The letter tha ﺙ
The letter tha is a part of the the Arabic alphabet. Here you will learn how to pronounce and write tha.
How tha is pronounced
The Arabic letter tha is pronounced th as in the English word 'thin'.
In the phonetic alphabet, the pronunciation of tha is written [θ]. On this website, I write the pronunciation th.
How tha is written
The letter tha has four shapes: isolated, initial, medial and final.
| final | medial | initial | isolerad |
|---|---|---|---|
| ـﺚ | ـﺜـ | ﺛـ | ﺙ |
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 tha 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 tha will connect with it. If there is a letter after, then tha will connect with it. How to write with Arabic dual joining letters.
tha isolerad form
This is how the Arabic letter tha is written in its isolerad form:
This form is used in the following situations:
tha alone
When tha stands by itself, the isolated form is used.
tha in the end after right joining letter
When tha 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.
tha initial form
This is how the Arabic letter tha is written in its initial form:
This form is used in the following situations:
tha in the beginning of words
When tha 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.
tha in the middle after right joining letter
When tha 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.
tha medial form
This is how the Arabic letter tha is written in its medial form:
This form is used in the following situation:
tha in the middle of words
When tha is in the middle of a word, e.g. when tha 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.
Conclusion: how tha is written
The letter tha has four forms.
The isolated form ﺙ is used when tha 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 ﺛـ 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 ـﺜـ 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 ـﺚ 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.
tha is a sun letter
You get the definite form of a word by putting the definite article al in front of it.
The Arabic letter tha is a sun letter. That means that the l in al is assimilated with tha and thereby pronounced as th In other words: The definite article for words that start with tha is pronounced ath, and not al.
For example the Arabic word for bull is pronounced thawr and written ﺛَﻮﺭ. In definite form, it is pronounced aththawr and written اَلﺛَﻮﺭ.
Read more about definite form