Waaw/Yaa/Fatha/Damma/Kasra/Jiim/Haa/Khaa

Overview of Last Saturday's Lesson:

Waaw = One of three long vowels in the Arabic language, Waaw has, like all other letters, four versions; Independent, Initial, Medial, and Final.  Like the alif, the two first versions (Independent and Initial) are identical and the last two versions (Medial and Final) are identical.  Also like the alif, this letter is NOT A CONNECTING LETTER.  Ergo, if you see, for example, a baa following the waaw, you are not going to connect the two.  It is connected to all of the letters preceding it (to the right) but not to the letters following it (to the left).  Any letter following the waaw will either be in its independent or intial form, depending on whether or not anything follows THAT letter.  The sound for the waaw is a long oo.  Like the alif, it is stretched as long as is practical, rather like taffy.

Yaa = The last long vowel in the Arabic alphabet, Yaa has, like all other letters, four versions.  Unlike the other two long vowels, this letter has varying shapes.  The Independent and Final shapes are similar, but not identical, and the Initial and Medial forms are identical to baa/taa/thaa except with two dots below the line.  Also unlike the other two vowels, the yaa IS A CONNECTING LETTER.  Therefore, if you saw a taa following the yaa, you would connect the two rather than having the last letter be an independent letter or an initial.  It is connected to all the letters preceding and all the letters following it.  Obviously, if there are two different words, you're not going to see them connected.  This is just within the limits of any given word.  The sound for the yaa is a long ee.  Like the other vowels, it is stretched as long as is practical, rather like taffy.

There are three short vowels which correspond to the three long vowels.  The first short vowel, which corresponds to the alif, is called fatha (pronounced faht-ha).  The shape for this short vowel is merely a small slash.  It will appear over the preceding consonant.  Because this vowel appears ABOVE the word and not in/amongst it, it does not have four different versions.  When writing a word which includes this short vowel, you will first write all of the other consonants and long vowels and then write the slash over the consonant it follows.  If I were to write a nonsense word, like 'thab', I would first write my thaa and baa (being careful to use the initial form of thaa and connect it to the final form of baa) and then write a small slash above the thaa.  The sound for the fatha is a short, crisp 'a'.

The short vowel that corresponds to the waaw is called damma (pronounced with emphasis on the double 'm').  The shape for this short vowel is a tiny waaw written above the preceding consonant, just like fatha.  The rules for fatha apply to damma as well.  The sound for the damma is a short 'u' or 'o'.

The short vowel that corresponds to the yaa is called kasra (pronounced kes-ra).  This short vowel is constrained to the same rules as all of the other vowels, and the shape is a small slash written BELOW the preceding consonant.  Be careful with your fathas and kasras - if mixed, they will produce interesting and possibly offensive words.  Consider yourselves warned.

We also had time to skim over the second group of consonants.  It includes three letters of similar shape, the difference (as with baa/taa/thaa) lying in the dots.  The jiim is a connecting letter and has one dot (in the middle for the independent and final shapes, below the line for the initial and medial).  The sound for the jiim is 'j' as in 'job', though it will change with dialect.  In Iraq, the sound is 'j' as in 'job', in Lebanon the sound is 'j' as in 'deja vu', and in Egypt the sound is 'g' as in 'ground'.

The haa is a connecting letter with the same shape as the jiim, but with no dots at all.  The sound for the haa is difficult for English speakers because it uses deep throat muscles that we have not been trained to use.  It is similar to an 'h', but is pronounced deeper, almost in the chest.  The sound for this letter does not change with dialect.

The khaa is a connecting letter, sharing its shape with jiim and haa, the dot appearing above it in all of its forms.  The sound for the khaa is unfamiliar to English speakers because we have few or no words that utilize this sound.  I'm finding it difficult to describe this sound, so I'll repeat it in class for those of you who are interested.  This sound does not change (so far as I know) with dialect.

There's a basic overview of what we went over last Saturday - I'll review it next Saturday in class for  those who weren't able to attend the last class.

Thanks, all!

ummmmm...

