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ا . In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
ا , but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
ا in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
ا you have here. The definition of the word
ا will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
ا , as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: ـا ,
أ ,
ٵ ,
اً ,
ٱ ,
آ ,
إ ,
ا- ,
I ,
l , and 1
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
ا / ا • (ʔalif )
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. 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
Symbol
ا • (ʔalif )
The first letter in traditional abjad order, which is used in place of numerals for list numbering (abjad numerals ). It is followed by ب ( b ) .
Isolated form
Final form
ا
ـا
Pronunciation
After fatha :
ـَا — IPA (key ) : /aː/
( word initially ) :
Combined with fatha :
اَ — IPA (key ) : /a/
Combined with kasra :
اِ — IPA (key ) : /i/
Combined with damma :
اُ — IPA (key ) : /u/
See also
(Arabic script letters ) ا ( ʔalif ) , ب ( bāʔ ) , ت ( tāʔ ) , ث ( ṯāʔ ) , ج ( jīm ) , ح ( ḥāʔ ) , خ ( ḵāʔ ) , د ( dāl ) , ذ ( ḏāl ) , ر ( rāʔ ) , ز ( zāy ) , س ( sīn ) , ش ( šīn ) , ص ( ṣād ) , ض ( ḍād ) , ط ( ṭāʔ ) , ظ ( ẓāʔ ) , ع ( ʕayn ) , غ ( ḡayn ) , ف ( fāʔ ) , ق ( qāf ) , ك ( kāf ) , ل ( lām ) , م ( mīm ) , ن ( nūn ) , ه ( hāʔ ) , و ( wāw ) , ي ( yāʔ )
أ ( ʔ )
إ ( ʔ )
آ ( ʔā )
ى
ٱ
ـٰ
Wikipedia article on the Arabic alphabet
Search for entries beginning with ا
Balti
Pronunciation
Letter
ا (transliteration needed )
The first letter of the Balti alphabet , written in the Perso-Arabic script
Burushaski
Etymology 1
Pronunciation
Letter
ا (aa )
The first letter of the Burushaski alphabet , written in the Perso-Arabic script
Etymology 2
Pronunciation
Pronoun
اُ (u )
they ; third-person plural pronoun
References
Bechtholdt, Astrid (2024 ) “u ”, in Burushaski Hunza Dictionary (Webonary) , Dallas, Texas, USA: SIL International, published 2017 .
Chinese
Pronunciation
Letter
ا
The first letter of the Xiao'erjing abjad.
Egyptian Arabic
Etymology
From Arabic ا .
Pronunciation
Letter
ا • (ā, a, u, i )
الف ( álif ) : the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, named Alif , Alef or Aleph
ا موت ― a mūt ― I die
ا وكازيون ― u kazyōn ― discount
ا نت ― i nta ― you (masculine singular)
ما ت ― mā t ― to die
While the distinction is made in literary Arabic, the colloquial language uses these word-initial forms with the hamza interchangeably:
Gujarati
Pronunciation
Letter
ا • (alif )
The first letter of the Gujarati abjad
Isolated form
Final form
ا
ـا
See also
Kashmiri
Pronunciation
( letter name ) : IPA (key ) : /əlif/
( phoneme ) : IPA (key ) : /a/ , /aː/
Letter
ا • (a,ā )
The first letter of the traditional alphabet chart of Kashmiri .
Isolated form
Final form
ا
ـا
See also
Kazakh
Pronunciation
( letter name ) : IPA (key ) : /æˈlip/
( phoneme ) : IPA (key ) : /ɑ/ ( back )
( phoneme ) : IPA (key ) : /æ/ ( front )
Letter
ا • (a, ä )
The first letter of the Kazakh in Arabic Script. It represents the Cyrillic letter А or Ә .
Isolated form
Final form
ا
ـا
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.
Next letter: ب
(Arabic script letters ) 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 .
Khowar
Pronunciation
Letter
ا (ālif )
The first letter of the Khowar abjad.
