Reading · Lesson 4 · 7 min
Shadda, Tanwīn & Tāʾ Marbūṭa
Doubling like dagesh, fossil endings, and the feminine ה that is secretly a ת
Three small marks punch far above their weight in Arabic reading: shadda (a doubled consonant), tanwīn (the -n endings), and the hybrid letter tāʾ marbūṭa. Each one has a Hebrew twin — and in one case, the Hebrew twin is hiding in plain sight in every מלכת שבא.
Shadda — the doubled letter
The mark ّ — a little w-shape above a letter — means the consonant is doubled: pronounced twice, or rather held longer, like the double letters of Italian. Arabic never writes a letter twice inside a root word; it writes it once and adds shadda.
Hear the doubling
- دَرَسَדרסdarasa
he studied
Simple stem — Arabic's Form I, Hebrew's פָּעַל.
- دَرَّسَדרסdarrasa
he taught
Same root, shadda on the middle radical: dar-RA-sa, hold the r. Form II is Hebrew's פִּעֵל — doubling turns 'study' into 'make someone study'.
- مُدَرِّسמדרסmudarris
teacher
The doubling survives into the participle: mu-dar-ris, like Hebrew's מְלַמֵּד pattern.
- حَمَّامחמאםḥammām
bathhouse; bathroom
חַם خَامkham
Root ḥ-m-m — Hebrew חַם and חַמָּה. Israelis already write חמאם for a Turkish bath; the doubled m is the shadda.
Tanwīn — the -n that means 'a'
Double a vowel mark at the end of a noun — ً ٌ ٍ — and you have tanwīn: the endings -an, -un, -in that mark an indefinite noun in formal MSA (kitābun, 'a book'). Full case endings live mostly in newscasts, poetry, and the Quran; spoken Arabic dropped them centuries ago, and this course will not drill you on them. But a few tanwīn words fossilized into everyday speech, and you will hear them within your first minute of Arabic conversation.
Tanwīn you'll actually hear
- شُكْرًاשכרןshukran
thank you
An -an frozen forever; the alif at the end is the tanwīn's chair, not a long ā.
- أَهْلًا وَسَهْلًاאהלן וסהלןahlan wa-sahlan
welcome!
Literally '(you have come to) family and level ground'. Israeli slang אַהְלָן is the first word, borrowed whole — you have been saying tanwīn for years.
- عَفْوًاעפואןʿafwan
you're welcome; excuse me
- مَرْحَبًاמרחבאmarḥaban
hello
מֶרְחָב مِرْخَاڤmerkhav
Root r-ḥ-b, 'wide' — Hebrew רָחָב and מֶרְחָב. Saying marḥaban is saying 'there is room for you'. In the Levant it is simply marḥaba.
Tāʾ marbūṭa — the tied-up t
The letter ة — a ه wearing the two dots of ت — is called tāʾ marbūṭa, 'the tied-up t'. It appears only at the end of a word and marks the feminine. Alone, it is pronounced -a: مَدْرَسَة, madrasa. But put the word in a construct (possessed) position and the t unties itself: مَدْرَسَة الْبَنَات, madrasat al-banāt, 'the girls' school'.
| Hebrew | Arabic | |
|---|---|---|
| Alone: 'queen' | מַלְכָּה | مَلِكَة |
| Construct: 'Queen of Sheba' | מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא | مَلِكَة سَبَأ |
| Alone: 'city' / 'state' | מְדִינָה | مَدِينَة |
| Construct: 'city of...' / 'state of...' | מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל | مَدِينَة الْقُدْس |
Spot the ة
- مَدْرَسَةמדרסהmadrasa
school
מִדְרָשָׁה مِدْرَاشَاmidrasha
Root d-r-s (Hebrew ד-ר-שׁ) with the place-prefix ma- — Hebrew builds place nouns with מ־ too: מִדְרָשׁ, מִקְדָּשׁ, מִשְׁכָּן. A מדרשה is literally a مدرسة.
- مَدِينَةמדינהmadīna
city
מְדִינָה مِدِينَاmedina
Same word, drifted meanings: Arabic 'city', Hebrew 'state' — originally 'province', as in the מְדִינוֹת of Megillat Esther. Root d-y-n: a jurisdiction, where a judge judges.
- سَنَةסנהsana
year
שָׁנָה شَانَاshana
ש answering س again. And the construct restores the t on both sides: שְׁנַת־ and sanat-.
- مَلِكَةמלכהmalika
queen
מַלְכָּה مَالْكَاmalka