ا

See also: ـا, أ [U+0623 ARABIC LETTER ALEF WITH HAMZA ABOVE], ٵ [U+0675 ARABIC LETTER HIGH HAMZA ALEF], اً, ٱ [U+0671 ARABIC LETTER ALEF WASLA], آ [U+0622 ARABIC LETTER ALEF WITH MADDA ABOVE], إ [U+0625 ARABIC LETTER ALEF WITH HAMZA BELOW], ا-, I [U+0049 LATIN CAPITAL LETTER I], l [U+006C LATIN SMALL LETTER L], and 1 [U+0031 DIGIT ONE]

Languages (23)

Acehnese • Arabic • Balti • Burushaski • Chinese • Egyptian Arabic • Gujarati • Kashmiri • Kazakh • Khowar • Kyrgyz • Malay • North Levantine Arabic • Old Ruthenian • Ottoman Turkish • Pahari-Potwari • Pashto • Persian • Punjabi • Sindhi • Urdu • Wakhi • Yoruba

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Page categories

ا U+0627, ا ARABIC LETTER ALEF ← ئ [U+0626] Arabic ب → [U+0628]

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ا	ـا	ـا	ا

ﺍ U+FE8D, ﺍ ARABIC LETTER ALEF ISOLATED FORM ← ﺌ [U+FE8C] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﺎ → [U+FE8E]

ﺎ U+FE8E, ﺎ ARABIC LETTER ALEF FINAL FORM ← ﺍ [U+FE8D] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﺏ → [U+FE8F]

Acehnese

Pronunciation

• (Name of letter) IPA^(key): [aleh]
• (Phoneme) IPA^(key): [a], [ɯ]

Letter

ا (aléh)

1. The first letter of the Acehnese alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

See also

• Arabic script letters: حرف (haraih, harah) (script appendix): ا, ب, ت, ة, ث, ج, چ, ح, خ, د, ذ, ر, ز, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ڠ, ف, ڤ, ق, ک, ݢ, ل, م, ن, و, ۏ, ه, ء, ي, ى, ڽ ^[edit]

Arabic

Etymology 1

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.

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ʔa.lif/

  • Audio:

    (file)

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /ʔ/

Letter

ا / ‍ا • (ʔalif)

1. 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.

Descendants

• N'Ko: ߊ

Symbol

ا • (ʔalif)

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

Pronunciation

After fatha: ـَا — IPA^(key): /aː/

• عَار (ʕār, “shame”)

(word initially):

Combined with fatha: اَ — IPA^(key): /a/

• اَلْيَوْمَ (al-yawma, “today”)

Combined with kasra: اِ — IPA^(key): /i/

• اِبْن (ibn, “son”)

Combined with damma: اُ — IPA^(key): /u/

• اُكْتُبْ (uktub, “write (imperative)”)

See also

• Arabic script letters: حُرُوف (ḥurūf) (alphabet appendix, script appendix): ا, ب, ت, ث, ج, ح, خ, د, ذ, ر, ز, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ف, ق, ك, ل, م, ن, ه, و, ي ^[edit]
• أ (ʔ)
• إ (ʔ)
• آ (ʔā)
• ى
• ٱ
• ـٰ
• Wikipedia article on the Arabic alphabet
• Search for entries beginning with ا

Balti

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ/, /ə/, /e/, /o/

Letter

ا (transliteration needed)

1. The first letter of the Balti alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

Burushaski

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aː/, [aː]

Letter

ا (aa)

1. The first letter of the Burushaski alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/, [u]

Pronoun

اُ (u)

1. they; third-person plural pronoun

See also

Burushaski personal pronouns

			absolutive	ergative
singular	1st person		جݺ (je)	جا (jaa)
	2nd person		اُن (un)	اُنݺ (une)
	3rd person	m	اِن (in)	اِنݺ (ine)
		f
plural	1st person		مݵ (mi)	[script needed] (mii)
	2nd person		مݳ (ma)	[script needed] (maa)
	3rd person		اُ (u)	[script needed] (ue)

References

• Bechtholdt, Astrid (2026), “u”, in Burushaski Hunza Dictionary (Webonary), Dallas, Texas, USA: SIL International, published 2017.

Chinese

Pronunciation

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /a/, [ɑ]

Letter

ا

1. The first letter of the Xiao'erjing abjad, written in the Arabic script.

Egyptian Arabic

Etymology

Inherited from Arabic ا.

