Hamza, madda and the article: sun and moon letters

Hamza: the catch in the throat

ء (hamza) is a consonant you already say without noticing: the little catch in the throat in the middle of uh-oh. The Latin spelling writes it ʾ. It stands alone, as at the end of مَاء (māʾ, water), or sits on a “seat”: on ا – above for a or u (أَب ʾab, father; أُمّ ʾumm, mother), below for i (إِلَى ʾilā, to); on و (سُؤَال suʾāl, question); on a dotless ي (بِئْر biʾr, a well). The vowels around the hamza choose the seat; at this level you only need to recognize it.

Hamza alone: one small hooked stroke, like a tiny ع head, sitting on the line.

First the alif, then the small hamza above it.

The alif, then the small hamza below it.

The و, then the small hamza above its head.

The body of ي without its dots, then the small hamza above.

آ (alif madda) is hamza + long ā written as one sign, an alif with a wavy line above: آخِر (ʾākhir, last). In a typed answer you may write a plain ا for أ, إ and آ – Arabic keyboards and everyday typing often do – but ء, ؤ and ئ must be typed as they are.

The alif, then a short wavy line across its top.

The article ال: sun and moon letters

“The” is ال (al-), written joined to its noun, and a noun with it takes no tanwin: قَمَرٌ “a moon”, الْقَمَرُ “the moon”. Its alif has no hamza: at the start you say a-, after a vowel it vanishes – وَالْقَمَرُ is wal-qamaru. Before 14 letters the l is said clearly: these are the moon letters, الْقَمَر (al-qamar). Before the other 14, the sun letters, the l is written but not said, and the next letter takes a shadda: الشَّمْس (ash-shams, the sun), النُّور (an-nūr, the light). The sun letters are the ones said with the tip of the tongue: ت ث د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ل ن.

الشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُthe sun and the moon

الرَّجُلُ فِي السُّوقِThe man is in the market.