Arabic/LearnRW/Dammah and waaw

The Dammah.

Appearance

It looks like a loop, or a comma on top of a letter. It always goes on a letter. It is always above a letter never under it. Some examples:

بُ a baa with a Dammah (pronounced:bu)

فُ a faa with a Dammah (pronounced: fu)

يُ a yaa with a Dammah (pronounced: yu)

رُ a raa with a Dammah (pronounced: ru)

Sound

It makes a short "/u/" sound after the letter. This "/u/" sound is the "oo" sound in "food" or "room". To non-Arabs it sometimes sounds like an "o" sound, this is because the "o" and "u" sound are the same sound in Arabic.

More examples:

رُنُ (pronounced: rʌ-nʌ)

تـُبُكُ (pronounced: tʌ-bʌ-kʌ)

كُكُ (pronounced: kʌ-kʌ)

يُيُ (pronounced: yʌ-yʌ)

مُيُكُتُ (pronounced: mʌ-yʌ-kʌ-tʌ)

Use

To make a "u" sound right after a letter.

Waaw

و (waaw)

waaw's main use is to make the "w" sound. example: وِ a waaw with a kasra (pronounced: wi) Note that the kasra should be underneath the letter.

وَ a waaw with a fatHa (pronounced: wa)

وُ a waaw with a Dammah (pronounced: wʌ)

وَتَ (pronounced: wa-ta)

فـَوَ (pronounced: fa-wa)

يَوَ (pronounced: ya-wa)

ـُو ("oo" sound)

But It is not that simple. There is also another use.

If the letter waaw is plain (no symbols on it) and the letter before it carries a Dammah then the "oo" sound is made, like the one in "food" and "loot". Examples

بُو (pronounced: boo )

تـُو (pronounced: too)

فـُو (pronounced: foo)

مُو (pronounced: moo)

مُوفـُو (pronounced: moo-foo)

كُوكُو (pronounced: koo-koo)

Remember the waaw has to have nothing on it to make the "oo" sound. Here are some examples where it doesn't make the "oo" sound.

َبُو (pronounced: bu-wa )

َتـُو (pronounced: tu-wa)

ِفـُو (pronounced: fu-wi)

َمُو (pronounced: mu-wa)

َمُوفـُو (pronounced: moo-fu-wa)

َكُوكُو (pronounced: koo-ku-wa)

The letter before the waaw must have the Dammah on it, in order to make the "oo" sound. Here are some examples where the "oo" sound is not made.

ْـَو

This sounds like the "aw", Its the sound many English speakers say when they get hurt. We will write it "au" in transliteration. All the following examples are pronounced so that they rhyme with the sound people make when they are hurt.

Examples:

بَو (pronounced: bau )

تـَوْ (pronounced: tau)

فـَوْ (pronounced: fau)

مَوْ (pronounced: mau)

مُوفـَوْ (pronounced: moo-fau)

كُوكَوْ (pronounced: koo-kau)

More difficult examples

وُو (pronounced:woo )

ْوَو (pronounced: wau )

وَاوْ (pronounced:waau )

وُوُو (pronounced:woo-woo )

وِوَ (pronounced: wi-wa )

وُوُ (pronounced: wu-wu )