Word
hamza
UK/hˈæmzɐ/
Definition
n. a small letter in the Arabic alphabet that looks like a small 'a'. It is used to show that a word starts with a sound that is hard to pronounce in English.
n. a letter of the Arabic alphabet, represented by the symbol ٩, used to indicate the presence of a glottal stop or a specific vowel sound.
Examples
“The word starts with a hamza.”
“When learning to read Arabic, students often find the hamza difficult because it represents a sound that does not exist in English.”
“The placement of the hamza within the word can significantly alter its pronunciation, often serving as a marker for the beginning of a sentence or a specific grammatical case.”
Examples
simple
“The word starts with a hamza.”
contextual
“When learning to read Arabic, students often find the hamza difficult because it represents a sound that does not exist in English.”
complex
“The placement of the hamza within the word can significantly alter its pronunciation, often serving as a marker for the beginning of a sentence or a specific grammatical case.”
Etymology
Borrowed from Arabic هَمْزَة (hamza).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/hamza