Arabic alphabet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 1 of 4
Arabic letters usage in Literary Arabic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_alphabet 12/28/2011
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Contextual forms
Name Translit. Value (IPA) Isolated
End Middle Beginning
various,
’alif ’/ā including /aə/ [a] ـ ـ ا ا
/b/
bā’ b
(sometimes /p/ in loanwords)[b]
ـ ــ ﺏـ ب
tā’ t /t/ ـ ــ ﺕـ ت
thā’ th (also ṯ) /θ/ ـ ــ ﺙـ ث
j (also LJ,
jīm
g)
[d͡Ȣ] ~ [Ȣ] ~ [DZ] [c] ـ ـ ـ ﺝـ ج
ḥā’ ḥ /ħ/ ـ ـ ـ ﺡـ ح
kh (also
khā’
ḫ)
/x/ ـ ـ ـ ﺥـ خ
dāl d /d/ ـ ـ د د
dh (also
dhāl
ḏ)
/ð/ ـ ـ ذ ذ
rā’ r /r/ ـ ـ ر ر
zayn /
zāy
z /z/ ـ ـ ز ز
sīn s /s/ ـ ـ ـ ﺱـ س
shīn sh (also š) /ȓ/ ـ ـ ـ ﺵـ ش
ṣād ṣ /sɭ/ ـ ـ ـ ﺹـ ص
ḍād ḍ /dɭ/ ـ ـ ـ ﺽـ ض
ṭā’ ṭ /tɭ/ ـ ـ ـ ـ ط
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_alphabet 12/28/2011
Arabic alphabet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 3 of 4
ẓā’ ẓ [ðɭ] ~ [zɭ] ـ ـ ـ ـ ظ
‘ayn ‘ /ȥ/ ـ ــ ـ ع
gh (also /dz/
ghayn
ā) (sometimes /DZ/ in loanwords)[c]
ـ ــ ـ غ
/f/
fā’ f
(sometimes /v/ in loanwords)[b]
ـ ــ ـ [ فd]
/q/
qāf q
(sometimes /DZ/ in loanwords) [c] ـ ــ ـ [ قd]
/k/
kāf k
(sometimes /DZ/ in loanwords)[c]
ـ ــ آـ ك
lām l /l/ ـ ــ ﻝـ ل
mīm m /m/ ـ ــ ﻡـ م
nūn n /n/ ـ ــ ﻥـ ن
hā’ h /h/ ـ ــ هـ
/w/, /uə/, /aw/,
wāw w / ū / aw sometimes /u/, /o/, and /oə/ in ـ ـ و و
loanwords
/j/, /iə/, /aj/,
yā’ y / ī / ay sometimes /i/, /e/, and /eə/ in ـ ــ یـ [ يe]
loanwords
■ ^a ’Alif can represent many phonemes in Literary Arabic:
1. Without diacritics: ا
■ initially: a, i /a, i/ or sometimes silent in the definite article ( الa)l-
■ medially or finally: ā /aə/.
2. ’Alif with hamzah above: أ
■ initially: ’a, ’u /Ȥa, Ȥu/
■ medially or finally: ’a /Ȥa/.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_alphabet 12/28/2011
Arabic alphabet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 4 of 4
3. ’Alif with hamzah under: إ
■ initially: ’i /Ȥi/; doesn't appear medially or finally (see hamza).
4. ’Alif with maddah:
■ initially, medially or finally: ’ā /Ȥaə/.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_alphabet 12/28/2011