Alif/Baa/Taa/Thaa

Hokay, Arabic students, this is a summary of what we learned last Saturday in class.  It may or may not help you in your review.

All Arabic letters have four forms.  The use of each form depends on the letter's placement in any given word.  The first form is called the 'independent' form.  This form is used when the letter follows another letter that is not connecting and nothing comes after it.  For example, if a 'baa' comes after an 'alif', with nothing following the 'baa', we will use the independent form because it is (wonder of wonders) INDEPENDENT, or by itself.

The second form is called the 'initial' form.  This form is used when the letter in question is at the beginning of the word.  Even if this letter is a non-connecting letter, the initial form will be used.  This isn't an issue because the independent and initial forms of non-connecting letters are generally the same, so even if you wanted to use an independent (which you shouldn't and WOULDN'T) it wouldn't make a difference.

The third form is called the 'medial' form.  As this title suggests, you use this form when the letter in question is in the middle of a word or between two other letters. 

The fourth form is the 'final' form.  You use it when the letter in question appears at the end of a word.  BE CAREFUL.  If you have a connecting letter following a non-connecting letter at the END of a word, you're going to use the independent form, not the final.  The final form of the letter is only used when it is the last letter in a word and when it follows a CONNECTING LETTER.

Arabic has three vowels, all of them long.  The first of these is the ALIF.  The alif is NOT a connecting letter.  The independent form is written as a straight line, starting at the top and drawing it down to the bottom, not bottom-to-top.  The initial is the same as the independent.  The medial form is an 'L' shape, starting from the right and going across in a westerly direction before heading due north in the typical 'alif' shape.  The final form is the same as the medial.

In the Arabic alphabet, the 25 consonants are divided into groups depending on shape.  The first group, consisting of 'baa', 'taa', and 'thaa', includes three letters that are all the same shape in each form, the difference lying with the dots.  In the independent form of these letters, a hook is formed on the right, drawn down into a straight line, and then finished with another hook.  The initial form is like a small backwards 'L' (not as tall as the medial and final alif - about half the height at the highest point), starting from the top and going down to the left.  The medial form is a line drawn from right to left, comes up into a tooth and then back down in a continuing line.  The final form is just like the medial, except it finishes off with a hook to close it.

The 'baa' has one dot above each of the forms, the 'taa' has two (think 'T'aa 'T'wo 'T'op) above each form, and the 'thaa' has three above each form (think 'Th'aa 'Th'ree).  The sound of the baa is like a 'b' in English, as in 'bat' or 'boy'.  The taa sounds like a 't' in English, as in 'two' or 'tight'.  The thaa sounds like a hard 'th' sound, as in 'three' or 'thanks', rather than 'the' or 'though'.  All of these letters are connecting characters, meaning they connect to the letter preceding and following (if there is a following letter). 

It is very important that all of you pay close attention to the connecting letters and the non-connecting letters.  If you connect the alif, for example, with the letter following it (the one on the left side of it - remember that we're reading right to left!) it will become a different letter entirely and will change both the sound AND THE MEANING of the word.

Some vocab:

Thank you = shukran

You're welcome = afwaen (pronunciation on this is pretty much objective...'ahfwahn' 'afwan' 'ahfwan' and 'afwahn' are all acceptable)

Hello and welcome! = ahlan wa sahlan (pronounced as though there is another short vowel between the 'h's' and the 'l's')

Hello!  = ahlan

Hello! (optional response - 'ahlan' is also acceptable) = ahlan biik(i) ('i' makes it feminine, so make sure you don't say 'ahlan biiki' to a guy or 'ahlan biik' to a girl.  This would be equivalent to saying, "Hey, girlfriend!"  to a man or vice versa.  *Cringe*)

How are you? = kayf halak/halek?  OR kayf al hal (halak=speaking to a man / halek=speaking to a girl)

I'm fine.  How are you? = bekhair al hamdu lillaah.  Wa inta/inte?  OR  bekhair.  Wa inta/inte? (Masc. = inta Fem. = inte.  Also, be careful with pronunciation.  The 'kh' is not like 'h'.  It's gutteral.)

Goodbye = ma'a elsalaama