The Arabic Abjad

The Arabic alphabet, or Abjad, has about 30 basic letters. Most letters are consonants (like n, k, b), and a few are long vowels (aa, ee, uu). Short vowels are usually unwritten, except in special cases like children’s books or religious texts. We’ll come back to short vowels a bit later.

Arabic is written from right to left. That may feel unusual at first, but your brain adapts quickly! You’ll be surprised how natural it becomes.

The script is also written in a connected, cursive style. Each letter changes shape depending on where it appears in a word. Letters have four forms:

• Isolated – standing alone, unconnected
• Initial – at the beginning of a word
• Medial – in the middle of a word
• Final – at the end of a word

For now, pay attention to the sounds each letter makes and how their shapes shift depending on position. Don’t worry about memorizing everything right away - that will come with practice. We’ve added a font menu so you can see the letters in different scripts, which helps you notice both the changes and the consistencies. Good luck!