خkhāʾ
How it is made
phoneticstop of the throat, nearest the mouth; voiceless, continuant.
In brief, from the lines below. English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic AI
Sībawayh · al-Kitāb (d. c. 180/796)
وأدناها مخرجا من الفم: الغين والخاء
The nearest of them to the mouth in place: the ghayn and the khāʾ. line 26549 ↗
Ibn Jinnī · Sirr ṣināʿat al-iʿrāb (d. 392/1002)
ومما فوق ذلك مع أول الفم، مخرج الغين والخاء
From above that, at the start of the mouth, is the place of the ghayn and the khāʾ. line 971 ↗
Reference
Ibn Jinnī’s chapter on the khāʾits opening
الخاء حرف مهموس، يكون أصلا لا غير
The khāʾ is a voiceless letter; it is a radical and nothing else. line 2836 ↗
The chapter begins at line 2835 ↗; the rest of it is on the letter's substitutions, assimilation and uses.
In the Breath of the All-MercifulIbn ʿArabī · metaphysics
Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 10 line 2573 ↗
Meaning by vowelal-Dabbāgh · a visionary claim about a primordial “Syriac”, not historical Syriac
With fatḥa ـَ
فهي طول إلى النهاية مع رقة.
It is length to the utmost, together with fineness/thinness. AI
al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-LamaṭīWith ḍamma ـُ
فهي اسم لكمال في الحيوانات.
It is a name for a perfection in animals. AI
al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-LamaṭīWith kasra ـِ
فهي اسم لكمال في الجمادات.
It is a name for a perfection in inanimate things. AI
al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-LamaṭīSībawayh (d. c. 180/796), al-Kitāb, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām Hārūn (Cairo: al-Khānjī), vol. 4, pp. 431–436. Digital text: 0180Sibawayhi.KitabSibawayhi.Shamela0023018-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.
Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), Sirr ṣināʿat al-iʿrāb, Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya (as recorded by OpenITI), vol. 1. Digital text: 0392IbnJinniMawsili.SirrSinacatIcrab.Shamela0012017-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.