How to pronounce the Arabic letter ḥāʾ (ح)?

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 ح {ḥāʾ} 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 ح {ḥāʾ}.

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.

Now, let’s pronounce ح {ḥāʾ}: Take out the sound of the English letter ‘H’ but from the middle part of your throat. Now say “HA”, not from the part of the throat towards the chest, but from the middle part. 

Practice ح {ḥāʾ} with vowel movements.

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

حَ  =  HA, read as;  ḥ fatah HA

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

حِ = HE, read as; ḥ kasrah HE

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

 حُ   = HU, read as; ḥ dammah HU

• 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: 

حْ  =  ḥ sakin, like the word: فَاتِحْ  = Fa fatha + Ta damma + ḥ sakin = fātiḥ̊

• 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.

شُحٌّ = sẖuḥ

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

Practice the letter ح {ḥāʾ} by saying these words: 

• حَقًّا (ḥaqaⁿ̃ạ  – Right  )
• حَمَامَة (ḥamāma – Pigeon )
• أَحْمَرْ (ạảḥ̊mar̊ Means Red )
• حَبْلْ (  ḥabl̊ – rope) 
• حِصَانْ (ḥiṣān̊ – horse ) 
• حُوتْ (ḥūt̊ – whale ) 
• حُزْنْ (ḥuz̊n̊ – sadness ) 

Listen to some Arabic Words starting with the letter ح {ḥāʾ}

Learn how to write the letter ح {ḥāʾ}

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 Arabic letter ح {ḥāʾ} and the letter ه {hāʾ}:

•  ح  is pronounced with the middle part of our throat ( وسط حلق ) while ه is pronounced with the last part of our throat (أقصى الحلق).

• The sound of   ح  is thicker than the sound of  ه.
• Try to say فَهْد   (leopard) and حِمَارْ  (Donkey).

For more tips about the difference between letter ح {ḥāʾ} and the letter ه {hāʾ}:

How to differentiate between the letter حـ/ح {ḥāʾ/ḥah} and the letter ه/هـ {hāʾ/hah} in Arabic?

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