The letter beh

The letter beh is a part of the the Arabic alphabet. Here you will learn how to pronounce and write beh.

How beh is pronounced

The Arabic letter beh is pronounced b just like in English.

In the phonetic alphabet, the pronunciation of beh is written [b]. On this website, I write the pronunciation b.

How beh is written

The letter beh has four shapes: isolated, initial, medial and final.

finalmedialinitialisolerad
ـﺐـﺒـﺑـ

Which of the shapes to use depends on the letter's position in the word and surrounding letters. Do not forget that Arabic is written from right to left.

The letter beh is dual joining. That means that it wants to connect to both right and left. If there is a letter before, that also is dual joining, then beh will connect with it. If there is a letter after, then beh will connect with it. How to write with Arabic dual joining letters.

beh isolerad form

This is how the Arabic letter beh is written in its isolerad form:

This form is used in the following situations:

beh alone

When beh stands by itself, the isolated form is used.

beh in the end after right joining letter

When beh is the last letter of a word and comes after a right joining letter, the isolated form is used. It is free to the right since the letter before it does not connect to the left. It is also free to the left since there is no letter after.

beh initial form

This is how the Arabic letter beh is written in its initial form:

ﺑـ

This form is used in the following situations:

beh in the beginning of words

When beh is the first letter of a word, the initial form is used. It is free to the right and has a tail to the left to connect with the letter after it.

beh in the middle after right joining letter

When beh is in the middle of a word and follows a right joining letter, the initial form is used. It is free to the right since the letter before it does not connect to the left, and it has a tail to the left to connect with the letter after.

beh medial form

This is how the Arabic letter beh is written in its medial form:

ـﺒـ

This form is used in the following situation:

beh in the middle of words

When beh is in the middle of a word, e.g. when beh is neither the first nor the last letter, the medial form is often used. It has tails in both directions to connect with both the letter before it and the letter after it.

beh final form

This is how the Arabic letter beh is written in its final form:

ـﺐ

This form is used in the following situation:

beh in the end of words

When beh is the last letter of a word, the final form is often used. It has a tail to the right to connect with the letter before it, and it is free to the left since there is no letter after.

Conclusion: how beh is written

The letter beh has four forms.
The isolated form is used when beh stands by itself and in the end of words (after a right joining letter). In other words: When there is no letter before that wants to connect and there is no letter after.
The initial form ﺑـ is used in the beginning of words and in the middle of words (if the letter before is right joining). In other words: When there is no letter before that wants to connect and there is a letter after.
The medial form ـﺒـ is used in the middle of words (if the letter before is not right joining). In other words: When there is a letter before that wants to connect and there is a letter after.
The final form ـﺐ is used in the end of words (if the letter before is not right joining). In other words: When there is a letter before that wants to connect and there is no letter after.

That's it!
The rules you have learned can be applied to all Arabic dual joining letters, which is most of them.

beh is a moon letter

You get the definite form of a word by putting the definite article al in front of it.

اَل

The Arabic letter beh is a moon letter. That means that the definite article is pronounced al and nothing else. The letters that are not moon letters are called sun letters, and they are assimilated with the definite article al.

For example the Arabic word for door is pronounced baab and written ﺑَﺎﺏ. In definite form, it is pronounced albaab and written اَل‍ﺑَﺎﺏ.

Read more about definite form

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