| Aleph | |
|---|---|
| Phoenician | 𐤀 |
| Hebrew | א |
| Aramaic | 𐡀 |
| Syriac | ܐ |
| Arabic | ا |
| Geʽez | አ |
| Phonemic representation | ʔ,a |
| Position in alphabet | 1 |
| Numerical value | 1 |
| Alphabetic derivatives of the Phoenician | |
| Greek | Α |
| Latin | A,Ɑ |
| Cyrillic | А,Я |
Aleph (oralef oralif, transliteratedʾ) is the firstletter of theSemitic abjads, includingPhoenicianʾālep 𐤀,Hebrewʾālefא,Aramaicʾālap 𐡀,Syriacʾālap̄ ܐ,Arabicʾalifا, andNorth Arabian 𐪑. It also appears asSouth Arabian 𐩱 andGe'ezʾälef አ.
These letters are believed to have derived from anEgyptian hieroglyph depicting an ox's head[1] todescribe the initial sound of*ʾalp, theWest Semitic word for ox[2] (compareBiblical Hebrewאֶלֶףʾelef, "ox"[3]). The Phoenician variant gave rise to theGreek alpha (Α), being re-interpreted to express not theglottal consonant but the accompanyingvowel, and hence theLatin A andCyrillic А and possibly the Armenian letterԱ.
Phonetically,aleph originally represented the onset of a vowel at theglottis. In Semitic languages, this functions as aprosthetic weak consonant, allowing roots with only two true consonants to be conjugated in the manner of a standard three consonant Semitic root. In most Hebrew dialects as well as Syriac, thealeph is an absence of a true consonant, aglottal stop ([ʔ]), the sound found in the catch inuh-oh. In Arabic, thealif represents the glottal stop pronunciation when it is the initial letter of a word. In texts with diacritical marks, the pronunciation of analeph as a consonant is rarely indicated by a special marking,hamza in Arabic andmappiq in Tiberian Hebrew. In later Semitic languages,aleph could sometimes function as amater lectionis indicating the presence of a vowel elsewhere (usually long). When this practice began is the subject of some controversy, though it had become well established by the late stage of Old Aramaic (ca. 200 BCE). Aleph is oftentransliterated asU+02BE ʾMODIFIER LETTER RIGHT HALF RING, based on the Greekspiritus lenisʼ; for example, in the transliteration of the letter name itself,ʾāleph.[4]
The namealeph is derived from the West Semitic word for 'ox', as in the Biblical Hebrew wordeleph (אֶלֶף) 'ox',[3] and the shape of the letter derives from aProto-Sinaitic glyph that may have been based on anEgyptian hieroglyph, which depicts an ox's head.[5]
| Hieroglyph | Proto-Sinaitic | Phoenician | Paleo-Hebrew | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|  |  |  |
InModern Standard Arabic, the wordأليف/ʔaliːf/ literally means 'tamed' or 'familiar', derived from the rootʔ-L-F, from which the verbألِف/ʔalifa/ means 'to be acquainted with; to be on intimate terms with'.[6] In modern Hebrew, the same rootʔ-L-P (alef-lamed-peh) givesme’ulaf, the passive participle of the verble’alef, meaning 'trained' (when referring to pets) or 'tamed' (when referring to wild animals).
| ||
| "Aleph" inhieroglyphs | ||
|---|---|---|
The Egyptian "vulture"hieroglyph (GardinerG1), by convention pronounced[a]) is also referred to asaleph, on grounds that it has traditionally been taken to represent aglottal stop ([ʔ]), although some recent suggestions[7][8] tend towards an alveolar approximant ([ɹ]) sound instead. Despite the name it does not correspond to an aleph in cognate Semitic words, where the single "reed" hieroglyph is found instead.
