلِفِ / أَلْأَلِفُ المَدُودَةٌ madd bil-alif / alif ul-mamdu:da	[a:]	Represents a long vowel [æ:], written as a curved line above alif (only!), or the vowel fatha + alif, sounds like long a in English word 'father'.
اِي بِي	مَدٌّ بِالْيَاءِ madd bil-ya'	[ee]	Represents a long vowel [i:] / [ee], written as kasra + 'ya' letter, similar to long i: in English 'seem', 'wheel'.
اُو بُو	مَدٌّ بِالْوَاو madd bil-wa:w	[u:]	Represents a long vowel [u:], written as damma + wa:w, similar to u: in English 'moon', 'soon'.