The standalone form

غOne dot above the curved head
A little curiosity goes a long way.

Meet the letter

Ghayn غَيْن

Ghayn has the same basic shapes as ʿayn, with one dot above. It joins on both sides. Its voiced gh sound comes from the upper throat.

Room

In the Arabic word غُرْفَة (“room”), the first letter is ghayn. Notice the dot above its curved head.

One letter. Four shapes.

The standalone form is above. Read the three connected forms from right to left.

Beginning

Joins to the left
Room

Ghayn joins to raa on its left.

Middle

Joins on both sides
Parrot

Ghayn joins to baa on the right and alif on the left.

End

Joins to the right
Glue

Ghayn joins to meem on its right at the end of ṣamgh.

The name stays ghayn 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 ghayn. Follow the Arabic tiles from right to left.

2Stretch the vowelGhayn with alif, yaa and waaw.

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

3Ghayn without a vowelSukūn · no following vowel.

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

Glue
Glue · stopping formṣamgh
غْ

Listen to the whole word.

Finish with gh and no added vowel. Let its voiced sound flow without adding an extra syllable.

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

غْNo vowel
غَWith a vowel
غَّShaddah

Kasrah · i

غْNo vowel
غِWith a vowel
غِّShaddah

Ḍammah · u

غْNo vowel
غُWith a vowel
غُّShaddah
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.

At a pause, the -un and -in endings are omitted; -an becomes a long ā. Choosing the ending in a sentence comes later.

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