Arabic Letter Teh

It is the Arabic letter for /t/.

Its name is tāʾ, also written taa. Arabic letters join, so ت changes shape at the start, middle or end of a word. Its two dots distinguish it from ب, with one dot below, and ث, with three dots above.

Is ت a smiley?

Sometimes as a visual joke; usually as a letter.

In a January 2026 discussion, one learner used isolated ت as a smiley; Arabic-speaking commenters said they read it as the letter and did not use it that way. That exchange supports a niche visual joke, not a shared Arabic chat convention.

If someone sends ت alone, use the surrounding conversation to judge it. In Arabic text it may be a fragment or a typing slip. If the intent is unclear, ask.

Where did Arabic ت come from?

It belongs to a letter lineage that predates Arabic writing.

Arabic script developed gradually from Nabataean Aramaic writing, though the transition is not fully reconstructed. The An-Namāra epitaph, an Arabic inscription written in Nabataean script and dated 328 CE, is an early surviving witness to that transition.

The letter records /t/ in words. The same broader Semitic lineage links it to Hebrew ת and Syriac ܬ; Greek tau and Latin T are more distant descendants of Semitic taw. Persian and Urdu also use ت in their own writing systems.