About the Arabic alphabet
The Arabic alphabet is completely different from the English alphabet. The 28-letter Arabic alphabet is written from right to left, unlike the 26-letter English alphabet. It is a script with no uppercase letters, but instead it has different forms for each letter based on its position within the word. Its most challenging difference, however, may be the cursive style in which it is written.
On the other hand, once you master the Arabic script you will be able to write any word you hear (provided it is pronounced correctly) as Arabic is a very phonetic language, especially compared to English. No two letters in Arabic are pronounced the same way, nor any letter has two distinct sounds. Compare this to English c, g, s and such.
Consonants & vowels
The Arabic alphabet consists of 28 letters and all are consonants; vowels in Arabic are something different and they do not form part of the alphabet like in English. However, three of the consonants are used together with the (short) vowels to form what are called long vowels.
Direction & shape
The Arabic script is written and read from right to left, and letters forming one word are joined together in a cursive writing style, taking different shapes depending on its position in a word.
For the 28 letters there is a total of only 18 shapes, as 8 shapes are shared by more than one letter (18 letters are represented by 8 different shapes). In such cases, the difference between letters is indicated by the number and position of dot(s). For example, ب ت ث have the same shape but differ in the number of dots above/below them.
English equivalents
Not all Arabic letters have their equivalents in English. Among those Arabic sounds with no equivalent in English, some can be represented by a combination of two English letters, while others can be represented by how certain sounds are pronounced in other languages; but still there are others that the learner should absolutely hear from someone who knows how to pronounce it correctly (or from audio files). The beginner is advised to master this from the very beginning.
Nor do all English letters have their equivalents in Arabic. Such letters are either represented by letters with somewhat similar pronunciation, or Arabic letters with the nearest pronunciation are modified, usually by adding some dots.
Letters and sounds
No two letters in Arabic can have the same sound; there must be some difference, however subtle. Compare this with the English "John Gerrard".
No Arabic letter represents two different sounds: compare this to the English "God and gender". However, the same Arabic letter can have very subtle differences in pronunciation when carrying different vowels. This might escape the beginner at first, but with practice ...
The letters of the Arabic alphabet are listed below, with the English equivalent next to each. Where there is a noun, the sound is represented by the letters in bold. The names of the letters are not provided here on purpose, they will be in another lesson, in Arabic.
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The First letter
The first letter أ is a combination of ء over ا. Each component can be a letter on its own. The letter can be part of a long vowel, as well as a support for ء. The ء sometimes needs support, and other times is strong enough to stand on its own without any supportting letter.
Also the ء above the ا is sometimes placed below the ا; this is due to a different vowelling.
Notes:
- depending upon the vowel it carries, this letter may be equivalent to a, i or u as in apple, imagine or Uzbek respectively.
Note that the U in Uzbek can be pronounced like the "u" in "put" and like that of "run", but here I mean the 1st one only. - needs direct hearing
- this is roughly equivalent to the ch in Scottish "loch", usually transliterated by "kh"
- this is a combination of th + w, the "th" being like that of "this"
- needs direct hearing
- this is somewhat like the french "r", usually transliterated by "gh"
- this is somewhat like the french "cr", usually transliterated by "q"
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