Sun and Moon Letters

Whatever follows it, the article is spelt ا + ل joined to the word. Its alif carries hamzat al-waṣl, silent inside a sentence. The only things that change are the marks: before a moon letter the ل has a sukūn; before a sun letter the ل has no mark and the next letter has a shadda. Everything you learned in lessons 23 to 28 about the article, definiteness and agreement is unchanged.

Before fourteen letters the لْ of the article is pronounced exactly as written, with its sukūn. These are the moon letters, اَلْحُرُوفُ الْقَمَرِيَّةُ: ء ب ج ح خ ع غ ف ق ك م ه و ي. Every word you made definite in the last six lessons began with one of them.

Before the other fourteen letters the ل is still written but not pronounced. Instead the first letter of the word is doubled and carries a shadda, and the ل is left without a sukūn. These are the sun letters, اَلْحُرُوفُ الشَّمْسِيَّةُ: ت ث د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ل ن. اَلشَّمْسُ is read ash-shamsu, اَلسُّوقُ as-sūqu.

A definite adjective takes the article like its noun, and the article obeys the same rule on both words. In اَلتَّاجِرُ الصَّادِقُ the honest merchant neither ل is heard: at-tājiru-ṣ-ṣādiqu. Mixed pairs are common: اَلسُّوقُ الْكَبِيرَةُ as-sūqu-l-kabīratu, اَلْخُبْزُ الرَّخِيصُ al-khubzu-r-rakhīṣu. Remember that سُوقٌ is feminine although it has no tāʾ marbūṭa.

قَبْلَ before and بَعْدَ after are followed by the genitive like prepositions. With اَلظُّهْرُ midday they give the two halves of the day: قَبْلَ الظُّهْرِ in the forenoon, بَعْدَ الظُّهْرِ in the afternoon. فِي الصَّبَاحِ in the morning and فِي الْمَسَاءِ in the evening complete the set. All four phrases hold an article: three before sun letters, one before a moon letter.