2
The Arabic letters and joining
Egyptian Arabic A1 · Unit 1
GoalMeet the 28 letters, learn their names and sounds, and see which letters join.
New words
بَاب (bāb) · doorبَيْت (bēt) · houseكِتَاب (kitāb) · bookوَلَد (walad) · boyبِنْت (bint) · girlمَدْرَسَة (madrasa) · school
Explanation
Arabic has 28 letters and no capital letters. Most letters change shape a little: alone, at the start of a word, in the middle, or at the end. Six letters never join the letter after them: ا د ذ ر ز و. After one of these, the next letter starts a new shape, so you see a small gap inside the word. Each letter has a name and a sound. Learn the sound first, the name second. You do not need to remember all 28 today: you will meet them again and again.
ا
ب
ت
ث
ج
ح
خ
د
ذ
ر
ز
س
ش
ص
ض
ط
ظ
ع
غ
ف
ق
ك
ل
م
ن
ه
و
ي
Worked examples
بalone
بـstart
ـبـmiddle
ـبend
كalone
كـstart
ـكـmiddle
ـكend
مalone
مـstart
ـمـmiddle
ـمend
اalone
—start
—middle
ـاend
دalone
—start
—middle
ـدend
رalone
—start
—middle
ـرend
وalone
—start
—middle
ـوend
كِki+تَta+اā+بb
In كِتَاب the letter ا does not join forward, so the last letter ب starts fresh.Class activity
Take a sheet of paper. Copy the six words of the lesson, writing from right to left, one letter at a time. Leave a small gap after every letter that does not join (ا د ذ ر ز و). Say each word aloud when it is finished.
Practice
1
Does this letter join the letter that comes after it?
د
No. د is one of the six letters that do not join forward.
2
How many letters does the Arabic alphabet have?
28.
3
Write the six letters that do not join the next letter.
ا د ذ ر ز و
4
Listen. Do you hear kalb (dog) or kitāb (book)?
kalb: the word is كَلْب, “dog”.
5
Write “door” in Arabic and say it.
بَاب (bāb).