ٱ

Letter

ٱ • (hamzatu l-waṣli)

1. alif carrying the waṣla sign (ٱ) indicates liaison with the preceding word and means that the hamza is suppressed. It is more commonly indicated by a regular alif without a hamza (ا‎). It occurs, for example, in the definite article ٱل‎ (l-), ٱسْم‎ (sm-), ٱبْن‎ (bn-), imperative verbs, and the perfective aspect of verb forms VII to X, but is not pronounced following a vowel: (e.g., البيت ٱلكبير is read al-baytu l-kabīru). It occurs only at the beginning of a word that is not initial in a word group, or the beginning of a word following a prefixed preposition or conjunction.
   • هُوَ ٱبْنُ ٱلمُدَرِّسِ (huwa bnu l-mudarrisi, “He is the teacher’s son.”)
   • وَٱسْمُ ٱلبِنْتِ أَنْهَارُ (wasmu l-binti ʔanhāru, “And the daughter’s name is Anhar.”)