س

From Nabataean 𐢝 (š), from Classical Syriac ܫ (š), from Aramaic ש (š), from Imperial Aramaic 𐡔 (š), from the Egyptian 𓌒. This letter stood for /ʃ/ in Aramaic. 𐢖 was not adopted into the Arabic alphabet because of the following considerations: Proto-Semitic has three fricatives that became sibilants in descendant languages: ś, š, s. In Arabic ś gave /ʃ/, but š and s merged to /s/. In Old Aramaic all three sibilants were distinguished, and s was represented by 𐢖 / ס / 𐡎 while 𐢝 / ש / 𐡔 represented