Alphabets in Arabic

اَلبَابُ الاوَلُ

The Alphabet

Arabic is written from right to left. The script , which has been adopted and adapted from many languages spoken by muslim nations , is cursive , and there is no separate printed form of the letters as there is in European languages .  Two methods of writing are common : the naskh  نسخor naskhi  نسخىnormally used in print ,  and the ruqعah رقعة .  The beginner is advised to use the naskh as exemplified in this writing .

The  alphabet (  هجَاء ) consists  of 28 letters (  حرف  harf    حروفpl huruf ) 29 if hamza is counted  as a separate letter ) which are all consonants ; three of them , however  اalif ,   و waw and ي  ya ,  are also used  as long vowels or diphthongs . The following table shows the various forms of the letters .  While this indicates variants forms according to whether the letter is isolated , initial , medial or final ,  it should be noted that in practically every case the letter has a simple basic form . When final or isolated , however , many letters have a final flourish or hook added to the basic form .

Names of the letters	Isolated form	Transcript-ion	From When Joined to
			Final	Medial	Initial
alif ألف	ا	ʾ(a)	ﺎ	_	_
bāʾباء	ب	b	ﺐ	ﺒ	ﺑ
tāʾتاء	ت	t	ﺖ	ﺘ	ﺗ
ṯāʾثاء	ث	ṯ	ﺚ	ﺜ	ﺛ
ǧīm جيم	ج	ǧ	ﺞ	ﺠ	ﺟ
ḥāʾحاء	ح	ḥ	ﺢ	ﺤ	ﺣ
kḫāʾخاء	خ	ḫ	ﺦ	ﺨ	ﺧ
dāl دال	د	d	ﺪ	_	_
ḏāl ذال	ذ	ḏ	ﺬ	_	_
rāʾراء	ر	r	ﺮ	_	_
zāy زاي	ز	z	ﺰ	_	_
sīn سين	س	s	ﺲ	ﺴ	ﺳ
šīn شين	ش	š	ﺶ	ﺸ	ﺷ
ṣād  صاد	ص	ṣ	ﺺ	ﺼ	ﺻ
ḍād    ضاد	ض	ḍ	ﺾ	ﻀ	ﺿ
ṭāʾطاء	ط	ṭ	ﻂ	ﻄ	ﻃ
ẓāʾظاء	ظ	ẓ	ﻆ	ﻈ	ﻇ
ʿayn عين	ع	ʿa	ﻊ	ﻌ	ﻋ
ġayn غين	ﻍ	ġ	ﻎ	ﻐ	ﻏ
fāʾفاء	ﻑ	f	ﻒ	ﻔ	ﻓ
qāf قاف	ﻕ	q	ﻖ	ﻘ	ﻗ
kāf كاف	ﻙ	k	ﻚ	ﻜ	ﻛ
lām لام	ﻝ	l	ﻞ	ﻠ	ﻟ
mīm ميم	ﻡ	m	ﻢ	ﻤ	ﻣ
nūn نون	ن	n	ﻦ	ﻨ	ﻧ
hāʾهاء	ه	h	ﻪ	ﻬ	ﻫ
wāw واو	و	w	ﻮ	_	_
yāʾياء	ي	y	ﻲ	ﻴ	ﻳ
hamza همزة	ء		ء	_	_

Finally, to master the different forms of joining will take some time and it is important to practice writing whilst learning the Arabic language to become familiar with the script. This will come with practice , so it is not necessary to have mastered all the letters joining

forms before moving on.