Dagger alif explained

Arabic: ــٰ

The dagger alif (Arabic: ألف خنجرية) or superscript alif is written as a short vertical stroke on top of an Arabic letter. It indicates a long pronounced as //aː// sound where alif is normally not written, e.g. Arabic: هَٰذَا or Arabic: رَحْمَٰن . The dagger alif occurs in only a few modern words, but these include some common ones; it is seldom written, however, even in fully vocalised texts, except in the Qur'an. As Wright notes "[alif] was at first more rarely marked than the other long vowels, and hence it happens that, at a later period, after the invention of the vowel-points, it was indicated in some very common words merely by a fatḥa [i.e. the dagger alif.]" Most keyboards do not have dagger alif. The word Arabic: [[الله]] is usually produced automatically by entering "", or in Arabic: "ا ل ل ه". The word consists of alif + ligature of doubled with a shadda and a dagger alif above .

With fatḥah

There are two possible ways of representing the dagger alif in modern editions of Quran. In the editions printed in the Middle East the dagger alif is written with fatḥah: Arabic: الرَّحْمَٰنِ . In the editions printed in South Asia (Pakistan, India and Bangladesh) the dagger alif is written without fatḥah: Arabic: الرَّحْمٰنِ .

See also

References

[1] [2] [3]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Caspari. Carl Paul. Carl Paul Caspari. Wright. William. Smith. William Robertson. de Goeje. Michael Jan. William Wright (orientalist). William Robertson Smith. Michael Jan de Goeje. A Grammar of the Arabic Language. 1. 1896. 9–10. Cambridge University Press . 9780521094559 . 3rd.
  2. Book: Ryding. Karin C.. A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic. 2005. Cambridge University Press. 28. 9781139443333 .
  3. Book: Alhawary. Mohammad T.. Modern standard Arabic grammar: a learner's guide. 2011. Wiley-Blackwell. 978-1-4051-5501-4. 17–18.