🎵 Level 3: Short vowels (Harakaat)
Fatḥah: the 'a' sound New
A small slanted line above a letter gives it a short 'a' sound: بَ ba, تَ ta.
In this lesson you will
- Recognise the Fatḥah (zabar) above a letter
- Read every letter with Fatḥah
- Read short words where every letter has Fatḥah
Learn
Tap any Arabic example to hear it.
What is a Fatḥah?
The Fatḥah (also called zabar) is a small slanted line above a letter: بَ. It means: say the letter with a short 'a' sound, as in bat. Open your mouth a little.
The name of the letter is not said, only its sound: بَ is 'ba', not 'Baa'.
Alif with a vowel is Hamzah
Alif cannot carry a vowel by itself, so the vowel sits on a Hamzah seat: أَ is 'a'.
Heavy letters with Fatḥah
With a heavy letter the 'a' sounds deeper and fuller, closer to 'o' in hot: قَ 'qa', صَ 'ṣa'.
Joining with Fatḥah
Read one letter at a time, right to left, then say the word smoothly.
Practice
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