م mīm the twenty-fourth letter of the Arabic, and twenty-eighth of the Persian alphabet, corresponds to म in Sanskrit. It is one of the labial letters, its sound being that of the English m. When used to denote a number, according to the numerical arrangement of the Arabic alphabet, it stands for forty. It is compared by poets to the mouth; whence it has obtained the name of ميم مرادي mīm-i-murādī: and, by way of abbreviation, it is used to signify the month muḥarram. It is sometimes changed into ن; as, بان for بام A roof: and, at others, it is substituted for ن as, کجيم for کجين A quilted tunick worn in battle. In Persian, affixed to verbs and names of quali- ties, it may be, 1. (ميم متکلم mīm-i-mutakallim) denoting the pronoun of the first person sin- gular; in which case, م is always quiescent, except for some particular reason. This admits of four subdivisions. (1.) Affixed to verbs, it is a pronoun indicating the speaker to be the agent; as, امدم āmadam, I came; ميگويم mīgoyam, I am speaking; خواهم گفت ḵẖẉāham guft, I will speak. The letter preceding is always maftūḥ or pronounced with fatʼḥa, if the agent be in the singular number; but, if it be plural, ي is inserted, and the preceding letter is sākin; as آمديم āmadīm, We came. (2.) ميم مفعول mīm-i-mafʼūﻌl, signifying the same
