ه, ك, م, ي
The letters written above are called (again from the right) Haa, Kaff, Miim, and Yaa.
- Haa (ه) makes the [h] sound like the first sound in "hat". It is never silent.
- Kaaf (ك) makes the [k] sound. This is almost the same as the 'k' in "kill" or the 'c' in "cap".[1]
- Mem (م) makes the [m] sound like the first sound in "mom".
- Yaa (ي) makes the [j] sound. This is not the normal English 'j' (as in 'jam'). It is like the 'j' in "fjord". In English this is usually written with the letter 'y'; [j] is the first sound in "you" and "yes".
The unique thing about ه (haa) is that in most styles of writing all its forms look different. Recall that every Arabic letter has 4 forms (usually only 2 significantly differing forms).
ReferencesEdit
Thrice | Twice | End | Middle | Start | Alone | Name | Phonetic |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ههه | هه | ـه | ـهـ | هـ | ه | Haa | [h] |
ككك | كك | ـك | ـكـ | كـ | ك | Kaaf | [k] |
ممم | مم | ـم | ـمـ | مـ | م | Mem | [m] |
ييي | يي | ـي | ـيـ | يـ | ي | Yaa | [j] |
ExercisesEdit
NotesEdit
- ↑ The only difference is that it is not aspirated. Normal English speakers can't tell the difference and it's unlikely Arabic speakers can either