و

See also: ؤ, ۋ, ۈ, ۇ, ۆ, ٷ, ٶ, and 9

و	U+0648, و ARABIC LETTER WAW

← ه
[U+0647]

Arabic

ى →
[U+0649]

ﻭ	U+FEED, ﻭ ARABIC LETTER WAW ISOLATED FORM

← ﻬ
[U+FEEC]

Arabic Presentation Forms-B

ﻮ →
[U+FEEE]

ﻮ	U+FEEE, ﻮ ARABIC LETTER WAW FINAL FORM

← ﻭ
[U+FEED]

Arabic Presentation Forms-B

ﻯ →
[U+FEEF]

Arabic

Etymology 1

From the Nabataean letter 𐢈 (l, “waw”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤅 (l, “waw”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓌉. See also Classical Syriac ܘ (l, “waw”), Hebrew ו (l, “vav”), Ancient Greek Υ (U), Latin F, Latin U, Latin V, Latin W and Latin Y.

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /waːw/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /w/, /uː/, silent (in Classical Arabic)
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /w/, /u(ː)/, /oː/ (in Arabic dialects and loanwords)

Letter

و / ‍و • (wāw)

The twenty-seventh letter of the Arabic alphabet. It is preceded by ه (h) and followed by ي (y).

Symbol

و / ‍و • (wāw)

The sixth letter in traditional abjad order, which is used in place of numerals for list numbering (abjad numerals). It is preceded by ه (h) and followed by ز (z).

Etymology 2

From Proto-Semitic *wa. Cognate with Hebrew וְ־ (wə-).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /wa/ (MSA)
IPA^(key): /wɪ/, /w/ (dialectal)
Audio: (file)

Conjunction

وَ • (wa)

and, "comma", "semi-colon"; a divider of words or clauses, particle of connection or continuation often unnecessary to render in translation
1. yet, but; versatile conjunction determined by context
while, at the same time, and also do, simultaneously, to do this and to do that concurrently
لَا تَأْكُلِ السَّمَكَ وَتَشْرَبَ اللَّبَنَ
lā taʔkuli s-samaka wa-tašraba l-labana
Do not eat fish and drink dairy; (Proverb about illnesses coming from bad combinations; originally the supposed increased risk of contracting leprosy, a myth stemming from fish scales and the white color of milk.)

لَا تَنْهَ عَنْ خُلُقٍ وَتَأْتِيَ مِثْلَهُ
lā tanha ʕan ḵuluqin wa-taʔtiya miṯlahu
Do not say to stay away from a behavior, while you come with the likes of it; (Practice what you preach.)
particle of rephrasing or marking a clause of adposition; and in other words, that is to say, additionally called, i.e.
with, and also, additionally (with following accusative)
1. (mathematics) +, added to
particle denoting an oath (with following genitive)
وَٱللّٰهِ ― wa-llāhi ― By God; And I swear by God

Usage notes

Arabic conjunctions and prepositions that have only one letter, such as وَ (wa), are written as a prefix.
- The connection to the following word may however exceptionally be cut off by quotation marks enclosing foreign terms, emoji and similar intrusions of meta elements in the language of the internet.
- Sometimes editions of Arabic texts procured in Iran do not adhere to the rules, instead following the non-joining practice of Persian (va, o, “and”).
Arabic tends to use the conjunctions وَ (wa) and أَو (ʔaw, “or”) between every conjunct in a list, contrasting with the English tendency to use and and or only between the final two.
كُتُبٌ وَطُرُودٌ وَأَوْرَاقٌ
kutubun wa-ṭurūdun wa-ʔawrāqun
books, parcels, and papers
(literally, “books and parcels and papers”)

Derived terms

وَلٰكِنَّ (wa-lākinna), وَلٰكِنْ (wa-lākin)
وَلَا (wa-lā)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /wa/ (MSA)
Audio: (file)

Preposition

وَ • (wa) (with a following accusative)

with
سِرْتُ وَطُلُوعَ الْفَجْرِ ― sirtu wa-ṭulūʕa l-fajri ― I got out with sunrise.

أَنَا وَإيّاكُم ― ʔanā wa-ʔiyyākum ― I with you

Etymology 4

Interfix

ـَوـ • (-aw-)

interfix used in forming nisba (relative) adjectives, particularly with short bases, inserted between the base noun and the ending ِـيّ (-iyy), e.g. لُغَوِيّ (luḡawiyy, “linguistic”), based on لُغَة (luḡa, “language”), or ثَانَوِيّ (ṯānawiyy, “secondary”), based on ثَانٍ (ṯānin, “second”).

