Sun and moon letters

The Arabic Sun consonants in White and Moon consonants in Black

The Arabic Sun consonants in black on white and Moon consonants in white on black

The Maltese moon consonants highlighted in black, the sun consonants in white, and the vowels in gray

The Maltese moon consonants highlighted in black, the sun consonants in white, and the vowels in gray

In Arabic and Maltese, all consonants are classified into two distinct groups known as sun letters (Template:Langx , Template:Langx) and moon letters (Arabic: , Template:Langx)

This distinction affects the way the definite article (equivalent to "the" in English) is assimilated or pronounced before consonants: when a word begins with a sun letter, the definite article assimilates with the initial consonant of the word.

The names stem from how the definite article interacts with the nouns "Sun" and "Moon" in Arabic (and Maltese). In Arabic, al-shams (“the Sun”) becomes ash-shams (assimilating the lām), while al-qamar (“the Moon”) remains unchanged. Similarly, in Maltese, "the Sun" is ix-xemx (with assimilation), while "the Moon" is il-qamar (without assimilation).

Rule

When followed by a sun letter, the Template:IPAslink of the Arabic definite article assimilates to the initial consonant of the following noun, resulting in a doubled consonant. For example, "the Nile" is pronounced , not .

When the Arabic definite article () is followed by a moon letter, no assimilation takes place.

The sun letters represent the coronal consonants according to the phonology of Classical Arabic, and the moon letters represent all others. Note that the mnemonic groups all moon letters.

The sun and moon letters are as follows:

Sun letters
	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink
Moon letters
	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink*	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink

Jīm

The letter is pronounced differently depending on the region of the speaker. In many regions it represents a coronal consonant such as Template:IPAblink or Template:IPAblink. However, in Classical Arabic, it represented a palatalized voiced velar plosive Template:IPAslink or a voiced palatal plosive Template:IPAslink. A contemporary pronunciation as Template:IPAblink is retained in Egypt, Oman, and coastal Yemen or Template:IPAblink in eastern hinterland Yemen, and as a variant in Sudan. As a result, it was classified as a moon letter, and it does not assimilate the article in Classical Arabic. Maltese ġ is also considered a moon consonant, whereas its voiceless counterpart ċ Template:IPAslink is a sun consonant.

However, in some varieties of Moroccan, Mesopotamian, and Palestinian Arabic, (often //) assimilates, like a sun letter, e.g., 'camel'.

Emphatic consonants

In Arabic dialects, like Palestinian, al before an emphatic consonant only assimilates in place of articulation but not in pharyngealization, hence instead of (Template:Wikt-lang 'table').

Maltese

The sun (konsonanti xemxin) and moon (konsonanti qamrin) letters are as follows:

Sun letters
	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink
Moon letters
	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	/Template:IPA linkTemplate:IPA link/	silent	Template:IPAslink,Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink	Template:IPAslink

If a word starts with any of the moon letters, the definite article il- stays the same and does not assimilate, while with the sun letters it assimilates accordingly to: iċ-, id-, in-, ir-, is-, it-, ix-, iż-, iz-. It is also worth mentioning that words starting with vowels, and the letters għ, and h get the definite article l- (minus the initial i). When the definite article comes exactly after a word ending in a vowel, the initial <i> of the article always drops, as in "dak ir-raġel ra r-raġel" (that man saw the man). When a word starts with two consonants, the definite article used is l-, but an i is attached at the beginning of the word: skola > l-iskola and Żvezja > l-Iżvezja.

The sound Template:IPAslink (represented by the letters and ) function in the same way no matter it is sun or moon letter, e.g. (the meat) is il-laħam in Maltese and al-laḥm in Arabic or (the game) is il-logħba in Maltese and al-luʿba in Arabic.

Orthography

In the written language, the ⟨ال‎⟩ is retained regardless of how it is pronounced. When full diacritics are used, assimilation may be expressed by putting a ⟨ ّ⟩ on the consonant after the ⟨ل‎⟩. Non-assimilation may be expressed by placing a over the ⟨لْ‎⟩.

Most modern-written Arabic names (including personal names and geographical Arabic names) do not follow the consonant assimilation rule or the shaddah when Latinized in Latin-spelled languages. Sometimes the sun and moon rules are not followed in casual speech. They are also mostly spaced rather than hyphenated.

