How to pronounce the Arabic letter kẖāʾ (خ)?

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 خ {kẖāʾ} 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 خ {kẖāʾ}

أقصى الحلق   (ạảq̊ṣa ạl̊ḥal̊q): The last part of our throat which is attached to our chest.
وسط الحلق (wasaṭ ạl̊ḥal̊q): The middle part of our throat.
أدنى الحلق (ạảd̊na ạl̊ḥal̊q): The first part of our throat towards our mouth.

The letter خ  is pronounced with  أدنى الحلق (ạảd̊na ạl̊ḥal̊q):  that is the front part of our throat towards the mouth.

Now, let’s pronounce  خ {kẖāʾ}: خ  is pronounced just like the English sound “kha”. Say “kha” with your front part of the throat (ạảd̊na ạl̊ḥal̊q). 

Practice خ {kẖāʾ} with vowel movements.

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

خَ      =  KHA, Read as;  kẖ fatah KHA

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

خِ = KHE, Read as; kẖ kasrah KHE

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

  خُ   = KHU, Read as; kẖ dammah KHU

• 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: 

خْ  =  kẖ  sakin, like the word:  أَخْ = Alif fatha kẖ sakin = ạảkẖ

• 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.

أَخَّ = ạảkẖa –  أَخِّ = ạảkẖi – أَخٌّ  = ạảkẖu

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

Practice the letter خ {kẖāʾ} by saying these words: 

أَخْطُوبُوط (ạảkẖ̊ṭūbūṭ̊ – Octopus)
طَبَّاخْ (ṭabãạkẖ̊ – Chef )
أَخْضَر (ạảkẖ̊ḍaru -Green)
خَبَّاز (kẖabãạz – baker) 
خَرُوفْ (kẖarūf̊ – sheep) 
خِيْارٌ (kẖī̊ạruⁿ – cucumber) 
 خَاتِم (kẖātim– ring)

Listen to some Arabic Words starting with the letter خ {kẖāʾ}

Learn how to write the letter خ {kẖāʾ}

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.