aleph

English

Alternative forms

• alef (Hebrew, Persian)
• alif (Arabic)
• alaph (Syriac), olaph (Western Syriac)

Etymology

Borrowed from Hebrew אלף (álef), with a Hellenized ph spelling due to influence from alpha. Doublet of alpha.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑˌlɛf/, /ˈɑˌlɪf/

Noun

aleph (plural alephs)

1. The first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, and its descendants in descended Semitic scripts, such as Phoenician 𐤀 (ʾ, ʾaleph), Aramaic 𐡀 (ʾ), Classical Syriac ܐ ('ālaph), Hebrew א (aleph) and Arabic ا (ʾalif).
2. (mathematics) The cardinality of an infinite well-ordered (or well-orderable) set.

   The axiom of choice is equivalent to the proposition that every infinite cardinal is an aleph.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• aleph-beth
• aleph-null
• aleph-one
• aleph-zero
• since aleph

Related terms

• alpha

Translations

first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script

• Arabic: أَلِف (ar) m (ʔalif), (symbol) ا (ar)
• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܐܠܦ f (ʾālaf), (symbol) ܐ

• Catalan: àlef (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 阿列夫 (zh) (ālièfū), 阿利夫 (ālìfu) (Arabic letter also), 艾利夫 (àilìfu)

• Finnish: alef (fi)
• French: aleph (fr) m, alef (fr) m
• German: (Hebrew letter) Aleph n, Alef n
• Greek: άλεφ n (álef)
• Hebrew: אָלֶף (he) f (álef), (symbol) א (he)
• Italian: alef m or f
• Japanese: アレフ (arefu), アリフ (arifu) (Arabic letter)
• Malay: alif (ms)
• Persian: الف (fa) (alef)
• Polish: alef (pl) m
• Portuguese: alef m
• Russian: а́леф m (álef), а́лиф (ru) m (álif) (Arabic letter)
• Spanish: álef (es) m or f
• Turkish: elif (tr)
• Urdu: اَلِف (ur) m (alif), ا (ur) (symbol)
• Yiddish: אַלף f (alef)

See also

• Appendix:Hebrew alphabet