א

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א U+05D0, א
HEBREW LETTER ALEF
◌ׇ
Hebrew ב
U+FB21, ﬡ
HEBREW LETTER WIDE ALEF

Alphabetic Presentation Forms

Translingual

Etymology

Phoenician alefAramaic ĀlafAramaic alef

Modification of Aramaic 𐡀 (ā, ē, Ālef), closely related to Syriac ܐ (Ālap, Olaf) and Arabic ا (ā ʾ, alif), ultimately from Phoenician 𐤀 (alef).

Letter

א

  1. The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

Symbol

א

  1. (mathematics) (a transfinite cardinal number)

See also

See also

Hebrew

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • (phoneme, usually) IPA(key): /ʔ/
  • (letter name) IPA(key): /ˈʔalef/
  • (file)

Letter

א (') (Hebrew letter)

  1. Aleph or alef: the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, coming before ב.
  2. The numeral 1 in Hebrew numbering.

Usage notes

  • In Modern Israeli Hebrew, א (alef) represents either a glottal stop (/ʔ/), or has no pronunciation besides that of the vowel attached to it. The pronunciation varies from group to group.
  • א (alef)—along with the other guttural letters, ע (ʿ, ayin), ר (r, resh), ה (h, he), and ח (, ḥêṯ)—cannot receive a dagesh (the dot in בּ (b, bet), which can appear in most other Hebrew letters), although there are rare examples where the Masoretes added a dagesh to it.
  • א (alef) is sometimes used to denote a vowel (usually /a/) in words of Aramaic and Arabic origin, in foreign names, and in some other borrowed words.

Derived terms

See also

Mozarabic

Etymology

Inherited from Latin et. Compare Portuguese e and Spanish y.

Conjunction

א (ʔ)

  1. and
    • c. 1100, Kharja H2, section 2:
      אדבינש באלחק
      ʔdbynš bʔlḥq
      And you predict the future truthfully

Yiddish

Letter

א

  1. The first letter in the Yiddish alphabet, שטומער־אַלף (precedes ו or י to indicate a word-initial vowel)

See also