Connecting Arabic Letters (2)

Connecting Arabic Letters (2) 

Connecting Arabic letters is the focus of this lesson, namely the last thirteen letters of the alphabet. In the previous lesson, you came to know how the first seventeen Arabic letters connect to other letters. You also learned that there are six letters that never join to letters that follow them. We call these letters semi-connecting letters, and they are ا, د, ذ, ر, ز, and و. In this lesson, you will learn how the remaining thirteen letters connect to each other.

In table (5) above, the first two letters are identical in shape. The dot over the second letter makes them two distinct sounds. Word-initially, they always connect to the subsequent letter. Word-medially, they connect to the preceding and following letter. Word-finally, they connect to the preceding letter.

Likewise, the last two letters are comparatively similar in shape. The number of dots over them makes them two separate sounds. At the beginning of the word, they always connect to the subsequent letter. In the middle of the word, they connect to the preceding and following letter. At the end of the word, they connect to the preceding letter.

With all these letters, remember the rule of semi-connecting letters mentioned in the previous lesson.

Looking at table (6) above, you can see that the letters have different shapes. Their shapes in a word change in order to easily connect to the following or preceding letter. Word-initially, they always connect to the subsequent letter. Word-medially, they connect to the preceding and following letter. Word-finally, they connect to the preceding letter. Remember, however, the rule of semi-connecting letters mentioned in the previous lesson.

The first letter in table (7) is a semi connecting letter. It only connects to the preceding letter. The second letter is hamzah, and it is the most difficult letter to write. It has around ten shapes in different positions of the word. In the main it needs a carrier, that is ٮـ، ـٮـ – ا ، ـا – و ، ـو – ى ، ـى, as you can see in the table (7). 

At the beginning of the word, we write the hamzah above or below the alif, i.e., أ or إ, as in the words أَخٌ ‘brother’ and إِذْنٌ ‘a permission.’

In the middle of the word, it has seven different shapes. The hamzah can be written on the line (i.e., without a carrier), that is ء, as in سَاءَتْ ‘it got worse.’ Also, it can be written over a nebra (i.e., ئـ or ـئـ), as in بِئْسَ ‘what a (bad) …!’ and سَائِقٌ ‘a driver.’ It can be written over a connecting alif (i.e., ـأ) or a non-connecting alif (i.e., أ), as in سَأَلَ ‘he asked’ and رَأْسٌ ‘a head.’ What’s more, it can be written over a connecting و (i.e., ـؤ) or a non-connecting و (i.e., ؤ), as in سُؤَال ‘a question’ and رُؤْيَةٌ ‘a vision’.

At the end of the word, it has six (or nine as triggered by diacritical marks) different shapes: on the line (i.e. ء), over or below alif which can be connecting or non-connecting (i.e., أ, إ – ـأ, ـإ) , at the end of the ى without dots (i.e., ئ, ـئ) which can be connecting or non-connecting to the preceding letter, and over the connecting or non-connecting و (i.e., ـؤ or ؤ).

The third letter in table (7) is the ي, and it has three shapes. Word-initially, it always connects to the subsequent letter. Word-medially, it connects to the preceding and following letter. Word-finally, it connects to the preceding letter. Remember, however, the rule of semi-connecting letters mentioned in the previous lesson.

The last letter is the maddah or alif madd, which a is a combination of alif and hamzah (i.e. أا → آ  ). Its shapes and writing is the same as the regular alif as in table (1) in the previous lesson. The only difference between the two is the maddah (~) sign.

Here are some illustrative examples:

عَـ  +  ـفَـ  +  ا  +  ف  =  عَفَاف

نُـ  +  ـكْـ  +  ـرَ  +  ا  +  ن =  نُكْرَان

وُ  +  جُـ  +  ـو  +  ه  =  وُجُوه

هُـ  +  ـمُـ  +  و  +  مُـ  + ـهُ  = هُمُومُهُ

يَـ  +  ـبْـ  +  ـد  +  أ  =  يَبْدَأ

مُـ  +  ـفَـ  +  ـا  +  جِـ  +  ـئ  =  مُفَاجِئ

مَـ  +  ـسَـ  +  ـا  +  ء  =  مَسَاء

In the next lesson, you will learn how to transliterate Arabic letters/sounds into the corresponding English sounds.