Arabic has 28 letters. It is written right-to-left. Each letter has up to 4 forms depending on position.
| Letter | Name | Sound |
|--------|------|-------|
| أ | Alif | A/aa |
| ب | Ba | B |
| ت | Ta | T |
| ث | Tha | Th (as in "think") |
| ج | Jeem | J |
| ح | Ha | H (deep, pharyngeal) |
| خ | Kha | Kh (like Scottish "loch") |
| د | Dal | D |
| ذ | Dhal | Dh (as in "the") |
| ر | Ra | R (rolled) |
| ز | Zay | Z |
| س | Seen | S |
| ش | Sheen | Sh |
| ص | Sad | S (emphatic) |
| ض | Dad | D (emphatic) |
| ط | Ta | T (emphatic) |
| ظ | Dha | Dh (emphatic) |
| ع | Ain | ' (voiced pharyngeal) |
| غ | Ghain | Gh (like French "r") |
| ف | Fa | F |
| ق | Qaf | Q (deep) |
| ك | Kaf | K |
| ل | Lam | L |
| م | Meem | M |
| ن | Noon | N |
| ه | Ha | H |
| و | Waw | W / long U |
| ي | Ya | Y / long I |