بَاب
bāb · a door
- بَاbā
- بb
- bā — Bāʼ with a fatha, stretched long by the alif
- b — Bāʼ, closing the word
Unit 10 · Reading real words
Step 1 of 4 · Sound it out
Read each piece right to left, then let them run together.
نُور
nūr · light
- نُوnū
- رr
- nū — Nūn with a damma, stretched long by the wāw
- r — Rāʼ, closing the word
تِين
tīn · figs
- تِيtī
- نn
- tī — Tāʼ with a kasra, stretched long by the yāʼ
- n — Nūn, closing the word
Three letters do double duty. After a fatha, an alif stretches it into a long “aa”; after a damma, a wāw stretches it into “oo”; after a kasra, a yāʼ stretches it into “ee”. The mark starts the vowel and the letter holds it.