TL;DR: A complete guide to the Arabic alphabet — names, shapes, sounds and examples for every letter, from alif (ا) to ya (ي).
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The Arabic alphabet consists of 28 letters, written from right to left. Arabic is an abjad: the alphabet primarily represents consonants, and short vowels are shown with optional diacritic marks (harakat) above or below the letters.
The 28 Arabic letters
| Letter | Name | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| ا | Alif | a / ā | أب (ab) — father |
| ب | Ba | b | بيت (bayt) — house |
| ت | Ta | t | تمر (tamr) — dates |
| ث | Tha | th (thin) | ثلاثة (thalatha) — three |
| ج | Jim | j | جمل (jamal) — camel |
| ح | Ha | h (emphatic) | حجر (hajar) — stone |
| خ | Kha | kh (loch) | خبز (khubz) — bread |
| د | Dal | d | دار (dar) — house |
| ذ | Dhal | dh (this) | ذهب (dhahab) — gold |
| ر | Ra | r (rolled) | رجل (rajul) — man |
| ز | Zay | z | زرافة (zarafa) — giraffe |
| س | Sin | s | سلام (salam) — peace |
| ش | Shin | sh | شمس (shams) — sun |
| ص | Sad | s (emphatic) | صحراء (sahra) — desert |
| ض | Dad | d (emphatic) | ضيف (dayf) — guest |
| ط | Ta | t (emphatic) | طائر (ta'ir) — bird |
| ظ | Dha | dh (emphatic) | ظل (zill) — shadow |
| ع | Ayn | ʻ (deep guttural) | عين (ayn) — eye |
| غ | Ghain | gh (French r) | غيمة (ghayma) — cloud |
| ف | Fa | f | فيلم (film) — film |
| ق | Qaf | q (deep k) | قمر (qamar) — moon |
| ك | Kaf | k | كتاب (kitab) — book |
| ل | Lam | l | ليل (layl) — night |
| م | Mim | m | ماء (ma) — water |
| ن | Nun | n | نجم (najm) — star |
| ه | Ha | h | هلال (hilal) — crescent |
| و | Waw | w / ū | وردة (warda) — rose |
| ي | Ya | y / ī | يد (yad) — hand |
Letter shapes: isolated, initial, medial and final
Arabic letters connect with each other, so every letter has up to four forms. For example ب appears as ب (isolated), بـ (initial), ـبـ (medial) and ـب (final). Six letters never connect to the following letter: ا د ذ ر ز و.
Practical exercises
Open the online Arabic keyboard and try typing salam (سلام), kitab (كتاب) and jamal (جمل). For pronunciation practice, use the alphabet table on the Arabic script page, then test yourself with the learning section.
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