☰ Units · Arabic A1

First letters and short vowels

Unit 1 · Part A · Arabic A1 (Beginners)
4

Noon and yaa

Arabic A1 · Unit 1
GoalRead and write ن (noon) and ي (yaa), including yaa as a long “ee”.
New words
نَ (na) · syllable naيَ (ya) · syllable yaتِين (tīn) · figsنَبَات (nabāt) · plantبَنَات (banāt) · girlsبَيَان (bayān) · statement
Explanation

Noon (ن) is the “n” of “name” and has one dot above its bowl. Yaa (ي) has two dots below. As a consonant it sounds like the “y” in “yes”. After a kasra, yaa makes a long “ee”: تِين is “teen”. Both letters join on both sides. At the end of a word the noon is a wide bowl and the yaa dips below the line.

نalone
نـstart
ـنـmiddle
ـنend
nūnn
يalone
يـstart
ـيـmiddle
ـيend
yāʾy, ī
Worked examples
Yaa after a kasra is a long vowel. Compare the short vowel with the long one: ti and tī.
Read the words: plant, girls, figs, statement. Press each card to check.
Class activity

Word builder. Write ا ب ت ن ي on five small paper cards. Put them in different orders, add a vowel mark with a pencil, and read each result aloud, even when it is not a real word. Keep the combinations that make real words, such as تِين and بَنَات.

Practice
1
Which letter has two dots below it?
2
Press Listen. Which letter starts the word?
3
How does yaa sound in تِين?
4
Which two letters you know have dots below the line?
5
Which of these letters is the one with one dot above its bowl?
ن
ي
ب