Arabic Letter Thal Final Form

It is the ending shape of ذ, not a separate letter. Dhāl represents the voiced “th” sound in “this” in formal Arabic pronunciation. This glyph shows the letter at the end of a connected run; the following letter begins a new run. The dot distinguishes ذ from the undotted letter د (dāl).

Arabic script developed gradually from Nabataean Aramaic, with intermediate forms from the third- to fifth-century CE. The earliest dated inscriptions with a full Arabic letter repertoire appear in the late fifth century CE. Early forms varied as the script developed to write Arabic; positional shapes let letters follow its joining rules.

Why can ذ sound like d or z?

The spelling stays ذ, while pronunciation varies by dialect and register. Modern Standard Arabic uses /ð/, like the “th” in “this.” In Egyptian Arabic and many sedentary varieties, speakers may pronounce ذ as d in everyday vocabulary and z in more formal or learned vocabulary. Descriptions of Algerian Arabic record /ð/ and /d/, and /v/ in some regional speech.

These are pronunciation differences, not spelling changes. When writing a word, use the letter required by its spelling; substituting د or ز changes the written word even where pronunciations overlap.

Should I type ﺬ or ذ?

Use ذ in ordinary Arabic text; use ﺬ only when a system requires this exact form. The Arabic script shapes ordinary letters according to their position, so a font can display ذ with its final shape without storing ﺬ as a separate character.

On an Arabic keyboard, type ذ. Use the encoded ﺬ only for a legacy file, test, or lookup that specifically requires this compatibility form.