א

See also: אַ, אָ, ℵ, X, x, Appendix:Variations of "a", and Appendix:Variations of "x"

א U+05D0, א HEBREW LETTER ALEF [unassigned: U+05C8–U+05CF] ← ◌ׇ [U+05C7] Hebrew ב → [U+05D1]

ﬡ U+FB21, ﬡ HEBREW LETTER WIDE ALEF ← ﬠ [U+FB20] Alphabetic Presentation Forms ﬢ → [U+FB22]

Translingual

Etymology

Modification of Aramaic 𐡀 (ā, ē, “Ālef”), closely related to Syriac ܐ (“Ālap, Olaf”) and Arabic ا (ā ʾ, “alif”), ultimately from Phoenician 𐤀 (“alef”).

Letter

א

1. The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

Symbol

א

1. (mathematics) ℵ (a transfinite cardinal number)

See also

• aleph-null

See also

• Appendix:Hebrew script
• Wide: ﬡ

Hebrew

Alternative forms

With Patah: אַ With Qamats: אָ With Mapiq: אּ

(handwriting) (Rashi script)

Pronunciation

• (phoneme, usually) IPA^(key): /ʔ/
• (letter name) IPA^(key): /ˈʔalef/

• Audio:

  (file)

Letter

א • (') (Hebrew letter)

1. Aleph or alef: the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, coming before ב.
2. The numeral 1 in Hebrew numbering.

Usage notes

• In Modern Israeli Hebrew, א (“alef”) represents either a glottal stop (/ʔ/), or has no pronunciation besides that of the vowel attached to it. The pronunciation varies from group to group.
• א (“alef”)—along with the other guttural letters, ע (ʿ, “ayin”), ר (r, “resh”), ה (h, “he”), and ח (ḥ, “ḥêṯ”)—cannot receive a dagesh (the dot in בּ (b, “bet”), which can appear in most other Hebrew letters), although there are rare examples where the Masoretes added a dagesh to it.
• א (“alef”) is sometimes used to denote a vowel (usually /a/) in words of Aramaic and Arabic origin, in foreign names, and in some other borrowed words.

Derived terms

• מ-א׳ ועד ת׳ (miálef ve'ád tav)
• א״א (álef álef)
• סוג א׳ (sug álef)
• יום א׳ (yom álef)
• אינו יודע צורת א׳ (einó yodéa' tzurát álef)
• לא ב-א׳ רבתי (lo beálef rabbatí)
• אלפבית (álef beit)
• א׳ אפס (álef éfes)

See also

• (Hebrew script letters) א,‏ ב,‏ ג,‏ ד,‏ ה,‏ ו,‏ ז,‏ ח,‏ ט,‏ י,‏ כך,‏ ל,‏ מם,‏ נן,‏ ס,‏ ע,‏ פף,‏ צץ,‏ ק,‏ ר,‏ ש,‏ ת

Mozarabic

Etymology

Inherited from Latin et. Compare Portuguese e and Spanish y.

Conjunction

א (ʔ)

1. and
   • c. 1100, Kharja H2, section 2:

     אדבינש באלחק

     ʔdbynš bʔlḥq

     And you predict the future truthfully

Yiddish

Letter

א

1. The first letter in the Yiddish alphabet, שטומער־אַלף (precedes ו or י to indicate a word-initial vowel)

See also

• א (∅), אַ (a), אָ (o), ב (b), בּ (b), בֿ (v), ג (g), ד (d), דזש (dzh), ה (h), ו (u), וּ (u), וֹ (o), װ (v), ױ (oy), ז (z), זש (zh), ח (kh), ט (t), טש (tsh), י (y), יִ (i), ײ (ey), ײַ (ay), כּ (k), כ (kh), (ך (kh)), ל (l), מ (m), (ם (m)), נ (n), (ן (n)), ס (s), ע (e), פּ (p), פֿ (f), פ (f), (ף (f)), צ (ts), (ץ (ts)), ק (k), ר (r), ש (sh), שׂ (s), תּ (t), ת (s)