In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Lesson 2 : Four Forms of the Arabic Alphabet

When forming words in Arabic, letters are joined with one another. Each word is a combination of letters which are attached to each other. Spaces are placed between the words in order to differentiate between them. This style is comparable to that of cursive script in the English language where there are no spaces between letters; there are spaces only between words. Each letter of the alphabet looks different when it stands alone as a letter, when it is the first letter of a connected set of letters, when it is somewhere in the middle of a connection, and when it appears at the end of a set of connected letters. The table below describes each situation for all of the letters. Notice there are 6 letters ( Alif, Waw, Daal, Dhaal, Raw and Zaa) that do not allow connections at their end. When we see these letters, we must be careful whether to assume that the word has ended or not.

Group #1 : Baa, Taa, Thaa, Nuun and Yaa : In this group you will notice that initial and medial shapes of Baa, Taa, Thaa, Nuun and Yaa are the same with the exception of the placement and number of dots with each letter.

Final	Medial	Initial	Isolated	Trans- literation
ببب	ببب	ببب	ب	Baa
ننن	ننن	ننن	ن	Nuun
ييي	ييي	ييي	ي	Yaa
تتت	تتت	تتت	ت	Taa
ثثث	ثثث	ثثث	ث	THaa

Group #2 : Faa and Qawf : In this group you will notice that initial and medial shapes of Faa and Qawf are almost the same as the group #1 with the exception of the circle.

ففف	ففف	ففف	ف	Faa
ققق	ققق	ققق	ق	Qawf

Remember to avoid common mistakes:

- One dot underneath is always ‘Baa’

- One dot on top (with no circle) is always ‘Nuun’

- One dot on top (with circle) is always ‘Faa’

- Two dots underneath is always ‘Yaa’

- Two dots on top (without circle) is always ‘Taa’

- Two dots on top (with circle) is always ‘Qawf’

What is the difference between Baa, Taa and Thaa?
What is the difference between Baa and Nuun?
What is the difference between Taa and Yaa?
What is the difference between Faa and Qawf?
What is the difference between Faa and Nuun?
What is the difference between Taa and Qawf?

Group #3 : Jeem, Haa and Khaw : In this group you will notice that initial and medial shapes of Jeem, Haa and Khaw are the same with the exception of the placement of one dot.

ججج	ججج	ججج	ج	Jeem
ححح	ححح	ححح	ح	Haa
خخخ	خخخ	خخخ	خ	KHaw

Remember to avoid common mistakes:

- One dot underneath is always ‘Jeem’

- ‘Ha’ is always without dot.

- One dot on top is always ‘Khaw’

What is the difference between Jeem and Khaw?
What is the difference between Jeem, Haa and Khaw ?

Group #4 : Seen, Sheen and Thaa : In this group you will notice that initial and medial shapes of Seen and Sheen are the same with the exception of the placement of three dots. The Letter Thaa and Sheen are the only two letters in Arabic alphabet that has three dots.

سسس	سسس	سسس	س	Seen
ششش	ششش	ششش	ش	SHeen
ثثث	ثثث	ثثث	ث	THaa

Remember to avoid common mistakes:

- Three teeth with no dot is always Seen.

- Three dots on three teeth is always Sheen

- Three dots on one teeth is always Thaa

What is the difference between Seen and Sheen?
What is the difference between Sheen and Thaa?

Group #5 : Sawd, Dawd, Taw and Zaw : In this group you will notice that initial and medial shapes of Saawd and Daawd, are the same with the exception of the placement of one dot and initial and medial shapes of Taaw and Thaaw are the same with the exception of the placement of one dot.

صصص	صصص	صصص	ص	Sawd
ضضض	ضضض	ضضض	ض	Dawd
ططط	ططط	ططط	ط	Taw
ظظظ	ظظظ	ظظظ	ظ	DHaw

What is the difference between Sawd and Dawd?
What is the difference between Taw and Zaw ?

Group #6 : ‘Ayn , Ghwyn and Hamzah : In this group you will notice that initial, medial and final shapes of A’yyn and Ghawyyn, are the same with the exception of the placement of one dot.

ععع	ععع	ععع	ع	A'yn
غغغ	غغغ	غغغ	غ	GHawyn

Remember that initial shape of this group looks like Hamzah, but it is not Hamzah. Medial and final shapes are different then initial shape like as upside down triangle.

What is the difference between ‘Ayn and Ghawyn?

Group #7 : Hamzah : Hamzah can be written in many ways,

a. It can be written by itself or

b. atop of Alif or

c. beneath of Alif or

d. atop of Wa or

e. atop of Ya.

It has very complicated rules of how to write it based on its location in the word and its movement.

Don't worry about these rules for now. You just need to know that if you see any of the following forms then it is actually hamzah.(أ) أ ، إ ، ـئـ، ء، ئ، ؤ

At that case Alif , Wa and Ya and other sign are the holder of hamzah.

ؤ ئ

ـئـئـ

إأ

Hamzah

What is the difference between ‘Ayn and Hamzah?

Group 8: In this group you will notice that initial, medial and final shapes of Meem and Haa, are not the same, but quite similar. Please try to remember the basic difference of the shapes of these two letters to avoid confusion.

ممم	ممم	ممم	م	Meem
ههه	ههه	ههه	ه	Haa

Meem and ‘Haa’ have many other forms. Make sure that you are familiar all different shapes of Haa and Meem

Group 9: TA Marbutawh: is not actual letters, but rather different orthographical shape for HA, which is also extension of the existing letters Ta. The letter (ت) has special treatment when written at the end of the word. There are 2 ways to write it, either ـت or ـة. For now, you don't need to know when to write each method. You only need to know that the second method (ـة) , when you are reading, if it is your last word that you pronounce then you read it as the letter (هـ), otherwise, your pronounce it (ت).

ةةـة

ةةة

Taa

If you stop on ta read it as Ha and if you continue your reading read it as Ta

Group #10 : Kaaf, Laam and Alif : In this group you will notice that initial and medial shapes of Laam are quite similar of the final shape of Alif. Most of the new readers mix up final shape of Alif with the initial and medial shapes of Laam.

ككك	ككك	ككك	ك	Kaaf
للل	للل	للل	ل	Laam
بتا	ااا	ااا	ا	Alif

There is a special character is called Laam Ailf ( لا ), which is combine form of Laam and Alif: The only compulsory ligature is Laam + Alif.

· (Isolated) Laam + Alif : لا

· (Final) Laam + Alif : بلا

· Laam Alif has no initial or Middle shape.

What is the difference between Kaaf and Laam?
What is the difference between Laam and Alif ?

Group #11 : Alif, Waw, Daal, Dhaal, Raw and Zaa :There are 6 letters ( Alif, Waw, Daal, Dhaal, Raw and Zaa) that do not allow connections at their end. When we see these letters, we must be careful whether to assume that the word has ended or not.

Letters of this group has the following characteristics:

i) If they are at the beginning of the word, then nothing can connect to them. Examples: ولد، رجل

ii) If they are preceded by any letter of Group (1) then they will connect to them. Examples: لو، قول،

iii) if they are not the first letter and they are preceded or followed by any letter of the same group, then they will not connect to them. Examples: مدرسة، رزق

ببا	ااا	ااا	ا	Alif
بتد	ددد	ددد	د	Daal
بتذ	ذذذ	ذذذ	ذ	DHaal
بتر	ررر	ررر	ر	Raw
بتز	ززز	ززز	ز	Zaa
بتو	ووو	ووو	و	Waw