q / h / ħ

Three Different Letters

Level 1

q commonly represents /ʔ/; h is usually silent; ħ represents /ħ/.

How It Works

Compare qamar “moon”, qalb “heart”, hena “happiness” and ħobż “bread”. The first two begin with /ʔ/. In /ˈɛːna/, hena begins with a vowel; ħobż begins with /ħ/. Slash-delimited forms describe pronunciation only.

A glottal stop briefly closes the passage at the vocal folds. For /ħ/, voiceless airflow continues through a pharyngeal constriction. Silent h still belongs to the written word.

Examples (4)

  1. qamar

    moon

    Vocabulary fragment beginning with /ʔ/.

  2. qalb

    heart

    Vocabulary fragment retaining q and final b.

  3. hena

    happiness

    Vocabulary fragment with ordinarily silent initial h.

  4. ħobż

    bread

    Vocabulary fragment beginning with pronounced ħ.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

q / h / ħLevel 1Three Different Letters

Learn This First

Compare qamar and qalb with hena and ħobż to distinguish glottal closure, ordinarily silent spelling and pharyngeal airflow. The comparison develops the already introduced identity of ħ.