The Arabic Alphabet
Introduction:
The Arabic alphabet contains 28 letters. Of these, only 3 of them are vowels. Today, we will learn the 3 vowel sounds that the Arabic alphabet contains, in addition to 3 consonants.
We write Arabic from right to left. (This is the opposite of English!) Arabic does not contain capital letters; however, letters do look different depending on what part of the word they are in. There are four positions that Arabic letters can take: independent, initial, medial, final.
Four Positions
Independent- when a letter is written by itself, not connected to any other letter
Initial- when a letter is not connected to a letter before it, but is connected to the letter that follows it
Medial- when a letter is connected to other letters on both sides
Final- when a letter is only connecting to the letter that precedes it (ex. the end of the word)
Connecting v. Non-connecting Letters
The majority of letters in Arabic connected to both their preceding letter and their following one. However, some letters do NOT connect to the letter that comes after them. These letters are known as “non-connecting” letters.
Long v. Short vowels
Another interesting fact about Arabic is that only long vowels are shown using an actual letter. Short vowels are optional, and there is a way to mark the short vowels inside of a word. However, in most examples of written Arabic, you will not see these shorts vowels.
Now, let’s begin to learn the Arabic alphabet.
The Letters of the Arabic Alphabet
Name: alif
Number in Alphabet: 1
Sound: a vowel sound, similar to the English “a”
Connecting: no
حرف الالف في بداية ومنتصف واخر الكلمة
Introduction:
The Arabic alphabet contains 28 letters. Of these, only 3 of them are vowels. Today, we will learn the 3 vowel sounds that the Arabic alphabet contains, in addition to 3 consonants.
We write Arabic from right to left. (This is the opposite of English!) Arabic does not contain capital letters; however, letters do look different depending on what part of the word they are in. There are four positions that Arabic letters can take: independent, initial, medial, final.
Four Positions
Independent- when a letter is written by itself, not connected to any other letter
Initial- when a letter is not connected to a letter before it, but is connected to the letter that follows it
Medial- when a letter is connected to other letters on both sides
Final- when a letter is only connecting to the letter that precedes it (ex. the end of the word)
Connecting v. Non-connecting Letters
The majority of letters in Arabic connected to both their preceding letter and their following one. However, some letters do NOT connect to the letter that comes after them. These letters are known as “non-connecting” letters.
Long v. Short vowels
Another interesting fact about Arabic is that only long vowels are shown using an actual letter. Short vowels are optional, and there is a way to mark the short vowels inside of a word. However, in most examples of written Arabic, you will not see these shorts vowels.
Now, let’s begin to learn the Arabic alphabet.
The Letters of the Arabic Alphabet
Name: alif
Number in Alphabet: 1
Sound: a vowel sound, similar to the English “a”
Connecting: no
حرف الالف في بداية ومنتصف واخر الكلمة
Animal Activities
جمل jamal حمار Himaar جاموس jaamoos تمساح timsaaH سمك samak كلب kelb |
ببغاء
babaghaa’ خروف khuruuf بقرة baqara معز ma3az راكون raakoon حصان HiSaan قرد Qird |
سلحفاة
sulaHfaa أرنب arnab زرافة zarafa فيل feel فرس نهر fars nahr أسد asad قطة QiTTa |