Page:Simplified grammar of Hindustani, Persian and Arabic.pdf/17

The vowels are ـُ‎ u (as in bull) and ـَ‎ a (pronoucned like u in but), both written above the letter; and ـِ‎ ī written below the letter.

Combined with ا‎ a, و‎ w, and ی‎ y, these become آ‎ aa (ā), ـُو‎ uw (ū), ـِى‎ iy (ī), ـَو‎ aw (pronounced as ow in cow), ـَی‎ ai (like i in fine).

No word can commence with a vowel in the Arabic character; if it does the vowel is introduced by alif ا‎.

When a syllable begins with a vowel, the mark ء‎ hamzeh is used to introduce it.

But this hamzeh being written above the line requires a prop: this in the case of a is ا‎, in the case of u it is و‎, and in the case of i it is ی‎, only that in the initial form this last is distinguished from the ordinary y by losing its dots: e.g. سؤآر‎ sū-ar, "a pig," جارُن‎ jā-ūṅ, "I go," کوئی‎ ko-ī, "any," "some," فائده‎ fā-ida, "advantage."

ـّـ‎ Tashdīd doubles the letter it is placed over.

ـْـ‎ Sukūn shows that the letter it is placed over has no vowel.

ٱ‎ Waṣlah is only used over an initial alif in an Arabic word, or over the Arabic article أل‎ al, and shows it is elided.

ـٓ‎ Maddah is placed over an initial alif and shows it should be pronounced long, as آنا‎ ānā, "to come."

If the first letter of an Arabic word be a sibilant or liquid