Alif ﺍ is the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing the Arabic language. ...
Together with Hebrew aleph, Greek alpha and Latin A, it is descended from Phoenicianʼāleph, from Proto-Canaanite ʾalp "ox". Aleph or alef has several meanings: Aleph or Alef, first letter of many Semitic alphabets including Phoenician, Hebrew and Aramaic. ... The first letter of the Greek alphabet, Πα, also has some cultural meanings; see alpha (letter). ... The letter A is the first (1st) letter in the Latin alphabet. ... The Phoenician alphabet dates from around 1000 BC and is derived from the Proto-Canaanite alphabet. ... Drawing of the 16 and 12 characters Wadi el-Hol inscriptions The Proto-Canaanite (also Proto-Sinaitic) alphabet is identified as the prototype of the Semitic alphabets that, mostly via the successful Phoenician alphabet became the ancestor of most scripts in use today. ...
Historically, the Arabic letter was used to render either a long [a:], or a glottal stop [ʔ]. This led to orthographical confusion, and to introduction of the additional letter hamza ﺀ. Hamza is not considered a full harf in Arabic orthography, but most of the time it appears as a diacritic modifying an alif أ , indicating that the letter so modified does indeed signify a glottal stop, and not a long vowel. The glottal stop or voiceless glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in many spoken languages. ... The glottal stop or voiceless glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in many spoken languages. ...
ALIF may be utilized as an isolated procedure or in conjunction with posterior spinal fusion.
The method with which ALIF is accomplished depends largely on the surgeon's preference and experience.
ALIF should not be used as a stand-alone technique if the patients bone is very soft (osteoporosis) because the spacers will sink (subside) into the softened adjacent bone or the spacers will loosen and not maintain adequate distraction.