4
Saad
Arabic A1 · Unit 3
GoalRead and write ص (ṣaad), a heavy “s”, and hear the difference between light and heavy letters.
New words
صَ (ṣa) · syllable ṣaصَبَاح (ṣabāḥ) · morningصَحِيح (ṣaḥīḥ) · correctصَبْر (ṣabr) · patienceصَاحِب (ṣāḥib) · friend, ownerحَصَاد (ḥaṣād) · harvestنَصِيب (naṣīb) · shareبَصَر (baṣar) · sight
Explanation
Saad (ص) is a heavy “s”. First say a normal “s”, with the tongue forward and a small smile. Now pull the back of the tongue up and back, lower the middle, and round your lips a little. The sound becomes deeper and fuller, and the vowel next to it sounds deeper too. The normal letter is called light and the deeper one is called heavy; in the next unit you meet three more heavy letters. Saad has a loop and no dots, and it joins on both sides.
صalone
صـstart
ـصـmiddle
ـصend
Worked examples
Listen to a light letter and a heavy letter. The heavy one is deeper.
A real pair of words: only the first letter changes. One means he walked and the other means he became.
Read these and press Listen: morning, and friend.
Class activity
Smile and round. Look in a mirror. Say sa with a smile, then ṣa with round lips and the tongue pulled back. Say them one after the other ten times. Then write س and ص side by side three times.
Practice
1
Which letter is heavy, س or ص?
ص (saad).
2
Press Listen. Is the first sound light or heavy?
Heavy. The word is صَابِر (ṣābir), “patient”.
3
Read the word aloud and say what it means: صَحِيح.
ṣaḥīḥ, correct.
4
Write the heavy partner of سَ and read it.
صَ, read ṣa.
5
Which of these letters is saad?
ص
ش
س
The first one. Saad has a loop and no dots.