Arabic Alphabet Flashcards
ب
As in English, (B)
e.g., باب bab (door)
د
As in English, D e.g.
دايماً dāyman (always).
ذ
The English voiced th, as in they, wither. This sound is rarely heard in urban speech, where it is usually replaced by a -d or a -z.
thaki ذَكي = clever; intelligent.
ض
An emphatic d sound, pronounced with the tip of the tongue pressed against the upper teeth and the back of the tongue touching the palate,
e.g., ḍallet <ضَلّيت ( I stayed)
ف
As in English F,
e.g., فوت fũt! (come in!)
غ
To the English ear this sounds rather like a uvular Parisian r, or ġaza
produced when starting to gargle,
e.g., غ الي ġālĩ (dear, expensive).
ه هـ ـه
h As in English H. As in the hat.
In Arabic, however, a h sound can occur in final position,
bišhbah (he is similar), in which a h sound can clearly be heard at the end of the
word
ض
An emphatic d sound, pronounced with the tip of the tongue pressed against the upper teeth and the back of the tongue touching the palate,
e.g., ḍallet <ضَلّيت ( I stayed)
ف
As in English F,
e.g., فوت fũt! (come in!)
ح
A strongly emphatic h produced by expelling the air through a narrowed throat,
e.g., محل Maḥal (place, room). مرحبا Marḥba
خ
the ch sound of the Scots word loch, the Welsh bach or the German Nacht.
e.g.,
Ĥala
3amma
ج
In urban speech this is pronounced like the zh of Zhivago, the French j of joli,
Jacques, and the sound in the middle of the word pleasure. In rural speech it is
the same as the English j o f jump, jolly,^ e.g., jāb جاب il-jarĩde/a جَريدة (he brought the newspaper).
ك كـ
As in English k ,
e.g.,كَمان “kamān” = too
ل
this is the “clear” English 1 of words like lean, light and of French words like
ville. Occasionally the -1- may be emphatic, as in the word ’allah (Allah). This
emphatic 1 is pronounced like the “dark” English 1 of words like fall, milk.
م
as in english M
مين = who Men
