Arabic Letters Ein and GHein

The Letters Ein and GHein

·        The next letters of the Arabic alphabet are Ein and GHein

·        Ein and GHein look very similar except that Ein has no dots and GHein has one dot on top

·        Ein has no equivalent in English that we can compare it to
We’ll talk more about it later

·        GHein sounds like the combination GH

Listening & Pronouncing

·        Ein is a very throaty letter
It comes from the middle of the throat near the area labelled Trachea

Source: http://www.doctorspiller.com/oral%20anatomy.htm

·        Exercise: Ein is very easy to identify. Listen to the recordings below and repeat what you hear
Be careful if this is the first time you’re pronouncing Ein; do not hurt your throat

·        GHein is represented with the combination GH
It sounds like the noise you make when you gargle your throat

·        GHein comes from the top of the throat near the area labelled Larynx

Source: http://www.doctorspiller.com/oral%20anatomy.htm

·        Exercise: repeat the words you hear

Reading & Writing

·        The Ein/GHein body is a loop, followed by a cusp, followed by a loop at the end

·        To write the Ein/GHein body by itself or in the beginning

o   start from the top and create the first semi circle which is slightly tilted upwards

o   it will look like the top of a wrench

o   then continue by drawing the big semi circle underneath if the letter is by itself, otherwise continue on to the next letter

·        To write the Ein/GHein body in the middle or end of a word

o   continue from the previous letter

o   draw a diagonal line from the bottom right to the top left

o   continue by drawing a horizontal line from the left to the right

o   continue by drawing another diagonal line from the top right to the bottom left

o   you’ll end up with an X with a line on top

o   you can fill in the space between the X and the line on top with your pen later if you want

o   this is one of the ways to write Ein/GHein

·        Exercise: copy the following words

عُجاب

عَضُدِ

عِشار

بعد

رعد

بعر

بدع

طبعِ

سُراعُ

سجعَ

شرعِ

·        Although they look pretty different, you might confuse the Jeem/Haa/KHaa body with the Ein/GHein body
In particular, when they occur at the end of a sequence
Let’s compare the two

·        Exercise: read the following to the best of your ability

عُشَبِ

غُربَةُ

سَجَعُ

صَباحَ

رُبحِ

زُرَخِ

Proceed to lesson 16