Special spellings

A handful of spellings break the “one letter, one sound” rule. They’re common, so it’s worth meeting them one at a time.

Tāʾ marbūṭa — ة

A hāʾ with two dots, only ever at the end of a word. It reads -a when you stop on it, and -at when the word runs on. It usually marks a feminine noun — and it’s the reason so many Uzbek words end in -at: rahmat, tabiat, hayot.

Alif maqṣūra — ى

A yāʾ without dots at the end of a word. It reads as a long ā, just like an alif.

Hamza and its seats — ء أ ؤ ئ

Hamza (the little catch in the throat) rarely sits alone. It rides on an alif, a wāw or a dotless yāʾ, depending on the vowels around it. The seat is silent; only the hamza is heard.

Lām-alif — لا

When lām is followed by alif, the two fuse into one shape. It always reads lā — and it’s also the word “no”.