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Arabic edit
Pronunciation edit
Letter edit
ا / ا • (ʔalif)
- Although usually considered to be the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, the small hamza (ء (ʔ)) that sits on top of أ (ʔ) is really the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, and the tall column is its bearer. This entry only deals with the lower part, the bearer, which is called أَلِف (ʔalif) and, without the hamza, is used to lengthen a preceding a.
Descendants edit
- N'Ko: ߊ
Symbol edit
ا • (ʔalif)
- The first letter in traditional abjad order, which is used in place of numerals for list numbering (abjad numerals). It is followed by ب (b).
Isolated form | Final form |
---|---|
ا | ـا |
Pronunciation edit
After fatha: ـَا — IPA(key): /aː/
Combined with fatha: اَ — IPA(key): /ʔa/
- اَلْيَوْمَ (al-yawma, “today”)
Combined with kasra: اِ — IPA(key): /ʔi/
Combined with damma: اُ — IPA(key): /ʔu/
See also edit
- (Arabic script letters) ا (ʔalif), ب (bāʔ), ت (tāʔ), ث (ṯāʔ), ج (jīm), ح (ḥāʔ), خ (ḵāʔ), د (dāl), ذ (ḏāl), ر (rāʔ), ز (zāy), س (sīn), ش (šīn), ص (ṣād), ض (ḍād), ط (ṭāʔ), ظ (ẓāʔ), ع (ʕayn), غ (ḡayn), ف (fāʔ), ق (qāf), ك (kāf), ل (lām), م (mīm), ن (nūn), ه (hāʔ), و (wāw), ي (yāʔ)
- أ (ʔ)
- إ (ʔ)
- آ (ʔā)
- ى
- ٱ
- ـٰ
- Wikipedia article on the Arabic alphabet
- Search for entries beginning with ا
Balti edit
Pronunciation edit
Letter edit
ا (transliteration needed)
- The first letter of the Balti alphabet, written in the Perso-Arabic script
Burushaski edit
Etymology 1 edit
Pronunciation edit
Letter edit
ا (aa)
- The first letter of the Burushaski alphabet, written in the Perso-Arabic script
Etymology 2 edit
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
اُ (u)
References edit
- Bechtholdt, Astrid (2024) “u”, in Burushaski Hunza Dictionary (Webonary) (in Burushaski), Dallas, Texas, USA: SIL International, published 2017: “(in Latin script)”.
Chinese edit
Pronunciation edit
Letter edit
ا
- The first letter of the Xiao'erjing abjad.
Gujarati edit
Pronunciation edit
Letter edit
ا • (alif)
- The first letter of the Gujarati abjad
Forms edit
Isolated form | Final form |
---|---|
ا | ـا |
See also edit
- Next letter: ب
Kashmiri edit
Pronunciation edit
Letter edit
ا • (a,ā)
- The first letter of the traditional alphabet chart of Kashmiri.
Forms edit
Isolated form | Final form |
---|---|
ا | ـا |
See also edit
- Next letter: ب (b)
Kazakh edit
Alternative scripts | |
---|---|
Arabic | ا |
Cyrillic | А, а/Ә, ә |
Latin | A, a/Ä, ä |
Yañalif | A, a/Ə, ə |
Pronunciation edit
Letter edit
ا • (a, ä)
Forms edit
Isolated form | Final form |
---|---|
ا | ـا |
Usage notes edit
Represents the back-vowel sound /ɑ/, unless a small ء is placed at the beginning of the word. In Kazakh, the Hamza marks that all vowels in the following word are fronted. If ا is the initial letter of a word and is representing a front vowel, it is combined with the hamza and the variant ٵ is used.
See also edit
Khowar edit
Pronunciation edit
Letter edit
ا (ālif)
- The first letter of the Khowar abjad.
Forms edit
Isolated form | Final form |
---|---|
ا | ـا |
See also edit
- Next letter: آ
Kyrgyz edit
Pronunciation edit
Letter edit
ا • (alif)
Forms edit
Isolated form | Final form |
---|---|
ا | ـا |
See also edit
Malay edit
Pronunciation edit
Letter edit
ا / ا
- The first letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Arabic script.
See also edit
North Levantine Arabic edit
Suffix edit
ـا • (-a, -wa, -ya) f
- Alternative spelling of ـها when it is not pronounced as “-ha”
Pashto edit
Pronunciation edit
Letter edit
ا • (alíf)
- The first letter of the Pashto alphabet.
