21.Scheme of treatment. Before combining these families, and ultimately others, in some real examples of Arabic words (this being the central purpose of the present part of the course), each family of consonant letters will be described in terms of the following:

(a) The several pronunciations signified by the different members of the family: note the standard latinised forms (certain variations are possible) used to transliterate the Arabic symbols. Since this is not necessarily a course for specialists, indications of the pronunciation will be approximate and non-technical only. Ultimately, for pronunciation, nothing can replace the guidance of an Arabic-speaker, or preferably several Arabic-speakers, but it should be remembered that any individual's colloquial speech may tend to “colour” his pronunciation and intonation of Standard Arabic (cf. paras. 8 and 9). Films, radio, television and recordings are all more or less satisfactory substitutes for live contact.

(b) The essential shape of the letter-family. (It may here be remarked that there is no distinction in Arabic between capitals and small letters.)

(c) The main modifications effected by the position of any particular shape within a given word (see para. 13). On the face of things, it will be obvious that three positions are involved (the student should remember constantly to think, as well as to write, from right to left): at the beginning of a word (initial), in the middle (medial), and at the end (final).