Can you start an Arabic word with an ALIF?

Things You Need to Know About Arabic… and English

Somebody on Quora just asked: “How come the words Allah and the definite article AL in Arabic start with ALIF, while the rule is that you cannot start a word with an ALIF in Arabic?” When you see an ALIF at the beginning of word, it’s not just an ALIF. It’s there to carry either a Hamza, a MADDA or a WaSla. See other episodes on this podcast to find out more about those three. In the meantime, here are some examples: Words starting with an ALIF HAMZA: ‏أنا، أكل، إستقلال Words starting with an ALIF MADDA: ‏ آكل، آمال، آسيا Words starting with a WASLA: في الييت، واستقبل، بعد انقلاب Help me get a laptop: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/thouriabenferhatllc Or: Buy me a Coffee (I LOOOVE COFFEE!) https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thouria More on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/THOURIABENFERHAT Send me a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thouria-benferhat/message Buy my creations! They make beautiful gifts! https://benable.com/Thouria Benable is a tool to create shareable lists of things you recommend! You can skip the waitlist and create your own shareable lists by signing up using my invite link: https://benable.com/i/3PWE7 Visit my website: https://www.thouriabenferhat.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thouria-benferhat/message