Arabic letter ae

It spells the Sorani Kurdish vowel /æ/. Often described as an e sound, ە appears inside words, not as a standalone message.

Arabic-derived Kurdish writing makes vowels visible as letters because Arabic-style spelling often leaves them unmarked. The Sorani alphabet developed through practical adaptation, with major reform in the 1920s and 1930s.

The same character also appears in Uyghur, Kazakh, and Kyrgyz spelling; its sound and spelling role depend on the language.

Why does ە look like ه but join differently?

ە spells a vowel; ه spells /h/ in Sorani. Their similar isolated shapes come from the Arabic-script heh tradition, but their spelling roles differ.

ە joins to a letter on its right, but not to the next letter in the word. The resulting gap is normal letter shaping, not a broken font.

Some Kurdish data also uses ھ, a doachashmee heh for /h/. The distinction between final /e/ and /h/ matters especially in Behdini spelling; Sorani usually does not have the same final /h/ contrast.

How do I type ە?

Select a Sorani Kurdish keyboard layout. It provides ە as a regular key; a generic Arabic or Persian layout may not. If that layout is unavailable, search for the character in a Unicode-aware picker.

Some Sorani text writes the same vowel as ه followed by an invisible zero-width non-joiner (ZWNJ). When matching a source, preserve whichever form it uses.