Waw (letter)

Template:Infobox Semitic letter Waw (Template:Transliteration "hook") is the sixth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician wāw 𐤅, Aramaic waw 𐡅, Hebrew vav Template:Script, Syriac waw ܘ and Arabic wāw Template:Script (sixth in abjadi order; 27th in modern Arabic order). It is also related to the Ancient North Arabian 𐪅‎‎‎, South Arabian {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, and Ge'ez {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.

It represents the consonant Template:IPAblink in classical Hebrew, and Template:IPAblink in modern Hebrew, as well as the vowels Template:IPAblink and Template:IPAblink. In text with niqqud, a dot is added to the left or on top of the letter to indicate, respectively, the two vowel pronunciations.

It is the origin of Greek Ϝ (digamma) and Υ (upsilon); Latin F, V and later the derived Y, U and W; and the also derived Cyrillic У and Ѵ.

Origin

The letter likely originated with an Egyptian hieroglyph which represented the word mace (transliterated as ḥḏ, hedj):<ref>Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar, T3</ref> <hiero>T3</hiero> A mace was a ceremonial stick or staff, similar to a scepter, perhaps derived from weapons or hunting tools.

In Modern Hebrew, the word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} vav is used to mean both "hook" and the letter's name (the name is also written {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), while in Syriac and Arabic, waw to mean "hook" has fallen out of use.

Arabic wāwTemplate:Anchor

The Arabic letter {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is named {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} wāw and is written in several ways depending on its position in the word:<ref name=":0" />Template:Rp Template:Arabic alphabet shapes

Wāw is used to represent four distinct phonetic features:<ref name=":0" />Template:Rp

• A consonant, pronounced as a voiced labial-velar approximant {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, which is the case whenever it is at the beginning of a word, and sometimes elsewhere.
• A long {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. The preceding consonant could either have no diacritic or a short-wāw-vowel mark, damma, to aid in the pronunciation by hinting to the following long vowel.
• A long {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in many dialects, as a result of the monophthongization that the diphthong {{#invoke:IPA|main}} underwent in most of words.
• Part of the sequence {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. In this case it has no diacritic, but could be marked with a sukun in some traditions. The preceding consonant could either have no diacritic or have a Template:Transliteration sign, hinting to the first vowel {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in the diphthong.

As a vowel, wāw can serve as the carrier of a hamza: {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}. The isolated form of waw (و) is believed to be the origins of the numeral 9.

Wāw is the sole letter of the common Arabic word wa, the primary conjunction in Arabic, equivalent to "and". In writing, it is prefixed to the following word, sometimes including other conjunctions, such as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} wa-lākin, meaning "but".<ref name=":0" />Template:Rp Another function is the "oath", by preceding a noun of great significance to the speaker. It is often literally translatable to "By..." or "I swear to...", and is often used in the Qur'an in this way, and also in the generally fixed construction {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} wallāh ("By Allah!" or "I swear to God!").<ref name=":0">W. Wright, A Grammar of the Arabic Language, Translated from the German Tongue and Edited with Numerous Additions and Corrections, 3rd edn by W. Robertson Smith and M. J. de Goeje, 2 vols (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1933 [repr. Beirut: Librairie de Liban, 1996]).</ref>Template:Rp The word also appears, particularly in classical verse, in the construction known as wāw rubba, to introduce a description.<ref name=":0" />Template:Rp

Derived letters

Template:Arabic alphabet shapes With an additional triple dot diacritic above waw, the letter then named ve is used to represent distinctively the consonant Template:IPAslink in Arabic-based Uyghur,<ref name="JohansonJohanson2003">Template:Cite book</ref> Kazakh and Kyrgyz.<ref name=":01">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Template:Arabic alphabet shapes Template:IPAslink in Kurdish,<ref name="xwarî">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":02">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Beja,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and Kashmiri;<ref name="dictionary">Koul, O. N., Raina, S. N., & Bhat, R. (2000). Kashmiri-English Dictionary for Second Language Learners. Central Institute of Indian Languages.</ref> Template:IPAslink in Arabic-based Kazakh;<ref name="Minglang Zhou 2003">Template:Cite book</ref> Template:IPAslink in Uyghur.<ref name="JohansonJohanson2003" />
Thirty-fourth letter of the Azerbaijani Arabic script, represents ü Template:IPAslink.

Template:Arabic alphabet shapes A variant of Kurdish û {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} Template:IPAslink; historically for Serbo-Croatian Template:IPAslink.

Also used in Kyrgyz for Үү /y/.

Template:Arabic alphabet shapes Template:IPAslink in Uyghur.<ref name="JohansonJohanson2003" /> Also found in Quranic Arabic as in Template:Script/Arabic Template:Transliteration "prayer" for an Old Higazi Template:IPAslink merged with Template:IPAslink, in modern spelling Template:Script/Arabic.

