Sun and moon letters

In Arabic and Maltese, consonants are divided into two groups: the sun/solar letters ( , Maltese: konsonanti xemxin) and moon/lunar letters ( , 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 lettersﺕﺙﺩﺫﺭﺯﺱﺵﺹﺽﻁﻅﻝﻥtthddhrzsshṣḍṭẓlnMoon lettersءﺏﺝﺡﺥﻉﻍﻑﻕﻙﻡهﻭﻱ'bjḥkhʻghfqkmhwy

 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-.
+ExamplesSun lettersMoon lettersالشَّمْس'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 lettersċdnrstxżzMoon lettersbfġggħhħjklmpqvw
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-i'skola (the school).

 References 

Category:Arabic language
Category:Alphabets