How to pronounce the Arabic letter ṭāʾa (ط)?

There are some easy tips and techniques through which pronouncing Arabic letters becomes an easy task to do. In this article, will do the same. At the end of this article, you will be able to pronounce the letter ط {ṭāʾa} easily with the different harakat (Vowel movements):

Fat̊ḥa   فَتْحَة   َ
Kasrah  كسرة  ِ
Dammah   ضمة ُ
Jazm / Sokoun    جزم  ْ
Shadda  شدة ّ

Here it is important to understand some parts of the mouth through which we will be pronouncing the letter ط {ṭāʾa}.

• ثنايا عليا (tẖanāyā ʿul̊yā): The front four teeth are called ثنايا (tẖanāyā), the two upper teeth are called  ثنايا عليا (tẖanāyā ʿul̊yā).
• The tip of our tongue.

Now, let’s pronounce ط {ṭāʾa}: Touch the tip of your tongue at the root of upper two teeth (tẖanāyā ʿul̊yā) and say ط (ṭ). Practice this sound again and again.

Practice  ط {ṭāʾa} with vowel movements.

• Fat̊ḥa   فتحة: It is a small diagonal line on the top of the letter and sounds as ‘AA’. For example: 

طَ      = ṭa, Read as;  ṭ fatah ṭa

• Kasrah  كسرة: It is a small diagonal line below a letter and sounds like ‘EE’. For example: 

طِ = ṭe, Read as; ṭ kasrah ṭe

• Dammah ضمة: It is a small comma like symbol on the top of the letter and sounds like ‘UU’. For example:

 طُ   = ṭu, Read as; ṭ dammah ṭu

• Jazm / Sokoun جزم: Jazm is also called sokoun, a letter with Jazm is called Sakin. It is a small round symbol above the letter. It means that this letter is joint with the letter before it. For example: 

طْ = ṭ sakin, سِطْ = S Kasrah + ṭ sakin = siṭ̊

• Shadda شدة: When a letter having symbol ّ , it is called Mushadad. It is pronounced by saying the letter twice with one movement of the tongue. It is read by joining two letters and also read with harakat.

سِطَّ = siṭṭã       سِطِّ = siṭṭĩ    –        سِطُّ = siṭṭũ

To learn more about the Arabic Harakat, here you can find the easiest way to practice Tashkeel:

Practice the letter ط {ṭāʾa} by saying these words: 

بِطِّيخ (biṭĩykẖ – Watermelon)
شُرْطِيِّ ( sẖur̊ṭī – Policeman)
طَمَاطِمٌ (ṭamāṭim – Tomato)
طَاوُوسْ (ṭāwūs̊ – Peacock)
طَبَّاخ ( ṭabãạkẖ – Chef)
طَيَّار (ṭayãạr – Pilot)
قِطَّة (qiṭã – Cat)

Listen to some Arabic Words starting with the letter ط {ṭāʾa}

Learn how to write the letter ط {ṭāʾa}

For more explanation about how Arabic letters are written, please check out this article:

How Arabic letters are written in their different positions?

The difference between the letter ت {tāʾ} and the letter ط {ṭāʾa}:

• ت {tāʾ} is pronounced by touching the tip of our tongue at the edge of the upper front teeth, while ط {ṭāʾa}  is pronounced by touching the tip of our tongue at the root of upper front teeth (ạltẖãnāyā ạl̊ʿul̊yā).
• ت {tāʾ}  makes a thin sound while ط {ṭāʾa} makes a thick sound.

Example words for the difference between the letter ت {tāʾ} and the letter ط {ṭāʾa}:

Practice makes perfect. Hence, keep practicing and keep improving!