Arabic Letter Ya – (ي) & Alphabetical Order
Arabic is an ancient language with a unique alphabet and pronunciation. The twenty-eighth letter in the alphabetical order of the language is the Ya, which is also known as Ya-E with a tilde ( ي ).
This article will explore the basics of the Arabic letter Ya, as well as its various forms and usages.
This letter has three contextual forms and its English equivalent is pronounced like the “y” in “yes”.
Arabic Letter Ya (Short Description)
- Type – Vowel.
- Alphabetical Order – 28th.
- Contextual forms – three.
- Pronounce English letter like – yāʾ.
Serial Number, B – Isolated Form, C – Trans-literation, D – Letter name, E – Letter Name In Arabic Script.
ي
| A | B | C | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | ي | y | yāʾ | يَاء |
How to Write Arabic Letters Ya?
The Arabic alphabet doesn’t have upper or lowercase letters, like we see in the Latin alphabet letters. but the letters are combing when writing a word. However, each arabic letter can be written in Contextual forms.
The arabic letters of words are written and read from right to left, horizontally. There are four Contextual forms that each letter can take:
- Initial
- Medial
- Final
- Isolated (Detached).
| Contextual forms |
| Final | Medial | Initial | Detached |
|---|---|---|---|
| ـي | ـيـ | يـ | ي |
How to Pronounce Letter Yaa
ی ⬅️ یا
The letter Yaa comes from the middle of the tongue against the middle of the upper palate. Try to make the sound of this letter strong. Letter Yaa mainly 3 sounds –
- Ya – يَدْ (Yadh)
- Yaa – رِيَاحْ (Reyaah)
- Yi – سَيِّدْ (Sayyid).
You Must Know About Arabic Alphabet Letters
- The Arabic alphabet has 28 letters but some author include ء hamza as a letter then counting will be 29.
- In Arabic Letters have only 3 vowels namely – (و،ا،ي) but ي and و which can be both consonants and vowels while Alif (،ا،) is only pure vowel.
- In Arabic Alphabet, no capital and small letters.
Conclusion Points
The Arabic letter Ya – (ي) is one of the 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet and holds a place of great significance. It can appear in three contextual forms depending on its placement within a word or sentence.
The letter Ya – (ي) is pronounced like the English letter “y” and is also known as ‘Yeh’ in some dialects.
In order to understand this letter it is important to be aware of its context within Ancient Arabic culture.
The Letter Ya – (ي) was historically used to depict strong emotions, such as sorrow, anger or joy, which could be understood without any additional explanation.
This ancient form of communication has been handed down through generations, giving rise to its current use today in modern Arabic writing and speech.
