Arabic Letters in English

1. 1
Arabic Letters (Ĥoroof) in English

(Prepared by:- Moĥammad Alfaarooq ben Jainol-'Aabedeen ben 'Aaqel-'Alee
ben 'Osmaan ben Maĥmood ben Moŧee'ollaah
دمحم قورافلا يلع لقاع نب نيدباعلا نيز نب الله عيطم نب دومحم نب نامثع نب
Kaamel Ĥadeeŝ (M.A.) from Bangladesh,
B.A. in Public Administration from Saudi Arabia.
Email: [email protected]; Sydney, Australia)


It is true that, it is not possible to use the exactly-correct-pronounced-letter from a
language to another language, such as from Arabic-letter to English-letter. Thus, to avoid
the confusion and mixing-up in the pronunciations, I have used the nearest English-
letters for Arabic-letters instead of confused & mixed-up letters (also vowel-
points/ĥarakaat) , such as:-

ث = ŝ , instead of th ; because th can be read as dh (e.g. the = dhi, that = dhat),
ح = ĥ , instead of h = ه ; to make clear different-pronunciation between ح and ه

ذ = ĵ , instead of dh ; because dh can be read as d (e.g. dhow = dow)

ج = z , instead of j ; because writing-shape of ج is nearest to z .
English’s origin is Arabic via Latin & Hebrew, thus their writing-shape
nearly similar, such as: ز = j and ج = z ;
also, there are different pronunciations between American, Australian & British
English; thus there is no universal-agreement that ج = j or ث = th , etc,
wherein different scholars use the different English letters for an Arabic letter.

ز = j , instead of z ; because writing-shape of ز is nearest to j ,
wherein English’s origin is Arabic via Latin & Hebrew, thus their writing-shape
nearly similar, such as: ز = j and ج = z

غ = gh , instead of g ; because g can be read as j (e.g. general, ginger) instead of gh
ط = ŧ , instead of t = ت ; to make clear different-pronunciation between ت and ط
ظ = ž , instead of j or z ; to make clear different-pronunciation between ز ، جand ظ
also instead of dh , ; because dh can be read as d (e.g. dhow = dow)
ص = š , instead of s = س ; to make clear different-pronunciation between س and ص
ض = đ , instead of d = د ; to make clear different-pronunciation between د and ض ;
also instead of dh , ; because dh can be read as d (e.g. dhow = dow) .

2. 2
Arabic Vowel-Points (Ĥarakaat) in English

Fatĥa (Jabar) َ = A ; e.g. م = Ma, ل = La
Kasrah (Jer) َ = E ; e.g. م = Me, ب = Be,

ح = Ĥe
Kasrah/Jer should not be write I ; because I can be read as Ai , e.g.
Library, Biology, Bible, Bilateral, Hide, Island, Idea, Iron.
Đammah (Pesh) َ = O ; e.g. د= Do , ت = To
Đammah/Pesh should not be write U ; because U can be read as Eu (e.g.
Cure, Unit, Uniform, Urine) or A (e.g. Uncle, Under, But).

Arabic Letters of Madde Ašlee/Ŧabee'ee )يعيبط / يلصأ دم( in English

Alef ( ا ) after Fatĥa ( ةحتف ) = AA , e.g. ا م = Maa, لا = Laa
Ya ( ي ) after Kasrah ( ةرسك ) = EE , e.g. ي م = Mee, ي ل = Lee
Oao ( و) after Đammah ( ةمض ) = OO , e.g. و م = Moo, و ل = Loo


Different pronunciations in the similar letters:

أ / ء = a /e /o / ` (apostrophe = ء ) : للهأ =Allaah, نبا =Ebn, ةرسأ = Osrah, كلام= Maalek,
نمؤم = Mo`men, نأرق = Qor`aan
ع = 'a / 'e / 'o / ' (inverted apostrophe = ع) : دبع = 'Abd, دابع = 'Ebaad,
رمع = 'Omar, دوبعم = Ma'bood
ت = t : ةبوت = Taobah
ط = ŧ : رهاط = Ŧaaher, ىفطصم = Mošŧafaa
ث = ŝ : باوث = Ŝawaab, ريثك = Kaŝeer, ثيدح = Ĥadeeŝ
س = s : ءآمس = Samaaa, عومسم = Masmoo'
ص = š : رباص = Šaaber, ةبيصم = Mošeebah
ش = sh : سمش = Shams
ج = z : ةنج = Zannah, بيجم= Mozeeb
ز = j : ةنيز = Jeenah, لزلز = Jeljal
ذ = ĵ : ركذ = Ĵekr, ناذأ = Aĵaan, ةنذئم = Me`ĵanah
ظ = ž : ملاظ = Žaalem, مولظم = Mažloom
ح = ĥ : ديمح = Ĥameed, دمحم= Moĥammad, ثيدح = Ĥadeeŝ
ه = h : ءاوه = Hawaa
د = d : نيد = Deen, ةنيدم = Madeenah
ض = đ : ءايض = Đeyaaa, لضم = Mođell
ق = q : نآرق = Qor`aan, هيقف = Faqeeh
ك = k : ميرك = Kareem

3. 3
Arabic Letters (Ĥoroof) in English

أ / ء = a /e /o / ‘ (apostrophe = ء ) : للهأ=Allaah, نبا = Ebn, ةرسأ = Osrah,
كلام =Maalek, نمؤم = Mo`men, نأرق = Qor`aan
ب = b : رشب = Bashar
ت = t : ةبوت = Taobah
ث = ŝ : باوث = Ŝawaab, ريثك = Kaŝeer, ثيدح = Ĥadeeŝ
ج = z : ةنج = Zannah, بيجم= Mozeeb
ح = ĥ : ديمح = Ĥameed, دمحم= Moĥammad
خ = kh : ريخ = Khair, راتخم = Mokhtaar
د = d : نيد = Deen, ةنيدم = Madeenah
ذ = ĵ : ركذ = Ĵekr, ناذأ = Aĵaan, ةنذئم = Me`ĵanah
ر = r : بر = Rabb
ز = j : ةنيز = Jeenah, لزلز = Jeljal
س = s : ءآمس = Samaaa, عومسم = Masmoo’
ش = sh : سمش = Shams
ص = š : رباص = Šaaber, ةبيصم = Mošeebah
ض = đ : ءايض = Đeyaaa, لضم = Mođell
ط = ŧ : رهاط = Ŧaaher, ىفطصم = Mošŧafaa
ظ = ž : ملاظ = Žaalem, مولظم = Mažloom
ع = 'a/ 'e / 'e / ' (inverted apostrophe = ع) : دبع = 'Abd, دابع = 'Ebaad, رمع = 'Omar,
دوبعم = Ma'bood
غ = gh : لفاغ = Ghaafel, روفغم = Maghfoor
ف = f : ةحتاف = Faateĥah
ق = q : نآرق = Qor`aan, هيقف = Faqeeh
ك = k : ميرك = Kareem
ل = L : ليل = Lail
م = m : نمؤم = Mo`men
ن = n : رون = Noor
و = w/o : دلو = Walad, دومحم = Maĥmood, سوسوي = Yowasweso
ه = h : ءاوه = Hawaa
ي = y / i / e : موي = Yaom, فيص = Šaif, ميحر = Raĥeem .


ملعأ اللهو = Allaah (SWT) knows the best.