Isolated form
Final form
ا
ـا
See also
Kyrgyz
Pronunciation
Letter
ا • (alif )
The first letter of the Kyrgyz in Arabic Script. It represents the Cyrillic letter А
Isolated form
Final form
ا
ـا
See also
(Arabic script letters ) 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 , ﯗﺀ , ﻰﺋ , ﻲ , ﻯ , ء , يۋ , ﻻ ,
Malay
Pronunciation
Letter
ا / ا
The first letter of the Malay alphabet , written in the Arabic script .
See also
(Arabic script letters ) 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
North Levantine Arabic
Suffix
ـا • (-a, -wa, -ya ) f
Alternative spelling of ـها when it is not pronounced as “-ha”
Pahari-Potwari
( letter name ) : الف ( alif )
Pronunciation
( letter name ) : IPA (key ) : /ə.lɪf/
( phoneme ) : IPA (key ) : /ə/ , /ɑː/ , /äː/ , /∅/
Letter
ا (alif )
The first letter of Pahari-Pothwari written in the Shahmukhi script.
Isolated form
Final form
ا
ـا
See also
Pashto
Pronunciation
( letter name ) : IPA (key ) : /aˈlif/
( phoneme ) : IPA (key ) : /ɑ/ , /ʔ/
Letter
ا • (alíf )
The first letter of the Pashto alphabet .
Isolated form
Final form
ا
ـا
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/ .
See also
Persian
Etymology 1
Pronunciation
Letter
ـا or ا • (â or ∅ )
The first letter of the Perso-Arabic alphabet . Its name is اَلِف ( alef ) .
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 ~ it's usually written as آ .
See also
Etymology 2
Pronunciation
Preposition
ا • (a )
( dialectal , Hamadan,Harat) from , since
Further reading
Punjabi
Pronunciation
( letter name ) : IPA (key ) : /ə.lɪf/
( phoneme ) : IPA (key ) : /ə/ , /ɑː/ , /äː/ , /∅/
Letter
ا • (alif )
The first letter of the Punjabi written in the Shahmukhi script.
Isolated form
Final form
ا
ـا
See also
Next letter: ب ( b )
(Shahmukhi script letters ) ا , ب ( b ) , پ ( p ) , ت ( t ) , ٹ ( ṭ ) , ث ( s̱ ) , ج ( j ) , چ ( c ) , ح ( ḥ ) , خ ( x ) , د ( d ) , ڈ ( ḍ ) , ذ ( ẕ ) , ر ( r ) , ڑ ( ṛ ) , ز ( z ) , ژ ( ž ) , س ( s ) , ش ( ś ) , ص ( ṣ ) , ض ( ẓ ) , ط ( t̤ ) , ظ ( z̤ ) , ع ( ʻ ) , غ ( ġ ) , ف ( f ) , ق ( q ) , ک ( k ) , گ ( g ) , ل ( l ) , ࣇ ( ḷ ) , م ( m ) , ن ( n ) , ݨ ( ṇ ) , ں ( ṉ ) , ہ ( h ) , و ( v ) , ی ( y ) , ے ( e ) (Category: Punjabi letters )
Sindhi
Pronunciation
( letter name ) : IPA (key ) : /ɑːlif/
( phoneme ) : IPA (key ) : /ɑː/ , /ʔ/
Letter
ا • (alif )
The first letter of the Sindhi abjad.
Isolated form
Final form
ا
ـا
See also
(Letters of the Sindhi alphabet ) 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 , ڙھ , 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
Urdu
Etymology 1
Pronunciation
Letter
ا • (ālif )
The first letter of the Urdu abjad.
Isolated form
Final form
ا
ـا
See also
Etymology 2
Borrowed from Sanskrit अ- ( a- ) .
انـ ( an- ) ( before vowels )
Prefix
اـ • (a- ) (Hindi spelling अ- )
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
Yoruba
Pronunciation
Letter
ا (a )
The first letter of the Yorùbá alphabet in the Ajami Script.
Isolated form
Final form
ا
ـا
See also