Alif: The VIP Letter

 Alif is the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. The sound of Alif corresponds to the sound of the English letter 'A'. Just as we have slightly different ways of pronouncing the /a/ sound in English, we also find this in Arabic. Therefore, Alif is the name of the letter, but as for its sound, we have three degrees of that sound and three different forms for each version.

Alif with Hamza

                                              

This is the Alif that features the glottal stop. It sounds as if you are stopping the airflow, similar to the sound produced when we say words like 'apple' or 'air' in English. This Alif is represented by a line with a hamza above or below it. This specific Alif is called Hamzat Qaṭeʻ (همزة قطع). The word Qaṭeʻ literally means 'cut,' implying that you cut the sound and create a stop before continuing. This form of Alif can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a word. The hamza will always be present, but the line (or seat) supporting it will change to other shapes according to advanced spelling rules that we will discuss later.

Alif without Hamza

This Alif has no hamza and has a more flowing sound without any stops. It sounds like the 'A' in the English words 'at,' 'cat,' and 'sat.' This Alif is called Alif al-Wasl (ألف الوصل). The word Wasl literally means 'continuous' because there are no glottal stops; the air is flowing from start to finish when pronouncing the letter. There is also another reason for the name that relates to advanced spelling rules, which we will be learning in the reading sessions. Moreover, the Alif without hamza can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a word.

Alif Maqsura (dotless yaa`)

This Alif carries the /a/ sound, similar to the Alif without a hamza. Its unique characteristic is that it appears only at the end of a word, so we can consider it a 'final Alif.' The word Maqsura in Alif Masura (ألف مقصورة) literally means 'excluded' or 'restricted.' This name signifies that you cannot add another long vowel (or mark short vowels/diacritics, ḥarakāt) to it. Therefore, it always maintains the /a/ sound.

 

One letter, called Alif, along with three degrees of the /a/ sound and three forms corresponding to these sounds, makes the Alif a fundamentally important letter.