Learn to Read Arabic!

Maybe you can make the font bigger for Arabic? It comes out looking really tiny.

Lesson 2 - The Vowels

There are six vowels in the Arabic alphabet; three of them are short and the other three are long.

Short vowels

The three short vowels are: fathhah ( َ ) (written on top of the Arabic letter), Kasra ( ِ ) (written beneath the Arabic letter), and damma ( ُ ) (written on top of the Arabic letter).

1. The Fathhah ( َ ) = ( “a” ) َ

This mark ( َ ) written on top of the Arabic letter is called fathhah and stands for short (a). This vowel is pronounced as the “a” in “apple” (British pronunciation) or the u in “up” (American pronunciation).

Example: Ja = جَ , Ba = بَ

Letters + fathha equal the following sounds:

Aa - أ َ
Ba - بَ
Ta - تَ
Tha - ثَ
Ja - جَ
Ha - حَ
Kha - خَ
Da - دَ
Dha - ذ َ
Ra - رَ
Za - زَ
Sa - سَ
Sha - شَ
Sa - صَ
Da - ضَ
Ta - ط َ
Za - ظ َ
‘Aa - ع َ
Gha - غ َ
Fa - فَ
Qa - قَ
Ka - كَ
La - لَ
Ma - مَ
Na - نَ
Wa - وَ
Ha - هَ
Aa – ءَ
Ya - يَ
Ya - َ ے


Note: the Arabic letters with vowels may be learnt by spellings as:
Baa fathhah = Ba ( بَ )
Jeem fathhah = Ja ( جَ )
Daal fathhah = Da ( دَ )

Exercise:

Read & Spell
يَ
لَ
ع َ
دَ
كَ
شَ
أ َ
ءَ
خَ
ط َ

For best results learn each lesson before moving on to the next one!

Lesson 2 part 2 -- The Kasra ( ِ ) = i

This mark ( ), which is written below the Arabic letter is called Kasrah. The kasrah stands for short “i” and is pronounced as the i in “tin.”

Example:
Ji = ج ِ
Bi = بِ



Ie - اِ
Bi - بِ
Ti - تِ
Thi - ثِ
Ji - ج ِ
Hi - ح ِ
Khi - خ ِ
Di - دِ
Dhi - ذِ
Ri - رِ
Zi - زِ
Si - س ِ
Shi - ش ِ
Si - ص ِ
Di - ض ِ
Ti - طِ
Zi - ظِ
Ie - ع ِ
Ghi - غ ِ
Fi - فِ
Qi - ق ِ
Ki - كِ
Li - ل ِ
Mi - م ِ
Ni - ن ِ
Wi - وِ
Hi - هِ
Ie - ءِ
Ye - ي ِ
Ye - ے ِ


Note: the Arabic letters with vowels may be learnt by spellings as:
Baa kasrah bi ( بِ )
Jeem kasrah ji ( ج ِ )
Daal kasrah di ( دِ )



Exercise: Read & Spell



ج ِ
ص ِ
زِ
دِ
اِ

ش ِ
طِ
فِ
كِ
ل ِ

م ِ
ن ِ
وِ
ءِ
ے ِ



For best results learn each lesson before moving on to the next one!

(note: in some of the above letters, the kasrah hasn’t come beneath the letter. It should be beneath the letter, like in اِ .)