Template:Arabic alphabet shapes Template:IPAslink in Southern Kurdish.<ref name="xwarî" />

Template:Arabic alphabet shapes In Jawi script for Template:IPAslink.<ref>Daftar Kata Bahasa Melayu Rumi-Sebutan-Jawi, Dewan Bahasa Pustaka, 5th printing, 2006.</ref> Also used in Balochi for Template:IPAslink and Template:IPAslink.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Other letters

See Arabic script in Unicode

Hebrew waw/vav

Orthographic variants
Various print fonts			Cursive Hebrew	Rashi script
Serif	Sans-serif	Monospaced
ו	ו	ו	File:Hebrew letter Vav handwriting.svg	File:Vav (Rashi-script - Hebrew letter).svg

Hebrew spelling: Template:Script/Hebrew or Template:Script/Hebrew or Template:Script/Hebrew.

The letter appears with or without a hook on different sans-serif fonts, for example

• Arial, DejaVu Sans, Arimo, Open Sans: ו
• Tahoma, Alef, Heebo: ו

Pronunciation in Modern Hebrew

Vav has three orthographic variants, each with a different phonemic value and phonetic realisation: Template:Anchor

Variant (with Niqqud)	Without Niqqud	Name	Phonemic value	Phonetic realisation	English example
Template:Script/Hebrew	as initial letter:Template:Script/Hebrew	Consonantal Vav (Hebrew: Vav Itsurit Template:Script/Hebrew)	/v/, /w/	Template:IPAblink, Template:IPAblink	vote wall
	as middle letter:Template:Script/Hebrew
	as final letter:Template:Script/Hebrew or Template:Script/Hebrew
Template:Script/Hebrew	Template:Script/Hebrew	main}} / Template:Script/Hebrew) or Shuruq ({{#invoke:IPA|main}} / Template:Script/Hebrew)	/u/	Template:IPAblink	glue
Template:Script/Hebrew	Template:Script/Hebrew	main}} / Template:Script/Hebrew) or Holam Male ({{#invoke:IPA|main}} / Template:Script/Hebrew)	/o/	Template:IPAblink	no, noh

In modern Hebrew, the frequency of the usage of vav, out of all the letters, is one of the highest, about 10.00%.

Vav as consonant

Consonantal vav (Template:Script/Hebrew) generally represents a voiced labiodental fricative (like the English v) in Ashkenazi, European Sephardi, Persian, Caucasian, Italian and modern Israeli Hebrew, and was originally a labial-velar approximant {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.

In modern Israeli Hebrew, some loanwords, the pronunciation of whose source contains Template:IPAslink, and their derivations, are pronounced with Template:IPAblink: Template:Script/Hebrew – {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (but: Template:Script/Hebrew – {{#invoke:IPA|main}}).

Modern Hebrew has no standardized way to distinguish orthographically between Template:IPAblink and Template:IPAblink. The pronunciation is determined by prior knowledge or must be derived through context.

Some non standard spellings of the sound Template:IPAblink are sometimes found in modern Hebrew texts, such as word-initial double-vav: Template:Script/Hebrew – {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (word-medial double-vav is both standard and common for both Template:IPAslink and Template:IPAslink, see table above) or, rarely, vav with a geresh: Template:Script/Hebrew – {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.

Vav with a dot on top

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Vav can be used as a mater lectionis for an o vowel, in which case it is known as a [[holam male|Template:Transliteration]], which in pointed text is marked as vav with a dot above it. It is pronounced Template:IPAblink (phonemically transcribed more simply as {{#invoke:IPA|main}}).

The distinction is normally ignored, and the HEBREW POINT HOLAM (U+05B9) is used in all cases.

The vowel can be denoted without the vav, as just the dot placed above and to the left of the letter it points, and it is then called [[holam haser|Template:Transliteration]]. Some inadequate typefaces do not support the distinction between the Template:Transliteration ⟨Template:Script/Hebrew⟩ {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, the consonantal vav pointed with a Template:Transliteration ⟨Template:Script/Hebrew⟩ {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (compare Template:Transliteration ⟨Template:Script/Hebrew⟩ {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and consonantal vav-Template:Transliteration ⟨Template:Script/Hebrew⟩ {{#invoke:IPA|main}}). To display a consonantal vav with Template:Transliteration correctly, the typeface must either support the vav with the Unicode combining character "HEBREW POINT HOLAM HASER FOR VAV" (U+05BA, HTML Entity (decimal) &#1466;)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> or the precomposed character Template:Script/Hebrew (U+FB4B).

