Lesson (6): Moon and Sun Arabic Letters Pronunciation Classification

Sometimes the letter alif is followed by the letter lam to form the /?al/ pronunciation that are sometimes written and pronounced whereas sometimes are written but not pronounced according to the type of the letters (Alphabets) themselves either they are moon letters or sun letters. Consider the following Table:


Lunar Letters or /̛āl-huruf/ /̛a-qamaryah/ الحُرُوف القَمَرِية

Arabic Letter Name in Arabic Reading of the Arabic Letter Name in transliterated English Transcription of the Arabic Letter Pronunciation
أَلِف ̛ālif ā
بَاء bā̛ b
جِيم jim j
حَاء hā̛ h
خَاء khā̛ kh
عَينٍ عain ع̛
غَين ghain gh
فَاء fā̛ f
قَاف qāf q
كَاف kāf k
مِيم mim m
هَاء hā̛ h
وَاو wāw W(aw, au, u
يَاء yā̛ Y (ay, ai, ῑ
هَمزَة hamza ̛
Description:
- They are 14 letters.
- The sound /̛āl/ is clearly pronounced.

Solar Letters or /̛āl-huruf/ /ash-shamsyah/ الحُرُوف الشَمسِية

Arabic Letter Name in Arabic Reading of the Arabic Letter Name in transliterated English Transcription of the Arabic Letter Pronunciation
تَاء tā̛ t
ثَاء thā̛ th
دَال Dāl d
ذَال Zāl z
رَاء rā̛ r
زَاي Zāy z
سِين Sin s
شِين Shin sh
صَاد Sād s
ضَاد Dād d
طَاء tā̛ t
ظَاء ẓā̛ ẓ
لاَم Lām l
نُون Nun n
Description:
- They are 14 letters.
- The sound /̛āl/ is not clearly pronounced.

A note on Definiteness and Indefiniteness of Arabic:
Arabic is unique by its Definite and Indefinite cases. It has nothing that stands equivalent to Articles "a", "an" nor "The".

Definite Arabic Word

* Letters ālif and lām attached to any word.
* Like the Article "The" in English.
* For Example: The car السَيَارة /̛as-sayāra/

Indefinite Arabic Word

* Letters ālif and lām are dropped.
* Like the Article "A" and "An" in English.
* For Example: A Car سَيَارة /sayāra/ , An Apple تُفَاحة /tufāha/ .