§ 1 ا

ا ’ This letter is called Alif; In Ar. writing there are three types of Alif: اء a’ which is called الف مقصورة; آ ā called الف ممدودة; and أ ’a is called همزة; for the species of الف in classical Ar. lexicons, see below (2).  

(1) The characteristics of الف:

The first letter of the alphabet, according to the order in which the letters are now commonly disposed; and also according to the original order, called الف. It is, of all the letters, that which is most frequent in speech أَكثر الحروف دخولاً في المنطق; its numerical value in ابجد is 'one'; and some say that, in آلٓمٓ, in the Q, it is a name of God و قد جاء عن بعضهم في قوله تعالى: آلٓمٓ، أن الألف اسم من أَسماء الله تعالى و تقدس, Lane AL 1.

(2) The species of الف:

There are two species of الف namely, لَیِّنَةٌ soft, and هَمْزَةٌ movent; the former of which is properly called أَلِفٌ; and the latter, هَمْزَةٌ; which is a faucial letter, pronounced in the furthest part of the fauces (by a sudden emission of the voice after a total suppression, so that it resembles in sound a feebly-uttered ع, whence the form of the character (ء) whereby it is represented) but this latter is sometimes tropically called الف; and both are of the letters of augmentation الألف على ضربين لينة و متحركة، فاللينة تسمى أَلفاً و المتحركة تسمى همزة L, Lane AL 1.

(3) The signification of name الف:

In classical Ar. lexicons, they say it is called الف because all other letters are built up of it سميت أَلفاً لأنها تأْلف الحروف كلها, hence it is called يقولون هذه أَلِفٌ مُؤلَّفةٌ L;

This name, like most of the other names of Ar. letters, is traceable to the Phoenician language, in which it signifies an ox; the ancient Phoenician form of the letter thus called being a rude representation of an ox's head, Lane AL 1.

(4) Comparative grammatology of الف in Sem. languages:

The Heb. א  has the all four writing parts. These are usually reduced in Ar. and Syr. to 3 (see the diagrams).