ز, ذ and ث
Read z and the two interdental consonants.
About this unit
ز is z. ذ and ث are the two th sounds: ذ as in “this”, ث as in “thin”.
- زz, as in “zoo”زَيْت · oil
- ذ
th, as in “this”ذِرَاع · armi
Voiced th as in English this.
- ث
th, as in “thin”ثَلْج · snowi
Voiceless th as in English thin.
One letter, several shapes
A letter's shape depends on its neighbours. At the start it joins only the next letter, in the middle both neighbours, at the end only the letter before it.
A dash means the letter never joins the next letter: at the start of a word it looks as when alone, in the middle as at the end.
ز is ر with one dot.
ذ is د with one dot.
Two dots in ت, three dots in ث.
ز and ذ never join the next letter, like ر and د.
More words to read
ذَهَب
golddhahabثَوْب
garmentthawbكَنْز
treasurekanz
تِلْمِيذ
pupiltilmīdhكَثِير
muchkathīrReading tips
MSA distinguishes ز /z/, ذ voiced th and ث voiceless th. These are separate sounds even though some regional varieties merge particular members. ز and ذ do not join to the next letter.
Reading practice
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You can read and write this
Read z and the two interdental consonants.
زَيْت
oilذَهَب
goldثَوْب
garment
ثَلْج
snow
ذِرَاع
armكَنْز
treasureتِلْمِيذ
pupilكَثِير
muchUse a Arabic keyboard
Standard Arabic keyboard or course tiles. Enter logical letters; the font shapes joins. Numbers retain normal digit order. Optional vowel marks are separate inputs.
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