moon letter

English

Etymology

Calque of Arabic حَرْف قَمَرِيّ (ḥarf qamariyy).

Noun

moon letter (plural moon letters)

  1. (linguistics) One of fourteen Arabic letters that do not affect the pronunciation of the "L" of a preceding definite article (ال- (al--)). The "L" in the Arabic definite article is pronounced "L" when followed by a moon letter: e.g., القُرْآن (al-qurʔān). The fourteen moon letters are: ء (ʔ), ب (b), ج (j), ح (ḥ), خ (ḵ), ع (ʕ), غ (ḡ), ف (f), ق (q), ك (k), م (m), ه (h), و (w), ي (y)
    Synonym: lunar letter
    Antonym: sun letter

Translations

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