How to pronounce the Arabic letter jīm (ج)?

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 ج {jīm} 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 ج {jīm}.

• Middle part of the tongue.
• Middle part of the palate.

Now, let’s pronounce  ج {jīm}: Touch the middle part of your tongue at the middle part of your palate and say ج (j) just like ‘j’ in English. It sounds just like when we say these English words:  Jug, Juice, Jam, Jelly etc.

Let’s practice ج {jīm} with vowel movements.

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

جَ      = JA, read as;  J fatah JA

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

 جِ = JE, read as; J kasrah JE

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

 جُ   = Ju, read as; J dammah JU

• 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: 

 جْ  =  Ja sakin,  حَجْ = H fatha  + J sakin = ḥaj̊

• 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.

 أَجَّ  = ạảjã   –  أَجِّ   = ạå̉jĩ  –   أَجُّ   = ạå̉jũ

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

Practice the letter ج {jīm} by saying these words: 

• جَزْرَة   ( jaz̊raẗaⁿ – carrot) 
•  جَبَلْ   ( jabal̊ – mountain) 
•  جِسْرْ (jis̊r̊– bridge) 
•  جَرَسْ(jaras̊ –  bell) 
•  جَوَافَةْ    (jawāfaẗ̊  – Guava)
• جَنَّة  (janãẗa – Heaven)
• جَهَنَّمْ   (jahanãm̊ – Hell)

Listen to some Arabic Words starting with the letter ج {jīm}

Learn how to write the letter ج {jīm}

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.