Right to left: ا ب ت ث ن و ي and the vowel signs

Right to left, in letters that join

Arabic is written and read from right to left: a line starts at the right edge of the page, and a book opens from the side you may think of as the back. Inside a word the letters join into one shape, as in handwriting – lesson 2 shows how. The 28 letters write the consonants and the long vowels; the short vowels are small signs above or below a letter. Everyday print leaves them out, but books for children and learners write them all, and so does this course: every Arabic word you read at this level carries all its signs. The Latin spelling in italics (bāb) is only a reading aid: a line over a vowel (ā ī ū) makes it long.

One straight stroke, from the top down.

ب, ت, ث and ن are one family: the same low bowl, told apart only by their dots. One dot below is ب (bāʾ, b); two dots above, ت (tāʾ, t); three dots above, ث (thāʾ, th as in think); one dot above a deeper, rounder bowl, ن (nūn, n). Write the body first, from right to left, then the dots. Two more letters do double work: و (wāw) is w or a long ū, and ي (yāʾ) is y or a long ī.

A flat bowl from right to left, its ends turned up, then one dot below the middle.

The same bowl, then two dots above: the right one first.

The same bowl again, then three dots above: two side by side, one on top.

A deeper, rounder bowl, then one dot above, in the middle.

One stroke: a small round head, then the tail curving down to the left.

An S-curve that ends in a wide bowl, then two dots below: the right one first.

Short vowels are small signs

A short vowel is not a letter but a small mark on the consonant it follows. Fatḥa, a short slanted stroke above the letter, is a: بَ (ba). Kasra, the same stroke below, is i: بِ (bi). Ḍamma, a tiny curl above, is u: بُ (bu). Read the consonant and its vowel together, as one syllable.

Fatḥa: one short stroke above the letter, slanting down to the left.

Kasra: the same short stroke, below the letter.

Ḍamma: a tiny curl above the letter, like a small و.

A long vowel is the short one plus a letter: ا after fatḥa gives ā, ي after kasra ī, و after ḍamma ū – بَاب (bāb, door), تِين (tīn, figs), تُوت (tūt, mulberries). With a vowel of their own, و and ي are consonants: وَ (wa). The fourth sign, sukūn, a small circle, says “no vowel here”: بِنْت (bint, girl). After fatḥa, يْ and وْ make the glides ay and aw: بَيْت (bayt, house), ثَوْب (thawb, robe).

Sukūn: a small circle above the letter, in one stroke.

بَيْت وَبَابa house and a door

تِين وَتُوتfigs and mulberries