About This Keyboard
Arabic is a Semitic language and one of the world's major languages, with approximately 420 million native speakers across the Arab world, spanning 22 countries from Morocco and Mauritania in the west to Oman and the UAE in the east. Arabic is also the liturgical language of Islam, making it significant to over 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide. It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Modern Standard Arabic (فصحى, Fusha) is the formal written standard used in media, literature, and official contexts, while dozens of regional dialects (عامية, Ammiya) are spoken in daily life across different Arab countries.
The Arabic script is written right-to-left and is one of the most widely used writing systems on Earth. It is also the basis for Persian (Farsi), Urdu, Pashto, Kurdish (Sorani), and several other scripts. Arabic has 28 letters, all of which are consonants — vowels are typically represented by small diacritical marks (tashkeel: fatha, kasra, damma) that are written above or below letters, though they are often omitted in everyday writing, with readers inferring the correct vowels from context.
The Arabic phonetic keyboard converts Latin keystrokes into Arabic Unicode characters using a phonetic transliteration system. This is ideal for Arabic learners who know how the language sounds but haven't yet memorised the Arabic keyboard layout, for diaspora Arabs who are more comfortable with Latin keyboards, and for anyone needing to produce Arabic text occasionally.
How to use this keyboard — 5 tips:
1. Phonetic mapping: Common letters map directly — 'a' → ا (alif), 'b' → ب, 's' → س, 'm' → م, 'n' → ن, 'h' → ه, 'w' → و, 'y' → ي.
2. Emphatic consonants: Arabic has pharyngeal sounds not in English. The letter 'ع' (ayn) and 'غ' (ghayn) are typically mapped to uppercase keys or combinations — the on-screen keyboard shows all available mappings.
3. Right-to-left: Arabic text types from right to left automatically. The text editor handles directionality — your cursor moves rightward as you type and the text flows correctly.
4. Hamza and special characters: The glottal stop hamza (ء) and its variations (أ إ ئ ؤ) are mapped to dedicated keys. Tashkeel (short vowel marks) can be added for more precise writing.
5. Switch layouts: Use the dropdown to switch between the phonetic keyboard and the standard Arabic (Windows) keyboard at any time.
Common Arabic phrases:
• مرحبا (Marhaba) — Hello
• شكراً (Shukran) — Thank you
• من فضلك (Min fadlak) — Please
• كيف حالك؟ (Kayfa halak?) — How are you?
• صباح الخير (Sabah al-khayr) — Good morning
• مساء الخير (Masa al-khayr) — Good evening
• لا أفهم (La afham) — I don't understand
• كم الثمن؟ (Kam al-thaman?) — How much does it cost?
• أين هو؟ (Ayna huwa?) — Where is it?
• السلام عليكم (As-salamu alaykum) — Peace be upon you (universal Islamic greeting)