4) Special letters

This lesson covers how letters are affected by vowels.

# Rule of Stopping

It is more natural in speech to dismiss ending vowels when stopping at a word (e.g: taking a breath, full stop, etc.). We may disregard this rule in lessons to clarify correct pronunciation.

The rule of stopping applies only to short vowels (Tashkeel) and Tanween; Long vowels (Alif, Waw, Yaa) will still be pronounced. Only exception is Tanweet FatH (اً), which is usually pronounced despite stopping.

Example1: قَلَمٌ جيّدٌ (A good pen)

Written as: "Qalamun Jayyedun", but naturally pronounced as "Qalamun Jayyed", since we stopped at "جيّدٌ" but continued on "قلم".

Example2: شُكراً جزيلاً (Thank you very much)

Pronounced: "Shukran Jazeelan" with suffix [an] pronounced on both words.

# Taa Marbuta (ة)

Taa Marbuta (meaning bound Taa) is just Taa (ت) and Haa (ة) joined together.

Taa Marbuta is pronounced Taa (ت) when its diacritic is pronounced, and as a Haa (ه) when its diacritic is dismissed. To remember this rule here is a mnemonic:

1. [H]alt: Haa ه
2. [T]anween or con[T]inue: Taa ت

Taa Marbuta (ـة) always comes at the end of nouns, and as a rule of thumb, most of these nouns are feminine. In the next lesson we will cover more about gender in Arabic.

# Practice

Check writing practice and reading practice for free practice flashcards.