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| '''ʾĀlp''' is the first letter of many [[Semitic]] [[abjad]]s ([[alphabet]]s), including [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]] '''Aleph''' [[Image:phoenician aleph.svg|15px|]], [[Syriac alphabet|Syriac]] ''''Ālaph''' ܐ, [[Hebrew alphabet|Hebrew]] '''Aleph''' א, and [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]] '''Alif''' ا.
| | #REDIRECT [[Aleph (letter)]] |
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| The Phoenician letter gave rise to the [[Greek language|Greek]] [[Alpha (letter)|Alpha]] (Α), being re-interpreted to express not the glottal consonant but the accompanying [[vowel]], and hence the [[Latin]] [[A]] and [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]] [[A (Cyrillic)|А]].
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| The Unicode value for aleph is U+05D0 (1488 decimal).
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| In phonetics, aleph (ˈɑːlɨf) originally represented the [[glottal stop]] (ʔ), usually [[transliteration|transliterated]] as '''ʾ''' (U+02BE) "[[ʾ|modifier letter right half ring]]", based on the Greek ''[[spiritus lenis]]'' ʼ. For example in the transliteration of the letter name itself, ''ʾāleph''.
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| ==Origin==
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| The name ''aleph'' is derived from the West Semitic word for "[[ox]]", and the shape of the letter derives from a [[Proto-Sinaitic]] glyph based on a [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|hieroglyph]] depicting an ox's head, <div style="display:inline;"> <hiero> F1 </hiero> </div>.
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| In Modern Standard Arabic, there is a word أليف /ʔaliːf/ which literally means "tamed" or "coy", derived from the root !ʔ-l-f! from which the past tense verb آلَفَ /ʔaːlafa/ means to "to coy". This has sometimes been connected with the name of ''alif'' in [[folk etymology]].
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| In modern Hebrew, the same root t !ʔ-l-f! (alef-lamed-pe) gives "me'ulaf", the passive participle of the verb "le'alef", and means trained (when referring to pets) or tamed (when referring to wild animals); the [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]] rank of [[Aluf]], taken from an [[Edom]]ite title of nobility, is also cognate.
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| ==Arabic==
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| Written as <big>ا</big>, spelled as <big>ألف</big> and transcribed as ''ʾalif'' is the first letter in [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]] and [[Perso-Arabic alphabet]].
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| Together with Hebrew Aleph, Greek [[Alpha (letter)|Alpha]] and Latin [[A]], it is descended from [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]] ʾāleph, from a reconstructed Proto-Canaanite ''ʾalp'' "ox".
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| Alif is written in one of the following ways depending on its position in the word: ا
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| Historically, the Perso-Arabic letter was used to render either a long /aː/, or a [[glottal stop]] /ʔ/. This led to [[orthographical]] confusion, and to introduction of the additional letter ''{{transl|ar|DIN|hamzat qatʿ}}'' <big>ﺀ</big>. [[Hamza]]h is not considered a full letter in Arabic orthography: in most cases it appears on a carrier, either a ''wāw'' (<big>ؤ</big>), a dotless ''yāʾ'' (<big>ئ</big>, or an alif. The choice of carrier depends on complicated orthographic rules. Alif <big>إ أ</big> is generally the carrier where the only adjacent vowel is ''fatḥah''. It is the only possible carrier where hamzah is the first phoneme of a word. Where alif acts as a carrier for hamzah, hamzah is added above the alif, or, for initial alif ''kasrah'', below it, indicating that the letter so modified does indeed signify a glottal stop, and not a long vowel.
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| A second type of hamza, ''hamzat waṣl'' (همزة وصل, occurs only as the initial phoneme of the [[Al-|definite article]] and in some related cases. It differs from ''hamzat qatʿ'' in that it is elided after a preceding vowel. Again, alif is always the carrier.
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| The ''ʾalif maddah'' is, as it were, a double alif, expressing both a glottal stop and a long vowel: آ (final ـآ)ʾā /ʔaː/, for example in <big>آخر</big> ''ʾāḫir'' /ʔaːxir/ "last".
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| آ
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| The ʾalif maqṣūrah (ألف مقصورة), or "broken alif;" commonly known in Egypt as ''ʾalif layyinah'' (ألف لينة, ˈʔælef læjˈjenæ "flexible alif"). It looks like a dotless [[yāʾ]], <big>ى</big> (final <big>ـى</big> not to be confused with [[Persian alphabet|Persian]] ''[[Yodh#Perso-Arabic ye|ye]]''). It may only appear at the end of a word. Although it looks different from a regular Alif, it represents the same sound (long /aː/). ''ʾAlif maqsurah'' is transliterated as ā in [[DIN 31635]], á in [[ALA-LC Romanization|ALA-LC]], à in ISO 233-2 and ỳ in [[ISO 233]]. ''ʾAlif maqṣūrah'' can be confused with a yāʾ because they are both normally written finally as <big>ى</big> in Egypt, Sudan and sometimes other places, but anyway its occurrence in Modern Standard Arabic is not very common. In the case when <big>ى</big> represents final /-aː/, it may also be called, especially in Egypt, ألف لينة ''{{transl|ar|ʾalif layyinah}}'' ˈʔælef læjˈjenæ and when it represents final /-iː/, it is called je. In Egypt, it is always short [-æ, -ɑ] if used in [[Egyptian Arabic]] and most commonly short in Modern Standard Arabic, as well.
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| ==Hebrew==
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| Written as <big>א</big>, spelled as <big>אָלֶף</big> and transcribed as Aleph.
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| In [[Hebrew language|Modern Israeli Hebrew]], the letter represents either a [[glottal stop]], or has no pronunciation besides that of the [[vowel]] attached to it. The pronunciation varies among [[Jewish ethnic divisions|Jewish ethnic groups]].
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| In [[gematria]], aleph represents the number 1, and when used at the beginning of [[Hebrew calendar|Hebrew years]], it means 1000 (i.e. א'תשנ"ד in [[Arabic numerals|numbers]] would be the [[Calendar date|date]] 1754).
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| Aleph, along with [[Ayin]], [[Resh]], [[He (letter)|He]], and [[Heth (letter)|Heth]], cannot receive a [[dagesh]]. (However, there are few very rare examples where the [[Masoretes]] added a dagesh to an Aleph or Resh.)
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| In Modern Hebrew the frequency of the usage of alef, out of all the letters, is 4.94%.
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| Aleph is sometimes used as a [[mater lectionis]] to denote a vowel, usually /a/. Such use is more common in words of [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] and [[Arabic language|Arabic]] origin, in foreign names and some other borrowed words.
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| {|class=wikitable style="text-align:center;"
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| !colspan=5|<small>[[Orthography|Orthographic]] variants</small>
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| !colspan=3|<small>Various Print Fonts</small>
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| !rowspan=2|<small>[[Cursive Hebrew|Cursive<br />Hebrew]]</small>
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| !rowspan=2|<small>[[Rashi Script|Rashi<br />Script]]</small>
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| !|<small>[[Serif]]</small> !! <small>[[Sans-serif]]</small> !! <small>[[Monospaced font|Monospaced]]</small> <!-- !! </small> [[Rounded Roman]]</small> -->
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| |width=20%|<span style="font:29pt 'times new roman', 'David', 'Narkisim';">א</span>
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| |width=20%|<span style="font:29pt 'arial',sans-serif;">א</span>
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| |width=20%|<span style="font:30pt 'courier new',monospace;">א</span>
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| <!-- |width=20%|<span style="font:30pt 'cooper black';">א</span> -->
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| |width=20%|[[image:Hebrew letter Alef handwriting.svg|18px]]
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| |width=20%|[[image:Hebrew letter Alef Rashi.png|31px]]
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| |}
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| ===Rabbinic Judaism===
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| 'Aleph is the subject of a [[midrash]] which praises its humility in not demanding to start the Bible. (In [[Hebrew]] the Bible begins with the second letter of the [[alphabet]], [[Bet (letter)|Bet]].) In this folktale, 'Aleph is rewarded by being allowed to start the [[Ten Commandments]]. (In [[Hebrew]], the first word is אָנֹכִי, which starts with an aleph.)
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| In the [[Sefer Yetzirah]], the [[letter (alphabet)|letter]] 'Aleph is [[King]] over Breath, Formed Air in the universe, Temperate in the Year, and the [[Chest]] in the soul.
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| 'Aleph is also the first letter of the [[Hebrew]] word ''emet'', which means ''truth''. In [[Jewish mythology]] it was the letter aleph that was carved into the head of the [[golem]] which ultimately gave it life.
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| Aleph also begins the three words that make up God's mystical name in [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]], [[I am who I Am|I Am who I Am]] (in [[Hebrew]], 'Ehyeh 'Asher 'Ehyeh אהיה אשר אהיה), and 'aleph is an important part of mystical [[amulet]]s and formulas.
