Letter 11 of 28
How Do You Pronounce Zay (ز)?
ز
Zayزَاي
Z as in zoo.
The sound
Exactly the English z in zoo and zeal. A buzzing s with the voice on.
It is Ra's dotted sister, same body, one dot above, and like Ra it never connects forward.
The four written forms
Arabic letters change shape by position, alone, at the start, in the middle, and at the end of a word.
ز
Isolated
ز
Initial
ز
Medial
ز
Final
Zay is one of the six letters (ا د ذ ر ز و) that never connect to the letter after them. It joins from the right only, so its initial form looks like its isolated form, and the letter following it starts fresh.
Zay with harakat
The three short vowels: fatha says "a", kasra says "i", damma says "u".
زَ
za
Fatha · "a"
زِ
zi
Kasra · "i"
زُ
zu
Damma · "u"
Spot it in the Quran
الزَّكَاةُ
az-zakah
the zakah
أَنزَلَ
anzala
He sent down
رِزْقٌ
rizq
provision
Keep going
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