Pronunciation

• (Letter name) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)a.lif/
• IPA^(key): /aː/
• (word-initial) IPA^(key): /a/, /u/, /i/

Letter

ا • (ā, a, u, i)

1. الف (alif): the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, named alif, alef or aleph

   اموت ― amūt ― I die

   اوكازيون ― ukazyōn ― discount

   انت ― inta ― you (masculine singular)

   مات ― māt ― to die

Alternative forms

While the distinction is made in literary Arabic, the colloquial language uses these word-initial forms with the hamza interchangeably:

• أ (with damma or fatha)
• إ (with kasra)

See also

• Arabic script letters: حروف (script appendix): ا, ب, ت, ث, ج, ح, خ, د, ذ, ر, ز, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ف, ق, ك, ل, م, ن, ه, و, ي ^[edit]

Gujarati

Pronunciation

• (letter name) IPA^(key): /ɑlif/
• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /ɑ/, /ʔ/

Letter

ا • (alif)

1. The first letter of the Lisan ud-Dawat abjad, written in the Arabic script; followed by ب.

Kashmiri

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /əlif/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /a/, /aː/

Letter

ا • (a,ā)

1. The first letter of the Kashmiri alphabet, written in the Arabic script; followed by ب.

Kazakh

Alternative scripts

Arabic	ا
Cyrillic	А, а/Ә, ә
Latin	A, a/Ä, ä

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /æˈlip/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /ɑ/ (back)
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /æ/ (front)

Letter

ا • (a, ä) (Cyrillic equivalent А or а or Ә or ә)

1. The first letter of the Kazakh alphabet, written in the Arabic script; followed by ب (b).

Usage notes

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

• ٵ (front-vowel word-initial variant.

• Arabic script letters: әріптер (äripter) (alphabet appendix, script appendix): ا, ب, پ, ت, ج, چ, ح, د, ر, ز, س, ش, ع, ف, ق, ك, گ, ڭ, ل, م, ن, ە, ھ, و, ۇ, ۋ, ۆ, ى, ي ^[edit]

Khowar

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /alif/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /a/

Letter

ا (ālif)

1. The first letter of the Khowar alphabet, written in the Arabic script; followed by آ.

Kyrgyz

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /aˈlif/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /ɑ/

Letter

ا • (alif) (Cyrillic equivalent А or а)

1. The first letter of the Kyrgyz alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

See also

• Arabic script letters: тамгалар (tamgalar) (script appendix): ا, ب, پ, ﻥ, ﺕ, ﺝ, ﭺ, ﺡ, ﻑ, ﻕ, ﻉ, ك, گ, ڭ, ﻝ, ﻡ, و, ۅ, ۉ, ﯗ, ﯞ, ﺱ, ﺵ, ﺩ, ﺭ, ﺯ, ﻩ, ﻯ, ﺀ, ﺋ, ﻲ, ﻯ, ء, ۋ, ﻻ ^[edit]

Malay

Pronunciation

• (Name of letter) IPA^(key): [alef]
• (Phoneme) IPA^(key): [ä], [ɐ], [ə]

Letter

ا / ‍ا

1. The first letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

See also

• Arabic script letters (alphabet appendix, script appendix): ا, ب, ت, ة, ث, ج, چ, ح, خ, د, ذ, ر, ز, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ڠ, ف, ڤ, ق, ک, ݢ, ل, م, ن, و, ۏ, ه, ء, ي, ى, ڽ ^[edit]

North Levantine Arabic

Suffix

ـا • (-a, -wa, -ya) f

1. alternative spelling of ـها when it is not pronounced as “-ha”

Old Ruthenian

Letter

ا (Middle Belarusian Arabica)

1. A letter of the Old Ruthenian alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

See also

• Arabic script letters (script appendix): ا, ب, پ, ت, ث, ج, چ, ح, د, ࢮ, ر, ز, ژ, ش, ࢯ, ص, ض, ط, غ, ف, ق, ك, ل, م, ن, ه, و, ي (خ, ذ, ڛ, س, ظ, ع, ء) ^[edit]

Ottoman Turkish

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /eˈlif/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /ɑ/ (back)
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /e/, /æ/ (front)

Letter

ـا or ا • (a or e)

1. The first letter of the Ottoman Turkish alphabet, called اَلِف (elif) and written in the Arabic script; followed by ب.

