Arabic Maddah Above

It marks hamza followed by long “aa” when joined to alif.

In everyday Arabic spelling, alif ا with this mark is written as آ. That is the long-vowel letter in قُرْآن: it writes hamza (a brief catch in the throat) followed by a long “aa,” instead of spelling the sequence with two alifs.

The sign took shape through scribal practice over time, rather than as a one-off invention. Some manuscripts from the third century AH (ninth century CE; AH is the Islamic calendar) show it; it appears more often in fourth century AH (tenth century CE) manuscripts.

How do I type the standalone maddah mark?

Type alif, then enter the mark through an Arabic input method. On the Arabic 101 keyboard layout, Shift + N enters the composed letter آ. A decomposed sequence is alif ا followed by ٓ; it needs an input method that supports the mark as a separate character.

As a combining mark, ٓ has no base of its own and can appear detached if entered alone. When other Arabic marks share the letter, apps or fonts can place them at different heights; the visual order may vary.

Why does madda have different uses in older texts?

Its job depends on the writing or recitation tradition.

In medieval manuscript practice, madda could mark a long or extra-long vowel, or stand in for a hamza sign. In some South Asian and Indonesian recitation texts, it marks madd jāʾiz—a rule to lengthen a vowel while reciting. That recitation cue differs from the everyday Arabic spelling آ.