InArabic andMaltese, allconsonants are classified into two distinct groups known assun letters (Arabic:حروف شمسيةḥurūf shamsiyyah,Maltese:konsonanti xemxin) andmoon letters (Arabic:حروف قمريةḥurūf qamariyyah,Maltese:konsonanti qamrin).
This distinction affects the way the definite article (equivalent to "the" in English) isassimilated or pronounced before consonants: when a word begins with asun letter, the definite article assimilates with the initialconsonant of the word.
The names stem from how the definite article interacts with the nouns "Sun" and "Moon" in Arabic (and Maltese). In Arabic,al-shams (“the Sun”) becomesash-shams (assimilating thelām), whileal-qamar (“the Moon”) remains unchanged. Similarly, inMaltese, "the Sun" isix-xemx (withassimilation), while "the Moon" isil-qamar (without assimilation).
When followed by a sun letter, the/l/ of the Arabic definite articleal- assimilates to the initial consonant of the following noun, resulting in adoubled consonant. For example, "the Nile" is pronouncedan-Nīl, notal-Nīl.
When the Arabic definite article (الْـ) is followed by a moon letter, no assimilation takes place.
The sun letters represent thecoronal consonants according to the phonology of Classical Arabic, and the moon letters represent all others. Note that the mnemonicاِبْغِ حَجَّكَ وَخَفْ عَقِيمَهُ (pronounced somewhat likeaibgh hajak wakhaf eaqimah) groups all moon letters.
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 | th | d | dh | r | z | s | sh | ṣ | ḍ | ṭ | ẓ | l | n | |
| /t/ | /θ/ | /d/ | /ð/ | /r/ | /z/ | /s/ | /ʃ/ | /sˤ/ | /dˤ/ | /tˤ/ | /ðˤ/ | /l/ | /n/ | |
| Moon letters | ا | ب | ج | ح | خ | ع | غ | ف | ق | ك | م | ه | و | ي |
| ʼ | b | j | ḥ | kh | ʻ | gh | f | q | k | m | h | w | y | |
| /ʔ/ | /b/ | /d͡ʒ/* | /ħ/ | /x/ | /ʕ/ | /ɣ/ | /f/ | /q/ | /k/ | /m/ | /h/ | /w/ | /j/ | |
The letterجjīm is pronounced differently depending on the region of the speaker. In many regions it represents a coronal consonant such as[d͡ʒ] or[ʒ]. However, inClassical Arabic, it represented apalatalized voiced velar plosive/ɡʲ/ or a voiced palatal plosive/ɟ/. A contemporary pronunciation as[ɡ][1] is retained inEgypt,Oman, and coastalYemen or[ɟ] in eastern hinterland Yemen, and as a variant in Sudan. As a result, it was classified as a moon letter, and it does not assimilate the article in Classical Arabic. Maltese ġ/d͡ʒ/ is also considered a moon consonant, whereas its voiceless counterpart ċ/t͡ʃ/ is a sun consonant.
However, in some varieties ofMoroccan,Mesopotamian, andPalestinian Arabic,jīm (often /ʒ/) assimilates, like a sun letter, e.g.,ij-jamal 'camel'.[2][3]
In Arabic dialects, like Palestinian,al before anemphatic consonant only assimilates in place of articulation but not in pharyngealization, henceit-ṭāwla instead ofaṭ-ṭāwila (الطاولة 'table').[3]
The sun (konsonanti xemxin) and moon (konsonanti qamrin) letters are as follows:
| Sun letters | ċ | d | l | n | r | s | t | x | ż | z | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /t͡ʃ/ | /d/ | /l/ | /n/ | /r/ | /s/ | /t/ | /ʃ/,/ʒ/ | /z/ | /t͡s/,/d͡z/ | ||||||
| Moon letters | b | f | ġ | g | għ | h | ħ | j | k | m | p | q | v | w | |
| /b/ | /f/ | /d͡ʒ/ | /g/ | /ˤː/ | silent | /h/,/ħ/ | /j/ | /k/ | /m/ | /p/ | /ʔ/ | /v/ | /w/ | ||
If a word starts with any of the moon letters, the definite article il- stays the same and does not assimilate, while with the sun letters it assimilates accordingly to: iċ-, id-, in-, ir-, is-, it-, ix-, iż-, iz-. It is also worth mentioning that words starting with vowels, and the letters għ, and h get the definite article l- (minus the initial i). When the definite article comes exactly after a word ending in a vowel, the initial <i> of the article always drops, as in "dakir-raġel rar-raġel" (that man saw the man). When a word starts with two consonants, the definite article used is l-, but an i is attached at the beginning of the word: skola > l-iskola and Żvezja > l-Iżvezja.[4]
The sound/l/ (represented by the lettersL andل) function in the same way no matter it is sun or moon letter, e.g. (the meat) is il-laħam in Maltese andالْلَحْمْ al-laḥm in Arabic or (the game) is il-logħba in Maltese andالْلُعْبَة al-luʿba in Arabic.
In the written language, the ⟨ال⟩al is retained regardless of how it is pronounced.[5] When full diacritics are used, assimilation may be expressed by putting ashaddah ⟨ ّ⟩ on the consonant after thelām ⟨ل⟩. Non-assimilation may be expressed by placing asukūn over thelām ⟨لْ⟩.
