Letters Group 3: Daal to Zay

This lesson covers four important letters: Daal (د), Dhaal (ذ), Raa (ر), and Zay (ز). All four of these letters are non-connecting — they never connect to the letter that follows them. This makes them behave differently from most Arabic letters.

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Non-Connecting Letters — Review

Recall from Lesson 1 that six letters in Arabic never connect to the left. Four of those six are in this group:

Non-Connecting Letters
ا (Alif) — learned in Lesson 2
د (Daal) — this lesson
ذ (Dhaal) — this lesson
ر (Raa) — this lesson
ز (Zay) — this lesson
و (Waaw) — Lesson 7

When a non-connecting letter appears in a word, the connection chain breaks and the next letter starts in its initial form.

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Letter 8: د (Daal)

Four Forms of Daal

Form	Shape	Description
Isolated	د	Small triangular/angular shape, no dot
Initial	د	Same as isolated (non-connecting)
Medial	ـد	Connected from right only
Final	ـد	Connected from right only

Because Daal does not connect to the left, it effectively has only two visual forms: standalone and right-connected.

Pronunciation

• Identical to the English "d" as in "dog"

Example Words

Arabic	Transliteration	Meaning
دار	daar	house / home
دَرس	dars	lesson
وَلَد	walad	boy

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Letter 9: ذ (Dhaal)

Dhaal shares Daal's base shape but adds one dot above.

Four Forms of Dhaal

Form	Shape	Description
Isolated	ذ	Angular shape with 1 dot above
Initial	ذ	Same as isolated (non-connecting)
Medial	ـذ	Connected from right, 1 dot above
Final	ـذ	Connected from right, 1 dot above

Pronunciation

• Like the "th" in "this", "that", "the" (voiced dental fricative)
• Different from ث (Thaa) which sounds like "th" in "think" (voiceless)

Letter	Sound	Example English Word
ث (Thaa)	voiceless "th"	think, three
ذ (Dhaal)	voiced "th"	this, that

Example Words

Arabic	Transliteration	Meaning
ذَهَب	dhahab	gold
ذِئب	dhi'b	wolf
أُستاذ	ustaadh	teacher / professor

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Letter 10: ر (Raa)

Four Forms of Raa

Form	Shape	Description
Isolated	ر	A small hook/swoop shape, no dot
Initial	ر	Same as isolated (non-connecting)
Medial	ـر	Connected from right only
Final	ـر	Connected from right only

Pronunciation

• A rolled/trilled "r" — similar to the Spanish "r" in "perro"
• Produced by tapping or trilling the tip of the tongue against the ridge behind the upper teeth
• Not like the English "r" (which is produced further back in the mouth)