Arabic Letters Saad and Daad

The Letters Saad and Daad

·        The next letters of the Arabic alphabet are Saad and Daad

·        Saad and Daad look very similar except that Saad has no dots and Daad has one dot on top

·        Saad sounds kind of like the letter S
Daad sounds kind of like the letter D

Listening & Pronouncing

·        Saad sounds like S (so like س)
But it has a whistle to it
It can be difficult for a beginner to tell the difference between ص and س

·        Some differences between ص and س

o   ص has a slight whistle and س does not

o   ص sounds very “fat” and it’s pronounced with a “full mouth” and س is not

o   when you pronounce ص your lips become round and pouted a bit, but when you pronounce س they flatten out into a small smile

o   when you pronounce ص your tongue curves width-wise a bit, but when you pronounce س it stays pretty flat

·        Exercise: repeat the words you hear

·        Daad sounds like a soft D (so like د)
But it sounds much “fatter” / “thicker”

Source: http://www.gtchild.co.uk/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=39&Itemid=66

·        There’s a real way to pronounce Daad, and then there’s a way everyone does it in modern Arabic because the real way is difficult

·        The real way of pronouncing Daad is so unique, in fact, that Arabic is called “The Language of Daad”

·        This is how you pronounce Daad (ض) in Arabic:
When you pronounce a “D” in English, the tip of your tongue touches the part where your top central incisors meet your gums. Move the tip of your tongue a little further back and pronounce the letter “D” again. The resulting sound is much “thicker”. This is the Arabic letter Daad (ض).

·        Let’s not worry about how to do the real pronunciation
No one will notice the difference anyways

·        Exercise: repeat the words you hear

·        Exercise: each of the following recordings have two words
Which word has the س and which word has the ص?

·        Exercise: each of the following recordings have two words
Which word has the د and which word has the ض?

Reading & Writing

·        The Saad/Daad body is a loop, followed by a cusp, followed by a loop at the end

·        To write the Saad/Daad body:
Start from a point
Make a loop by going up and to the right
Complete the loop by coming down and to the left
Continue after the loop to create a small cusp

·        What other letter bodies have a loop (at the end)?

·        Exercise: copy the following words once each

ضجر

صار

خاص

بصر

حصة

Proceed to lesson 13