have finished the body, place the dot below the letter as shown (you can associate the

sound b with the dot below the letter).

<:

-J

When followed by another letter, it connects to that letter by dropping the final hook: ~ . When writing this and other connecting dotted letters, you should place the dot more or less in vertical alignment with the initial tooth of the letter. The exact length of the body and placement of the dot may vary somewhat according to the style of the handwriting or print font; study the various styles you see and imitate the one that suits you .

Now write the first two letters of the alphabet joined together: L:a. to cross the
-!

Do not

pick up the pen

until you have finished writing the alif joined to it. Copy the example and

pronounce it aloud:

L
-

~I

<iJ

-CD

When ~ occurs in medial position, connecting segments link this letter to previous and following ones as shown. (This will become clearer when you learn a few more letters.) Copy the example:

sdgG)

Final '-:-'resembles the independent form with the final hook. This form may be illustrated by writing two '-:-''s together: ~. Copy the example: (
,,\)

..

Now you can write your first word in Arabic: ~~

door.

Practice writing this word by do

copying the example shown below, pronouncing it out loud as you write. Remember: not stop to dot the letters until you have finished the skeletal structure of the entire word.

taa
The third letter of the alphabet is pronounced like a clear, frontal English t. How many different ways do you pronounce t? Read the following list aloud the way you would normally pronounce the words when speaking:

bottle, teeth, automatic.

Of these words, of this

most American speakers pronounce the t in teeth farther forward in the mouth, against the back of the teeth. This is the correct position of the tongue for the pronunciation Arabic sound; do not confuse it with the flap of the tongue you use to produce automatic. Arabic ..:... must be pronounced with the tip of your tongue against your teeth, but without aspiration.' Since e, is a frontal letter, the vowel sounds surrounding it are frontal too; in particular, the alif and fatHa (short a) are pronounced like a in bad and e as in bet (not like a in father and u in but) .
lAspiration refers to the breathy sound often heard with t, p, and k. Light a match, hold it in front of your mouth, and say, Peter, Tom, and Kirk went to town. The flame will flicker each time you pronounce one of these letters. Arabic sounds do not have aspiration, so practice saying t and k with a lit match in front of your mouth until you can pronounce them without making the flame flicker.

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LISTENING EXERCISE

3.

LISTEN TO THE SOUND OF THE LETIER ..::.. AND REPEAT. PAY ATTENTION TO THE POSITION OF YOUR TONGUE AS YOU DO SO AND NOTICE THE FRONTAL QUALITY OF THE VOWELS.

LMJ

WRITING

LMJ

Watch Professor El-Shinnawi on your DVD as you read and write this section. This letter has the same shape as the '-:-" and is also a connector. Instead of one dot underneath, however, it is written with two dots above its body: .:::... (associate the sound t with two dots on top). In printed text, the two dots are separated, as you see. In handwriting, to write two dots quickly and you will see how this handwriting writing the independent e, by copying the example: form developed.) however, Practice they are often run together into a short horizontal bar (this depends on local practice). (Try

,-

<a) ~
~z:!)(i)

Practice writing e, in initial and medial positions by copying the word ~ Jjatub) shown: @.. ~

as

Ca '--.,

~,JC}\lJ

--1':"\

Practice writing e, in final position by copying the word ~

(bit):

r"

- 14 -

DRILL

2.

~
WRITE THE WORDS YOU HEAR ON DVD. CLICK ON EACH NUMBER AND LISTEN AS MANY TIMES

DICTATION.

AS NECESSARY.

1.

3.

5.
6.

2.

4.

tnaa
The fourth letter is pronounced like the first sound in three. Do not associate this Pronounce three and that out loud several sound with the English letters th, because the English spelling represents two quite distinct sounds, each of which has an Arabic equivalent. times and compare the way you pronounce them. The letter e, represents the sound in three, not the sound in that. Remember this by reminding yourself that this letter has three dots, and say three out loud before pronouncing or reading e, .
LISTENING EXERCISE

4.

~
AND THE SOUND 1H IN 1HAT (ARABIC

LISTEN TO THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SOUND ~ HEAR IT AND DISTINGUISH ONE FROM THE OTHER.

j)

UNTIL YOU CAN

NOTE ALSO THE FRONTAL QUALITY OF BOTH SOUNDS.

ok. /..:.....:..

