The ''waṣla'' ( ar, , lit=an instance of connection) or (, '

hamza Hamza ( ar, همزة ') () is a letter in the Arabic alphabet, representing the glottal stop . Hamza is not one of the 28 "full" letters and owes its existence to historical inconsistencies in the standard writing system. It is derived from ...

of connection') is an

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

diacritic A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign, or accent) is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek (, "distinguishing"), from (, "to distinguish"). The word ''diacriti ...

resembling part of the letter () that is sometimes placed over the letter at the beginning of the word (). The ''ʾalif'' with ''waṣla'' over it is called the (, 'aleph of connection'). It indicates that the alif is not pronounced as a glottal stop (written with the letter or diacritic ''

'' ), but that the word is connected to the previous word (like liaison in French). Outside of vocalised liturgical texts, the is usually not written.

Examples

# () — And his daughter's name is Hind. # () — He wants to read to one of his two daughters. # () — What is your name?

References

Arabic diacritics {{arabic-script-stub