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| Aleph in Jewish mysticism represents the oneness of God. The letter can been seen as being composed of an upper yud, a lower yud, and a vav leaning on a diagonal. The upper yud represents the hidden and ineffible aspects of God while the lower yud represents God's revelation and presence in the world. The vav ("hook") connects the two realms.
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| Jewish mysticism relates Aleph to the element of air, The Fool (Key 0, value 1) of the major arcana of the tarot deck,<sup>[]</sup> and the Scintillating Intelligence (#11) of the path between Kether and Chokmah in the Tree of the Sephiroth.
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| ====Hebrew sayings with aleph====
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| '''From Aleph to [[Taw|Tav]]''' describes something from beginning to end; the Hebrew equivalent of the English ''From A to Z''.
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| '''One who doesn't know how to make an Aleph''' is someone who is illiterate.
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| '''No...with a big Aleph!''' (''lo b'aleph rabati'' - לא באלף רבתי) means '''Absolutely not!'''.
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| ==Syriac Alaph/Olaf==
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| {| class="wikitable"
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| !''Alaph''
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| | [[image:Syriac Eastern alap.svg|50px]] ''Madnḫaya'' Alaph
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| | [[image:Syriac Serta alap.svg|50px]] ''Serṭo'' Alaph
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| | [[image:Syriac Estrangela alap.svg|50px]] ''Esṭrangela'' Alaph
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| |}
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| [[File:Syriac letter shapes Alaph.PNG|600px]]
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| In the [[Syriac alphabet]], the first letter is ܐ — ܐܵܠܲܦ — Alaph (in eastern dialects) or Olaf (in western dialects). It is used in word-initial position to mark a word beginning with a vowel — although some words beginning with ''i'' or ''u'' do not need its help, and sometimes an initial Alaph/Olaf is [[elision|elided]]. For example, when the Syriac [[grammatical person|first-person]] [[grammatical number|singular]] [[pronoun]] ܐܵܢܵܐ is in [[clitic|enclitic]] positions, it is pronounced ''no/na'' (again west/east) rather than the full form ''eno/ana''. The letter occurs very regularly at the end of words, where it represents the long final vowels ''o/a'' or ''e''. In the middle of the word, the letter represents either a [[glottal stop]] between vowels (but West Syriac pronunciation often makes this a [[palatal approximant]]), a long ''i/e'' (less commonly ''o/a'') or is silent.
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| ===Numeral===
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| As a numeral it Alaph/Olaf stands for the number one. With a dot below, it is the number 1,000, with a line above it, Alaph/Olaf will represent 1,000,000. with a line below it is 10,000 and with two dots below it is 10,000,000.
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| ==Ancient Egyptian==
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| See Also [[Transliteration of Ancient Egyptian]]
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| The Egyptian "vulture" [[hieroglyph]] ([[Gardiner's sign list|Gardiner]] [[List of hieroglyphs/G|G]]1), by convention pronounced {{IPA|[a]}}) is also referred to as ''alef'', on grounds that it has traditionally been taken to represent a glottal stop, although some recent suggestions<sup>[]</sup> tend towards an {{IPAblink|ɹ}} sound instead.
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| The phoneme is commonly transliterated by a symbol composed of two half-rings, in [[Unicode]] (as of version 5.1, in the [[Latin Extended D]] range) encoded at U+A722 Ꜣ <small>LATIN CAPITAL LETTER EGYPTOLOGICAL ALEF</small> and U+A723 ꜣ <small>LATIN SMALL LETTER EGYPTOLOGICAL ALEF</small>. A fallback representation is the numeral ''3'', or the Middle English character ''ȝ'' [[Yogh#In Egyptology|Yogh]]; neither are to be preferred to the genuine Egyptological characters.
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| ==Other uses==
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| ===Mathematics===
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| In [[set theory]], the Hebrew aleph glyph is used as the symbol to denote the [[aleph number]]s, which represent the [[cardinality]] of infinite sets. This notation was introduced by mathematician [[Georg Cantor]].
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| ==See also==
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| * [[ʾ]]
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| * [[Al-]]
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| * [[Yodh#Arabic yāʼ|Arabic {{unicode|yāʼ}}]]
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| * [[Hamza]]
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| * [[Aleph number]]
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| ==References==
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| [[Category:Phoenician alphabet]]
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| [[Category:Hebrew alphabet]]
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| ==See Also==
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| * ''Aleph'' is also the shorthand designation for [[Codex Sinaiticus]], a 4th-century manuscript of the Bible
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