Elementary Arabic Morphology 1

The Alphabet

1. How many letters are in the alphabet?

2. How many shamsīyyah letters are there?

3. How many qamarīyyah letters are there?

4. There are 28 letters in the alphabet. The alphabet starts with the ا (alif) and ends with the ی (yā'). There are two types of letters: shamsīyyah and qamarīyyah.

5. Shamsīyyah letters are letters where one pronounces them instead of the lām when the alif-lām is added to the beginning of the word. There are 14 of these letters:

3. Qamarīyyah letters are letters that the lām of ال remains when they are mentioned with it. There are 14 of these letters: