The letter lam ﻝ
The letter lam is a part of the the Arabic alphabet. Here you will learn how to pronounce and write lam.
How lam is pronounced
The Arabic letter lam is pronounced l just like in English.
In the phonetic alphabet, the pronunciation of lam is written [l]. On this website, I write the pronunciation l.
How lam is written
The letter lam has four shapes: isolated, initial, medial and final.
| final | medial | initial | isolerad |
|---|---|---|---|
| ـﻞ | ـﻠـ | ﻟـ | ﻝ |
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 lam 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 lam will connect with it. If there is a letter after, then lam will connect with it. How to write with Arabic dual joining letters.
lam isolerad form
This is how the Arabic letter lam is written in its isolerad form:
This form is used in the following situations:
lam alone
When lam stands by itself, the isolated form is used.
lam in the end after right joining letter
When lam 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.
lam initial form
This is how the Arabic letter lam is written in its initial form:
This form is used in the following situations:
lam in the beginning of words
When lam 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.
lam in the middle after right joining letter
When lam 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.
lam medial form
This is how the Arabic letter lam is written in its medial form:
This form is used in the following situation:
lam in the middle of words
When lam is in the middle of a word, e.g. when lam 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.
lam final form
This is how the Arabic letter lam is written in its final form:
This form is used in the following situation:
lam in the end of words
When lam 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 lam is written
The letter lam has four forms.
The isolated form ﻝ is used when lam 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 ﻟـ 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 ـﻠـ 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 ـﻞ 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.
lam is a moon letter
You get the definite form of a word by putting the definite article al in front of it.
The Arabic letter lam 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 colour is pronounced lawn and written ﻟَﻮﻥ. In definite form, it is pronounced allawn and written اَلﻟَﻮﻥ.
Read more about definite form