| These manifestations of the
hamza could be pronounced 'a, 'u or simply [ ' ]. |
But these are usually sounded as 'i. | The sound values of the uncarried hamza are either 'A or [ ' ]. | ||
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The Hamza
Arabic. Representing the sound of the glottal stop, the hamza is governed in Classical and Standard Arabic by truly byzantine and, one is tempted to stay, stupid rules. Usually it must be "carried" by another letter, although under certain esoteric circumstances it may appear without a carrier. The following table represents a gross simplification of the hamza rules, emphasising only the possible sound values. (The glottal stop is represented in transcription by [ ' ].)
| These manifestations of the
hamza could be pronounced 'a, 'u or simply [ ' ]. |
But these are usually sounded as 'i. | The sound values of the uncarried hamza are either 'A or [ ' ]. | ||
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In Persian, the hamza is written only between specific vowels: between long A or long U and long I (a frequent enough occurrence in Persian). Urdu uses the hamza as a junction between any two vowels, in order to prevent them from being pronounced together like a diphthong. In Uighur, hamza is treated as a consonant like any other without special properties, but it occurs only in the middle of words, never at the beginning or at the end. In all three languages, the hamza is carried by a yaa' (ye) without dots:
| Persian
& Urdu (initial)
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Urdu
& Uighur (medial)
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In Urdu, when waaw (vau) represents the long vowels U or O coming after another vowel, the hamza is carried by waaw (vau):
In Pashto the hamza occurs only in Arabic loanwords and is therefore written according to the Arabic rules followed by that particular word.
