alba7r alabyad almutawassit
the Mediterranean SeaThe word, broken down.
الْبَحْر اَلْأَبْيَض اَلْمُتَوَسِّط reads right to left. Below, in reading order, each letter — its sound, its shape, its place in the syllable.
A long 'a' vowel — a single upright stroke, and the first letter of the alphabet.
A plain 'l' — a tall upright stroke with a curved foot.
A plain 'b'. A tooth-shaped body with one dot below.
A short 'a' — a small stroke written above the letter.
A breathy h from deep in the throat — heavier than an English 'h'.
A rolled 'r' — closer to Spanish than English.
A long 'a' vowel — a single upright stroke, and the first letter of the alphabet.
A short 'a' — a small stroke written above the letter.
A plain 'l' — a tall upright stroke with a curved foot.
A glottal stop carried on an alif.
A short 'a' — a small stroke written above the letter.
A plain 'b'. A tooth-shaped body with one dot below.
A 'y' — or a long 'i' vowel when it carries no vowel of its own.
A short 'a' — a small stroke written above the letter.
An emphatic 'd'. Arabic is called 'the language of the ḍād'.
A long 'a' vowel — a single upright stroke, and the first letter of the alphabet.
A short 'a' — a small stroke written above the letter.
A plain 'l' — a tall upright stroke with a curved foot.
A plain 'm'. A small round head with a tail.
A short 'u' — a small loop written above the letter.
A plain 't'. The same body as bāʾ, but with two dots above.
A short 'a' — a small stroke written above the letter.
A 'w' — or a long 'u' vowel when it carries no vowel of its own.
A short 'a' — a small stroke written above the letter.
A plain 's'. Three small teeth in a row.
Doubles the letter it sits on — hold the consonant a beat longer.
A short 'i' — a small stroke written below the letter.
An emphatic 't' — heavier and deeper than a plain 't'.
The keystrokes, in order.
On a standard Arabic 101 / Arabic-PC layout — 35 key presses. Diacritics sit on the Shift keys. The on-screen keyboard on this site highlights each key as you go.
Practice typing this word →- 01H→ا
- 02G→ل
- 03Shift+X→ـْ
- 04F→ب
- 05Shift+Q→ـَfatḥa
- 06P→ح
- 07Shift+X→ـْ
- 08V→ر
- 09Space→
- 10H→ا
- 11Shift+Q→ـَfatḥa
- 12G→ل
- 13Shift+X→ـْ
- 14Shift+H→أ
- 15Shift+Q→ـَfatḥa
- 16F→ب
- 17Shift+X→ـْ
- 18D→ي
- 19Shift+Q→ـَfatḥa
- 20Q→ض
- 21Space→
- 22H→ا
- 23Shift+Q→ـَfatḥa
- 24G→ل
- 25Shift+X→ـْ
- 26L→م
- 27Shift+E→ـُḍamma
- 28J→ت
- 29Shift+Q→ـَfatḥa
- 30,→و
- 31Shift+Q→ـَfatḥa
- 32S→س
- 33Shift+`→ـّshadda
- 34Shift+A→ـِkasra
- 35'→ط