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Learn Arabic letters and alphabet

The Arabic alphabet is the second most widely used writing system in the world, which is also known as the aliphatic, and the calligraphy with which each of the sounds is represented is considered an art. The system with which each letter is grouped, the pronunciation, and the way of reading each word are very different from the Spanish alphabet, hence it is one of the most complicated languages ​​to learn. However, its peculiarities make it one of the most interesting alphabets that exist.

Origin of the Arabic alphabet

It was the Phoenicians who created their alphabet around 3,000 years ago. From there arose a large part of the alphabets that are used today. The Phoenician alphabet was divided into several branches, one of which would give rise to Aramaic, and later to the Arabic alphabet. 

Therefore, the Arabic alphabet descends from Aramaic, which in turn evolved into the Nabataean alphabet. The Nabatean alphabet was the writing system that began to be used from the 2nd century BC and from there the Arabic alphabet was developed in the 4th century BC.

Currently, literary Arabic is closely linked to religion, specifically to the holy book for the Muslim religion: the Koran. The strong bond created between literary Arabic and the importance of the Koran served as a link for many peoples to adopt Arabic as a language. 

Characteristics of the Arabic alphabet

The Arabic alphabet consists of a total of 28 consonant sounds and only 3 vowels that are used in two modes: short and long. It also lacks the letters p and g  and is not capitalized.

The representation of each of the letters in Arabic and its variation to represent one sound or another is made from the same stroke to which small dots are added or removed. Thus, a letter represents a sound, and adding a dot above it, inside the letter or below, will represent a completely different sound.

On the other hand, the letters can have different positions, specifically four. Each letter will be written differently if it goes to the beginning of the word, the centre, the end, or if it is a single word.

Another of the particularities of this alphabet is that it lacks vowels, however, they are sometimes necessary and for this, they resort to the representation of small lines that are placed below or above the letter, although they are only used on rare occasions.

An interesting aspect of the Arabic alphabet to highlight is that it is written and read from right to left (except for the numbers, which are interpreted in the opposite order). 

Vowels

As regards the vowels, only three are distinguished: a, I, u. Originally they were three consonants, that’s why it is said that the Arabic alphabet lacks vowels, although today they are used as long vowels equivalent to two vowels together: aa, ii, uu.

SHORT VOWELS

  • Fatha ( ) is placed a small score above. It reads a  short
  • Kasra  (  ) is a small line placed under the letter. It reads I cuts
  • Damma  ( ) is a small point placed on the letter. It reads u brief

LONG VOWELS

  •  Alif (ا): a prolonged (aa)
  •  Waaw (و): prolonged i (ii)
  •  Yaa (ي) or prolonged (uu)

Consonants

Álif (ا): Does not have a certain sound

Ba ‘ (ب): It reads like the letter b in clay

Ta ‘ (ت): Sounds like the Spanish t in tying

Tha ‘ (ث): Sounds like the Spanish z  sound in skimming  or ozone

Ğim or Ŷim (ج): Sounds like the French j  

Ḥa ‘ (ح): Represents a sound that does not exist in Spanish, and to pronounce it, an aspiration is made in the pharynx

Ḫa ‘ (خ): Represents the sound of the letter j from Spanish in Juan, Jorge or Jaime

Dal (د): Represents the sound d Spanish at the beginning of a word, as in the first d of finger

DAL (ذ): Represents the sound equal to that of the second d of a finger in Castilian

Ra ‘ (ر): Represents the soft r sound on the face 

 

Zay (ز): Same as the previous one but with a dot above it. Its sound is that of a sonorous s like the one that sounds in the word from in its Spanish pronunciation

Sin (س): Represents the sound of s

Shin (ش): Represents the sound of Catalan x or English sh

Ṣad (ص): It is a sound similar to s but pronounced in a special way, which is called emphatic

Ḍad (ض): It is an emphatic d

Ṭa ‘ (ط): It is an emphatic and deaf t

Ẓa ‘ (ظ): It is an emphatic d

ʿAyn (ع): Has no equivalent in any European language

Ġayn (غ): There is no such sound in Spanish although it resembles the French r

Fa ‘ (ف): Sounds like f

Qaf (ق): It could approach a Castilian hard c

Kaf (ك): C sound at home

Lam (ل): Represents the sound l

Mim (م): Sound m

Nun (ن): Sound n

Ha ‘ (ه): Smooth aspirated sound, such as the pronunciation of j in areas of southern Spain

 

Waw (و): Represents a semivowel like u in bone; can be used to denote a long u  vowel

Ya ‘ (ي): Represents a semivowel like I in iron (avoiding pronouncing it as and Castilian); as a vowel, denotes long i

Learn the Arabic letters and Alphabets

The Arabic letters in order (Arabic: أَلْأَبْجَدِيَّة ٱلْعَرَبِيَّة‎, al-ʾabjadīyaḧ l-ʿarabīyah or أَلْحُرُوف ٱلْعَرَبِيَّة, al-ḥurūf l-ʿarabīyaḧ), or Arabic abjad, is the Arabic content as it is arranged for composing Arabic, It has 28 letters Most letters have logical letterforms. 

