arif

See also: Arif

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

From Arabic حَرْف‏ (ḥarf), via Persian حرف‏ (harf). The loss of the initial /ḥ/ (in the Arabic word) or /h/ (in the Persian) is because these sounds have no close analogue in Crimean Tatar (the latter's /ɦ/ being too "soft"). The epenthetic introduction of the /i/ is because Crimean Tatar does not allow the word-final consonant cluster /rf/.

Noun

arif

1. letter (of the alphabet), character (see definition Nr. 2 there)