Characteristics of arabic writing
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From the twenty-eight letters which account the arabic alphabet, several groups have the same basic graphics and are characterized only by a system of points. That requires a particular effort of memory.
arabic is written from right to left. Apart from a few exceptions, most letters will be linked to one another (still from right to left). Each letter may have four different positions, namely as an Initial, a Middle, a Final or an Isolated (or Single) letter.
Some letters have a specific status :
the wâw - alif - râ -zay - dâl - dhâl
they are not linked in the sense of writing to the following letter, whether they be at the beginning or in the middle of the word. They thus can only be written as single or final letters.
The Arabic writing is diacritic : the short vowels for example are noted by signs added to the top or under the consonants. The absence of vowel is marked by a sukûn sign on the top of the letter, the double consonants to.