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| Sin | |
|---|---|
| Arabic | س |
| Phonemic representation | s |
| Position in alphabet | 15 |
| Numerical value | 60 |
| Alphabetic derivatives of the Phoenician | |
| Sīn سين | |
|---|---|
| س | |
| Usage | |
| Writing system | Arabic script |
| Type | Abjad |
| Language of origin | Arabic language |
| Sound values | s |
| Alphabetical position | 12 |
| History | |
| Development | 𐤔
|
| 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. | |
The Arabic letterس sīn/s/ (Arabic:سِينْ,sīn orseen/siːn/) is the 12th letter in the common Hijā'i order, and the 15th letter in the Abjadi order (corresponding to the 15th letter Phoenician letterSamekh). Based on Semitic linguistics, Samekh has no surviving descendant in theArabic alphabet, and that sīn is derived fromPhoenicianšīn 𐤔 rather than Phoeniciansāmek 𐤎, but unlike theAramaic𐡔sīn/šīn and theHebrewשsīn/šīn, Arabicسsīn/s/ is considered a completely separate letter fromشšīn/ʃ/, and is written thus:
| Position in word: | Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glyph form: (Help) | س | ـس | ـسـ | سـ |
The history of the letters expressing sibilants in the various Semitic alphabets is somewhat complicated, due to different mergers betweenProto-Semitic phonemes. As usually reconstructed, there are four plainProto-Semiticcoronalvoicelessfricative phonemes (not countingemphatic ones) that evolved into the various voiceless sibilants of its daughter languages, as follows:
| Proto-Semitic | Ancient | Ancient | Modern South Arabian languages | Arabic | Aramaic | Hebrew | Phoenician | Ge'ez | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| s₃ (s) | [s]/[ts] | 𐩯 | 𐪏 | /s/ | س | /s/ | ס | /s/ | ס | /s/ | 𐤎 | /s/ | ሰ | /s/ |
| s₁ (š) | [ʃ]/[s] | 𐩪 | 𐪊 | /ʃ/; sometimes/h/ | ש | /ʃ/ | ש | /ʃ/ | 𐤔 | /ʃ/ | ||||
| ṯ | [θ] | 𐩻 | 𐪛 | /θ/ | ث | /θ/ | ת | /t/ | ||||||
| s₂ (ś) | [ɬ]/[tɬ] | 𐩦 | 𐪆 | /ɬ/ | ش | /ʃ/ | ס | /s/ | /s/ | ሠ | /ɬ/ | |||
In theMaghrebian abjad sequence (quoted in apparently earliest authorities and considered older by Michael Macdonald):[1]
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