Daal دَال

Daal joins to a letter on its right, but never to the next letter on its left. It has two written shapes: standalone د and joined ـد. Its sound does not change with its shape.

Bear

In the Arabic word دُبّ (“bear”), the first letter is daal. It stays separate from the baa after it.

One letter. Two shapes.

The standalone form is above. Compare the joined form inside a word and at its end.

Inside a word

Joins from the right only

School

Daal joins to meem on its right. The join stops before raa on its left.

End of a word

Joins from the right only

Boy / Child

At the end of walad, daal joins to laam on its right.

The name stays daal in every shape. A connected form does not add a new sound. Gold highlights this letter in each example.

1Three short vowelsA little mark changes the sound.

The letter’s name is daal. Follow the Arabic tiles from right to left.

2Stretch the vowelDaal with alif, yaa and waaw.

Keep the same consonant and stretch the vowel. These are sound practice units.

3Daal without a vowelSukūn · no following vowel.

The circle above دْ means there is no vowel on this consonant. Here is a complete noun, read when stopping.

Boy / Child

Boy · stopping formwalad

دْ

Listen to the whole word.

Finish on daal without adding a vowel. In Tajweed, sākin daal has qalqalah: a brief release, without adding a short vowel.

4Two letters, one written shapeShaddah · three vowel sounds.

A shaddah joins two of the same consonant. The first has sukūn; the second has the vowel. Read each Arabic sequence from right to left.

Fatḥah · a

دْNo vowel

دَWith a vowel

دَّShaddah

Kasrah · i

دْNo vowel

دِWith a vowel

دِّShaddah

Ḍammah · u

دْNo vowel

دُWith a vowel

دُّShaddah

Hold the doubled consonant, then continue into its vowel. Do not insert a vowel between the two consonants.

5One word, three tanwīn endingsSee the ending in a real word.

Compare three full endings on the same noun. The doubled vowel mark adds an n sound when the ending is pronounced in full.

When stopping, the -un and -in endings are not pronounced; the -an ending is read as a long ā. Choosing an ending in a sentence comes later. Choosing the ending in a sentence comes later.

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