Of the 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet, we are going to talk about three letters today: Ba, Ta and Tha. Let’s get going on the Arabic alphabet in English!
This letter is the second one in the Arabic alphabet. In English, the letter B corresponds to the Arabic Ba. This letter is one of the first ones to be pronounced by babies when they call out their fathers.
Ba is written differently when in the initial, medial, final, or isolated form as follows:
As you can see, the letter Ba can connect to one side in the initial and final position, two sides in the medial, and none (separately) on the isolated.
| Initial | بطيخ | /bateekh/ | Watermelon |
| Medial | أسبوع | /osboo’/ | Week |
| Final | كلب | /kalb/ | Dog |
| Isolated | ألعاب | /al’aab/ | Toys |
To write this letter correctly, you place the pen on the starting position, make a curve similar to that of an egg-shape, twist inwards towards the end, and end it with a centred dot at the bottom.
See the following illustration of the letter Ba:
When it comes to diacritics, or otherwise known as /tashkeel/, it is very important for correct pronunciation purposes.
Let’s take a look at the four tashkeel’s fatha, damma, kasra, and sokoon for the letter Ba.
| fatha | بَطة | /batta/ | Duck |
| damma | بُندقية | /bunduqiya/ | Rifle |
| kasra | بِنطال | /bintal/ | Trousers |
| sokoon | كلبْ | /kalb/ | Dog |
Fun fact: Ba, Ta, and Tha are known to be triplet sisters which differ only their dots. One dot is placed for Ba at the bottom, two for Ta at the top, and three for Tha at the top as well. The difference in dot placements leads to a huge difference in pronunciation.
This letter is the third one in the Arabic alphabet. In English, the letter T corresponds to the Arabic Ta. Although it is very close in shape as its sister Ba, the letter turns the lip-based pronunciation of the Ba into a teeth-based one.
Ta is written differently when in the initial, medial, final, or isolated form as follows:
Similarly to Ba, the letter Ta can connect to one side in the initial and final position, two sides in the medial, and none (separately) on the isolated.
| Initial | تلة | /talla/ | Hill |
| Medial | كَتب | /kataba/ | (He) wrote |
| Final | كُتب | /kotob/ | Books |
| Isolated | بنت | /bint/ | Girl |
To write this letter correctly, you place the pen on the starting position, make a curve similar to that of an egg-shape, twist inwards towards the end, and end it with a two centred dots on the top.
See the following illustration of the letter Ta:
| fatha | تَمر | /tamir/ | Dates |
| damma | تُراب | /turab/ | Sand |
| kasra | إنتِظار | /intithar/ | Waiting |
| sokoon | متْر | /mitr/ | Meter |
Two down and one to go!
This letter is the fourth one in the Arabic alphabet. In English, the letter the sound /th/ as in “think” corresponds to the Arabic Tha. The third sister is different in pronunciation as it enforces the tongue right under the front teeth.
Here is Tha in the initial, medial, final, and isolated form:
Exactly the same as its sisters, the letter Tha can connect to one side in the initial and final position, two sides in the medial, and none (separately) on the isolated.
| Initial | ثعلب | /thaalab/ | Fox |
| Medial | أثاث | /athath / | Furniture |
| Final | يبحث | /yabhath/ | (He) looks |
| Isolated | ماموث | /mamooth/ | Mammoth |
To write this letter correctly, you place the pen on the starting position, make a curve similar to that of an egg-shape, twist inwards towards the end, and end it with a three centred dots on top.
See the following illustration of the letter Tha:
| fatha | ثَعلب | /thaalab/ | Fox |
| damma | ثُم | /thumma/ | Then |
| kasra | مثِيل | /matheel/ | Counterpart |
| sokoon | مثْل | /mithl/ | Like/For example |
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