See also

• ا (Arabic alif)
• Search for entries beginning with ا
• Arabic script letters (script appendix): ا, ب, پ, ت, ث, ج, چ, ح, خ, د, ذ, ر, ز, ژ, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ف, ق, ك, گ, ڭ, ل, م, ن, و, ه, ی, ء ^[edit]

Pahari-Potwari

Alternative forms

• (letter name): الف (alif)

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ə.lɪf/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /ə/, /ɑː/, /äː/, /∅/

Letter

ا (alif)

1. The first letter of the Pahari-Potwari alphabet, written in the Arabic script; followed by ب.

See also

• Shahmukhi script letters (script appendix): ا, ب, پ, ت, ٹ, ث, ج, چ, ح, خ, د, ڈ, ذ, ر, ڑ, ز, ژ, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ف, ق, ک, گ, ل, م, ن, ݨ, ں, و, ہ, ھ, ء, ی, ے ^[edit]

Pashto

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /aˈlif/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /ɑ/, /ʔ/

Letter

ا • (alíf)

1. The first letter of the Pashto alphabet, written in the Arabic script; followed by ب.

Usage notes

• 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/.

Persian

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (phoneme)

  (Classical Persian, Dari) IPA^(key): [ɑː], [ʔ]

  (Iran) IPA^(key): [ɒː], [ʔ]

  Audio (Iran):

  (file)

• (letter name)

  (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /alif/, [ʔalif]

  (Dari) IPA^(key): /alɪf/, [ʔalɪf]

  (Iran) IPA^(key): /ælef/, [ʔælef]

Letter

ـا or ا • (â or ∅)

1. The first letter of the Persian alphabet, called اَلِف (alef) and written in the Arabic script; followed by ب.

Usage notes

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.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æ/

Preposition

ا • (a)

1. (dialectal, Hamadan, Herati) from, since

Further reading

• ا on the Persian Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^fa

Punjabi

Alternative forms

• Gurmukhi letter: ਅ (aiṛā), ੲ (īṛī), ੳ (ūṛā), ਾ (kannā)
• (letter name): الف (alif)

Etymology

From Classical Persian ا (alif), from Arabic ا (ʔalif).

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ə.lɪf/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /ə/, /aː/, [äː], /∅/

Letter

ا • (alif)

1. The first letter of the Punjabi alphabet, written in the Arabic script; followed by ب.

See also

• Shahmukhi script letters: اکّھر (script appendix): ا, ب, پ, ت, ٹ, ث, ج, چ, ح, خ, د, ڈ, ذ, ر, ڑ, ز, ژ, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ف, ق, ک, گ, ل, ࣇ, م, ن, ݨ, ں, ہ, و, ی, ے ^[edit]

Sindhi

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /aːlif/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /aː/, /ʔ/

Letter

ا • (alif)

1. The first letter of the Sindhi alphabet, written in the Arabic script; followed by ب (b).

See also

• Arabic script letters: اَکَرَ (akhara) (script appendix): ا, ب, ٻ, ڀ, ت, ٿ, ٽ, ٺ, ث, پ, ج, ڄ, جھ, ڃ, چ, ڇ, ح, خ, د, ڌ, ڏ, ڊ, ڍ, ذ, ر, ڙ, ز, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ف, ڦ, ق, ڪ, ک, گ, ڳ, گھ, ڱ, ل, م, ن, ڻ, و, ه, ء, ي ^[edit]

Urdu

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (letter name): (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ə.lɪf/
• (phoneme): (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ə/, /ɑː/, /ʔ/

Letter

ا • (ālif)

1. The first letter of the Urdu alphabet, written in the Arabic script; followed by ب.

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *né

Proto-Indo-European *n̥-

Proto-Indo-Iranian *a-

Sanskrit अ- (a-)bor.

Urdu ا

Borrowed from Sanskrit अ- (a-).

Alternative forms

• انـ (an-) (before vowels)

Prefix

اـ • (a-) (Hindi spelling अ-)

1. A negating prefix. non-, un-, a-, an-, etc.

   Synonyms: غَیرـ (ġair-), ناـ (nā-)

Usage notes

This form is used before words that begin with consonants.

Derived terms

Category Urdu terms prefixed with ا not found

Wakhi

Letter

ا (a) (Latin equivalent a, Cyrillic equivalent а)

1. The first letter of the Wakhi alphabet, written in the Arabic script; followed by ب.

See also

• Arabic script letters (Afghanistan): حرف (script appendix): ا, آ, ب, پ, ت, ټ, ث, ج, ڃ, چ, ڇ, څ, ځ, ح, خ, د, ډ, ذ, ر, ز, ږ, ژ, ڙ, س, ښ, ش, ڜ, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ف, ڤ, ق, ک, گ, ل, م, ن, ه, و, ؤ, وْ, ي, ی ^[edit]

Yoruba

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /a/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /a/

Letter

ا (transliteration needed) (Latin equivalent a)

1. The first letter of the Yoruba alphabet, written in the Arabic script; followed by ب.