Letters in a word

Arabic is joined writing, so most letters have four shapes: alone, at the start of a word, in the middle, at the end. It’s less than it sounds — the start and middle shapes are usually the alone shape with its tail cut off.

Build words yourself

Press letters below (they’re added right to left, like real writing) and watch them join. Try the presets.

The six that never join forward

ا د ذ ر ز و — alif, dāl, dhāl, rā, zāy, wāw join to the letter before them but never to the letter after. Whatever comes next starts fresh, in its start shape. That’s why نور has a gap after the و, and why a word like دار doesn’t join at all.

When you see a gap inside a word, look left of it: one of these six is there.

Every letter, every position

Pink rows are the six non-joiners. Press a row to hear the letter’s name.

The shapes that fool everyone

• ه changes the most: هـ ـهـ ـه. In the middle it looks like two small loops.
• ع and غ close up in the middle: ـعـ.
• ك loses its little mark at the start and middle: كـ ـكـ.
• ي and ن at the start look like ب — count the dots.
• لا — lām followed by alif — gets its own joined shape. It reads lā.