Hamza

/ˈhɑːmzə/ noun

A glottal stop sound in Arabic (like the pause in the English word 'uh-oh'), represented by a diacritic mark in written Arabic.

From Arabic 'hamza,' meaning 'a bite' or 'to bite.' The term refers to the sudden stop in airflow that produces the glottal stop sound, which feels like a bite in the throat.

📖 Full word page — etymology, 47 translations, audio 🔑 Get Free API Key — 50 lookups/day 📚 Read the Docs — integrate Word Orb