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The primary reference of the term hamza is the letter ء. However, it is also used, especially in the Arabic grammatical tradition, to refer to a specific speech sound, the glottal stop. Since the letter hamza is not always pronounced as a glottal stop, and since some letters other than the hamza are sometimes pronounced as the glottal stop, these two referents of the word hamza should be carefully distinguished. 1. Orthography The hamza is usually not written on its own but is supported by one of the consonants ى ,و or ا. The supporting consonant is known as the kursī ‘chair’ of the hamza. The rul…