We can say that there is nothing special about moon letters as they are pronounced normally when attached to the definite article ال. Moon letters are named after the word القمر (moon) because the pronunciation of the definite article in this word didn’t change since ق is one of the Moon letters. Simply said, Moon letters are all the letters that are not Sun letters. Moon letters cause no changes to the preceding definite article. ت، ث، د، ذ، ر، ز، س، ش، ص، ض، ط، ظ، ن، ل.Īny Arabic letter not in this list is called a Moon letter. If you are still confused, please continue to read. When a definite article and a word that starts with one of the Sun letters meet, the ل in the definite article preceding it becomes silent. The reason for that is that the letter ش /sh/ in Arabic is one of the Sun letters. Notice that it’s pronounced Ash-shams and not Al-shams.
The sun is (الشمس) / Ash-Shams/ in Arabic. Let’s take a look at the Sun letters in an Arabic word and see what stands out. In other words, it only affects pronunciation and vocalization, not the spelling. Please note that the impact of Sun letters is purely phonetic and not morphological. Moon and Sun letters are about how they combine with the definite article ال. So any written definite word in Arabic starts with ال + word.įor instance, الكتاب Al-Kitaab = The book. There’s only one definite article in Arabic made up of two letters ال (AL). So, basically the Sun letters are the ones to watch out for. The Sun letters, however, do have an impact on the ل before it by making it silent. The ل /lam/ is always pronounced when it’s followed by a moon letter. The Moon letters or “Huruf qamariyah” (الحروف القمرية ) are the letters that have no impact on the definite article. The Moon and Sun letters in Arabic refer to the letters which when combined with the Arabic definite article ( ال ) either make the ل sound before it silent 🌞, as done by Sun letters or have no effect on it 🌙, as it is the case with Moon letters. In addition, it is quite basic and easy to grasp and apply, and learners of Arabic have no excuse not observing the Sun letters rule. While it doesn’t affect the meanings, it is a noticeable mistake that can bother the ear of native Arabic speakers. I have also seen many advanced non-native speakers of Arabic who butcher the Sun letters. While it is totally normal and okay to make mistakes when we are learning, if this is not addressed early on, it becomes a chronic mistake and habit that is very hard to fix. I have noticed that mispronouncing the sun-letters is one of the most common mistakes among beginners. Why is it important to distinguish Sun and Moon letters?Īnyone learning to speak and/or read Modern Standard Arabic must understand and apply the rule governing the sun-letters and the definite article that comes after them. Practice pronouncing the Sun letters and words:.How are the Sun letters pronounced with the definite article?.Why is it important to distinguish Sun and Moon letters?.
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