Some consonants existing in both English and Arabic:
/sh/ is pronounced as [sh] is in the English
word [shilling]
/th/ is pronounced as [th] is in the English
word [think]
/dh/ is pronounced as [zth] is in the English
word [that]
/r/ is a rolled r, not too different from
[road]
/h/ is similar to English /h/
Consonants existing only in Arabic:
As Arabic made up new consonants in order to borrow certain foreign words like
'vodka', 'Chevrolet', Nixon', some Arabic consonants do not exist in English.
/q/ is a type of k-sound, but pronounced
deep in the throat like the sound made by
the hen.
/kh/ similar to the [ch] in the German
family name /Bach/ or the Spanish /j/ in
/jabon/ or /abajo/.
/gh/ specific to Arabic, similar to a highly
expressed rolled r.
/ ' / , / has no similarity in Western
languages; it is a sound which starts deep
in the throat, actually at the base of it.
/Hh/ is a stressed /h/, but a pure /h/
Emphatic Letters:
/Dd/ is a stressed /d/, and when followed by
an /a/, the /a/ is pronounced as the /a/ in
/câr/
/Ss/ is a stressed /s/, and when followed by
an /a/, the /a/ is pronounced as the /a/ in
/câr/.
/Tt/ is a stressed /t/, and when followed by
an /a/, the /a/ is pronounced as the /a/ in
/câr/.
/Zz/ is a stressed /z/, and when followed
by an /a/, the /a/ is pronounced as the /a/ in
/câr/.
Just like you connect letters together when you write in the roman script, so you
will connect letters when you write Arabic. But, their shapes will change in order to
adjust to the writing of other letters depending on its position in the word.
There are four positions for the Arabic letters:
1. Standing alone.
2. As the first letter in a word (initial position).
3. Inside the word, between two other letters (medial position).
4. As the last letter in a word, joining to the letter in front (final position).
Most Arabic letters have the same shape as one, two or three other letters, but dots
are used to distinguish them from one another. If diacritics can be omitted, dots can
never be omitted for reasons of understanding. Note that even if
/nûn/
resembles in appearance to the letters
/bâ'/
,
/tâ'/
, and
/thâ'/
or even
/Zâ/
, it is still making up a group of its own.
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