Cómo empezar a aprender árabe
Como puedes imaginar, el primer paso para aprender un idioma es conocer su alfabeto. Vamos a repasar el alfabeto árabe, letra por letra.
Por cierto, esta es la guía que más me ha ayudado a la hora de empezar a aprender árabe por mi cuenta 😉
Las letras con asterisco (*) no pertenecen al alfabeto propiamente dicho, sino que representan diferentes sonidos que hay que destacar y tratar por separado.
Los símbolos de pronunciación son lo más aproximados posible, pero te recomiendo que escuches los audios para familiarizarte con los diferentes sonidos.
La lengua árabe depende de la zona de habla árabe, existiendo un montón de dialectos diferentes. Yo mismo lo he grabado en una pronunciación árabe estándar lo más estándar posible. Ésta es la que encontrarás en los medios y textos oficiales.
Cuidado, el árabe se escribe de izquierda a derecha!
Espero que te sea útil 😊
| Letter | Name | Final | Middle | Initial | Pronunciation | Examples | Phonetics | Traduction |
| (ا (أ | alif | ا | ـا | ا | [æ] as in slang. Many times with a little ‘hamça’ above. Also it is seen in the article أل (The). Without de hamça, used to enlarge the vowel [aa]. | أنا | [æ,’næ:] | I (me) |
| ٰ | – | – | – | – | [a] little alif. Placed over a consonant sometimes. Used to enlarge the vowel [aa]. | الله | [al’laah] | Allah |
| إ * | – | إ | ـإ | إ | [ee]. Alif with a little ‘hamça’ below. | إنْتِظار | [inti’THaar] | waiting |
| َ | fatHa | – | – | – | Vowel [a]. Placed over a consonant to form a syllable. It indicates direct object function at the end of a noun when definite. | دَخَلَ بَيْتَ | [‘dækhæla ‘bæɪta] | he entered the house |
| ً | double fatHa | – | – | – | Sound ‘an’. Used in many adverbs at the end of the word. Together with an ا usually and before it. It indicates direct object function at the end of a noun when undefinite. | دَخَلَ بَيْتً | [‘dækhæla ‘bæɪtan] | he entered a house |
| ِ | kesra | – | – | – | Vowel [ee]. Placed under a consonant to form a syllable. It indicates indirect object function at the end of a noun when definite. | في بَيْتِ | [fee ‘bæɪtɪ] | in the house |
| ٍ | double kesra | – | – | – | Sound ‘in’. Placed under a vowel or consonant to form a syllable. It indicates direct object function at the end of a noun when undefinite. | في بَيْتٍ | [fee ‘bæɪtɪn] | in a house |
| ُ | domma | – | – | – | Vowel [oo]. Placed over a consonant to form a syllable. Indicates subject function when definite, but only pronounced in official media. | بَيْتُ | [‘bæɪtu] | the house |
| ٌ | double domma | – | – | – | Sound ‘oon’. Placed over a vowel or consonant to form a syllable. Indicates subject function when undefinite, but only pronounced in official writing. | بَيْتٌ | [‘bæɪtun] | a house |
| ب | ba | ـب | ـبـ | بـ | [b] as in bag. | بَيْت | [bayt] | house |
| ت | ta | ـت | ـتـ | تـ | [t] as in teacher. | َتَكَلَّم | [tæ’kal,lama] | he spoke |
| ث | tha | ـث | ـثـ | ثـ | [θ] as in think. | ثَلاثة | [θa’læ:θa] | three |
| ج | dʒeem | ـج | ـجـ | جـ | [g] as in gym. | دَجاج | [dæ’ʤæ:ʤ] | chicken |
| ح | Ha | ـح | ـحـ | حـ | [H] aspirated as in hole but much stronger. | حال | [Haal] | state / situation |
| خ | kha | ـخ | ـخـ | خـ | [ch] as in German Loch but much stronger, like [j] in Spanish, ‘jamón’. | مِنْ خِلال | [min khi’laal] | through /via |
| د | dal | ـد | ـد | د | [d] as in deal. | دَرَسَ | [‘darasa] | He studied |
| ذ | thal | ـذ | ـذ | ذ | [th] as in the. | ذَلِك | [‘thælik] | that |
| ر | ra | ـر | ـر | ر | [r] rolled as in Italian ragazzo a bit soft. | رَجُل | [‘raʤool] | man |
| ز | za | ـز | ـز | ز | [z] as in zone. | زِيارة | [zi’ja:ra] | visit |
| س | seen | ـس | ـسـ | سـ | [s] as in sorry. | سَمَك | [sæ’mæk] | fish |
| ش | sheen | ـش | ـشـ | شـ | [sh] as in shock. | شُكْرًا | [‘ʃook,ran] | thank you |
