ب

See also: بـ, پ, ت, ث, and ٮ

ب U+0628, ب ARABIC LETTER BEH ← ا [U+0627] Arabic ة → [U+0629]

ﺏ U+FE8F, ﺏ ARABIC LETTER BEH ISOLATED FORM ← ﺎ [U+FE8E] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﺐ → [U+FE90]

ﺐ U+FE90, ﺐ ARABIC LETTER BEH FINAL FORM ← ﺏ [U+FE8F] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﺑ → [U+FE91]

ﺑ U+FE91, ﺑ ARABIC LETTER BEH INITIAL FORM ← ﺐ [U+FE90] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﺒ → [U+FE92]

ﺒ U+FE92, ﺒ ARABIC LETTER BEH MEDIAL FORM ← ﺑ [U+FE91] Arabic Presentation Forms-B ﺓ → [U+FE93]

Arabic

Etymology 1

From the Nabataean Aramaic letter 𐢃 (l, “bet”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤁 (l, “bet”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓉐. See also Classical Syriac ܒ (l, “bet”), Hebrew ב (l, “beth”), Ancient Greek β (b), Latin B.

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /baːʔ/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

Letter

ب / ب‍ / ‍ب‍ / ‍ب • (bāʔ)

1. The second letter of the Arabic alphabet. Its name is بَاء (bāʔ) and it has the sound of English b. It is preceded by أ (ʔ) and followed by ت (t).

Symbol

ب / ب‍ / ‍ب‍ / ‍ب • (bāʔ)

1. The second letter in traditional abjad order, which is used in place of numerals for list numbering (abjad numerals). It is preceded by أ (ʔ) and followed by ج (j).

Noun

ب • (b)

1. Abbreviation of باب (bāb, “chapter”).

Etymology 2

Ultimately Proto-Semitic *bV- (“with, in, at, among”) with likely interrelation with Proto-Semitic *bayt- (“site, location; nest, house”); cognates with Ugaritic 𐎁 (b), Aramaic ב־, Classical Syriac ܒ-, Hebrew בְּ־ (bə-), Ge'ez በ (bä) and Egyptian bw.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi/

Preposition

بِـ • (bi-)

1. denotes an instrument or tool, with, by (a means)

   طَرَقْتُ الْمِسْمَارَ بِمِطْرَقَةٍ

   ṭaraqtu l-mismāra bi-miṭraqatin

   I hit the nail with a hammer

   رَماهُم بِٱلْحِجَارَةِ

   ramāhum bi-l-ḥijārati

   He pelted them with stones.

2. denotes the agent of unaccusative forms

   هُوَ يَتَقَوَّى بِهِ

   huwa yataqawwā bihi

   He is strengthened by it

   Coordinate term: (post-Classical) بِوَاسِطَة (biwāsiṭa, denotes the agent of passive forms)

3. denotes accompaniment

   Coordinate term: مَعَ (maʕa)

   1. with (a component)

      قَهْوةٌ بِٱلْحَلِيبِ ― qahwatun bi-l-ḥalībi ― coffee with milk

   2. with (a quality); in (a state)

      بِسُرُورٍ ― bi-surūrin ― with pleasure

      بِٱمْتِيازٍ ― bi-mtiyāzin ― with success and distinction

4. denotes proximity, with, to, next to, at (touching on, connected with, concerning)

   مَرْبُوطٌ بِشَجَرَةٍ ― marbūṭun bi-šajaratin ― tied to a tree

   لَا عَلاقةَ لَهُ بِٱلْمَوْضُوعِ ― lā ʕalāqata lahu bi-l-mawḍūʕi ― unrelated to the subject

5. denotes inclusion, surrounding, or location, within (a place); in; on; at

   بِٱلْأَرْضِ ― bi-l-ʔarḍi ― on the earth/in or inside the ground

   بِٱلقَرْيةِ ― bi-l-qaryati ― in the village

   بِٱلْمَكْتَبَةِ ― bi-l-maktabati ― at the library

   بِٱلْمَكْتَبِ ― bi-l-maktabi ― at the office/in the desk

   Synonym: فِي (fī)

6. denotes requital, giving or doing in return; for

   اِشْتَرَيْتُهُ بِأَلْفِ رِيَالٍ.

   ištaraytuhu bi-ʔalfi riyālin.

