Arabic Language Arabic Script and Pronunciation Syllabus

Arabic Script and Pronunciation syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Arabic Script and Pronunciation in Arabic Language, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   The Arabic Alphabet

   3 topics

   • The 28 Letters
   • Letter Forms by Position
   • Recognising Similar Letters
2. 2

   Writing the Script

   3 topics

   • Right-to-left writing direction
   • Joining letters into words
   • Handwriting styles
3. 3

   Vowels and Diacritics

   3 topics

   • Short Vowels (Harakat)
   • Long Vowels
   • Tanwin and Shadda
4. 4

   Special Letters and Symbols

   4 topics

   • Hamza and its seats
   • Ta marbuta
   • Alif maqsura
   • Alif madda and wasla
5. 5

   Pronunciation and Phonetics

   3 topics

   • Points of Articulation (Makharij)
   • Difficult sounds (ayn, ghayn, qaf, ha, dad)
   • Syllable structure and word stress
6. 6

   Numbers and Symbols

   3 topics

   • Arabic-Indic numerals (0-10)
   • Writing larger numbers
   • Punctuation marks in Arabic

Arabic Script and Pronunciation flashcards for Arabic Language

21 of 51 cards from the Arabic Script and Pronunciation deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. How many letters are in the Arabic alphabet?

   28 letters. All are consonants (though some also function as long vowels: alif, waw, and ya).

2. In which direction is Arabic written and read?

   Right to left (RTL). However, numerals within text are written left to right.

3. What are the four positional forms an Arabic letter can take?

   Isolated (standalone), initial (start of word), medial (middle), and final (end of word). The shape changes depending on position and connection to neighbours.

4. Which six Arabic letters are non-connectors (they never join to the letter that follows them)?

   Alif (ا), dal (د), dhal (ذ), ra (ر), zay (ز), and waw (و). After these letters, the next letter starts in its initial/isolated form.

5. What distinguishes the letters ب, ت, and ث from one another?

   They share the same basic tooth-shaped body but differ in dots: ba (ب) has one dot below, ta (ت) has two dots above, and tha (ث) has three dots above.

6. How are the letters ج, ح, and خ distinguished?

   They share the same shape; jim (ج) has one dot inside/below, ha (ح) has no dot, and kha (خ) has one dot above.

7. How do you distinguish ر (ra) from ز (zay)?

   They share the same curved shape; ra (ر) has no dot, while zay (ز) has a single dot above.

8. How are ص and ض, and ط and ظ, distinguished from each other?

   Sad (ص) has no dot and dad (ض) has one dot above; ta (ط) has no dot and za (ظ) has one dot above. Within each pair the shape is identical apart from the dot.

9. What are the three short vowels (harakat) in Arabic and their sounds?

   Fatha (a short 'a', a small stroke above), kasra (a short 'i', a small stroke below), and damma (a short 'u', a small waw-like mark above).

10. What is sukun and what does it indicate?

    Sukun is a small circle written above a letter indicating the absence of a vowel — the consonant is not followed by a vowel sound (a closed/silent-vowel consonant).

11. What are the three long vowels in Arabic and how are they formed?

    Long 'aa' formed by fatha + alif (ا), long 'ii' formed by kasra + ya (ي), and long 'uu' formed by damma + waw (و). Each long vowel is roughly double the duration of its short counterpart.

12. What is tanwin (nunation)?

    Tanwin is the doubling of a short vowel mark at the end of an indefinite noun to add a final 'n' sound: tanwin fath (-an), tanwin kasr (-in), and tanwin damm (-un).

13. What does the shadda (tashdid) diacritic indicate?

    Shadda is a small 'w'-shaped mark written above a letter indicating that the consonant is doubled (geminated), i.e. pronounced twice/held longer.

14. When shadda combines with a short vowel, where is the vowel mark placed?

    Fatha and damma are written above the shadda, while kasra is written below the shadda (or just below the letter). The shadda shows gemination and the vowel shows the following sound.

15. What is the hamza and what sound does it represent?

    The hamza (ء) represents a glottal stop — the catch in the throat, like the sound between vowels in 'uh-oh'. It is a full consonant in Arabic.

16. What determines the 'seat' (carrier) of the hamza?

    The seat depends on the surrounding vowels, following the strength order kasra > damma > fatha > sukun. Hamza sits on ya (nabra) for kasra, on waw for damma, on alif for fatha, and on the line (no seat) when strongest vowel is absent.

17. What is ta marbuta and how is it written and pronounced?

    Ta marbuta (ة) is the 'tied ta', written like a ha (ه) with two dots above. It appears only at the end of words (often marking feminine gender), pronounced as a soft 'h' when stopping, but as 't' when followed by a genitive/possessive connection.

18. What is alif maqsura and how does it differ from regular ya?

    Alif maqsura (ى) is a 'dotless ya' that appears only at the end of certain words and is pronounced as a long 'aa' sound, not as 'ii'. It differs from ya (ي) which carries two dots below.

19. What is alif madda and what does it represent?

    Alif madda (آ) is an alif with a wavy line (madda) on top. It represents a hamza followed by a long 'aa' sound (equivalent to two consecutive alifs/hamza + alif), pronounced as an elongated 'aa' beginning with a glottal stop.

20. What is hamzat al-wasl (alif wasla) and how does it behave?

    Hamzat al-wasl (ٱ) is a 'connecting hamza', an alif with a small sad (ص) mark. It is pronounced only at the start of an utterance; when preceded by another word it is elided (dropped) and the alif is skipped over in pronunciation.

21. What is the difference between hamzat al-qat' and hamzat al-wasl?

    Hamzat al-qat' (cutting hamza) is always pronounced as a glottal stop wherever it occurs. Hamzat al-wasl (connecting hamza) is only pronounced at the beginning of speech and is dropped when connected to a preceding word.

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