Thursday, March 19, 2009

How to Read & Write Arabic 1o: DHAAL

This week we continue the alphabet with a letter which looks very similar to last week's letter, daal; dhaal

'Dhaal' takes the same shape as the letter 'daal', but it has a dot on the top. However, the sounds you make when reading the two letters are very different.

The sound of 'dhaal' is like the English, 'th' in, 'other' or, 'then'. And as with the English 'th' sound, make sure to stick your tongue out of your mouth when you say the letter.

To remember the difference between daal and dhaal, just think of dhaal as being, 'the other daal'.

Like daal, the letter dhaal can be written in just two forms; as an independent and also as a connector with the previous letter, like so:

Independent Dhaal




Dhaal as a Connector 



So as a non-connector, as with daal and alif, there will always be a gap following the letter dhaal, even if it occurs in the middle of a word.


Examples
Here are some examples of the letter 'dhaal' when it occurs in a word.

Independent
This first example was taken in Oman near a ford, whilst the second was taken in Bahrain suq just near all the modernisation:






Final
Both these examples were taken in Bahrain. The first one, Adari park is a very old amusement park which has just been refurbished and the second is taken from the F1 notices outside the race track.






Hide and Seek
Look at the photo below and try to find one each of the two letters you have just learnt this week and last; daal and dhaal.  Once you've found them, decide in which form they appear.  You should also be able to find several alifs, as well as a 'Haa' and a 'Jiim':




Practice/ Homework
Should you wish to practice writing the letter 'dhaal':

1.
Complete the hide and seek activities in the article above

2.
Using lined paper write the letter 'dhaal' in its two different forms, as many times as you can; final and independent. Because 'dhaal' is a non connector you'll have to write one of the other letters you already know before the 'dhaal' in order to connect it. A minimum of 20 repetitions is suggested, always remembering to write the lines first, then the dots.

3.
Re-read the previous wgaw blog posts or wgaw subject/ labels 'How to Read and Write Arabic} and try to find the dhaals, in the photos, in those postings. Then decide if the dhaal is in its independent or final format.


Overview
1. The eighth letter of the Arabic alphabet is called, 'dhaal'
2. The are two forms of the letter 'dhaal'; independent and final
3. Dhaal is one of the six non-connectors and never-ever-ever connects with the letter which follows it, even if it occurs in the middle of a word.


What's Next?
Next week we’ll look at the next letter of the Arabic alphabet, 'raa', another non-connector.


1 comment:

kapoor baros said...

its very interesting article, i like it. Good description.