   I bought it for a thousand riyals.

7. marks the predicate of a negative copula

   هُوَ لَيْسَ بِشَاهِدٍ وَلَا بِقَارِئٍ.

   huwa laysa bi-šāhidin wa-lā bi-qāriʔin.

   He is not one who witnessed [it] or read [it].

Inflection

Inflected forms
Base form					بِـ (bi-)
Personal-pronoun- including forms	Singular		Dual	Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Common	Masculine	Feminine
First person	بِي (bī)		بِنَا (binā)
Second person	بِكَ (bika)	بِكِ (biki)	بِكُمَا (bikumā)	بِكُمْ (bikum)	بِكُنَّ (bikunna)
Third person	بِهِ (bihi)	بِهَا (bihā)	بِهِمَا (bihimā)	بِهِمْ (bihim)	بِهِنَّ (bihinna)

Derived terms

• بِمَا (bimā)
• بِمَ (bima)
• بِمَنْ (biman)

Descendants

• Maltese: b’

Balti

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b/, [b]

Letter

ب (transliteration needed)

1. The second letter of the Balti alphabet, written in the Perso-Arabic script

Burushaski

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b/, [b]

Letter

ب (transliteration needed)

1. The fourth letter of the Burushaski alphabet, written in the Perso-Arabic script

Central Kurdish

Letter

ب / ب‍ / ‍ب‍ / ‍ب (bā)

1. The third letter of the Kurdo-Arabic alphabet. Its name is با (ba) and it has the sound of English b. It is preceded by ا (a) and followed by پ (pi). Equivalent to b in the Kurdo-Latin alphabet.

See also

• Search for entries beginning with ب

Chinese

Pronunciation

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /p/, [b]

Letter

ب

1. The second letter of the Xiao'erjing abjad.

Egyptian Arabic

Pronunciation 1

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /be/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

Etymology

From the Ottoman Turkish convention.

Letter

ب • (be)

1. The second letter of the Arabic abjad, به (be). It is preceded by ألف (alif) and followed by ته (te).

Pronunciation 2

• IPA^(key): /bi/

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Prefix

بـ • (bi-)

1. Used to conjugate present indicative verbs from their subjunctive forms.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Arabic بِـ (bi-).

Preposition

بـ • (bi-)

1. Denotes an instrument or means; with, by

   ضربته بشكوش

   ḍarabito bi-šakūš

   She hit him with a hammer

See also

پ (be be-talat noʔaṭ)

Gujarati

Pronunciation

• (letter name) IPA^(key): /beː/
• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /b/

Letter

ب • (be)

1. The second letter of the Lisan ud-Dawat abjad, equivalent to the Gujarati letter બ (ba).

Forms

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ب	ـب	ـبـ	بـ

See also

• Previous letter: ا
• Next letter: پ

Hijazi Arabic

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ˈbaːʔ/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

Letter

ب • (bāʔ)

1. The second letter of the Arabic alphabet. Its name is بَاء (bāʔ), and is preceded by أ (ʔalif) and followed by ت (tāʔ).

Forms

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ب	ـب	ـبـ	بـ

See also

• پ (pāʔ)
• (Arabic script letters) ا (ʔalif), ب (bāʔ), ت (tāʔ), ث (ṯāʔ), ج (jīm), ح (ḥāʔ), خ (ḵāʔ), د (dāl), ذ (ḏāl), ر (rāʔ), ز (zāy), س (sīn), ش (šīn), ص (ṣād), ض (ḍād), ط (ṭāʔ), ظ (ẓāʔ), ع (ʕēn), غ (ḡēn), ف (fāʔ), ق (gāf), ك (kāf), ل (lām), م (mīm), ن (nūn), هـ (hāʔ), و (wāw), ي (yāʔ)

Etymology 2

Probably from a shortened form of Arabic بَغْيْ (baḡy, “to want”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bi/

