{"id":13482,"date":"2023-09-10T11:42:09","date_gmt":"2023-09-10T11:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.kaleelah.com\/blog\/the-arabic-alphabet-the-letter-waaw\/"},"modified":"2025-03-09T08:18:37","modified_gmt":"2025-03-09T08:18:37","slug":"the-arabic-alphabet-the-letter-waaw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.kaleelah.com\/en\/blog\/the-arabic-alphabet-the-letter-waaw\/","title":{"rendered":"The Arabic Alphabet: The Letter \u0648 \/waaw\/"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello and welcome to the Kaleela blog where we\u2019ve once again been focusing on the Arabic alphabet. We\u2019ll continue our journey today with an Arabic letter that will leave you saying \u201cWow\u201d – the letter <\/span>\u0648 <\/span>\/<\/span>waaw<\/span>\/.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both a Vowel and a Consonant<\/span><\/h1>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The letter <\/span>\u0648<\/span> \/<\/span>waaw<\/span>\/ can either be a consonant or a vowel. It depends on the presence of the diacritic symbol “<\/span>\u0621<\/span>” otherwise known as \u201c<\/span>hamza<\/span>\u201d, which looks like a small backward 2.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, how can you tell the difference between the vowel <\/span>\u0648 <\/span>\/<\/span>waaw<\/span>\/ and the consonant <\/span>\u0648 <\/span>\/<\/span>waaw<\/span>\/?<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, when it comes with the <\/span>hamza<\/span> on top, it sounds like a short \u201cu\u201d as in <\/span>\u0645\u064f<\/span>\u0624<\/span>\u0633\u0651\u064e\u0633\u064e\u0629<\/span> \/<\/span>mu\u2019assasah<\/span>\/ \u201cinstitution\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

As you can see in the example above, <\/span>\u0648 <\/span>\/<\/span>waaw<\/span>\/ here looks like the number 9 in English with the <\/span>hamza<\/span> on top of it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u0648 <\/span>\/<\/span>waaw<\/span>\/ as a consonant often takes on the sound of \u201cw\u201d in English and is transliterated with a \u201cw\u201d as a result.\u00a0 <\/span>\u0648<\/span>\u0627\u062f\u064a<\/span> \/<\/span>waadee<\/span>\/, which means \u201cvalley\u201d, is a good example.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n


\nOn the other hand, when the vowel <\/span>\u0648 <\/span>\/<\/span>waaw<\/span>\/ falls at either the middle or end of the word without a <\/span>hamza.<\/span> It sounds like an \u201coo\u201d in \u201cmoon\u201d and looks like the English number \u201c9\u201d. An example of this is the word<\/span> \u0635<\/span>\u0648<\/span>\u0631\u064e\u0629<\/span> \/<\/span>Soorah<\/span>\/ meaning \u201cphoto\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

The Shapes of <\/span>\u0648 <\/span>\/<\/span>waaw<\/span>\/<\/span><\/h1>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

As mentioned earlier, the consonant letter <\/span>\u0648<\/span> \/<\/span>waaw<\/span>\/ is equivalent to the letter \u201cw\u201d in English as in wide, down or wind.\u00a0An example of this is the Arabic <\/span>\u0648\u064e<\/span>\u0631\u062f\u064e\u0629<\/span> \/<\/span>wardah<\/span>\/ which means \u201crose\u201d and has a diacritic mark above it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

However, as a vowel, it can also be found to take on the long \u201cu\u201d sound of \u201cJune\u201d and \u201ctune\u201d as in the Arabic word <\/span>\u062f\u064e\u0644<\/span>\u0648<\/span> \/<\/span>daloo<\/span>\/ or \u201cbucket\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Like all of the other letters we\u2019ve discussed, the shape of <\/span>\u0648<\/span> \/<\/span>waaw<\/span>\/changes depending on where it falls in a word \u2013 that is, it changes shape if it comes at the beginning of the word (initial), the middle of the word (medial), or the end of the word (final).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Starting with its stand-alone shape, <\/span>\u0648<\/span> \/<\/span>waaw<\/span>\/ looks like the number 9 in English.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n