Sun and moon letters facts for kids
In Arabic and Maltese, consonants are divided into two groups: the sun/solar letters (Arabic: حروف شمسية ḥurūf shamsiyyah, Maltese: konsonanti xemxin) and moon/lunar letters (حروف قمرية ḥurūf qamariyyah, Maltese: konsonanti qamrin).
In those languages, all nouns start with the word "al" (الـ) in Arabic or "il" in Maltese. Both words mean "the." If a sun letter comes after the consonant, the "l" sound in "al" or "il" is dropped and is replaced by whatever sound the letter makes. However, if a moon letter comes after, the "l" sound in those words stays.
In Arabic, the word for "the sun" is ash-shams because the "sh" sound is a sun letter. Meanwhile, the word for "the moon" is al-qamar because the "q" sound is a moon letter.
Rule
Below is a chart of the sun and moon letters in Arabic.
| Sun letters | ﺕ | ﺙ | ﺩ | ﺫ | ﺭ | ﺯ | ﺱ | ﺵ | ﺹ | ﺽ | ﻁ | ﻅ | ﻝ | ﻥ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| t | th | d | dh | r | z | s | sh | ṣ | ḍ | ṭ | ẓ | l | n | |
| Moon letters | ء | ﺏ | ﺝ | ﺡ | ﺥ | ﻉ | ﻍ | ﻑ | ﻕ | ﻙ | ﻡ | ه | ﻭ | ﻱ |
| ' | b | j | ḥ | kh | ʻ | gh | f | q | k | m | h | w | y |
Writing
The ال 'al-' is written down in Arabic regardless of how it is pronounced. In the case of sun letters, a mark called the shaddah (ـّـ) is written over the sun letter. For moon letters, a mark called the sukun (ـْـ)is written over the letter ل lam in the al-.
| Sun letters | Moon letters | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| الشَّمْس | 'ash-shams' | 'the sun' | الْقَمَر | 'al-qamar' | 'the moon' |
| الثِّقَة | 'ath-thiqah' | 'the confidence' | الْمُرْجَان | 'al-murjān' | 'the coral' |
Maltese
Below is a chart of the sun and moon letters in Maltese.
| Sun letters | ċ | d | n | r | s | t | x | ż | z | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moon letters | b | f | ġ | g | għ | h | ħ | j | k | l | m | p | q | v | w |
If a word starts with any of the moon letters, the word il- stays the same. However, if it stats with a sun letter, the word il-changes to iċ-, id-, in-, ir-, is-, it-, ix-, iż-, iz-.
If a word begins with two consonants, it changes to "l-i-." For example, skola (school) becomes l-iskola (the school).
See also
In Spanish: Letras solares y letras lunares para niños
