In this lesson, we discuss the different uses of Hamzah in Arabic. When used as a consonant, the letter ﺍ (’alif) may have an extra ء (hamzah) above أ or below إ. The hamzah is placed below the letter ﺍ only if it is marked by a كَـسْـرَة (kasrah) ‘short i’ or followed by a مَـدّ يـاء (madd yā’) ‘long ī.’
| Hamzah | Romanized | Example |
| أَ | ’a | أَحْـمَـد (’aḥmad) ‘Ahamd’ |
| أُ | ’u | أُخْـت (’ukht) ‘sister’ |
| إِ | ’i | إِسْـلام (’islām) ‘Islam’ |
| أو | ’ū | أولــى (’ūlā) ‘first’ |
| إي | ’ī | إيـمـان (’īmān) ‘faith/belief’ |
Hamzat al-madd آ (’ā)
Hamzat al-madd, i.e., آ (’ā), is a special case of the hamzah in Arabic as it represents a hamzah followed by the ‘long ā’ vowel. It is used to avoid writing two ﺍ (’alif) letters consecutively, i.e., أﺍ.
| Hamzah | Romanized | Example |
| آ | ’ā | آمـيـن (’āmīn) ‘Amen’ |
| قُـرْآن (qur’ān) ‘Quran’ |
There are more complex rules on the placement of hamzah in Arabic, especially when it appears in the middle or end of the word. For now, all you need to know is that ء is pronounced like a glottal stop, just like the letter ﺍ (’) at the beginning of a sentence.
Here are the different placements of the hamzah in Arabic when followed by a long vowel:
| Isolated | Romanization | Initial | Medial | End |
| آ | ’ā | آ | آ ، ـآ | آ ، ـآ ، أى، ـأى |
| أو | ’ū | أو | ئـو ، ـئـو | ئـو ، ـئـو |
| إي | ’ī | إيـ | ئــيـ ، ـئــيـ | ئـي ، ـئـي |
Hamzat Qaṭ‘ (أ) vs. Hamzat Waṣl (ﺍ)
As mentioned earlier, we sometimes have a ء (hamzah) written above or below the ﺍ (’alif). This is called هَـمْـزَة قَـطْـع (hamzat qaṭ‘) ‘halting hamzah,’ which requires a stop or pause in pronunciation. In other cases, we have ﺍ (’alif) written without hamzah. This is called هَـمْـزَة وَصْــل (hamzat waṣl) ‘connecting hamzah.’
Some words start with هَـمْـزَة قَــطْـع (hamzat qaṭ‘) ‘halting hamzah,’ while others start with هَــمْــزَة وَصْــل (hamzat waṣl) ‘connecting hamzah.’ We will discuss the difference in pronunciation between these two types of hamzah.
Let us consider the difference in pronunciation between the following two words:
- أَحْـمَــد (’aḥmad) ‘Ahmad.’
- اِثْـنــان (ithnān) ‘two.’
Notice that the first word starts with هَـمْـزَة قَـطْـع (hamzat qaṭ‘) ‘halting hamzah,’ whereas the second word starts with هَـمْـزَة وَصْـل (hamzat waṣl) ‘connecting hamzah.’ When we start a sentence with either word, there is no difference in pronunciation. Both words start with a glottal stop represented by (’).
| أَحْـمَــد وَ حَـمَـد ’aḥmad wa-ḥamad Ahmad and Hamad | اِثْـنــان وَ واحِــد ’ithnān wa-wāḥid two and one |
The difference occurs when the word is not at the beginning of a sentence or speech. For example:
| حَـمَـد وَ أَحْـمَــد ḥamad wa-’aḥmad Hamad and Ahmad | واحِــد وَ اثْـنــان wāḥid wa-thnān (not: wa-’ithnān) one and two |
In the first example, the hamzah in أَحْـمَــد (’aḥmad) is a هَـمْـزَة قَـطْـع (hamzat qaṭ‘) ‘halting hamzah,’ meaning we must halt and pronounce the glottal stop regardless of the word’s position.
On the other hand, notice that in the second example, because اِثْـنــان (ithnān) starts with هَـمْـزَة وَصْـل (hamzat waṣl) ‘connecting hamzah,’ the glottal stop represented by (’) and the following ‘short i’ vowel are not pronounced. Instead, the next word is seamlessly connected to the preceding word.
This is the rule in Standard Arabic. If you pronounce the glottal stop in هَـمْـزَة وَصْـل (hamzat waṣl) ‘connecting hamzah,’ i.e., saying (wāḥid wa-’ithnān) instead of (wāḥid wa-thnān), it is not a major error, but it sounds less natural unless you intend to pause at the word for emphasis.
Back to: Stressed Consonants in Arabic
Other lessons in Level I: