Arabic
Alphabet: /ʻain/ ع
In today’s blog, we will discuss another
challenging and unique letter in Arabic. It is interesting how each language
has some letters that distinguish it from other languages, especially in terms
of pronunciation. One of the distinguishing Arabic letters will be brought out
today. After studying a few more letters in the Arabic alphabet, it's time to
move on to the letter ʻain.
The pronunciation of ʻain ع
is one of the most difficult to pronounce. And, it isn’t equivalent to any of the English
letters. However, in order to pronounce it
correctly, the letter ʻain
comes from a flap that moves toward
the back of the throat and creates a very narrow passage through which air
passes through it. It's not easy to pronounce but practice makes perfect. Also,
it is one of the guttural letters. The letter ʻain only functions as a consonant letter. You will find
everything you need about the letter ʻain in today's blog. How it looks
like, its shapes depending on its position in a word and some words with the
letter ʻain.
Before we start with the shapes of the letter ʻain,
we need to demonstrate an important note that states that the letter ʻain can
be connected from both sides. As shown below in the table. The second group (2nd
group) shows letters that can be connected from both sides. Some Arabic
letters can only be connected from the right side (1st group).
1st group: |
Connected from the right side |
أ\و\د\ذ\ر\ز |
2nd group: |
Connected from both sides |
ب\ت\ث\ج\ح\خ\س\ش\ص\ض\ط\ظ\ع\غ\ف\ق\ك\ل\م\ن\ه\ي |
The letter ʻain falls in the second
group. ʻain connects itself from both sides. So, let us get to know the
letter ʻain and give some Arabic words with ʻain after the video.
As shown in the video, this is the shape of the letter ʻain standing
alone. The form of the letter ʻain changes depending on where it appears
in a word. So, we can have it either at the beginning of the word (initial),
middle of the word (medial), or ending of the word (final). But firstly, notice
that the letter ʻain is easy to write and it
looks like an inverted 3. If it is standing alone, it looks like this “ع.” Now, let us get to know the different
shapes of the letter ʻain and give some Arabic words with ʻain.
The letter ʻain has 4 forms, depending on its position in the word
1. Initial (ع): When it comes at the beginning of a word:
It looks like a crescent moon followed by a straight line
As in: شبعـ /ʻushb/
which means Grass
Medial: 1) While being connected (ـعـ):
It looks like an upside-down triangle preceded and followed by straight lines
As in: ثعـبان /thuʻbaan/
which means Snake
2) While not being connected (عـ):
As in: جرعـة /jurʻah/ which means
Dose
Final: 1) While being connected (ـع):
Final connected 'ain looks like an
upside-down triangle linked to the English letter C.
As in: جامع /jaamiʻ/ which
means Mosque
2) While not being connected (ع):
Final disconnected 'ain looks like a tiny
crescent moon linked to the English letter C.
As in: شارع /shaariʻ/ which means Street
Cases |
Connected |
Disconnected |
Initial |
/ʻushb/ عـشب |
--------- |
Medial |
ثــعــبان /thuʻbaan/ |
جرعــة /jurʻah/ |
Final |
جـامــع /jaamiʻ/ |
شـارع /shaariʻ/ |
That was it for the letter ʻain; you can also
watch the video about the letter ʻain on our YouTube channel and listen
to how the letter ʻain is pronounced. Kaleela offers its users further
practice on both the website and the application, and it covers all the
material you require. Also, you can have the Arabic language listed and broken
down into levels and topics to make it easier for you to learn the language
gradually. We at Kaleela believe in creating and using a methodology such that
the learner receives all the information he requests. Starting with the Arabic
basics to advanced Arabic. Kaleela will guide you to master the Arabic
language. In a positive and enjoyable manner. The best approach to learn Arabic
is through downloading Kaleela. https://kaleela.page.link/bgs