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Writing of Letter 'alif (continued)

Consonant 'alif

The hamza(t) الْهَمْزَةُ is the consonant form of 'alif. It is a "glottal stop" that can appear anywhere in Arabic words, whether at the beginning, middle, or end of the word.

Joining Figures of Letter ء (hamza(t) / consonant 'alif)
End	Middle	Beginning
ـأ	ـأ	أ
ـؤ	ـؤ	إ
ـئ	ـئـ	ا
ء	ء

Choosing Between the Forms at the Beginning of the Word

The regular form for hamza(t) is the one with the sign ء showing.

The variations depend on the following vowel:

'a	With a short A	أَ
'u	With a short U	أُ
'i	With a short I	إِ
'aa	With a long A	آ
'ee	With a long I	إي
'oo	With a long U	أو
'<	With no vowel	أْ

This regular hamza(t) at the beginning of a word is called the "disconnecting hamza(t)" هَمْزَةُ القَطْعِ. This is often an original letter and it must be pronounced always.

The other type of hamza(t) which lacks the sign ءis called the "connecting hamza(t)" هَمْزَةُ الوَصْلِ . That one is never an original letter and it is only pronounced when it is the first thing that comes out of the mouth. Arabs added this kind of hamza(t) to some words for merely phonological reasons, namely because they hated to start talking by pronouncing a "still" letter, that is, a consonant that is not followed by any vowel. The connecting hamza(t) is somewhat similar to the French "liaison."

The connecting hamza(t) has only one figure and it usually appears in the following places:

I. Verbs

The imperative of triliteral perfective verbs which don't begin with a hamza(t).

(You) do !	اِفْعَلْ
(You) write !	اُكْتُبْ
(You) know !	اِعْلَمْ

The perfective, imperative, and infinitive of five-lettered verbs.

(He) benefited	اِنْتَفَعَ
(You) benefit !	اِنْتَفِعْ
Benefiting	اِنْتِفَاْعٌ

The perfective, imperative, and infinitive of six-lettered verbs.

(He) used	اِسْتَعْمَلَ
(You) use !	اِسْتَعْمِلْ
Using	اِسْتِعْمَاْلٌ

II. Nouns

It appears in front of some nouns. Examples of commonly used ones are:

اِسْمَاْنِ	اِسْمٌ
two names (masc.)	a name (masc.)
اِبْنَاْنِ	اِبْنٌ
two sons (masc.)	a son (masc.)
اِبْنَتَاْنِ	اِبْنَةٌ
two daughters (masc.)	a daughter (masc.)
اِمْرُؤَاْنِ	اِمْرُؤٌ
two men (masc.)	a man (masc.)
اِمْرَأَتَاْنِ	اِمْرَأَةٌ
two women (fem.)	a woman (fem.)

Two (masc.)	اِثْنَاْنِ
Two (fem.)	اِثْنَتَاْنِ

III. Particles

The connecting hamza(t) appears only in the definite article.

The

اَلْـ

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