The Arabic Alphabet: Consonants

Name Isolated Initial Medial Final Transliteration Sound Pronunciation

long
'alif ‫ا‬ ‫ـا‬ '/ā
unrounded
low central
back vowel
'a' as in 'father'

Bā' ‫ـب ـبـ بـ ب‬ b

voiced
bilabial stop
'b' as in 'bed'

voiced
Tā' ‫ـت ـتـ تـ ت‬ t aspirated
stop
't' as in 'tent'

voiceless
Thā' ‫ـث ـثـ ثـ ث‬ th interdental
fricative
'th' as in 'think'

voiced
Jīm ‫ـج ـجـ جـ ج‬ j palatal
affricate
'j' as in 'jam'

voiceless
only in Arabic;
Ḥā' ‫ـح ـحـ حـ ح‬ ḥ
pharyngeal
constricted
fricative
a constricted
English 'h'

voiceless
Khā' ‫ـخ ـخـ خـ خ‬ kh velar
fricative
'ch' as in
German 'Bach'

Dāl ‫د‬ ‫ـد‬ d

voiced
dental stop
'd' as in 'deer'
(approx.)

voiced
Dhāl ‫ذ‬ ‫ـذ‬ dh interdental 'th' as in 'there'
fricative

Rā' ‫ر‬ ‫ـر‬ r

voiced
dental trill
'r' as in 'run'
(approx.)

voiced
Zāy ‫ز‬ ‫ـز‬ z dental
sibilant
'z' as in 'zoo'
(approx.)
 voiceless
Sīn ‫ـس ـسـ سـ س‬ s dental
sibilant
's' as in 'sit'

voiceless
Shīn ‫ـش ـشـ شـ ش‬ sh palatal
sibilant
'sh' as in 'shut'

the
counterpart
voiceless of Sῑn; all the
Ṣād ‫ـص ـصـ صـ ص‬ ṣ
post-dental 'emphatics' are
sibilant
emphatic
pronounced
with the back
of the tongue
slightly raised
voiced
the
Ḍād ‫ـض ـضـ ضـ ض‬ ḍ
post-dental
emphatic
stop
counterpart
of Dāl

voiceless
the
Ṭā' ‫ـط ـطـ طـ ط‬ ṭ
post-dental
emphatic
stop
counterpart
of Tā'

voiced
post- the
Ẓā' ‫ـظ ـظـ ظـ ظ‬ ẓ interdental
emphatic
counterpart
of Dhāl
fricative
purely Arabic -
- a constriction
of the throat
voiced
c
ayn ‫ـع ـعـ عـ ع‬ c pharyngeal
fricative
and an
expulsion of
the breath with
the vocal
cords vibrating
close to a
voiced
Ghayn ‫ـغ ـغـ غـ غ‬ gh uvular
fricative
French 'r' as in
'Paris' -- like a
gentle gargling
labio-dental
Fā' ‫ـف ـفـ فـ ف‬ f voiceless
fricative
'f' as in 'free'
 'k' in the back
voiceless of the throat;
Qāf ‫ـق ـقـ قـ ق‬ q unaspirated
uvular stop
compare
'cough' with
'calf'
voiceless
Kāf ‫ـك ـكـ كـ ك‬ k
aspirated
palatal or
velar stop
'k' as in 'king'

voiced
Lām ‫ـل ـلـ لـ ل‬ l dental
lateral
'l' as in 'lift'

voiced
Mīm ‫ـم ـمـ مـ م‬ m bilabial
nasal
'm' as in
'moon'

voiced
Nūn ‫ـن ـنـ نـ ن‬ n dental
nasal
'n' as in 'net'

voiceless
Hā' ‫ـه ـهـ هـ ه‬ h glottal
fricative
'h' as in
'house'

voiced
Wāw ‫و‬ ‫ـو‬ w bilabial
glide
'w' as in
'wonder'

voiced
Yā' ‫ـي ـيـ يـ ي‬ y palatal
glide
'y' as in
'yellow'

not a phoneme
in English but
Hamza ‫ء‬ '
voiceless
glottal stop
found in some
exclamations -
- e.g. 'oh-oh'