Arabic Alphabet Explorer
Master the Arabic letters with authentic audio and bite‑size explanations. Track your progress as you listen. Non‑connecting letters are highlighted. Use search to quickly jump to a letter. Revisit any sound as often as you need—spaced repetition builds retention.
Progress
0 / 28 letters played at least once.
Groups
Boat shape (ب ت ث), Belly group (ج ح خ), Sliders (س ش), Emphatics (ص ض ط ظ), Deep throat (ع غ), Non‑connecting (ا د ذ ر ز و).
Tips
- Focus on dot patterns to distinguish similar shapes.
- Repeat each audio until you can mimic articulation.
- Group study accelerates recognition and recall.
Pronunciation Chart
| Letter | Name | Transliteration | Pronunciation Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ا | Alif أَلِفْ | a | Alif represents a glottal stop or a long "aa" sound when acting as a vowel carrier. It only connects from the right side. |
| ب | Ba بَاء | b | Ba is a voiced bilabial stop. It fully connects on both sides and forms the base "boat" shape used by related letters. |
| ت | Ta تَاء | t | Ta is an unaspirated voiceless alveolar stop. Shares the boat base; two dots on top distinguish it. |
| ث | Tha ثَاء | th (thin) | Tha is a voiceless dental fricative like English "th" in "thin". Three dots on top. |
| ج | Jim جِيم | j | Jim is a voiced palatal/post-alveolar sound (like soft g in "genre" or English j). Forms part of the belly group. |
| ح | Ha (Deep) حَاء | ḥ | A voiceless pharyngeal fricative. Strong breathy sound produced deep in throat; distinct from ه. |
| خ | Kha خَاء | kh | A voiceless velar fricative, like German "Bach". One dot above. Belly group. |
| د | Dal دَال | d | Voiced alveolar stop. Non-connecting letter (right only). |
| ذ | Dhal ذَال | dh (this) | Voiced dental fricative like "th" in "this". Non-connecting. |
| ر | Ra رَاء | r (flap) | Alveolar tap/flap similar to a quick Spanish r. Non-connecting. |
| ز | Zay زَاي | z | Voiced alveolar fricative. Non-connecting. |
| س | Sin سِين | s | Voiceless alveolar fricative. Part of the slider group. |
| ش | Shin شِين | sh | Voiceless postalveolar fricative. Slider group with three dots. |
| ص | Sad (Emphatic) صَاد | ṣ | Emphatic voiceless alveolar fricative with pharyngealized quality. |
| ض | Dad (Emphatic) ضَاد | ḍ | Emphatic voiced alveolar stop; unique to Arabic (the “language of ḍād”). |
| ط | Ta (Emphatic) طَاء | ṭ | Emphatic voiceless alveolar stop with pharyngealization. |
| ظ | Dha (Emphatic) ظَاء | ẓ | Emphatic voiced dental fricative like heavy “th” in “those”. |
| ع | Ayn عَيْن | ʿ | Voiced pharyngeal fricative; produced deep in throat. Distinct challenging sound. |
| غ | Ghayn غَيْن | gh | Voiced velar fricative similar to French “r” in some dialects. |
| ف | Fa فَاء | f | Voiceless labiodental fricative. Unique circular initial form compared to qaf. |
| ق | Qaf قَاف | q | Voiceless uvular stop; articulated further back than k. |
| ك | Kaf كَاف | k | Voiceless velar stop. Has a distinctive tall vertical initial shape. |
| ل | Lam لَام | l | Alveolar lateral approximant. Part of common “ال” definite article prefix. |
| م | Mim مِيم | m | Voiced bilabial nasal with closed circular initial shape. |
| ن | Nun نُون | n | Voiced alveolar nasal. Single dot above. |
| ه | Ha (Soft) هَاء | h | A soft voiceless glottal fricative like English h. Distinct from deep ح. |
| و | Waw وَاو | w | Approximant w sound; also serves as long vowel "ū". Non-connecting. |
| ي | Ya يَاء | y | Palatal approximant y sound; also long vowel "ī". |
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