Arabic: ٱ
The waṣla (Arabic: {{wikt-lang|ar|وَصْلَة) or (Arabic: هَمْزَةُ ٱلْوَصْلِ, 'hamza of connection') is a variant of the letter hamza (Arabic: ء) resembling part of the letter (Arabic: ص) that is sometimes placed over the letter at the beginning of the word (Arabic: <big>[[wikt:ٱ|ٱ]]</big>). The ʾalif with waṣla over it is called the (Arabic: أَلِفُ ٱلْوَصْلِ, 'aleph of connection'). It indicates that the alif is not pronounced as a glottal stop (written as the hamza), but that the word is connected to the previous word (like liaison in French). Outside of vocalised liturgical texts, the is usually not written.[1] [2]