Compare the three:

1. The vav with the combining character HEBREW POINT HOLAM: Template:Script/Hebrew
2. The vav with the combining character HEBREW POINT HOLAM HASER FOR VAV: Template:Script/Hebrew
3. The precomposed character: Template:Script/Hebrew

Vav with a dot in the middle

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Vav can also be used as a mater lectionis for Template:IPAblink, in which case it is known as a shuruk, and in text with niqqud is marked with a dot in the middle (on the left side).

Shuruk and vav with a dagesh look identical ("Template:Script/Hebrew") and are only distinguishable through the fact that in text with niqqud, vav with a dagesh will normally be attributed a vocal point in addition, e.g. Template:Script/Hebrew ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}), "a market", (the "Template:Script/Hebrew" denotes a shuruk) as opposed to Template:Script/Hebrew ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}), "to market" (the "Template:Script/Hebrew" denotes a vav with dagesh and is additionally pointed with a zeire, " Template:Script/Hebrew ", denoting {{#invoke:IPA|main}}). In the word Template:Script/Hebrew ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}), "marketing", the first ("Template:Script/Hebrew") denotes a vav with dagesh, the second a shuruk, being the vowel attributed to the first.

When a vav with a dot in the middle comes at the start of a word without a vowel attributed to it, it is a vav conjunctive (see below) that comes before ב, ו, מ, פ, or a letter with a ְ (Shva), and it does the ⟨ʔu⟩ sound.

Numerical value

Vav in gematria represents the number six, and when used at the beginning of Hebrew years, it means 6000 (i.e. {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in numbers would be the date 6754.)

Words written as vav

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}

Vav at the beginning of the word has several possible meanings:

• vav conjunctive (Vav Hachibur, literally "the Vav of Connection" — chibur means "joining", or "bringing together") connects two words or parts of a sentence; it is a grammatical conjunction meaning 'and'. It comes at the start of a word, and is written וּ before ב, ו, מ, פ, or a letter with a ְ (Shva), ו with the following letter's Hataf's Niqqud before a letter with a Hataf (for example, Template:Script/Hebrew before Template:Script/Hebrew, Template:Script/Hebrew before Template:Script/Hebrew, Template:Script/Hebrew before Template:Script/Hebrew), וָ sometimes before a stress and Template:Script/Hebrew in any other case. This is the most common usage.
• vav consecutive (Vav Hahipuch, literally "the Vav of Reversal" — hipuch means "inversion"), mainly biblical, is commonly mistaken for the previous type of vav; it indicates consequence of actions and reverses the tense of the verb following it:
  • when placed in front of a verb in the imperfect tense, it changes the verb to the perfect tense. For example, yomar means 'he will say' and vayomar means 'he said';
  • when placed in front of a verb in the perfect, it changes the verb to the imperfect tense. For example, ahavtah means 'you loved', and ve'ahavtah means 'you will love'.

(Note: Older Hebrew did not have "tense" in a temporal sense, "perfect," and "imperfect" instead denoting aspect of completed or continuing action. Modern Hebrew verbal tenses have developed closer to their Indo-European counterparts, mostly having a temporal quality rather than denoting aspect. As a rule, Modern Hebrew does not use the "Vav Consecutive" form.)

• vav explicative

Yiddish

In Yiddish,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> the letter (known as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) is used for several orthographic purposes in native words:

• Alone, a single vov {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} represents the vowel Template:IPAblink in Northern Yiddish (Litvish) or Template:IPAblink in Southern Yiddish (Poylish and Galitzish).Template:Citation needed
• The digraph {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}" ('two vovs'), represents the consonant Template:IPAblink.
• The digraph {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, consisting of a vov followed by a {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, represents the diphthong [{{#invoke:IPA|main}}] or [{{#invoke:IPA|main}}].Template:Citation needed

The single vov may be written with a dot on the left when necessary to avoid ambiguity and distinguish it from other functions of the letter. For example, the word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} 'where' is spelled {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} followed by a single vov; the single vov indicating Template:IPAblink is marked with a dot in order to distinguish which of the three vovs represents the vowel. Some texts instead separate the digraph from the single vov with a silent aleph.

Loanwords from Hebrew or Aramaic in Yiddish are spelled as they are in their language of origin.

Syriac waw

Waw
File:Syriac Eastern waw.svg Madnḫaya Waw
File:Syriac Estrangela waw.svg Esṭrangela Waw
File:Syriac Serta waw.svg Serṭo Waw

In the Syriac alphabet, the sixth letter is ܘ. Waw (ܘܐܘ) is pronounced [w]. When it is used as a mater lectionis, a waw with a dot above the letter is pronounced [o], and a waw with a dot under the letter is pronounced [u]. Waw has an alphabetic-numeral value of 6.