DRILL

3.
THREE
AND

DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THE SOUNDS IN

THAT.

SAY THE FOLLOWING WORDS OUT LOUD AND OR TIiAT:

CLASSIFY THEM BELOW ACCORDING TO THE SOUND THEY CONTAIN, TIiREE

they although weather

THREE:

thumb think bother

teeth through theft

there brother then

throb together depth

thus thought rather

LISTENING EXERCISE

5.
ON THE DVD AND REPEAT.

LISTEN TO THE SOUND OF THE LETTER ~

- 15 -

WRITING

This letter is a connector, and is written just like '-:-'and iz, in all positions, except that it takes three dots above. In print, the three dots appear as you see in the box above, but in handwriting, the three dots are usually connected and written as a caret-shaped mark (which can be slightly rounded) as shown in the example below. Watch Professor El-Shinnawi on the DVD and practice writing and saying independent e, : 1'\

0)~
~d)(SJ

l.J

Copy and practice initial ~ in the male name ~L:a

(thaabit):

--

V~

Practice writing medial ~ in the word ,-,

/i -, (tathbut):
(

- ,,- >

Write final..:.... by copying the word ~

(tabuth):

1\

A4

--

- 16 -

DRILL

7. 1. 2.

DICTATION.

-iND

3.
4.

yaa
The long vowel <..? also functions as a consonant at the beginning of a word, or when preceded or followed by a vowel: it is pronounced into a and you will hear yourself say y.
LISTENING EXERCISE

like y in yes. Sayeeeeeeee and go right

7.

LISTEN TO WORDS CONTAINING

-iND

THE CONSONANT

<..? AND

REPEAT.

When <..? is preceded by a fatHa and followed by sukuun, it forms a diphthong alone may be written on <..? to indicate this diphthong,

that

is pronounced like ay as in say (or, if following emphatic letters, like i in like). The sukuun or the fatHa may be used, or both sukuun and fatHa. Thus there are three different ways of vocalizing the word ~

(house):

'

The sukuun alone can indicate these diphthongs because it can only occur on consonants, so if you see ~, you know that the letter is functioning precedes it. In this case, the vowel must be a fatHa .
LISTENING EXERCISE

as a consonant

and that a vowel

8.

LISTEN TO THE SOUND OF THE DIPHTHONG -'-

-iND

AND REPEAT.

~
DRILL

8.

DICTATION.

-iND

1.
2.

3.
4.

- 37-

DRILL

1. ~
1.

DICTATION.

5. 6. 7. 8.

2. 3. 4.

nuun
This letter represents the sound n as in noon.
LISTENING EXERCISE

2. ~ W

LISTEN AND READ ALOUD WORDS CONTAINING

WRITING

U-

w is a

connecting

letter whose shape resembles that of '-:-'in initial and medial of the dot. It differs from '-:-'in that the independent "tail" shape that dips well below the line. Watch

positions, except for the placement

and final forms of 0 take a characteristic back up across the line:

the DVD and practice drawing the shape of independent

w , making

sure to bring the tail

OGl_'
~

..

At the beginning or in the middle of a word, write L as you write ~ , but dot above rather than below the letter. Copy:

- 107 -

Read aloud and copy:

(I have)

i..?~

(prophet)

In final position, 0- begins with a tooth and then dips immediately into a deep tail below the line. Bring the tail back up across the line. Practice final 0 by copying these names: (male) ~l

. "'", o =t'!
o ~

",

0=0:1..-----------------------

. "'"I

-"0 ~

(female)

u~

.~

Read aloud and copy the following names (top line female, bottom line male):
d .
pI ,

q .,

~.)

- .-

,
.)~

DRILL

2.
AND CITIES:

READ ALOUD THESE NAMES OF COUNTRIES

. G...:sWI .. , _ _...>-A.
~.)
I I _

L .
~

~ :'J~

..d.)-,""=~
~~~

~'..r-b
'~G u

~'~-,i
.
o _ "0

u~l...LA1
~1 , _ ~~

_.)..J-A

- 108 -