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Arabic alphabet: letters and all their forms
Explore all 28 Arabic letters with their isolated, initial, medial, and final forms, transliteration, IPA, and joining behavior.
Read each Arabic form from right to left. The columns show isolated, initial, medial, and final shapes. Letters that join only to the previous letter cannot connect to the next letter on their left.
On smaller screens, scroll the table sideways to see every column.
| Letter | Name | Forms | DIN 31635 | IPA | Joins | Articulatory phonetics | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final | ||||||
| ا | alif | ا | ـا | ā | /aː/ | previous letter | long open unrounded vowel | ||
| ب | bāʾ | ب | بـ | ـبـ | ـب | b | /b/ | both sides | voiced bilabial plosive |
| ت | tāʾ | ت | تـ | ـتـ | ـت | t | /t/ | both sides | voiceless dental-alveolar plosive |
| ث | ṯāʾ | ث | ثـ | ـثـ | ـث | ṯ | /θ/ | both sides | voiceless dental fricative |
| ج | jīm | ج | جـ | ـجـ | ـج | ǧ | /dʒ/ | both sides | voiced postalveolar affricate |
| ح | ḥāʾ | ح | حـ | ـحـ | ـح | ḥ | /ħ/ | both sides | voiceless pharyngeal fricative |
| خ | ḫāʾ | خ | خـ | ـخـ | ـخ | ḫ | /x/ | both sides | voiceless velar fricative |
| د | dāl | د | ـد | d | /d/ | previous letter | voiced dental-alveolar plosive | ||
| ذ | ḏāl | ذ | ـذ | ḏ | /ð/ | previous letter | voiced dental fricative | ||
| ر | rāʾ | ر | ـر | r | /r/ | previous letter | voiced alveolar trill (often a tap) | ||
| ز | zāy | ز | ـز | z | /z/ | previous letter | voiced alveolar fricative | ||
| س | sīn | س | سـ | ـسـ | ـس | s | /s/ | both sides | voiceless alveolar fricative |
| ش | šīn | ش | شـ | ـشـ | ـش | š | /ʃ/ | both sides | voiceless postalveolar fricative |
| ص | ṣād | ص | صـ | ـصـ | ـص | ṣ | /sˤ/ | both sides | voiceless pharyngealized alveolar fricative |
| ض | ḍād | ض | ضـ | ـضـ | ـض | ḍ | /dˤ/ | both sides | voiced pharyngealized dental-alveolar plosive |
| ط | ṭāʾ | ط | طـ | ـطـ | ـط | ṭ | /tˤ/ | both sides | voiceless pharyngealized dental-alveolar plosive |
| ظ | ẓāʾ | ظ | ظـ | ـظـ | ـظ | ẓ | /ðˤ/ | both sides | voiced pharyngealized dental fricative |
| ع | ʿayn | ع | عـ | ـعـ | ـع | ʿ | /ʕ/ | both sides | voiced pharyngeal approximant or fricative |
| غ | ġayn | غ | غـ | ـغـ | ـغ | ġ | /ɣ/ | both sides | voiced velar fricative |
| ف | fāʾ | ف | فـ | ـفـ | ـف | f | /f/ | both sides | voiceless labiodental fricative |
| ق | qāf | ق | قـ | ـقـ | ـق | q | /q/ | both sides | voiceless uvular plosive |
| ك | kāf | ك | كـ | ـكـ | ـك | k | /k/ | both sides | voiceless velar plosive |
| ل | lām | ل | لـ | ـلـ | ـل | l | /l/ | both sides | voiced alveolar lateral approximant |
| م | mīm | م | مـ | ـمـ | ـم | m | /m/ | both sides | voiced bilabial nasal |
| ن | nūn | ن | نـ | ـنـ | ـن | n | /n/ | both sides | voiced alveolar nasal |
| ه | hāʾ | ه | هـ | ـهـ | ـه | h | /h/ | both sides | voiceless glottal fricative |
| و | wāw | و | ـو | w / ū | /w/ or /uː/ | previous letter | voiced labial-velar approximant; also a long close back rounded vowel | ||
| ي | yāʾ | ي | يـ | ـيـ | ـي | y / ī | /j/ or /iː/ | both sides | voiced palatal approximant; also a long close front unrounded vowel |
IPA is the International Phonetic Alphabet. The IPA column describes pronunciation; the transliteration column represents Arabic using Latin letters.
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