hamza

American  

[hahm-zah] / ˈhɑm zɑ /

noun

1. the sign used in Arabic writing to represent the glottal stop, usually written above another letter and shown in English transliterations as an apostrophe.

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hamza British  

/ ˈhɑːmzɑː, -zə /

noun

1. the sign used in Arabic to represent the glottal stop

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Etymology

Origin of hamza

First recorded in 1935–40, hamza is from the Arabic word ḥamzah literally, a squeezing together

Example Sentences

For this hamza, ya is often used, as here.

From The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam by Khayyam, Omar

C. writes buyi with two yas, and hamza on the first.

From The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam by Khayyam, Omar

When the grains are large, it is called hamza.

From Travels in Morocco, Volume 2. by Richardson, James