Most modern-written Arabic names (including personal names and geographical Arabic names) do not follow the consonant assimilation rule or the shaddah when Latinized in Latin-spelled languages. Sometimes the sun and moon rules are not followed in casual speech. They are also mostly spaced rather than hyphenated.
E.g. personal name:
transliterated geographical name:
| Sun letters | Moon letters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| الشَّمْس | ash-shams | 'the sun' | الْقَمَر | al-qamar | 'the moon' |
| الثِّقَة | ath-thiqah | 'the confidence' | الْمُرْجَان | al-murjān | 'the coral' |
| Moon/Lunar Letters حروف قمريةḥurūf qamarīyah | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | IPA | /l/ in the definite article "al" remains | Examples |
| ء | /ʔ/ | الْإ, الْأ al-’a.../al-’u...;al-’i... | الْأَخُ al-ʼakh(u) = the brother الْأُذُنُ al-’udhun(u) = the ear الْإِبْرِيقُ al-’ibrīq(u) = the jug |
| ب b | /b/ | الْبـ al-b... | الْبَيتُ al-bayt(u) = the house |
| ج j | /d͡ʒ/,/ʒ/,/ɟ/,/ɡ/ | الْجـ al-j... | الْجَوزُ al-jawz(u) = the walnut |
| ح | /ħ/ | الْحـ al-ḥ... | الْحَجُّ al-Ḥajj(u) = the pilgrimage |
| خ | /x/ | الْخـ al-kh... | الْخَوْخُ al-khawkh(u) = the peach |
| ع | /ʕ/ | الْعـ al-ʻ... | الْعَقْلُ al-‘aql(u) = the mind الْعُشْبُ al-‘ush·b(u) = the grass الْعِيدُ al-‘id(u) = the holiday, festival |
| غ | /ɣ/ | الْغـ al-gh... | الْغَرَامُ al-gharām(u) = the love, romance, passion |
| ف f | /f/ | الْفـ al-f... | الْفِكْرُ al-fik·r(u) = the thought |
| ق q | /q/ | الْقـ al-q... | الْقِرْدُ al-qird(u) = the monkey |
| ك k | /k/ | الْكـ al-k... | الْكَوْكَبُ al-kawkab(u) = the planet |
| م m | /m/ | الْمـ al-m... | الْمَتْحَفُ al-mat·ḥaf(u) = the museum |
| و w | /w/ | الْو al-w... | الْوَفِيَُ al-wafiy(u) = the faithful = the color |
| ي y | /j/ | الْيـ al-y... | الْيَانْسُونُ al-yānsūn(u) = theanise |
| ه h | /h/ | الْهـ al-h... | الْهَوَاءُ al-hawāʼ(u) = the air |
| Sun/Solar Letters حروف شمسيةḥurūf shamsīyah | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Letter | IPA | /l/ in the definite article "al" assimilates, the following consonant geminates (الْـّ) | Examples |
| ت t | /t/ | التّـ at-t... | التِّينُ at-tīn(u) = the fig |
| ث th | /θ/ | الثّـ ath-th... | الثَّعْلَبُ ath-tha‘lab(u) = the fox |
| د d | /d/ | الدّ ad-d... | الدُّبُّ ad-dubb(u) = the bear |
| ذ | /ð/ | الذّ adh-dh... | الذَّكَرُ adh-dhakar(u) = the male |
| ر r | /r/ | −الرّ ar-r... | الرَّبُّ ar-Rabb(u) = the Lord |
| ز z | /z/ | الزّ az-z... | الزَّنْبَقُ az-zanbaq(u) = the lily |
| س s | /s/ | السّـ as-s... | السَّمَاوَاتُ as-samāwāt(u) = the Heavens, firmament, skies |
| ش | /ʃ/ | الشّـ ash-sh... | الشَّرْقُ ash-shar·q(u) = the east |
| ص | /sˤ/ | الصّـ aṣ-ṣ... | الصَّحْرَاءُ aṣ-ṣaḥ·rāʼ(u) = the desert |
| ض | /dˤ/ | الضّـ aḍ-ḍ... | الضَّبَابُ aḍ-ḍabāb(u) = the fog |
| ط | /tˤ/ | الطّـ aṭ-ṭ... | الطَّاهِرُ aṭ-ṭāhir(u) = the pure |
| ظ | /ðˤ/ | الظّـ aẓ-ẓ... | الظُّهْرُ aẓ-ẓuh·r(u) = the noon |
| ن n | /n/ | النّـ an-n... | النِّسَاءُ an-nisā(u) = the women |
| ل l | /l/ | الْلـ al-l... | اللَّوْنُ al-lawn(u) = the color |
Although CAj ... was not a "sun" letter, its MA reflex 'ʾ normally is, hencež-žbəl 'the mountain' (CAal-jabal). There are some exceptions in Jebli dialects. ... borrowings from e.g. French normally assimilates, as inž-žuṛnal 'the newspaper'.
Although /j/ is not a sun letter, in PA it assimilates as though it were:il-jamal –ij-jamal (camel). […] when an emphatic sun letter has a less emphatic counterpart (i.e. non-pharyngealised) […] the definite article assimilates in place of articulation but not in pharyngealisation. [..]it-ṭāwla […]is-ṣalātu
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