E.g. personal name:

• الرَّحْمَن‎ - Al Rahman or El Rahman instead of Ar-Raḥmān

transliterated geographical name:

• الْجُمْهُورِيَّةُ التُّونِسِيَّة‎ - Al Jumhuriyah Al Tunisiyah instead of al-Jumhūrīyatu t-Tūnisīyah

Examples

Sun letters			Moon letters
الشَّمْس‎		'the sun'	الْقَمَر‎		'the moon'
الثِّقَة‎		'the confidence'	الْمُرْجَان‎		'the coral'

Moon/Lunar Letters
Letter	IPA	Template:IPAslink in the definite article "al" remains	Examples
ء‎	Template:IPAslink	الْإ, الْأ‎ al-’a.../ al-’u...; al-’i...	الْأَخُ‎ al-ʼakh(u) = the brother الْأُذُنُ‎ al-’udhun(u) = the ear الْإِبْرِيقُ‎ al-’ibrīq(u) = the jug
ب‎ b	Template:IPAslink	الْبـ‎ al-b...	الْبَيتُ‎ al-bayt(u) = the house
ج‎ j	Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink, Template:IPAslink	الْجـ‎ al-j...	الْجَوزُ‎ al-jawz(u) = the walnut
ح‎ ḥ	Template:IPAslink	الْحـ‎ al-ḥ...	الْحَجُّ‎ al-Ḥajj(u) = the pilgrimage
خ‎	Template:IPAslink	الْخـ‎ al-kh...	الْخَوْخُ‎ al-khawkh(u) = the peach
ع‎	Template:IPAslink	الْعـ‎ al-ʻ...	الْعَقْلُ‎ al-‘aql(u) = the mind الْعُشْبُ‎ al-‘ush·b(u) = the grass الْعِيدُ‎ al-‘id(u) = the holiday, festival
غ‎	Template:IPAslink	الْغـ‎ al-gh...	الْغَرَامُ‎ al-gharām(u) = the love, romance, passion
ف‎ f	Template:IPAslink	الْفـ‎ al-f...	الْفِكْرُ‎ al-fik·r(u) = the thought
ق‎ q	Template:IPAslink	الْقـ‎ al-q...	الْقِرْدُ‎ al-qird(u) = the monkey
ك‎ k	Template:IPAslink	الْكـ‎ al-k...	الْكَوْكَبُ‎ al-kawkab(u) = the planet
م‎ m	Template:IPAslink	الْمـ‎ al-m...	الْمَتْحَفُ‎ al-mat·ḥaf(u) = the museum
و‎ w	Template:IPAslink	الْو‎ al-w...	الْوَفِيَُ‎ al-wafiy(u) = the faithful = the color
ي‎ y	Template:IPAslink	الْيـ‎ al-y...	الْيَانْسُونُ‎ al-yānsūn(u) = the anise
ه‎ h	Template:IPAslink	الْهـ‎ al-h...	الْهَوَاءُ‎ al-hawāʼ(u) = the air

Sun/Solar Letters
Letter	IPA	Template:IPAslink in the definite article "al" assimilates, the following consonant geminates (الْـّ‎)	Examples
ت‎ t	Template:IPAslink	التّـ‎ at-t...	التِّينُ‎ at-tīn(u) = the fig
ث‎ th	Template:IPAslink	الثّـ‎ ath-th...	الثَّعْلَبُ‎ ath-tha‘lab(u) = the fox
د‎ d	Template:IPAslink	الدّ‎ ad-d...	الدُّبُّ‎ ad-dubb(u) = the bear
ذ‎ dh	Template:IPAslink	الذّ‎ adh-dh...	الذَّكَرُ‎ adh-dhakar(u) = the male
ر‎ r	Template:IPAslink	−الرّ‎ ar-r...	الرَّبُّ‎ ar-Rabb(u) = the Lord
ز‎ z	Template:IPAslink	الزّ‎ az-z...	الزَّنْبَقُ‎ az-zanbaq(u) = the lily
س‎ s	Template:IPAslink	السّـ‎ as-s...	السَّمَاوَاتُ‎ as-samāwāt(u) = the Heavens, firmament, skies
ش‎	Template:IPAslink	الشّـ‎ ash-sh...	الشَّرْقُ‎ ash-shar·q(u) = the east
ص‎	Template:IPAslink	الصّـ‎ aṣ-ṣ...	الصَّحْرَاءُ‎ aṣ-ṣaḥ·rāʼ(u) = the desert
ض‎	Template:IPAslink	الضّـ‎ aḍ-ḍ...	الضَّبَابُ‎ aḍ-ḍabāb(u) = the fog
ط‎	Template:IPAslink	الطّـ‎ aṭ-ṭ...	الطَّاهِرُ‎ aṭ-ṭāhir(u) = the pure
ظ‎	Template:IPAslink	الظّـ‎ aẓ-ẓ...	الظُّهْرُ‎ aẓ-ẓuh·r(u) = the noon
ن‎ n	Template:IPAslink	النّـ‎ an-n...	النِّسَاءُ‎ an-nisā(u) = the women
ل‎ l	Template:IPAslink	الْلـ‎ al-l...	اللَّوْنُ‎ al-lawn(u) = the color

See also

• Arabic phonology
• Arabic grammar