ا

中文 · العربية

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ا

/ʔa.lif/ letter, name
/ʔ/ phoneme
/aː/
/a/
/i/
/u/

Where it comes from

From the Nabataean Aramaic letter 𐢁 (l, “aleph”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤀 (l, “ālef”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓃾. See also Classical Syriac ܐ (l, “ālef”), Hebrew א (l, “alef”), Ancient Greek Α (A), Latin A.

letter ا / ا · ʔalif

letter 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, together known as alif mahmūza (أَلِف مهموزة, hamzated alif). 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.

symbol ʔalif

The first numeral symbol of the Arabic alphabet (traditional abjad order, used for list numbering), written in the Arabic script; followed by ب (b).

In English

aleph first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and descendant script
a first ordering symbol
alif first letter of the Arabic alphabet

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Cite this

MLA

"ا." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ar/%D8%A7. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

ا. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ar/%D8%A7

Chicago

"ا." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ar/%D8%A7.

BibTeX

@misc{micwyn_2026,
  title = {ا},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ar/%D8%A7},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}