Sun and Moon Letters

Sun And Moon Letters

In Arabic and Maltese, the consonants are divided into two groups, called the sun letters or solar letters (Arabic: حروف شمسية‎ ḥurūf šhamsiyyah) and moon letters or lunar letters (حروف قمرية ḥurūf qamariyyah), based on whether or not they assimilate the letter lām (ﻝ l) of a preceding definite article al- (الـ). These names come from the fact that the word for "the sun", aš-šams, assimilates the lām, while the word for "the moon", al-qamar, does not.

Read more about Sun And Moon Letters:  Rule, Orthography, See Also

Famous quotes containing the words sun, moon and/or letters:

    “The sun such an anointment
    Upon the forehead, on the hands and feet,
    That all air is appointed
    Our candid clothing, our elapsing state.”
    —Philip Larkin (1922–1986)

    “Crazed through much child-bearing
    The moon is staggering in the sky;
    Moon-struck by the despairing
    Glances of her wandering eye
    We grope, and grope in vain,
    For children born of her pain.”
    —William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)

    “My business is stanching blood and feeding fainting men; my post the open field between the bullet and the hospital. I sometimes discuss the application of a compress or a wisp of hay under a broken limb, but not the bearing and merits of a political movement. I make gruel—not speeches; I write letters home for wounded soldiers, not political addresses.”
    —Clara Barton (1821–1912)