The standalone form

تTwo dots above
A little curiosity goes a long way.

Meet the letter

Taa تَاء

Two dots above distinguish taa from baa and thaa. Taa can join on both sides. Its sound stays the same when its written shape changes.

Apple

In the Arabic word تُفَّاحَة (“apple”), the first letter is taa. The shaddah later in the word belongs to faa.

One letter. Four shapes.

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

Beginning

Joins to the left
Apple

Taa joins to faa on its left.

Middle

Joins on both sides
Book

Taa joins to kaaf on the right and alif on the left.

End

Joins to the right
House

Taa joins to yaa on its right.

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

2Stretch the vowelTaa with alif, yaa and waaw.

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

3Taa without a vowelSukūn · no following vowel.

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

House
House · stopping formbayt
تْ

Listen to the whole word.

Read bayt without adding a, i or u after the final taa. The preceding sound belongs to the word; sukūn still means no vowel on taa.

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

تْNo vowel
تَWith a vowel
تَّShaddah

Kasrah · i

تْNo vowel
تِWith a vowel
تِّShaddah

Ḍammah · u

تْNo vowel
تُWith a vowel
تُّShaddah
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, baytun and baytin become bayt; baytan becomes baytā. Choosing the ending in a sentence comes later.

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