Hamza (glottal Stop Semi-consonant)
Although often a diacritic is not considered a letter of the alphabet, the hamza هَمْزَة (hamzah, glottal stop), often does stand as a separate letter in writing, is written in unpointed texts, and is not considered a taškīl. It may appear as a letter by itself or as a diacritic over or under an ʾalif, wāw, or yāʾ.
Which letter is to be used to support the hamzah depends on the quality of the adjacent vowels.
- If the syllable occurs at the beginning of the word, the glottal stop is always indicated by hamza on an ʾalif.
- if the syllable occurs in the middle of the word, ʾalif is used only if it is not preceded or followed by /i/ or /u/.
- If /i(ː)/ is before or after the glottal stop, a yāʾ with a hamzah is used (the two dots which are usually beneath the yāʾ disappear in this case): ⟨ئ⟩.
- If /u(ː)/ is before or after the glottal stop, a wāw with a hamzah is used: ⟨ؤ⟩.
Consider the following words: ⟨أَخ⟩ /ʔax/ ("brother"), ⟨إِسْرَائِيل⟩ /ʔisraːʔiːl/ ("Israel"), ⟨أُمّ⟩ /ʔumm/ ("mother"). All three of above words "begin" with a vowel opening the syllable, and in each case, ʾalif is used to designate the initial glottal stop (the actual beginning). But if we consider middle syllables "beginning" with a vowel: ⟨نَشْأَة⟩ /naʃʔa/ ("origin"), ⟨إِسْرَائِيل⟩ /ʔisraːʔiːl/ ("Israel" — notice the /ʔiːl/ syllable), ⟨رُؤُوس⟩ /ruʔuːs/ ("heads", singular ⟨رَأْس⟩ /raʔs/), the situation is different, as noted above. See the comprehensive article on hamzah for more details.
Read more about this topic: Arabic Diacritics
Famous quotes containing the word stop:
“I date the end of the old republic and the birth of the empire to the invention, in the late thirties, of air conditioning. Before air conditioning, Washington was deserted from mid-June to September.... But after air conditioning and the Second World War arrived, more or less at the same time, Congress sits and sits while the presidents—or at least their staffs—never stop making mischief.”
—Gore Vidal (b. 1925)