Thephoneme is commonlytransliterated by a symbol composed of two half-rings, inUnicode (as of version 5.1, in theLatin Extended-D range) encoded atU+A722 ꜢLATIN CAPITAL LETTER EGYPTOLOGICAL ALEF andU+A723 ꜣLATIN SMALL LETTER EGYPTOLOGICAL ALEF. A fallback representation is the numeral3, or the Middle English characterȝYogh; neither are to be preferred to the genuine Egyptological characters.
| ʾalif ألف | |
|---|---|
| ا | |
| Usage | |
| Writing system | Arabic script |
| Type | Abjad |
| Language of origin | Arabic language |
| Sound values | ʔ,aː |
| Alphabetical position | 1 |
| History | |
| Development | 𐤀
|
| Other | |
| Writing direction | Right-to-left |
| This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. | |
Written asا or 𐪑, spelled asألف or 𐪑𐪁𐪐 and transliterated asalif, it is the first letter inArabic andNorth Arabian. Together with Hebrew aleph, Greekalpha and LatinA, it is descended fromPhoenicianʾāleph, from a reconstructed Proto-Canaaniteʾalp "ox".
Alif has the highest frequency out of all 28 letters in theArabic abjad.[citation needed]
Alif is written in one of the following ways depending on its position in the word:
| Position in word: | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glyph form: (Help) | ا | ـا | ـا | ا |
| North Arabian |
|---|
| 𐪑 |
The Arabic letter was used to render either a long/aː/ or aglottal stop/ʔ/. That led toorthographical confusion and to the introduction of the additional markinghamzat qaṭ‘ﺀ to fix the problem.Hamza is not considered a full letter in Arabic orthography: in most cases, it appears on a carrier, either awāw (ؤ), a dotlessyā’ (ئ), or an alif.
| Position in word: | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glyph form: (Help) | أ | ـأ | ـأ | أ |
The choice of carrier depends on complicated orthographic rules. Alifإ أ is generally the carrier if the only adjacent vowel isfatḥah. It is the only possible carrier if hamza is the first phoneme of a word. Where alif acts as a carrier for hamza, hamza is added above the alif, or, for initial alif-kasrah, below it and indicates that the letter so modified is indeed a glottal stop, not a long vowel.
A second type of hamza,hamzat waṣl (همزة وصل) whose diacritic is normally omitted outside of sacred texts, occurs only as the initial letter of thedefinite article and in some related cases. It differs fromhamzat qaṭ‘ in that it is elided after a preceding vowel. Alif is always the carrier.
| Position in word: | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glyph form: (Help) | ٱ | ـٱ | ـٱ | ٱ |
Thealifmaddah is a double alif, expressing both a glottal stop and a long vowel. Essentially, it is the same as aأا sequence:آ (finalـآ)’ā/ʔaː/, for example inآخرākhir/ʔaːxir/'last'.
| Position in word: | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glyph form: (Help) | آ | ـآ | ـآ | آ |
"It has become standard for ahamza followed by a long ā to be written as twoalifs, one vertical and one horizontal."[9] (the "horizontal" alif being themaddah sign).
Theى ('limited/restricted alif',alif maqṣūrah), commonly known in Egypt asalif layyinah (ألف لينة, 'flexible alif'), may appear only at the end of a word. Although it looks different from a regularalif, it represents the same sound/aː/, often realized as a short vowel. When it is written,alif maqṣūrah is indistinguishable from finalPersianye or Arabicyā’ as it is written in Egypt, Sudan and sometimes elsewhere.
The letter is transliterated asy inKazakh, representing the vowel /ə/. In Jawi it is known asye and represents a schwa /ə/.
Alif maqsurah is transliterated asá inALA-LC,ā inDIN 31635,à in ISO 233-2, andỳ inISO 233.
