Rule
When followed by a sun letter, the l of the Arabic definite article al- assimilates to the initial consonant of the following noun, resulting in a doubled consonant. For example, for "the Nile", one does not say al-Nīl, but an-Nīl. When the definite article is followed by a moon letter, no assimilation takes place.
Sun letters represent all coronal consonants except ج ǧīm (see below). Since the article al- ends in a coronal consonant, it lends itself to assimilation with these sounds.
The sun and moon letters are as follows:
| Sun letters | ﺕ | ﺙ | ﺩ | ﺫ | ﺭ | ﺯ | ﺱ | ﺵ | ﺹ | ﺽ | ﻁ | ﻅ | ﻝ | ﻥ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| t | ṯ | d | ḏ | r | z | s | š | ṣ | ḍ | ṭ | ẓ | l | n | |
| Moon letters | ء | ﺏ | ﺝ | ﺡ | ﺥ | ﻉ | ﻍ | ﻑ | ﻕ | ﻙ | ﻡ | ﻭ | ﻱ | ه |
| ʾ | b | ǧ | ḥ | ḫ | ʿ | ġ | f | q | k | m | w | y | h |
Read more about this topic: Sun And Moon Letters
Famous quotes containing the word rule:
“The first rule of venture capitalism should be Shoot the Inventor.”
—Richard, Sir Storey (b. 1937)
“The rule for every man is, not to depend on the education which other men have prepared for him,—not even to consent to it; but to strive to see things as they are, and to be himself as he is. Defeat lies in self-surrender.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“My reason, it’s true, controls my feelings, but whatever its authority, it doesn’t rule them so much as tyrannize them.”
—Pierre Corneille (1606–1684)