Jīm, ḥā’ and khā’

Like bā’, tā’ and thā’ in the last lesson, the three letters of this lesson share one body, and their dots tell them apart. Here the body is larger, and there is only ever one dot.

The letters

Telling them apart

All three have a short stroke at the top that bends back, and, when they stand alone or at the end of a word, a deep curve that sweeps down below the line and back.

• Jīm has one dot, inside the curve or under the stroke.
• Ḥā’ has no dot.
• Khā’ has one dot above.

At the start and in the middle of a word, the deep curve is not drawn: the letter is only the stroke at the top, which joins to the next letter. Look for the dot, or for no dot.

Ḥā’ is a different letter from hā’, which comes in lesson 7. The transliteration writes ḥā’ with a dot under the h, and hā’ without one.

In the Qur’ān

The second verse of al-Fātiḥah begins with a word that has ḥā’ in its middle. Find it in the word, then in the letters below it.

In this verse, jīm, ḥā’ and khā’ are each picked out. The first word has two of them: khā’ in the middle and jīm at the end.

Recall

• Which of the three letters has no dot?
• Where is the dot of khā’?
• What is left of these letters at the start of a word?

Answers: ḥā’; above it; the short stroke at the top, without the deep curve.

Next

The next lesson teaches five letters that join only to the letter before them: dāl, dhāl, rā’, zāy and wāw.