In Arabic,alif maqsurahى is not used initially or medially, and it is not joinable initially or medially in any font. However, the letter is used initially and medially in theUyghur Arabic alphabet and the Arabic-basedKyrgyz alphabet, representing the vowel /ɯ/: (ىـ ـىـ).
| Position in word: | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glyph form: (Help) | ى | ـى | ـىـ | ىـ |
As a vowel, the letteralif maqsurah can be a carrier with ahamza. Thealif maqṣūrah with hamza is thus written as:
| Position in word: | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glyph form: (Help) | ئ | ـئ | ـئـ | ئـ |
As a numeral, alif stands for the number one. It may be modified as follows to represent other numbers.[citation needed]
| Modification to alif | Number represented |
|---|---|
| One dot below | 1,000 |
| One line below | 10,000 |
| One line above | 1,000,000 |
| Two dots below | 10,000,000 |
The Aramaic reflex of the letter is conventionally represented with the Hebrewא in typography for convenience, but the actual graphic form varied significantly over the long history and wide geographic extent of the language. Maraqten identifies three different aleph traditions in East Arabian coins: a lapidary Aramaic form that realizes it as a combination of a V-shape and a straight stroke attached to the apex, much like a Latin K; acursive Aramaic form he calls the "elaborated X-form", essentially the same tradition as the Hebrewreflex; and an extremely cursive form of two crossed oblique lines, much like a simple Latin X.[10]
| Cursive Aramaic | Lapidary Aramaic |
|---|---|
 |  |
Hebrew spelling: אָלֶף
InModern Israeli Hebrew, the letter either represents aglottal stop ([ʔ]) or indicates ahiatus (the separation of two adjacentvowels into distinctsyllables, with no interveningconsonant). It is sometimes silent (word-finally always, word-medially sometimes:הוּא[hu] "he",רָאשִׁי[ʁaˈʃi] "main",רֹאשׁ[ʁoʃ] "head",רִאשׁוֹן[ʁiˈʃon] "first"). The pronunciation varies in differentJewish ethnic divisions.
Ingematria, aleph represents the number 1, and when used at the beginning ofHebrew years, it means 1000 (e.g.א'תשנ"ד innumbers would be the Hebrewdate 1754, not to be confused with 1754 CE).
Aleph, along withayin,resh,he andheth, cannot receive adagesh. (However, there are few very rare examples of theMasoretes adding a dagesh ormappiq to an aleph or resh. The verses ofthe Hebrew Bible for which an aleph with a mappiq or dagesh appears areGenesis 43:26,Leviticus 23:17,Job 33:21 andEzra 8:18.)
In Modern Hebrew, the frequency of the usage of alef, out of all the letters, is 4.94%.
Aleph is sometimes used as amater lectionis to denote a vowel, usually/a/. That use is more common in words ofAramaic andArabic origin, in foreign names, and some other borrowed words.
| Orthographic variants | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Various print fonts | Cursive Hebrew | Rashi script | ||
| Serif | Sans-serif | Monospaced | ||
| א | א | א |  | .svg) |
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Aleph is the subject of amidrash that praises its humility in not demanding to start the Bible. (InHebrew, the Bible begins with the second letter of thealphabet,bet.) In the story, aleph is rewarded by being allowed to start theTen Commandments. (InHebrew, the first word isanoki (אָנֹכִי), which starts with an aleph.)
In theSefer Yetzirah, theletter aleph isking over breath, formed air in the universe, temperate in the year, and thechest in the soul.
Aleph is also the first letter of theHebrew wordemet (אֱמֶת), which meanstruth. In Judaism, it was the letter aleph that was carved into the head of thegolem that ultimately gave it life.
Aleph also begins the three words that make up God's name inExodus,I Am who I Am (inHebrew, Ehyeh Asher Ehyehאהיה אשר אהיה), and aleph is an important part of mysticalamulets and formulas.
Aleph represents the oneness of God. The letter can be seen as being composed of an upperyud, a lower yud, and avav leaning on a diagonal. The upper yud represents the hidden and ineffable aspects of God while the lower yud represents God's revelation and presence in the world. The vav ("hook") connects the two realms.