Forms edit
Isolated form | Final form |
---|---|
ا | ـا |
Usage notes edit
- At the start of the word, the letter ا (alif) represents the consonant /ʔ/.
- In the middle or end of a word, ا represents the vowel /ɑ/.
See also edit
- Next letter: ب
Persian edit
Etymology 1 edit
Pronunciation edit
- Phoneme:
- Letter name:
- (Classical) IPA(key): /alif/, [ʔalif]
- (Dari Persian) IPA(key): /alɪf/, [ʔalɪf]
- (Iranian Persian) IPA(key): /ælef/, [ʔælef]
Letter edit
ـا or ا • (â or ∅)
- The first letter of the Perso-Arabic alphabet. Its name is اَلِف (alef).
Usage notes edit
All word-initial vowels are proceeded by a glottal stop which is represented by an ا. However in medial and final positions it is not a glottal stop and instead represents the phoneme /ɑː/~/ɒː/. If a word-initial ا is representing the sound [ʔɑː]~[ʔɒː] it's usually written as آ.
See also edit
- Next letter: ب
Etymology 2 edit
From Arabic ـًا (-an, triptotic indefinite accusative ending).
Suffix edit
ـاً • (-an)
- Used to form adverbs from nouns or adjectives.
Usage notes edit
- This suffix mostly occurs with Arabic loanwords, but it is used somewhat peculiarly in Persian. Firstly, it also written out after words which, in Arabic, end in the feminine suffix ـَة (-a), e.g. نسبتاً (nesbatan, “relatively”). More importantly, it may at times occur with native Persian words and with Arabic words in which the ending would be ungrammatical, e.g. ناچاراً (nâčâran, “inevitably”), زوراً (zuran, “forcefully”), زباناً (zabânan, “orally, verbally”), اقلاً (aqallan, “at least”), اکثراً (aksaran, “mostly”).
Derived terms edit
Etymology 3 edit
Pronunciation edit
Preposition edit
ا • (a)
Etymology 4 edit
Pronunciation edit
Suffix edit
ـا • (-â)
- an adjective forming suffix
- a noun forming suffix
See also edit
Etymology 5 edit
Alternative forms edit
- یا (-yâ) (following a vowel)
Pronunciation edit
Suffix edit
ـا • (-â)
- (chiefly literary) a vocative suffix
- خداوندا ― xodâvandâ ― O Lord!
Punjabi edit
Pronunciation edit
Letter edit
ا • (transliteration needed)
Forms edit
Isolated form | Final form |
---|---|
ا | ـا |
See also edit
- Next letter: ب (b)
- (Shahmukhi script letters) ا, ب (b), پ (p), ت (t), ٹ (ṭ), ث (s̱), ج (j), چ (c), ح (ḥ), خ (x), د (d), ڈ (ḍ), ذ (ẕ), ر (r), ڑ (ṛ), ز (z), ژ (ž), س (s), ش (ś), ص (ṣ), ض (ẓ), ط (t̤), ظ (z̤), ع (ʻ), غ (ġ), ف (f), ق (q), ک (k), گ (g), ل (l), ࣇ (ḷ), م (m), ن (n), ݨ (ṇ), ں (ṉ), ہ (h), و (v), ی (y), ے (e) (Category: Punjabi letters)
Rajasthani edit
Pronunciation edit
Letter edit
ا (ảlif)
- The first letter of the Rajasthani abjad.
Forms edit
Isolated form | Final form |
---|---|
ا | ـا |
See also edit
- Next letter: ب
Urdu edit
Etymology 1 edit
Pronunciation edit
- (letter name): (Standard Urdu) IPA(key): /ə.lɪf/
- (phoneme): (Standard Urdu) IPA(key): /ə/, /ɑː/, /ʔ/
Letter edit
ا • (ālif)
- The first letter of the Urdu abjad.
Forms edit
Isolated form | Final form |
---|---|
ا | ـا |
See also edit
- Next letter: ب (b)
Etymology 2 edit
Borrowed from Sanskrit अ- (a-).
Alternative forms edit
- انـ (an-) (before vowels)
Prefix edit
Usage notes edit
This form is used before words that begin with consonants.
Derived terms edit
Yoruba edit
Pronunciation edit
Letter edit
ا (a)
Forms edit
Isolated form | Final form |
---|---|
ا | ـا |
See also edit
- Next letter: ب