U+0627 "ا" Arabic Letter Alef Unicode Character

U+0627 "ا" Arabic Letter Alef is the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, functioning primarily as a long vowel representing the sound /aː/ and as a support for the glottal stop diacritics hamza (ء) or maddah (آ). As one of the most common graphemes in Arabic script, it is written as a vertical stroke and appears in initial, medial, and final forms depending on its connection to adjacent letters. In addition to its phonetic role, Alef serves a crucial orthographic function by carrying these diacritical marks to indicate specific pronunciations, and it is also used in Persian, Urdu, and other languages that employ the Arabic-based writing system.