The letter د (Dal) is pronounced like the "d" in "door" or "day". It is a voiced dental stop - your tongue touches your upper teeth. ☀ SUN LETTER (حرف شمسي): Dal is a SUN LETTER. When the definite article "ال" precedes it, the "l" ASSIMILATES into the د sound. Example: الدَّرْس = "ad-dars" (the lesson) - you hear "ad-dars" not "al-dars" LETTER FORMS: - Isolated: د (when standing alone) - Initial: د (same - Dal does NOT connect forward) - Medial: ـد (after connecting to previous letter) - Final: ـد (at the end of a word) NON-CONNECTOR: Dal is a NON-CONNECTING letter - it NEVER connects to the letter that follows it. Like ا، ر، ز، و، ذ. DISTINGUISHING FROM DHAL (ذ): Dal and Dhal have the SAME base shape! The difference: - د (Dal) = NO dot - "d" sound - ذ (Dhal) = ONE DOT ABOVE - "th" sound (as in "this") Memory trick: "Dal is plain D, Dhal has a Dot for the TH sound" VOWEL MARKS (Harakat): - دَ (with Fatha): "da" - like "da" in "dad" - دُ (with Damma): "du" - like "do" - دِ (with Kasra): "di" - like "dee" - دْ (with Sukoon): just "d" - no vowel sound follows PRONUNCIATION NOTE: Arabic د is a dental "d" - your tongue touches your upper TEETH, not the ridge behind them like in English. This makes it slightly different from the English "d". COMMON WORDS: - دَرْس (dars - lesson) - دَار (daar - house/home) - وَلَد (walad - boy) - يَد (yad - hand) - جَدِيد (jadeed - new) Practice Tips: 1. NO dot = Dal (d sound) 2. Non-connector - breaks the letter chain 3. Practice the dental "d" - tongue on teeth 4. Simple curved shape - like a small back-facing "c"