Preposition

بِـ • (bi)

2. -ing (prefix indicating the present continuous tense)

   بِيِتْكَلَّم

   biyitkallam

   he is speaking

Etymology 3

From Arabic بِ (bi).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi/

Preposition

بِـ • (bi)

1. with, by (a means)

   بِالْمِطْرَقة

   bi-l-miṭraga

   with a mallet

Kashmiri

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /beː/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

Letter

ب • (b)

1. The second letter of the traditional alphabet chart of Kashmiri.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ب	ـب	ـبـ	بـ

See also

• Previous letter: ا
• Next letter: پ (p)

Kazakh

Alternative scripts
Arabic	ب
Cyrillic	Б, б
Latin	B, b
Yañalif	B, ʙ

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ba/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

Letter

ب • (b)

1. The second letter of the Kazakh in Arabic Script. It represents the Cyrillic letter Б.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ب	ـب	ـبـ	بـ

See also

• Previous letter: ا
• Next letter: پ
• (Arabic script letters) ا, ب, پ, ت, ج, چ, ح, د, ر, ز, س, ش, ع, ف, ق, ك, گ, ڭ, ل, م, ن, ە, ھ, و, ۇ, ۋ, ۆ, ى, ي.

Khowar

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /be/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

Letter

ب (be)

1. The second letter of the Khowar abjad.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ب	ـب	ـبـ	بـ

See also

• Previous letter: أ
• Next letter: پ

Kyrgyz

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /be/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/, /w/, /v/

Letter

ب • (be)

1. The second letter of the Kyrgyz in Arabic Script. It represents the Cyrillic letter Б

Forms

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ب	ـب	ـبـ	بـ

See also

• (Arabic script letters) ا, ب, پ, ﻥ, ﺕ, ﺝ, ﭺ, ﺡ, ﻑ, ﻕ, ﻉ, ك, گ, ڭ, ﻝ, ﻡ, و, ۅ, ۉ, ﯗ, ﯞ, ﺱ, ﺵ, ﺩ, ﺭ, ﺯ, ﻩ, ﻯ, ﯗﺀ, ﻰﺋ, ﻲ, ﻯ, ء, يۋ, ﻻ,

Malay

Pronunciation

• (Name of letter) IPA^(key): [bɐ]
• (Phoneme, Syllable initial) IPA^(key): [b]
• (Phoneme, Syllable final) IPA^(key): [p̚]

Letter

ب / ب‍ / ‍ب‍ / ‍ب

1. The second letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

See also

• (Arabic script letters) ا,‎ ب,‎ ت,‎ ة,‎ ث,‎ ج,‎ چ,‎ ح,‎ خ,‎ د,‎ ذ,‎ ر,‎ ز,‎ س,‎ ش,‎ ص,‎ ض,‎ ط,‎ ظ,‎ ع,‎ غ,‎ ڠ,‎ ف,‎ ڤ,‎ ق,‎ ک,‎ ݢ,‎ ل,‎ م,‎ ن,‎ و,‎ ۏ,‎ ه,‎ ء,‎ ي,‎ ى,‎ ڽ ^[edit]

Northern Kurdish

Preposition

ب (bi)

1. Arabic spelling of bi (“by”)

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

From Arabic and Persian.

Letter

ب • (be)

1. The second letter of the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. Its name is با (ba, be).

Preposition

ب • (be or bi)

1. with

   بخرد ― intelligent (literally, “with intelligence”)

2. at; in
3. to; into
4. for; because of

References

• Kélékian, Diran (1911) “ب”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[1], Constantinople: Mihran, page 229
• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “ب”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[2], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 313

Pashto

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /be/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

Letter

ب • (be)

1. The second letter of the Pashto alphabet.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ب	ـب	ـبـ	بـ

See also

• Previous letter: ا
• Next letter: پ

Persian

Pronunciation

• (phoneme, all dialects) IPA^(key): /b/
  • (Early Classical Persian, after a vowel) IPA^(key): [β]
  • (Early Classical Persian, between vowels) IPA^(key): [β], [w]
    • The phonemes /b/ and /w/ were not strongly distinguished inter-vocally until late Classical Persian.
• (letter name)
  • (Classical Persian, Dari) IPA^(key): /bɑː/, /beː/
  • (Iran) IPA^(key): /bɒː/, /be/

    • Audio (Iran):

      (file)

  • (Tajik) IPA^(key): /bɔː/, /beː/

Letter

ب / ب‍ / ‍ب‍ / ‍ب • (be)

1. The second letter of the Perso-Arabic alphabet. It is preceded by ا and followed by پ. Its name is به (be) or بِ (be).

