Dad (ض) — Arabic Letter Guide
An emphatic, "heavy" d — tongue pulled back, surrounding vowels darken.
Last updated: May 2026 · Letter 15 of 28
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Dad — ḍād (ضَاد)
- Transliteration
- ḍ
- IPA
- dˤ
- Unicode
- U+0636
- Keyboard
- Q
- Finger
- left pinky
- Connects?
- Yes — on both sides
What is the letter Dad?
Dad is the fifteenth letter of the Arabic alphabet and one of four emphatic letters. It shares its closed-loop shape with sad (ص) and adds a single dot above. Dad is heard as a heavy, dark "d" — the emphatic counterpart of dal (د).
The four forms of Dad
Arabic letters change shape depending on their position in a word. Dad has four distinct forms:
| Position | Shape | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Isolated | ض | Standing alone |
| Initial | ضـ | At the start of a word, connecting to the right |
| Medial | ـضـ | In the middle of a word, connecting on both sides |
| Final | ـض | At the end of a word, connecting only on the right |
How to type Dad on Arabic keyboard
Arabic 101 key: press Q.
Finger: left pinky finger.
The key for Dad is mapped via the standard Arabic 101 keyboard layout, which is the default Arabic input source on Windows, macOS (as “Arabic - PC”), and most Linux distributions.
How to pronounce Dad
Start with English "d", then pull the tongue back and slightly down. Arabic is famously called "the language of dad" (لُغَة الضَّاد) because ض is considered unique to Arabic among the world's major languages.
Example words with Dad
Letters often confused with Dad
dal
Dal is the soft, non-emphatic d; dad is the heavy version.
sad
Same base shape, no dot — sad is "ṣ", dad is "ḍ".
Build muscle memory for the whole alphabet
Knowing where Dad sits on the keyboard is one thing — being able to touch-type it without thinking is another. Our drills work through every letter in the alphabet with structured progression.
Frequently asked questions
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How do I type dad (ض) on the Arabic 101 keyboard?
Press the Q key — dad is reached by your left pinky from the top row.
Why is dad called the letter unique to Arabic?
Historically dad had a pharyngealised lateral sound that did not appear in other languages. While its modern pronunciation has shifted, Arabic is still poetically called لُغَة الضَّاد — "the language of dad" — and dad remains the iconic letter of the Arabic script.
How do I tell dad and sad apart?
Same base shape; dad has one dot above, sad has none. Sounds also differ — dad is "ḍ" (heavy d), sad is "ṣ" (heavy s).
Related Arabic letters
Or see the full Arabic 101 keyboard layout.