| ص | SaD | ـص | ـصـ | صـ | [S] It is a sound similar to the ‘s’ but pronounced in a special way, which is called emphatic. These emphatic letters are pronounced with the back of the tongue slightly higher than normal, which modifies the timbre of the surrounding vowels by obscuring them a bit, and even affects other surrounding consonants. You have to pronounce it with more intensity, as if you had a full mouth, with the throat constricted. | صَخَب | [‘Sakhæb] | noise |
| ض | DaD | ـض | ـضـ | ضـ | [D] Its sound is an emphatic ‘d’. It is in its form the same as the previous letter but with a dot above it. The Arabic language was called the language of the Ḍad, because traditionally it was thought that this sound was exclusive to Arabic, although in reality it also occurs in other little known languages. You have to pronounce it with more intensity, as if you had a full mouth, with the throat constricted. | ضَيف | [Daɪf] | guest |
| ط | Ta | ـط | ـطـ | طـ | [T] Its sound is an emphatic ‘t’ absolutely voiceless. You have to pronounce it with more intensity, as if you had a full mouth, with the throat constricted. | طَلَبَ | [‘Talæba] | to ask for |
| ظ | THa | ـظ | ـظـ | ظـ | [TH] It represents a velarized voiced dental fricative [ðˠ], and in Modern Standard Arabic, it can also be a pharyngealized, [ðˤ] voiced dental fricative or voiced alveolar fricative. You have to pronounce it like ‘the’ but with more intensity, as if you had a full mouth, with the throat constricted. | ظَنَّ | [‘THan,na] | to think |
| ع | 3ayn | ـع | ـعـ | عـ | [3] similar to the sound of retching but softer. Unique arabic sound. | عَلَّمَ | [‘3æl,læma] | to teach |
| غ | gayn | ـغ | ـغـ | غـ | [G] similar to the letter r in French but a bit stronger. | غَنِيّ | [Ga’niyy] | rich |
| ف | fa | ـف | ـفـ | فـ | [f] as in fat. | فُنْدُق | [‘foondooQ] | hotel |
| ق | qaf | ـق | ـقـ | قـ | [Q] Similar to the sound [k] but with the tongue in a more backward position. Much more nasally. | قَلْب | [Qælb] | heart |
| ك | kaf | ـك | ـكـ | كـ | [k] as in key. | كَثير | [kæ’θee:r] | a lot |
| ل | lam | ـل | ـلـ | لـ | [l] as in low. Combined with the alif, there are several contracted forms: (li,’i) لإ – (li,’a)لأ – (lil,’a) للأ – (lil,’i) للإ | لَذيذ | [læ’theeth] | delicious / tasty |
| م | meem | ـم | ـمـ | مـ | [m] as in mother. | مِن | [mɪn] | from |
| ن | noon | ـن | ـنـ | نـ | [n] as in nice. | نَحْنُ | [‘næHnu] | we |
| ه | ha | ـه | ـهـ | هـ | [h] as in hello. | هَذا | [‘hæthaa] | this |
| ء | hamza | ء | ء | ء | It takes the sound of the vowel that accompanies it. It represents a sharp stop in the pronunciation. | هَواء | [hæ’waa,] | air |
| ي | jaa | ـي | ـيـ | يـ | [j] Used to enlarge the vowel [ee]. | كَثير | [kæ’θee:r] | a lot |
| ئ | alif maksura | ـئ | ـئـ | ئـ | It takes the sound of the vowel that accompanies it. It represents a sharp stop in the pronunciation. | حائِط | [‘Hæ,ɪT] | wall |
| و | waw | ـو | ـو | و | [w] Used to enlarge the vowel [oo]. | دودة | [doo:da] | worm |
| ؤ | waw maksura | ـؤ | ـؤ | ؤ | It takes the sound of the vowel that accompanies it. It represents a sharp stop in the pronunciation. | هَؤُلاء | [hæ,u’læ,] | these |
| ة | ta marbuta | ـة | ـة | ة | No sound value. Silent letter. Always at the end of a word. It usually indicates feminine gender. Pronounced [æ] at the end of a word. Pronounced [t] when followed by another word. | قَرْية | [‘Qær,ja] | village |
| ٓ | waSla | – | – | – | Over an alif. Used to enlarge the vowel [aa]. | أل آخَر | [æl,’aakhar] | other / the other |
| ّ | shadda | – | – | – | It represents only the sound (without any vowel) of the consonant over which it is placed. | َتَكَلَّم | [tæ’kal,lama] | he spoke |
| ْ | sukoon | – | – | – | It represents only the sound (without any vowel) of the consonant over which it is placed. | نَحْنُ | [‘næHnu] | we |
