Transliteration of Arabic
A correspondence table between the Arabic script and Latin letters: 28 letters, with names and sounds. The rendering is practical — it exists so you can read aloud and be understood, not to meet a scholarly standard.
Arabic character → Latin
| Character | Name | In Latin | How it sounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| ا | alif | long aa | A long "aa", held about twice as long as the a of "father". The short "a" is not drawn in writing at all |
| و | waw | w / uu | The w of "water", made lip to lip with no teeth; inside a word it also serves as the long vowel "uu" |
| ي | yaa | y / ii | The y of "yes"; inside a word it also serves as the long vowel "ii". Without dots this sign is alif maqsura — see the special signs |
| ب | baa | b | A plain b as in "book" |
| ت | taa | t | A plain t, dental: the tip of the tongue at the upper teeth |
| ث | thaa | th (as in think) | The voiceless th of "think": the tongue sits between the teeth |
| ج | jim | j (as in jam) | The j of "jam" |
| ح | haa (breathy) | h (breathy) | A breathy h squeezed out of the throat, like fogging a pane of glass. This is not the ordinary English h — it comes from deeper and carries more breath |
| خ | khaa | kh (as in Bach) | The ch of Scottish "loch" or German "Bach", with a scraping edge to it |
| د | daal | d | A plain dental d, the tongue tip at the upper teeth |
| ذ | dhaal | dh (as in this) | The voiced th of "this": tongue between the teeth, with voice on |
| ر | raa | r (flapped) | A quick single tap of the tongue — the tt of American "better", not the English r of "red" |
| ز | zay | z | A plain z as in "zoo" |
| س | siin | s | A plain s |
| ش | shiin | sh | A plain sh as in "ship" |
| ص | saad | s (emphatic) | A heavy, dark "s": the tongue pulled back, the sound pressed and deepened. A soft "sy" never appears next to it |
| ض | daad | d (emphatic) | A heavy "d" with the same pulled-back tongue as ص |
| ط | taa (heavy) | t (emphatic) | A heavy "t" with no puff of air, same pulled-back tongue |
| ظ | dhaa (heavy) | dh (emphatic) | The heavy twin of ذ — interdental and pulled back. To many native ears it is almost the same sound as ض |
| ق | qaaf | q (deep k) | A "k" made deep in the throat, with a squeezed feeling. Further back than the k of "cat" — you feel it below the palate |
| ع | ayn | ayn | A squeezed throat with a vowel drawn through it: say "a" while gently tightening your throat, the way you groan the start of "uh-oh". The transcription marks it with ʿ |
| غ | ghayn | gh (gargled) | A gargled g from the same squeezed throat — close to the French r of "Paris" |
| ف | faa | f | A plain f, the lower lip against the teeth |
| ك | kaaf | k | An ordinary k as in "cat" — in front of the deep ق |
| ل | laam | l | A plain l |
| م | miim | m | A plain m |
| ن | nuun | n | A plain n |
| ه | haa (light) | h (light) | The lightest h — a plain breath of air, fainter than the English h. Unlike ح it is not made in the throat; word-finally it is barely audible |
| ء | hamza | glottal stop | The little catch in the throat before a vowel — the break you hear in "uh-oh" |
| ة | ta marbuta | a (word-final) | At the end of a word it is simply "a"; before the next word in connected speech you will often hear "at": madrasat |
| ى | alif maqsura | aa (word-final) | A long "aa" at the end of a word, even though it is written like a dotless ي. Hundreds of words finish with it: على، مستشفى |
How practical transliteration differs from the scholarly kind
Any script has several Latin renderings, and they solve different problems. The scholarly one (ISO, GOST) is reversible: the original spelling can be restored character for character — which is why it is full of marks that are not on any keyboard and that nobody ever reads aloud correctly.
The practical one solves the reverse problem: a person reads it aloud and is understood. That is what the table above uses, and that is what our courses use.
What to watch out for
Long vowels: alif, waw, yaa. The script is an abjad: short vowels are not written in it at all. كتاب is "ktb", and it reads kataba — the vowels are restored from grammar. Only the long ones are written, with these three signs. Waw and yaa stay consonants ("w" and "y") whenever they have a vowel of their own next to them.
ب ت ث — one skeleton, dots count to three. The most legible family of the script: one skeleton, and the difference is the number of dots. One underneath, two on top, three on top. Learn it first — here you can see how the whole writing system works.
ج ح خ — j and two h sounds. The same trick again. The skeleton with a dot inside is "j". With no dot it is a breathy throat h, and with a dot on top a scraping kh. The three h sounds must not be confused: حوت is "whale", and خوت would be a different word.
د ذ and ر ز — pairs of "no dot / dot". Four letters that join only from the right and therefore do not change shape inside a word. Each pair shares one skeleton — an angle and a stick with a tail. The second letter of the pair has a dot on top.
س ش — the three teeth. The most conspicuous letter in the script: three teeth in a row. With no dot it is "s", with a dot on top "sh". A pair on one skeleton, like the angles above — it simply has exactly two skeletons of its own.
ص ض ط ظ ق — the heavy consonants and the deep q. The emphatic consonants are "heavy" sounds with no soft partner: the tongue is pulled back and the whole syllable darkens. The pairs circle round: heavy s/d/t/z, told apart by skeleton and dots. Next to them the deep q, made down in the throat — it shares its sound with ف but not its depth.
ع غ — the throat: ayn and ghayn. The sounds English does not have at all, and which cannot be approximated without loss. Ayn is a squeezed throat with a vowel drawn through it. Ghayn is the same throat with voice — a gargled g. The transcription marks ayn with the sign ʿ.
ف ك ل م ن ه — the light consonants. Consonants with skeletons of their own that nothing can be confused with. This is also where the third h lives: ه is a plain breath of air, the quietest of the three. And two letters of the article: ال starts with lam, which stands in every second word of the course.
ء ة ى — the three special signs. Three signs that the table of 28 letters does not include. Hamza is not a letter but a vowel break, and it sits on other letters (أ، ؤ، ئ). Ta marbuta is the "tied t", the marker of feminine words; at the end it reads "a". Alif maqsura is written like a dotless ي and read as a long "aa" — hundreds of words end on it.
Frequently asked
How to write Arabic text in Latin letters?
Using the table above, character by character. The practical rendering records sound, not spelling, so the original text cannot always be restored from it backwards.
Why do transliterations differ across sources?
Because they solve different problems: the scholarly one is reversible and precise, the practical one is readable, the passport one is fixed by the country's rules. They are not required to agree.