The waṣla or hamzatu l-waṣli is a variant of the letter hamza (ء) resembling part of the letter ṣād (ص) that is sometimes placed over the letter ʾalif at the beginning of the word. The ʾalif with waṣla over it is called the ʾalifu l-waṣli. It indicates that the alif is not pronounced as a glottal stop, but that the word is connected to the previous word. Outside of vocalised liturgical texts, the waṣla is usually not written.