zayn
The Arabic letter zayn has two different forms.
| final | isolated |
|---|---|
| ـز | ز |
In the isolated form, the letter zayn is not joined with any other letter.
When you show the letter zayn on its own, you use the isolated form.
When zayn is the first letter of a word, the isolated form is also used.
In the final form, the letter zayn is joined to the right.
When zayn is the last letter of a word, you use the final form in most cases.
When zayn is not the first and not the last but somewhere in the middle of a word, the final form is also used in most cases.
When the letter zayn comes after a letter that is also right joining, you always use the isolated form.
Therefore: when zayn is the last letter of a word, and follows a right joining letter, you use the isolated form.
Therefore: when zayn is in the middle of a word, and follows a right joining letter, you use the isolated form.
Now you know that:
- The isolated form ز is used when when the letter is shown by itself, in the beginning of words and anywhere where the letter before is right joining. Se all words where the initial form is used in the beginning
- The final form ـز is used when the letter is in the middle or end of a word and the letter before is not right joining.
The rules you just learned can be applied to all Arabic letters with right joining.
Let's talk about the concept of joining. Arabic letters are not generally written one by one. Instead, the letters in a word are joined together like handwriting. This makes the writing quite beautiful.
Most letters in the Arabic alphabet are dual joining. This means that they want to join both with the letter before and the letter after. But the letter zayn and some other letters, are right joining.
Right joining means that the letter only wants to join with the letter to the right (which is the letter before, since Arabic is writen from right to left).