Punjabi

Alternative forms

• Gurmukhi letter: ਬ (babbā)
• (letter name): بے (be)

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /beː/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

Letter

ب • (be)

1. The second letter of Punjabi in the Shahmukhi script.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ب	ـب	ـبـ	بـ

See also

• Previous letter: ا (alif)
• Next letter: پ (pe)
• (Shahmukhi script letters) ا, ب (b), پ (p), ت (t), ٹ (ṭ), ث (s̱), ج (j), چ (c), ح (ḥ), خ (x), د (d), ڈ (ḍ), ذ (ẕ), ر (r), ڑ (ṛ), ز (z), ژ (ž), س (s), ش (ś), ص (ṣ), ض (ẓ), ط (t̤), ظ (z̤), ع (ʻ), غ (ġ), ف (f), ق (q), ک (k), گ (g), ل (l), ࣇ (ḷ), م (m), ن (n), ݨ (ṇ), ں (ṉ), ہ (h), و (v), ی (y), ے (e) ^{(Category: Punjabi letters)}

Sindhi

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /be/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

Letter

ب • (be)

1. The second letter of the Sindhi abjad.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ب	ـب	ـبـ	بـ

See also

• (Letters of the Sindhi alphabet) ا, ب, ٻ, ڀ, ت, ٿ, ٽ, ٺ, ث, پ, ج, ڄ, جھ, ڃ, چ, ڇ, ح, خ, د, ڌ, ڏ, ڊ, ڍ, ذ, ر, ڙ, ڙھ, ز, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ, ع, غ, ف, ڦ, ق, ڪ, ک, گ, ڳ, گھ, ڱ, ل, م, ن, ڻ, و, ه, ء, ي

• Previous letter: ا
• Next letter: ٻ

South Levantine Arabic

Picture dictionary

ب

فوق

تحت

بـ/

في

قدام

ورا

على

جنب

بين

Prepositions of location

Etymology

From Arabic بِ (bi).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi/, [bi]

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

Preposition

بـ • (bi-)

1. in, at, on

   Synonym: في (fi)

2. with, by means of

   Synonym: في (fi)

Particle

بـ • (b-)

1. prefix indicating the present tense

Tunisian Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic بِ (bi).

Preposition

ب (b)

1. with

   نحب قهوة بالحليب ― nḥib qahwa b-li-ḥlīb ― I like coffee with milk

   ترعش بالخوف ― turʕuš bi-l-ḵūf ― She is shaking with fear

Inflection

inflected forms of ب
Base form					ب (b)
Personal-pronoun- including forms		singular		plural
		m	f
1st person		بي (biyya)		بينا (bīna)
2nd person		بيك (bīk)		بيكم (bīkum)
3rd person		بيه (bīh)	بيها (bīha)	بيهم (bīhum)

Urdu

Pronunciation

• (letter name): (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /beː/
• (phoneme): (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /b/

Letter

ب • (be)

1. The second letter of the Urdu abjad.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ب	ـب	ـبـ	بـ

See also

• Previous letter: ا
• Next letter: پ (p)

Uyghur

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /be/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

Letter

ب • (be)

1. The third letter of the Uyghur alphabet.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ب	ـب	ـبـ	بـ

See also

• Previous letter: ئە (e)
• Next letter: پ (p)

Yoruba

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /bi/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

Letter

ب (b)

1. The second letter of the Yorùbá alphabet in the Ajami Script.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form	Medial form	Initial form
ب	ـب	ـبـ	بـ

See also

• Previous letter: ا
• Next letter: د