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Arabic Alphabet Basics

Letters, shapes and sounds

28 letters, written right to left

Arabic has 28 letters and is written from right to left. Most letters connect to the next; six (ا د ذ ر ز و) never connect on their left.

💬 Examples
ا ب ت ث
alif baa taa thaa
alif, baa, taa, thaa
📝 First four letters of the alphabet
د ذ ر ز
daal dhaal raa zaay
daal, dhaal, raa, zaay
📝 Four of the non-connecting letters
Letters change shape by position

Each letter has up to four forms: isolated, initial, medial and final, depending on where it sits in the word.

📊 Forms of selected letters
Letter Isolated Initial Medial Final
baa ب بـ ـبـ ـب
taa ت تـ ـتـ ـت
meem م مـ ـمـ ـم
💬 Examples
بـ ـبـ ـب
ba
initial, medial, final baa
📝 The letter baa in three connected positions
كتب
kataba
he wrote
📝 Three connected letters forming one word
Short vowels are diacritics

Short vowels (fatha, kasra, damma) are small marks above or below letters and are usually left out in everyday text.

💬 Examples
بَ بِ بُ
ba bi bu
ba, bi, bu
📝 fatha (a), kasra (i), damma (u)
كَتَبَ
kataba
he wrote
📝 Same word fully voweled