[tag resources Madd-1-06a]Madd[/tag] (from the Arabic, madda) is a diacritic (symbol) placed over an initial (and very infrequently medial) alef, when it is vocalized (i.e., followed by the long vowel [ā])—that is, the sequence [aā].

In authentic Persian words, madd occurs only initially; as in, [tag resources Madd-1-06b]آباد[/tag] ābād ‘flourishing, cultivated,’ [tag resources Madd-1-07a]آتش[/tag] ātaš ‘fire,’ etc.

A medial or terminal [tag resources Madd-1-08a]alef[/tag] is by default a long [ā], as in باد bād ‘wind,’ and, therefore, it does not take a madd.

In the Arabic loanwords the madd may occur medially as well; as in, [tag resources Madd-1-11a]قرآن[/tag] qorān (Arab. Al-qur’ān); [tag resources Madd-1-11b]مآب[/tag] ma’āb ‘having the manner of’, normally used in compound adjectives, such as [tag resources Madd-1-12a]فرنگی مآب[/tag] farangi ma’āb ‘having the manner of (or imitating) Europeans/Westerners.’

Sometimes in Persian madd is refered to as kolāh ‘head-gear.’