4
Ghayn
Arabic A1 · Unit 4
GoalRead and write غ (ghayn) and tell it apart from ع and خ.
New words
غَ (gha) · syllable ghaغَرْب (gharb) · westغَار (ghār) · caveغُبَار (ghubār) · dustغَرِيب (gharīb) · strangeصَغِير (ṣaghīr) · smallغَاضِب (ghāḍib) · angryغُصْن (ghuṣn) · branch
Explanation
Ghayn (غ) is ع with one dot above. It is a sound at the back of the mouth, like a soft gargle or the French “r” in “rouge”. It is the voiced twin of khaa. Put a finger on your throat: for khaa you feel only air, for ghayn you feel a buzz. Ghayn joins on both sides. Use the dot to tell it from ayn.
غalone
غـstart
ـغـmiddle
ـغend
Worked examples
Air and buzz. Kha has air only; gha has a buzz in the throat.
A real pair of words: only the first letter changes. Khayr means good and ghayr means other.
ع
غ
Class activity
Gargle and buzz. Pretend to gargle with no water, high in the back of your mouth, and say gha. Then scrape the air for kha. Put a finger on your throat to feel the buzz in gha. Write غ five times with its dot above.
Practice
1
How do you tell غ from ع when you look at them?
غ has one dot above; ع has no dot.
2
Press Listen. Do you hear kh (air only) or gh (buzz) at the start?
gh. The word is غَاز (ghāz), “gas”.
3
Read the word aloud and say what it means: صَغِير.
ṣaghīr, small.
4
Which of these letters is ghayn?
خ
غ
ع
The middle one. Ghayn has one dot above a body like ayn.
5
Read the word aloud and say what it means: غُصْن.
ghuṣn, branch.