The Arabic letter set is viewed as an abjad, which means it just uses consonants; however, it is currently viewed as an “unclean abjad”. As with other debased abjads, for example, the Hebrew letter set, copyists later conceived methods for demonstrating vowel sounds by discrete vowel diacritics. 

Yet, don’t let that stress you! 

The Arabic letters in order are in reality significantly simpler to learn than you may suspect. 

It will take some training yet if you comprehend a couple of the nuts and bolts, you’ll find how basic it truly is. 

An Overview of Writing Arabic Letters 

The Arabic letter set doesn’t utilize upper or lowercase letters as we find in the Latin letter set. In any case, each letter (with a couple of exemptions) can be composed contrastingly dependent on its area in a word. There are four structures that each letter can take: 

Beginning (toward the beginning) 

Average (in the center) 

Last (toward the end) 

Confined (without anyone else) 

At the point when you write in Arabic, it’s regularly done in a cursive/content structure, implying that practically all the letters are associated and stream into one another. 

The four unique shapes exist to make it simpler for that stream to occur. It might seem like a long way to go; however, once you get its hang, you’ll perceive how simple it is. The underlying and average shapes will, in general, be fundamentally the same as and the disconnection and last shapes look like each other reasonably intently, so it’s very simple to get familiar with the shapes and figure out how to associate the letters in various words. 

Methods to Master 

There are a couple of systems for composing the letter set in Arabic that can speed your learning procedure: 

Compose smoothly 

 Writing Arabic requires a smooth association starting with one letter then onto the next, and that implies a smooth and liquid composing style. Work on composing letters and words without lifting the pen. Simply continue moving starting with one letter then onto the next without interference. 

Legitimate structure

 You can improve the ease of your composition by holding the pen readily available for better control. This can likewise help improve your control of the better subtleties of each letter. 

Composing from right to left

 This is typically the greatest change for individuals who are acquainted with the Latin letter set and will require the most practice. Work on pushing the pen from the correct side to one side (or the other way around in case you’re left given) and begin growing new muscle memory.

Practice Each Letter 

Capability originates from redundancy. In this way, the most ideal approach to make the Arabic letter set your own is to contribute time rehearsing the state of each letter again and again. This will build up the essential muscle memory to compose each letter without considering it. 

As you follow the examples for each letter, utilize the best possible stroke request, doing whatever it takes not to lift your pen while composing. This will assist you with becoming accustomed to the content style composing that is vital with the letters in order. 

 

Start with the essential shape and complete the strokes that are for the most part together. At that point place any extra dabs or strokes. Much the same as the strokes, these additional spots and lines ought to be put from right to left. The subsequent stage is to begin integrating the letters to make words. Work on utilizing each letter in various situations in various words so you become accustomed to utilizing each structure. 

Is this time vital? 

Doesn’t everybody simply utilize Arabic consoles to work things out? 

All things considered, yes. When you’ve remembered the letters in order, you could simply compose your words with a console. Be that as it may, composing each letter as you learn them will assist you with disguising the letter set substantially more – which will be significantly increasingly gainful over the long haul. 

Building a Strong Language Foundation and the time required for learning: 

At the point when you begin figuring out how to compose the Arabic letter set at an opportune time, it can help your general Arabic language abilities, as well. 

Indeed, you could begin figuring out how to communicate in Arabic by utilizing the phonetic sounds in the letters in the order you know. In any case, on the off chance that you truly need to begin grasping the language, figuring out how to compose the words in Arabic as you gain proficiency with another jargon can be advantageous. The Arabic letters in order are very easy to learn, as long as you have a devoted educator in that spot to help you through the entire procedure. 

Learning Arabic can be hard and it will require a ton of devotion and standard examination, much the same as some other language. If you need to learn Arabic rapidly, you should realize that it will, in any case, take a little while, or truly, months, to do as such. 

To truly figure out how to peruse and write in Arabic, you’ll have to concentrate consistently, until your cerebrum is submerged in Arabic culture. The more you study, learn new words in Arabic and give them a shot, the more the language will, in the end, become natural. 

The most significant thing is that you give yourself a set time to examine Arabic consistently. Regardless of whether it’s Arabic words, Arabic expressions, or Arabic letters, as a fledgling, each second of inundation in the Arabic language is important. 

Suggested Books 

For the more conventional language students, you can learn Arabic with books or reading material. For a couple of models, see underneath: 

‘Acing Arabic 1’ by Jane Wightwick and Mahmoud Gaafar 

‘Current Standard Arabic Grammar: A Learner’s Guide’ by Mohammad T. Alhawary 

‘Familiar with 3 Months’ by Benny Lewis 

Some more useful books

 “Alif Baa” 

 The “Al-Kitaab” Series 

 The “Ahlan wa Sahlan” Series 

 “Arabic Verbs and Essentials of Grammar” 

 “Media Arabic” 

“Propelled Media Arabic”

 

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_alphabet

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