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 | Pronounciation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | أَلِفٌ 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 Tа:’ | ت | تـ | ـتـ | ـت | Just like English [t]. |
| 4 | ثَاءٌ Tha:’ | ث | ثـ | ـثـ | ـث | [th] - interproximal articulation "s", just like in English word 'think' . |
| 5 | جِيمٌ Jee:м | ج | جـ | ـجـ | ـج | [j] - Very similar to English 'J'. |
| 6 | حَاءٌHа:' | ح | حـ | ـحـ | ـح | [H] - very soft sound, pronounced on exhalation from the depths of the larynx. |
| 7 | خَاءٌKho:' | خ | خـ | ـخـ | ـخ | [kh] - a hard scraping sound, giving the vowel fatha [a] the sound of 'O'. |
| 8 | دَالٌ Da:l | د | د | ـد | ـد | Very simple to English 'D'. |
| 9 | ذَالٌ The:l | ذ | ذ | ـذ | ـذ | [th] – interproximal articulation "s", just like in English word 'they' . |
| 10 | رَاءٌ Rо:’ | ر | ر | ـر | ـر | Like Slavic 'R', hard and energetic |
| 11 | زََايٌّ Za:yy | ز | ز | ـز | ـز | Very simple to English 'Z'. |
| 12 | سِينٌ See:n | س | سـ | ـسـ | ـس | Very simple to English 'S'. |
| 13 | شِينٌ Shee:n | ش | شـ | ـشـ | ـش | Very simple to [sh], it is pronounced softly like in the word 'ship'. |
| 14 | صَادٌ Sо:d | ص | صـ | ـصـ | ـص | Strong sound [S]. Fatah vowel sounds close to 'O'. |
| 15 | ضَادٌ Dhо:d | ض | ضـ | ـضـ | ـض | Strong [D], который has a double sound, similar to [d] and [z] at the same time. Fatah vowel sounds close to 'O'. |
| 16 | طَاءٌ Tо:' | ط | طـ | ـطـ | ـط | Strong sound [T]. Fatah vowel sounds close to 'O'. |
| 17 | ظَاءٌ Th(z)о:' | ظ | ظـ | ـظـ | ـظ | Strong interproximal articulated sound [th]. It's pronounced like ذ, but more firmly and energetically. Fatah vowel sounds close to 'O'. |
| 18 | عَيْنٌ`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'. |
| 20 | فَاءٌ Fа:’ | ف | فـ | ـفـ | ـف | Just simple as [f]. |
| 21 | قَافٌ Ко:f | ق | قـ | ـقـ | ـق | Strong [k]. Fatah vowel sounds close to 'O'. |
| 22 | كَافٌ Кya:f | ك | كـ | ـكـ | ـك | Softly pronounced [k], like in English. |
| 23 | لَامٌ Лya:m | ل | لـ | ـلـ | ـل | Similar to English [l], but softly pronounced like in the word 'sleep'. |
| 24 | مِيمٌ Mee:m | م | مـ | ـمـ | ـم | Just simple as [m]. |
| 25 | نُونٌ Noo:n | ن | نـ | ـنـ | ـن | Just simple as [n]. |
| 26 | هَاءٌ ha:’ | ه | هـ | ـهـ | ـه | Similar to [h] in the words 'he', 'how'. |
| 27 | وَاوٌ Wа:w | و | و | ـو | ـو | Just simple as [w] in the words 'why', 'where'. |
| 28 | يَاءٌ Yа:’ | ي | يـ | ـيـ | ـي | Sounds like [y] in the words 'yellow', 'toy'. |