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]

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)

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)

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)

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-)

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.
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)
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
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
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)
denotes requital, giving or doing in return; for
اِشْتَرَيْتُهُ بِأَلْفِ رِيَالٍ.
ištaraytuhu bi-ʔalfi riyālin.
I bought it for a thousand riyals.
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

More information Inflected forms, Base form ...

Inflected forms
Base form					بِـ (bi-)
Personal-pronoun- including forms	Singular		Dual	Plural
Personal-pronoun- including forms	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)

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Derived terms

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

Descendants

Maltese: b’

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /b/, [b]

Letter

ب (transliteration needed)

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /b/, [b]

Letter

ب (transliteration needed)

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

Letter

ب / ب‍ / ‍ب‍ / ‍ب (bā)

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.

Pronunciation

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /p/, [b]

Letter

ب

The second letter of the Xiao'erjing abjad.

Pronunciation 1

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

Etymology

From the Ottoman Turkish convention.

Letter

ب • (be)

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-)

Used to conjugate present indicative verbs from their subjunctive forms.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Arabic بِـ (bi-).

Preposition

بـ • (bi-)

Denotes an instrument or means; with, by
ضربته بشكوش
ḍarabito bi-šakūš
She hit him with a hammer

Pronunciation

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

Letter

ب • (be)

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

Forms

More information Isolated form, Final form ...

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

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Etymology 1

Pronunciation

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

Letter

ب • (bāʔ)

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

Forms

More information Isolated form, Final form ...

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

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Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bi/

Preposition

بِـ • (bi)

-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)

with, by (a means)
بِالْمِطْرَقة
bi-l-miṭraga
with a mallet

Pronunciation

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

Letter

ب • (b)

The second letter of the traditional alphabet chart of Kashmiri.

Forms

More information Isolated form, Final form ...

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

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Pronunciation

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

Letter

ب • (b)

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

Forms

More information Isolated form, Final form ...

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

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Pronunciation

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

Letter

ب (be)

The second letter of the Khowar abjad.

Forms

More information Isolated form, Final form ...

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

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Pronunciation

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

Letter

ب • (be)

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

Forms

More information Isolated form, Final form ...

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

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Pronunciation

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

Letter

ب / ب‍ / ‍ب‍ / ‍ب

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

Preposition

ب (bi)

Arabic spelling of bi (“by”)

Etymology

From Arabic and Persian.

Letter

ب • (be)

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

Preposition

ب • (be or bi)

with
بخرد ― intelligent (literally, “with intelligence”)
at; in
to; into
for; because of

References

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

Alternative forms

(letter name): بے (be)

Pronunciation

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

Letter

ب (be)

The second letter of Pahari-Pothwari in the Shahmukhi script.

Forms

More information Isolated form, Final form ...

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

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Pronunciation

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

Letter

ب • (be)

The second letter of the Pashto alphabet.

Forms

More information Isolated form, Final form ...

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

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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)

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

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

From Classical Persian (be), from Arabic ب (bāʔ).

Pronunciation

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

Letter

ب • (be)

The second letter of Punjabi in the Shahmukhi script.

Forms

More information Isolated form, Final form ...

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

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Pronunciation

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

Letter

ب • (be)

The second letter of the Sindhi abjad.

Forms

More information Isolated form, Final form ...

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

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Etymology

From Arabic بِ (bi).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bi/, [bi]
Audio (Ramallah): (file)

Preposition

بـ • (bi-)

in, at, on
Synonym: في (fi)
with, by means of
Synonym: في (fi)

Particle

بـ • (b-)

prefix indicating the present tense

Etymology

From Arabic بِ (bi).

Preposition

ب (b)

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

More information inflected forms of ب, Base form ...

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

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Pronunciation

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

Letter

ب • (be)

The second letter of the Urdu abjad.

Forms

More information Isolated form, Final form ...

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

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Pronunciation

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

Letter

ب • (be)

The third letter of the Uyghur alphabet.

Forms

More information Isolated form, Final form ...

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

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Pronunciation

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

Letter

ب (b)

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

Forms

More information Isolated form, Final form ...

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

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

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