GoalRead and write ح (ḥaa) and خ (khaa) and say their two throat sounds.
New words
حَ (ḥa) · syllable ḥaخَ (kha) · syllable khaحَبِيب (ḥabīb) · dear, belovedحَاجِب (ḥājib) · eyebrowبَاحِث (bāḥith) · researcherبَحْث (baḥth) · search, researchثَخِين (thakhīn) · thickحِين (ḥīn) · a time, a moment
Explanation
Haa (ح) and khaa (خ) have the same body as jeem. Jeem has a dot below, haa has no dot, and khaa has one dot above. Haa has no English sound: tighten the middle of your throat and push out a strong, hoarse breath, as when you fog a mirror or sigh “haaa” after a hot drink. Khaa is the sound at the end of Scottish “loch” or German “Bach”: air scrapes at the back of your mouth. Do not confuse haa with the easy English “h” of “hat”; that is a different letter you meet later. Both letters join on both sides.
حalone
حـstart
ـحـmiddle
ـحend
ḥāʾḥ
خalone
خـstart
ـخـmiddle
ـخend
khāʾkh
Worked examples
ج
jīmj
ح
ḥāʾḥ
خ
khāʾkh
Three letters, one body. Only the dot tells them apart: below, none, above.
Listen to the two sounds side by side: a tight throat breath, then a scrape.
Read the words and press Listen: dear and eyebrow.
Class activity
Mirror breath. Hold a small mirror close to your mouth and breathe out a warm breath from deep in the throat, saying ḥa, until the mirror fogs. Then make the Scottish “ch” of “loch” for khaa. Finally write ح and خ five times each and add a fatha to every letter.
Practice
1
Which of the three twins ج ح خ has no dot at all?
خ
ج
ح
Haa (ح).
2
Press Listen. Do you hear ḥ (throat breath) or kh (scrape)?
ḥ. The syllable is حُ (ḥu).
3
Read the word aloud and say what it means: بَحْث.
baḥth, which means search or research.
4
Read the word aloud: ثَخِين. What does it mean?
thakhīn, which means thick.
5
Write the letter with one dot above its body and a kasra below. How do you read it?
