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:
“Democracy don’t rule the world,
You’d better get that in your head;
This world is ruled by violence
But I guess that’s better left unsaid.”
—Bob Dylan [Robert Allen Zimmerman] (b. 1941)
“As an example to others, and not that I care for moderation myself, it has always been my rule never to smoke when asleep, and never to refrain from smoking when awake.”
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)
“The principle of majority rule is the mildest form in which the force of numbers can be exercised. It is a pacific substitute for civil war in which the opposing armies are counted and the victory is awarded to the larger before any blood is shed. Except in the sacred tests of democracy and in the incantations of the orators, we hardly take the trouble to pretend that the rule of the majority is not at bottom a rule of force.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)