Emphatic Letters

It is produced by pressing the tongue against the palate (the roof of the mouth) instead of the teeth, giving a heavy, hollow "t." The book transcribes it with an underdotted "t." It is a sun letter in Arabic.

The letter ط is a connector: it joins to the letters on both sides. It looks the same as ظ (Zah) but ط has NO dot, while ظ has ONE dot above.

This lesson also introduces the Madda. When a Hamza with fatha is followed by a long "aa," the two are written as a single alif carrying a small wavy sign: آ, pronounced "aa" (a long "a" preceded by a glottal stop). For example آكُلُ ("aakulu," I eat) instead of أَاكُلُ, and قُرْآن ("qur'aan"). The Madda always sounds "aa."

ط is a SUN letter. With the article ال the "l" assimilates and doubles the ط: الطَّبِيب is pronounced "at-tabeeb," not "al-tabeeb."