Arabic Reading Course Part-13

ARABIC ALPHABET- JOINED FORM

• The joining of the Arabic Alphabet can be a difficult subject to master. The reason for this is that the way a letter joins depends on:
• The letter being used (e.g.: /Alif/, /Baa/ etc.) as different rules apply to different letters.
• The position of the letter in the word (i.e. beginning, middle or end).
• Unique letters - i.e. there are 6 letters which do not join to any other letter (but can be joined to) - this is covered below.

• As there are so many different scenarios to remember, it is easier to remember the patterns. The table below shows every scenario, i.e.: how each letter will be written in the beginning, middle and end of a word as well as an example of its joined form and the shape of the letter by itself (as we learnt earlier).
• The most common patterns you will find below are:
• All letters are written in their full form if they occur at the end of a word, some may slightly change shape.
• Most letters do join to other letters in front of them, however, there are  six letters which do not join to any letter after them, these letters are:

و

ز

ر

ذ

د

ا

• There are groups of letters which have similar shapes in individual (i.e. as learnt earlier). These groups are also similar in joined form (e.g. /Bā’/, /Tā’/ and /Thā’/). The only difference in these letters is the number or positions of dots around the letter.

By Itself	Joined	End	Middle	Beginning	Letter
ا	ااا	ـا	ـا	ا	/Alif/
ب	ببب	ـب	ـبـ	بـ	/Bā’/
ت	تتت	ـت	ـتـ	تـ	/Tā’/
ث	ثثث	ـث	ـثـ	ثـ	/Thā’/
ج	ججج	ـج	ـجـ	جـ	/Ĵīm/
ح	ححح	ـح	ـحـ	حـ	/Ħā’/
خ	خخخ	ـخ	ـخـ	خـ	/Khâ’/
د	ددد	ـد	ـد	د	/Dāl/
ذ	ذذذ	ـذ	ـذ	ذ	/Dhāl/
ر	ررر	ـر	ـر	ر	/Râ’/
ز	ززز	ـز	ـز	ز	/Zāy/
س	سسس	ـس	ـسـ	سـ	/Sīn/
ش	ششش	ـش	ـشـ	شـ	/Shīn/
ص	صصص	ـص	ـصـ	صـ	/Ŝâd/
ض	ضضض	ـض	ـضـ	ضـ	/Đâd/
ط	ططط	ـط	ـطـ	طـ	/Ŧâ’/
ظ	ظظظ	ـظ	ـظـ	ظـ	/Dhâ’/
ع	ععع	ـع	ـعـ	عـ	/ξayn/
غ	غغغ	ـغ	ـغـ	غـ	/Ghayn/
ف	ففف	ـف	ـفـ	فـ	/Fā’/
ق	ققق	ـق	ـقـ	قـ	/Qâf/
ك	ككك	ـك	ـكـ	كـ	/Kāf/
ل	للل	ـل	ـلـ	لـ	/Lām/
م	مـمـم	ـم	ـمـ	مـ	/Mīm/
ن	ننن	ـن	ـنـ	نـ	/Nūn/
ه	ههه	ـه	ـهـ	هـ	/Hā’/
و	ووو	ـو	ـو	و	/Wāw/
ي	ييي	ـي	ـي	يـ	/Yā’/

• Whilst it is important to make an effort to look at the forms above, it is sometimes easier to look for the patterns rather than each individual letter. For example, the following groups of letters are very similar in their joined forms, in most cases the only difference is the position or number of dots used in the letters:
• /Bā’/, /Taa/ and /Thā’/
• /Ĵīm/, /Ha/ and /Khâ’/
• /Sīn/ and /Shīn/
• /Ŝâd/ and /Đâd/
• /Ŧâ’/ and /Dhâ’/

• Finally, to master the different forms of joining will take some time and it is important to practice writing whilst learning the Arabic language to become familiar with the script. This will come with practice In-Shā’-Allâh (God willing), so it is not necessary to have mastered all the letters joining forms before moving on. Please move on to the next lesson after you have familiarised yourself to a reasonable level of the joined forms above. In the next lesson we will use some examples to practice and familiarise ourselves with the joined form of letters In-Shā’-Allâh (God willing).