Ayn & Ghayn

The letter ع (Ayn) is a very strong guttural sound produced deep in the throat by compressing the throat and expelling the breath. It has no English equivalent; it is a tight, voiced constriction from the very bottom of the throat. The book transcribes it with the sign ( ' ). It is a moon letter in Arabic. Letter Forms: - Isolated: ع (an open head with a curved tail below the line) - Initial: عـ (when it begins a word - an open loop at the top) - Medial: ـعـ (when it appears in the middle of a word - a closed loop on the line) - Final: ـع (when it ends a word - the open head with a wide tail below the line) The letter ع is a connector: it joins to the letters on both sides. It has NO dot. It shares its shape with غ (Ghayn), which is the same letter with ONE dot ABOVE. The Alif Maqsura (ى): At the end of a word the long "aa" is often written not as a full ا but as a ى (a "ya" without its two dots and without sukoon). This is called Alif Maqsura, and it is read "aa." For example عَلَى ("'alaa," on/upon), رَمَى ("ramaa," he threw), بَنَى ("banaa," he built), مَتَى ("mataa," when). As soon as this ى takes a suffix, it turns back into an ordinary alif, e.g. رَمَاهُ ("ramaahu," he threw it). Sun and Moon Letters: ع is a MOON letter. With the article ال the "l" is written and pronounced: العَرَب (al-'arab). Vowel Marks (Harakat): - With Fatha (عَ): Pronounced "'a" (guttural + a) - With Damma (عُ): Pronounced "'u" (guttural + u) - With Kasra (عِ): Pronounced "'i" (guttural + i) - With Sukoon (عْ): Consonant only, the guttural stopped - With Shadda Fatha (عَّ): Pronounced "''a" (doubled Ayn with "a") - With Shadda Damma (عُّ): Pronounced "''u" (doubled Ayn with "u") - With Shadda Kasra (عِّ): Pronounced "''i" (doubled Ayn with "i") - With Tanween Fath (عً): Pronounced "'an" (adds "-an" sound) - With Tanween Damm (عٌ): Pronounced "'un" (adds "-un" sound) - With Tanween Kasr (عٍ): Pronounced "'in" (adds "-in" sound) Practice Tips: 1. Squeeze the throat and voice the sound from its very base - it is not a vowel 2. Contrast ع (voiced, throaty) with ء (Hamza, a plain glottal stop) and with ح (breathy h) 3. NO dot distinguishes ع from غ which has ONE dot above 4. ع is a connector - it joins on both sides 5. Very common: عَرَب (Arabs), مَعَ (with), سَمِعَ (he heard), عَلَى (on)