How to pronounce the Arabic letter ẓāʾ (ظ)?

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 ظ {ẓāʾ} 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 ظ {ẓāʾ}.

• 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 ظ {ẓāʾ}: Touch the tip of the tongue at the edge of tẖanāyā ʿul̊yā (upper front teeth) and say ظ (ẓ). Practice this sound again and again.

Practice ظ {ẓāʾ} with vowel movements.

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

ظَ      =  ZA, Read as;  ẓ fatah ẓa

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

ظِ = ZE, Read as; ẓ kasrah ẓe

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

 ظُ   = ZU, Read as; ẓ dammah ẓu

• 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: 

 ظْ  =  Za  sakin. أَظْ  = Alif Fatha + ẓ sakin = ạå̉ẓ̊

• 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.

أَظَّ =  ạå̉ẓã      –    أَظِّ    = ạå̉ẓiⁿ̃        –        أَظُّ = ạå̉ẓũ

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

Practice the letter ظ {ẓāʾ} by saying these words: 

ظُفْر (ẓufr̊ – Nail)
ظِلْ (ẓil̊ – Shade)
ظَهْر (ẓah̊r – Back)
عَظِيْم (ʿaẓīm – Great)
فَظِيْع (faẓīʿ – Horrible)
ظَبْي (ẓab̊y – Antelope)
أَغْلَظْ ( ạå̉gẖ̊laẓ̊ – Thicken)

Listen to some Arabic Words starting with the letter ظ {ẓāʾ}

Learn how to write the letter ظ {ẓāʾ}

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 sounds  ذ {dẖāl} and  ز {zāy} and ظ {ẓāʾ}:

ذ {dẖāl}  and ظ {ẓāʾ}  are pronounced by touching the tip of the tongue at the edge of الثنايا العليا  (ạltẖãnāyā ạl̊ʿul̊yā). (upper front teeth). While ز {zāy} is pronounced by touching the tip of the tongue at the edge of called الثنايا العليا  (ạltẖãnāyā ạl̊ʿul̊yā) (upper front teeth) as well as الثنايا السفلى (ạltẖãnāyā ạlsũf̊lay̱) (lower front teeth).

Practice the difference between the sounds  ذ {dẖāl} and  ز {zāy} and ظ {ẓāʾ}:

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