The letter dhal ﺫ
The letter dhal is a part of the the Arabic alphabet. Here you will learn how to pronounce and write dhal.
How dhal is pronounced
The Arabic letter dhal is pronounced dh like in the English word 'this'.
In the phonetic alphabet, the pronunciation of dhal is written [ð]. On this website, I write the pronunciation dh.
How dhal is written
The letter dhal has two forms: isolated and final.
| final | isolerad |
|---|---|
| ـﺬ | ﺫ |
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 dhal is right joining. That means that it wants to connect to the right (with the letter before it) but not no the left (with the letter after). If there is a letter before that is dual joining, then dhal is connected to it. But dhal is never connected to the letter after. How to write with right joining letters.
dhal isolerad form
This is how the Arabic letter dhal is written in its isolerad form:
This form is used in the following situations:
dhal alone
When dhal stands by itself, the isolaetd form is used.
dhal in the beginning of words
When dhal is the first letter of a word, the isolated form is used. It i free to the right since there is no letter before, and it is free to the left since it refuses to connect to the letter after.
dhal final form
This is how the Arabic letter dhal is written in its final form:
This form is used in the following situations:
dhal in the middle of words
When dhal is in the middle of a word, e.g. when dhal is neither the first nor the last letter, the medial form is often used. It has a tail to the right to connect with the letter before, but it is free to the left since it refuses to connect with the letter after.
dhal in the end of words
When dhal is the last letter of a word, the final form is often used. It has a tail to the right to connect to the letter before it, and it is free to the left since there is no letter after.
Conclusion: how dhal is written
The letter dhal has two shapes.
The isolated shape ﺫ is used when dhal stands by itself, in the beginning of words, in the middle of words (after a right joining letter) and in the end of words (after a right joining letter).
In other words: When there is no letter before that wants to connect with it.
The final shape ـﺬ is used in the middle of words (if the letter before is not right joining) and 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 with it.
That's it!
The rules you have learned can be applied to all Arabic right joining letters.
dhal 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 dhal is a sun letter. That means that the l in al is assimilated with dhal and thereby pronounced as dh In other words: The definite article for words that start with dhal is pronounced adh, and not al.
For example the Arabic word for gold is pronounced dhahab and written ﺫَﻫَﺐ. In definite form, it is pronounced adhdhahab and written اَلﺫَﻫَﺐ.
Read more about definite form