Letters names are stated followed by the letter used to transliterate
into English between brackets. Letters are written in Arabic in the following
positions from right to left: standalone, initial, middle, terminal.
Sadh (S):
A heavy s. The difference between it and normal s is very clear in
MSA but almost aesthetic in dialects, so don't lose any sleep over it.
As a pointer it is a tad heavier than the s in son. New shape. Make sure
the curve in standalone and terminal goes below the line. Make sure you
make the "tooth" clear otherwise the letter is lost.
Dhadh (D):
Heavy D. similar to that in dumb, but not exactly. Lose as much sleep
over it as you lose over sadh. Arabic is called the language of Dhadh because
supposedly no other language has this sound, lucky all other languages.
Same shape as sadh
Ta' (T):
Heavy T. Again this is not easy to get at first but comes easily with
practice. Give this one more attention than the last two. New shape. Also
called Tah.
Za' (Z):
Heavy Z, slightly resembling thal. Try to get this one right because
most dialects keep it. Same shape as tah, you can also call it zah.
ayn (3):
Ummm, this one is very tough. There is no equivalent in English, and
none that I know in any European language. This letter exists in all Semitic
languages and almost all have softened it into an a. Arabic still preserves
the original voice quite honestly in all non-African dialects. If you don't
get this right you are unintellegible. The sound is like A gurgling or
voice, it is produced at the back of the throat and has a very distinct
none-a-like sound. New shape. Goes below the line in standalone or terminal.
Changes substantially in the middle.
ghayn (gh):
Very similar to the cliche French r, a bit similar to German r. You
have to get this one right and you have to distinguish between it and reh.
Same shape as 3ayn.
fa' (f):
Just a normal f. Make sure the whole thing stays above line even in
standalone and terminal. New shape. Also called feh.
qaph (q):
Another tough one, a q-like sound but more guttural, produced in the
throat. This must be pronounced correctly in MSA, in Egyptian and Lebanese
it becomes a glottal stop (look at hamza or aleph), in the maghreb it keeps
it's MSA form, elsewhere it becomes g as in guess. In some words
(Afriqia=Africa, qera'ah=writing, thaqafah=culture) it keeps it's original
voice everywhere and regardless of dialect. Similar shape to feh, but a
major difference is it goes deep below the line in standalone and terminal.
kaf (k):
Just a k, nothing fancy. Note the way it is written, terminal and standalone
are totally different from middle form. Keep it above the line at all times.
New and unique shape.
lam (l):
L, plain and simple. Goes below the line in terminal and standalone.
Similar to kaf but not entirely.
meem (m):
m, quite normal. Just note the final and standalone forms may or may
not fall below the line depending on how you feel about it (I always droop
it below the line, looks less childish). Unique shape.
Noon (n):
n, nothing weird. Very similar to beh, teh, theh except in standalone
and final it goes below the line.
ha' (h):
h, as normal as they come, but note it's shape changes significantly
according to position. This letter is very easy to confuse with teh marbootah,
even for native university graduates.
waw (w, or oo):
Like aleph, this is a double purpose letter. Sometimes it is a consonant,
a w sound. Sometimes it is a vowel, an oo-like sound. Drops below the line
all the time because it doesn't join on the left.
ya' (y, or ee):
The third and last of the double purpose letters. In consonant form
it is a y, in vowel form it is a long i, an ee. In final and standalone
make sure you add the dots below the letter at least as a begineer otherwise
you'd be confused (check special difficulties). Also called yeh.
lam-aleph (la):
Whether this is a letter or not depends on season, general mood, and
philosophical outlook. Seriously this is just a lam followed by an aleph,
as in la! Has two forms, never joins on the left (simply because aleph
never joins on the left).
hamzah (' or 2):
The sound you produce at the beginning of a word, e.g. enigma, got
it? The way this is written is extremely confusing even for natives, look
at special difficulties later.