1. 1. The letters Alif ا and Ba ب. Arabic from scratch.

In Arabic, letters are connected to each other to form a ligature, the "Arabic ligature." Even the printed font in Arabic involves connecting letters to each other. This is why each letter has four variants: a stand-alone (as in the alphabet), an initial (at the beginning of words), a medial (in the middle of words (between other letters), and a final (at the end of words).

ℹ️ And here it's important to note that not all letters are connected in both directions. Some letters are connected only on the right side, but not on the left!

It's no coincidence that the letters Alif and Ba are shown together in this lesson—one of them connects only on the right (Alif), while the other connects on both sides (Ba). This allows us to immediately understand this aspect of the comparison between the two types of letters.

Name	End	Middle	Initial	Separate	Pronunciation
ألِفٌ Alif					Has no its own sound! It is pronounced only in combination with vowels: اَ - [a]; اِ - [i]; اُ - [u].
بَاءٌ Ba:'					Just like English [b].

As you may have noticed, the letter Alif has the same initial, middle, and final positions. The letter Ba has a different style in all four versions. Why is this? All letters connect on the right, while only a few do on the left—roughly half of the letters of the entire alphabet. This will be important to keep in mind and remember when studying.

The letter Ba, both in its initial and final positions, resembles a boat; its curves are smooth, and its height does not exceed one cell. It's important to remember: the bottom of the letter, the base of this "boat," lies on the line, not below or above. These points should be remembered from the start to ensure your writing is neat and the letters are easy to read within words! The order of writing is as follows: first, draw the "boat" from right to left, and only then place a dot just below the base.

In the initial position, we cut off half the letter and move the dot under the curve. The letter merges into a connecting line with the next letter.

In the middle position, the connecting line from the letter preceding it curves smoothly upward to a height of approximately half a cell or one cell, and then descends in the same manner, smoothly curving to connect with the following letter. Connecting lines should be written along the line.

In the final form, the letter is similar to its individual form, the only difference being that on the right there is a connecting line with a smooth upward curve.