The Palestinian Arabic Alphabet

By Dusan / June 17, 2024

Would you like to explore the intricacies of the Palestinian Arabic alphabet? After all, when you travel to Palestine, speaking some Arabic might be useful, and there are many fun things to explore. Did you know that you can also call it the Arabic abjad and that it is present in Levantine Arabic in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria? This guide explores the phonetic representation, spelling, and contextual variations of the 28 letters, offering a detailed look at their usage and pronunciation.

Understanding the Palestinian Arabic Alphabet

The Palestinian Arabic alphabet, commonly called the Arabic abjad, is specifically designed for writing the Levantine Arabic language in countries like Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. It follows the standard Arabic script, characterized by a right-to-left cursive style, and comprises 28 letters, with several displaying contextual variations.

Like the broader Arabic script, the Palestinian Arabic alphabet is classified as an abjad, requiring only consonants in writing. The optional use of diacritics to denote vowels renders it an impure abjad, allowing flexibility in representing vowel sounds.

Here, you can explore the Palestinian Arabic alphabet, including its phonetic representation, spelling, name, and how each letter appears in Arabic at the beginning, middle, and end of words. Like in English, this guide provides a comprehensive overview of the alphabet’s usage and pronunciation in different positions within Arabic words.

Overview of the Alphabet Usage and Pronunciation within Arabic words.

As in…	Phonetic Spelling	Name	Final	Middle	First	Alone
man	ā	alif	ا / ـا	ـا	ا	ا
bed	b	bāʾ	ـب	ـبـ	بـ	ب
time	t	tāʾ	ـت	ـتـ	تـ	ت
thin	th	thāʾ	ـث	ـثـ	ثـ	ث
giraffe	j	jiim	ـج	ـجـ	جـ	ج
fricative (h)	h	hāʾ	ـح	ـحـ	حـ	ح
Scottish loch, velar [ħ]	kh	khāʾ	ـخ	ـخـ	خـ	خ
deep	d	dāl	ـد	ـد	د	د
that	dh	dhāl	ـذ	ـذ	ذ	ذ
room	r	rāʾ	ـر	ـر	ر	ر
zoo	z	zāy	ـز	ـز	ز	ز
saw	s	siin	ـس	ـسـ	سـ	س
shine	sh	shiin	ـش	ـشـ	شـ	ش
emphatic [s] as in psalm	ṣ	šād	ـص	ـص	صـ	ص
emphatic of [d] as in dark	đ	đād	ḍ	ـضـ	ضـ	ض
emphatic of [t] as in torch	ŧ	ŧāʾ	ŧ	ـطـ	طـ	ط
emphatic of [th]	Ż	ẓāʾ	ẓ	ـظـ	ظـ	ظ
Arabic sound		ʿain	ʿ	ـعـ	عـ	ع
Arabic sound [gh]	gh	ghain	gh	ـغـ	غـ	غ
food	f	fāʾ	f	ـفـ	فـ	ف
similar to [c] in cod	q	qāf	q	ـقـ	قـ	ق
kin	k	kāf	k	ـكـ	كـ	ك
late	l	lām	l	ـلـ	لـ	ل
moon	m	miim	m	ـمـ	مـ	م
nice	n	nūn	n	ـنـ	نـ	ن
heel	h	hāʾ	h	ـھـ	ھـ	ه
wow/moon	w/ū	wāw	w/ū	ـو	و	و
yes/bead, machine	yes/ii	yāʾ	yes/ii	ـیـ	يـ	ي

In summary

The Palestinian Arabic alphabet uniquely adapts the writing system for Levantine Arabic, spoken in countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. It adheres to the standard Arabic script, characterized by its right-to-left cursive style and consisting of 28 letters. Many of these letters display variations depending on their position within a word.

Much like the broader Arabic script, the Palestinian Arabic alphabet is classified as an abjad, meaning that only consonants are essential. The usage of optional diacritics represents vowels, which makes it an impure abjad. This flexibility allows the indication for various vowel sounds to be indicated as needed.

This alphabet guide provides detailed information on phonetics, spelling, names, and the forms of each letter at the beginning, middle, and end of words. By exploring these elements, learners can gain a comprehensive understanding of the alphabet’s usage and pronunciation in different contexts.

Intensive Summer Arabic Program	Summer Arabic immersion programs
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Ammiya Program (Palestinian Dialect)	The Study Levantine Arabic program
Study Arabic in the West Bank	Ammiya Arabic programs in Middle East
Palestine and Israel in Context Internship	Palestinian Laws & Legal Practices Internship

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