InYiddish,[11] aleph is used for several orthographic purposes in native words, usually with differentdiacritical marks borrowed from Hebrewniqqud:
Loanwords from Hebrew or Aramaic in Yiddish are spelled as they are in their language of origin.
| Alaph |
|---|
 Madnḫaya alap |
 Serṭo olaph |
 Esṭrangela alap |
In theSyriac alphabet, the first letter isܐ,Classical Syriac:ܐܵܠܲܦ, alap (in eastern dialects) or olaph (in western dialects). It is used in word-initial position to mark a word beginning with a vowel, but some words beginning withi oru do not need its help, and sometimes, an initial alap/olaph iselided. For example, when the Syriacfirst-personsingularpronounܐܸܢܵܐ is inenclitic positions, it is pronouncedno/na (again west/east), rather than the full formeno/ana. The letter occurs very regularly at the end of words, where it represents the long final vowelso/a ore. In the middle of the word, the letter represents either aglottal stop between vowels (but West Syriac pronunciation often makes it apalatal approximant), a longi/e (less commonlyo/a) or is silent.
In theAncient South Arabian alphabet, 𐩱 appears as the seventeenth letter of the South Arabian abjad. The letter is used to render aglottal stop/ʔ/.
In theGe'ez alphabet, ʾälef አ appears as the thirteenth letter of its abjad. This letter is also used to render a glottal stop/ʔ/.
| South Arabian | Ge'ez |
|---|---|
| 𐩱 | አ |
Inset theory, the Hebrew aleph glyph is used as the symbol to denote thealeph numbers, which represent thecardinality of infinite sets. This notation was introduced by mathematicianGeorg Cantor. In older mathematics books, the letter aleph is often printed upside down by accident, partly because aMonotype matrix for aleph was mistakenly constructed the wrong way up.[12]
TheMapai political party inIsrael used an aleph as its election symbol, and featured it prominently in its campaign posters.[13]
Guru Nanak, regarded as the founder ofSikhism, used the aleph to represent the oneness of God.[citation needed]
| Preview | א | ا | ܐ | ࠀ | 𐎀 | 𐤀 | 𐡀 | 𐫀 | ℵ | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unicode name | HEBREW LETTER ALEF | ARABIC LETTER ALEF | SYRIAC LETTER ALAPH | SAMARITAN LETTER ALAF | UGARITIC LETTER ALPA | PHOENICIAN LETTER ALF | IMPERIAL ARAMAIC LETTER ALEPH | MANICHAEAN LETTER ALEPH | ALEF SYMBOL | |||||||||
| Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex | dec | hex |
| Unicode | 1488 | U+05D0 | 1575 | U+0627 | 1808 | U+0710 | 2048 | U+0800 | 66432 | U+10380 | 67840 | U+10900 | 67648 | U+10840 | 68288 | U+10AC0 | 8501 | U+2135 |
| UTF-8 | 215 144 | D7 90 | 216 167 | D8 A7 | 220 144 | DC 90 | 224 160 128 | E0 A0 80 | 240 144 142 128 | F0 90 8E 80 | 240 144 164 128 | F0 90 A4 80 | 240 144 161 128 | F0 90 A1 80 | 240 144 171 128 | F0 90 AB 80 | 226 132 181 | E2 84 B5 |
| UTF-16 | 1488 | 05D0 | 1575 | 0627 | 1808 | 0710 | 2048 | 0800 | 55296 57216 | D800 DF80 | 55298 56576 | D802 DD00 | 55298 56384 | D802 DC40 | 55298 57024 | D802 DEC0 | 8501 | 2135 |
| Numeric character reference | א | א | ا | ا | ܐ | ܐ | ࠀ | ࠀ | 𐎀 | 𐎀 | 𐤀 | 𐤀 | 𐡀 | 𐡀 | 𐫀 | 𐫀 | ℵ | ℵ |
| Named character reference | ℵ, ℵ | |||||||||||||||||
The "aleps" problem in Old Egyptian The character of Egyptian "aleph" (transcribed Ꜣ) has always been debated by linguists and egyptologists. Even at the present we can claim surely only that Egyptian Ꜣ was often not the same as the Semitic glottal stop ɂ.
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