المخلب صغير.

الـ is the Arabic definite article, the equivalent of the in English.

• مخلب = a claw / claw
• المخلب = the claw

So المخلب is definite, not just any claw.

Yes. In المخلب, the next letter is م, which is a moon letter, so the l sound is pronounced.

In careful pronunciation, you would say something like al-mikhlab.
In Levantine, it is often pronounced more like il-mikhlab or el-mikhlab.

In Arabic, present-tense sentences like this usually do not use a separate word for is/are.

So:

• المخلب صغير literally looks like the claw small
• but it means the claw is small

This is a very common Arabic sentence pattern. In the past or future, Arabic does use words equivalent to was or will be.

Arabic normally puts adjectives after the noun they describe.

So Arabic word order is different from English:

• English: the small claw
• Arabic: المخلب الصغير

In your sentence, صغير comes after the noun because it is the description/predicate: The claw is small.

This is one of the most important things to notice.

• المخلب صغير = The claw is small
• المخلب الصغير = the small claw

When both words have الـ, it usually makes a noun phrase, not a full sentence.
When only the first word is definite and the adjective is indefinite, it can form a sentence meaning X is Y.

A common Levantine-style pronunciation would be:

il-mikhlab zghīr
or
el-mikhlab zghīr

A few useful notes:

• الـ often sounds like il- or el- in Levantine.
• صغير in everyday Levantine is often pronounced zghīr, even though the standard spelling is صغير.

So the written sentence is standard-looking, but the spoken Levantine pronunciation is a bit different.

خ is pronounced like the ch in German Bach or Scottish loch.

It is not like English k, and not like a normal English h.

So مخلب is roughly:

mikh-lab

with that rough kh sound in the middle.

Yes. صغير is the masculine singular form.

That matches المخلب, which is a masculine singular noun.

If the noun were feminine, you would usually use:

• صغيرة = small (feminine)

So Arabic adjectives change to match the noun in gender and number.

The sentence is written in a way that looks very natural in Standard Arabic, but it is also easy for a Levantine learner to understand.

The main Levantine differences are usually in pronunciation, and sometimes in spelling when people write informally. For example:

• Standard-style pronunciation: al-mikhlab ṣaghīr
• Everyday Levantine pronunciation: il-mikhlab zghīr

So the structure of the sentence works well for both, but the spoken form is more dialectal.

If you were writing fully vocalized Standard Arabic, you could write:

• المِخْلَبُ صغيرٌ

But in normal writing, those endings are usually left off.
And in Levantine speech, case endings are not used.

So for a Levantine learner, المخلب صغير is completely fine as written, and you would simply say il-mikhlab zghīr.