3
Laam and lam-alif
Arabic A1 · Unit 5
GoalRead and write ل (laam) and the special shape لَا (lam-alif).
New words
لَا (lā) · noلَيْل (layl) · nightفِيل (fīl) · elephantجَبَل (jabal) · mountainعَسَل (ʿasal) · honeyثَلْج (thalj) · snowحَلِيب (ḥalīb) · milkلِسَان (lisān) · tongue
Explanation
Laam (ل) is the “l” of “light”: touch the tip of your tongue to the ridge just behind your upper teeth. It has no dots and a tall stem, and at the end of a word it curves like a hook below the line. Laam joins on both sides. When laam is followed directly by alif, the two letters are written as one crossed shape: لَا, read lā. This is not a new letter, only a special way of writing ل and ا together. The word لَا means “no”.
لalone
لـstart
ـلـmiddle
ـلend
Worked examples
ل
ا
لَا
Read the words and press Listen: night, elephant, mountain. Laam is in every one.
Laam also sits in the middle of a word. Press Listen: snow, honey, milk.
Class activity
Lam-alif cards. Write ل and ا apart, then write them together as the crossed shape لَا, five times, saying lā each time. Then read the words of this lesson aloud and draw one of them: the mountain, the snow, the honey or the elephant.
Practice
1
Write ل and ا as one shape and read it.
لَا, read lā.
2
Press Listen. Which vowel comes after the l: a, i or u?
A long ī. The word is قَلِيل (qalīl), “little, few”.
3
The picture shows honey. Which word is it: عَسَل or لَيْل?
عَسَل (ʿasal). لَيْل (layl) means night.
4
Read aloud and say what it means: ثَلْج.
thalj, snow.
5
Is لَا a new letter?
No. It is ل followed by ا, written as one crossed shape.