How to pronounce the letter lām (ل)?

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 ل {lām} 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 ل {lām}.

• ضواحك  (ḍawāḥik): The upper four molars.
• أدنى الحَافَّة (ạảd̊nay̱ ạl̊ḥāfã): The part of the tongue that can touch ḍawāḥik.

Now, let’s pronounce ل {lām}: Touch the Adna hafa of your tongue at the upper four molars and say ‘La’ ل, just like the English letter ‘L’ in the word “Lamp”. Practice this sound again and again.

Practice  ل {lām} with vowel movements.

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

            لَ   =  LA, Read as;  L fatah LA

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

لِ =LE, Read as; L kasrah LE

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

 لُ   = LU, Read as; L dammah LU

• 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: 

 لْ  =  L  sakin, أَلْ     = Alif Fatha + L sakin = ạå̉l̊

• 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.

أَلَّ =  ạảlã         –      أَلِّ    = ạå̉lĩ        –     أَلُّ = ạ̉lũ

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

Practice the letter ل {lām} by saying these words: 

لَيْلٌ ( laẙl – Night)
لُعْبَةٌ (luʿ̊ba – Toys)
ذَيلٌ ( dẖaẙluⁿ – Tail)
لَوْزْ ( laẘz – Almonds)
دُلْفِينْ ( dul̊fīn̊ – Dolphin)
لَيْمُونْ ( laẙmūn̊ – Lemon)
بُرتُقَال ( bur̊tuqāl – An orange)

Listen to some Arabic Words starting with the letter ل {lām}

Learn how to write the letter ل {lām}

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

How Arabic letters are written in their different positions?

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