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Mastering the final Hamza in Arabic

In Arabic, if you see a Hamza at the end of the word, you have to watch out. Here are the spelling rules of the Arabic letter Hamza.

Last updated: 2 months

The spelling of the Hamza is challenging in Arabic, and many native speakers find it difficult. This article will focus on spell the final Hamza.

Let’s start with an example and take the word ุณูŽู…ุงุกูŒโ€Ž. How did ู‡ูŽู…ู’ุฒุฉโ€Žโ€Ž get into this word?

Usually, a final Hamza is related to the last root letter. In our example of sky (ุณูŽู…ุงุกูŒโ€Ž), it is the weak letter ูˆ.

ุณูŽู…ุงุกูŒ means sky. If we want to answer our question, we need to take a look at the root of this word โ€“ which is ุณ-ู…โ€“ูˆ. First thing we should notice: There is no Hamza in the root!

It is a very ancient Semitic root that is found in Aramaic, Ugaritic, and and finally also entered Arabic. Its origiยญnal meaning is probably high place, height.

Some scholars assume that the verbal root was deducted from the noun, as the noun came before the verbal meaning โ€“ which is to be high, elevated; to be above. In grammar, we call them denominal verbs – verbs derived from nouns.

The final Hamza in Arabic words

Let’s start our analysis by applying the root letters to our word.

  1. If we do that, we will get the word ุณูŽู…ูŽุงู’ูˆูŒ for sky.
  2. Such a word would be diffiยญcult to pronounce.
  3. And for exactly that reason, the ูˆ turned into a ุก resulting in ุณูŽู…ุงุกูŒ.

But that is actually the exception.

Why? In the -form (ู†ูุณู’ุจุฉูŒ), which is used to form adjecยญtives (ุตููุฉูŒ), the weak root letter ูˆ suddenly appears again: ุณูŽู…ุงูˆููŠูŒู‘. It means heavenly.

What is the gender of ุณูŽู…ุงุกูŒ?

Both genders – masculine and feminine – are theoretically possible. However, most scholars treat ุณูŽู…ุงุกูŒ as feminine (ู…ูุคูŽู†ูŽู‘ุซูŒ).

What about other words ending in Hamza?

Many work in the same way. What we said here applies to many roots which have a weak letter (ูŠ or ูˆ) in position 3, i.e., the last root letter.

Some examples:

  • The word ุจูู†ุงุกูŒ for building. It is the ู…ูŽุตู’ุฏูŽุฑ of the root is ุจู†โ€“ูŠ. Therefore, the word should be spelled like that: ุจูู†ุงู’ูŠูŒ. But this would be difficult to pronounce.
  • The word ู„ูู‚ุงุกูŒ for meeting. It is the ู…ูŽุตู’ุฏูŽุฑ of ู„ูŽู‚ููŠูŽ. It has the ู„ูู‚ูŽุงุกุงุชูŒ.

Remark: In Arabic for Nerds 1, you will find many examples and discussions about this topic.


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