Ṭā’, ẓā’, ʿayn and ghayn

This lesson teaches two more pairs. Again, in each pair the second letter is the first with a dot above.

The letters

Ṭā’ and ẓā’

Ṭā’ is the loop of ṣād with an upright stroke rising from it. Ẓā’ is the same with one dot above. Unlike ṣād, they have no bowl at the end of a word: their shape hardly changes with their place.

Ṭā’ is not tā’, and ẓā’ is neither zāy nor dhāl. The transliteration writes them with a dot under the letter, ṭ and ẓ.

ʿAyn and ghayn

ʿAyn and ghayn change shape more than any letter so far. Alone, they have a small open curve at the top and a deep curve below the line. At the start of a word only the small open curve is drawn. In the middle of a word the curve closes into a small solid triangle or loop, and at the end of a word that closed head is drawn with the deep curve beneath it.

Ghayn is ʿayn with one dot above. The transliteration writes ʿayn as a small raised mark, ‘, and ghayn as gh.

In the Qur’ān

The last verse of al-Fātiḥah has ṭā’, ʿayn and ghayn. Find ʿayn at the start of a word, and again in the middle of one.

Ẓā’ is the rarest of these four. Here it is in the middle of a word.

Recall

• How is ṭā’ different from ṣād?
• What does ʿayn look like in the middle of a word?
• Which letter is ʿayn with a dot above?

Answers: ṭā’ has an upright stroke and no bowl at the end of a word; a small closed curve; ghayn.

Next

The next lesson teaches fā’, qāf, kāf and lām.