ع غ ف ق ك ل م ه and the lam-alif

The last eight letters

Eight letters complete the alphabet, and after this lesson you can read every Arabic letter. Two come from the throat: ع (ʿayn) is a voiced squeeze deep in the throat, as if you started to gag – no English sound is like it, and the Latin spelling marks it ʿ; غ (ghayn) is a gargled r, close to the French r. Its dot above is the only difference between them.

One stroke: a small open curve on top, then a big bowl below it.

The shape of ع, then one dot above.

ف (fāʾ, f) and ق (qāf) both start with a small round loop. ف has one dot and a flat tail along the line; ق has two dots and a deeper bowl below the line. ق is a k said far back, where you swallow – not the ك (kāf) of kite. ك is a tall letter with a little zigzag inside. ل (lām, l) is a tall stroke that hooks into a bowl, م (mīm, m) a small round head with a tail, and ه (hāʾ) a light h as in hat – not the breathy ح.

A small round loop, the flat tail along the line, then one dot above the loop.

The round loop, a deep bowl below the line, then two dots above, right one first.

The tall stroke down and along the line, then the little zigzag inside.

One stroke: tall and straight down, then a bowl that curves to the left.

One stroke: a small round head, then the tail straight down.

One stroke: a small closed loop, round like a little egg.

The letters that change the most

ع and غ open like a mouth at the start of a word (ﻋ), close into a small triangle in the middle (ﻌ) and keep a tail at the end. ه is the most changeable: a loop with an inner stroke at the start (ﻫ), two little eyes in the middle (ﻬ), and at the end a loop hanging from the joining line (ﻪ). ك at the start is a slanted stroke on a short stem: ﻛ.

ع at the start of a word: the open curve, joining to the left on the line.

ع in the middle: a small closed triangle sitting on the line.

ه at the start: a loop with a stroke inside it, joining on the left.

ه in the middle: two small eyes, one above the line and one below.

ه at the end: the joining line, then a loop rising from it and closing.

ك at the start: a short stem, then the slanted stroke on top.

Lam and alif become one sign

When ل is followed by ا, the two are never written side by side: they cross into one sign, ﻻ (lām-alif). You see it in لَا (lā, no). It is still two letters – you type ل and then ا, and the font draws ﻻ.

Two strokes that meet at the bottom: first the stroke on the right, then the one on the left.

وَلَد وَبِنْتa boy and a girl

قَلَم وَكِتَابa pen and a book