:meow-knit: DW natives use only one of them, which I think a lot of you already know :meow-coffee:

In this lesson we will learn about ’alif-hamza أ

We learned about the long vowel 'alif ا in our last lesson.

Now here is a fact: there are no words which begin with a vowel! :walter-shock:

Oh you think I’m talking about Arabic? Go ahead, pronounce 'our, if, it, up, I, on'. In English, the sound you make every time you say a word that begins with a vowel is not a vowel sound, it’s actually called a glottal stop. And the reason why you don't know this is because English has no letter for the glottal stop.

In Arabic, the hamza ء represents the glottal stop and, like other consonants, it can be a carrier of vowel sounds. You wanna practice the sound of a glottal stop? It’s the sound you make every time you say a word that begins with a vowel or the Cockney pronunciation of “little bottle” (pronounced without the t’s)

A glottal stop is a catch in the throat produced by holding one’s breath and suddenly releasing it.

:meow-coffee:

Remember: An 'alif at the beginning of a word is always gonna be a glottal stop, never a long vowel, whether there is a hamza ء or not. There are no words that begin with a vowel.

The hamza is transliterated as an apostrophe.

Check the comments for more!

Also who is still actually interested in these lessons?