Balti

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /w/, [w]

Letter

و (transliteration needed)

The forty-second letter of the Balti alphabet, written in the Perso-Arabic script

Burushaski

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /w/, /oː/

Letter

و (w)

The forty-second letter of the Burushaski alphabet, written in the Perso-Arabic script

Central Kurdish

Pronunciation

(name of letter) IPA^(key): [waw]
(phoneme) IPA^(key): [w, u]

Letter

و/ـوـ/ ‍وـ/ـو (w, u)

The thirtieth letter of the Kurdish-Arabic alphabet, pronounced [w] or [u]

Alternative forms

وە (we)

Conjunction

و (û)

and

Forms

Isolated form	Final form
و	ـو

Chagatai

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian (wa), from Middle Persian 𐭠𐭥𐭣 (ʾʿd /⁠ud⁠/), 𐭠𐭥 (ʾʿ /⁠u⁠/), from Old Persian 𐎢𐎫𐎠 (u-t-a /⁠utā⁠/, “and”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *(H)utá, *(H)u, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂u.

Conjunction

و (vä)

and

Descendants

Uyghur:
Arabic script: ۋە (we)

Cyrillic script: вә (we)
Uzbek:
Cyrillic script: ва

Latin script: va

Egyptian Arabic

Pronunciation 1

IPA^(key): /w/, /uː/, /oː/, /u/

Etymology

From Arabic و (w).

Letter

و • (w, ū, ō, u)

The twenty-seventh letter of the Arabic abjad, named واو (wāw). It is preceded by ه (h) and follow by ي (y).

Pronunciation 2

IPA^(key): [-ʊ]

Etymology 1

Suffix

ـو • (-u)

Forms endearing, familiar forms of words ending in consonants or ـة (-a).
‎عمّ (ʕamm, “uncle”) + ‎ـو → ‎عمّو (ʕammu, “uncley”)

‎خالة (ḵāla, “aunt”) + ‎ـو → ‎خالتو (ḵaltu, “auntie”)

Etymology 2

Suffix

ـو • (-u)

Alternative spelling of ـوا

Etymology 3

Suffix

ـو • (-u)

Alternative spelling of ـه

Hijazi Arabic

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /waːw/
(phonemes): IPA^(key): /w/, /uː/, /oː/, /u/ (word-final)

Letter

و • (wāw)

The twenty-seventh letter of the Arabic alphabet. It is preceded by ه (hāʔ) and followed by ي (yāʔ).

Forms

Isolated form	Final form
و	ـو

Etymology 2

From Arabic وَ (wa, “and”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /u/, /w-/

Conjunction

و • (u- or w-)

and

Kashmiri

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /waːw/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /w/, /oː/

Letter

و • (v)

The thirty-ninth letter of the traditional alphabet chart of Kashmiri.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form
و	ـو

Kazakh

Alternative scripts
Arabic	و
Cyrillic	О, о/Ө, ө
Latin	O, o/Ö, ö
Yañalif	O, o/Ɵ, ɵ

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /waw/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /o/ (back)
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /ɵ/ (front)

Letter

و • (o, ö)

The twenty-fourth letter of the Kazakh in Arabic Script. It represents the Cyrillic letter О or Ө.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form
و	ـو

Usage notes

Represents the back vowel phoneme /o/, unless a small ء (hamza) was placed in the beginning of the word. In Kazakh the Hamza marks that all vowels in the following word are fronted. If و is the first letter and is representing a front vowel, it is combined with the hamza and the varient ٶ is used.

Malay

Malay Wikipedia has an article on:

و

Wikipedia ^ms

Pronunciation

(Name of letter) IPA^(key): [wau̯]
(Phoneme, Consonant) IPA^(key): [w]
(Phoneme, Consonant, Syllable initial, obsolete) IPA^(key): [w], [v]
(Phoneme, Consonant, Syllable final, obsolete) IPA^(key): [w], [f]
(Phoneme, Vowel) IPA^(key): [u], [o], [ɔ]
(Phoneme, Vowel, Closed ultima) IPA^(key): [o], [ɔ]

Letter

و / ‍و

The thirtieth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Arabic script.

North Levantine Arabic

Suffix

ـو • (-o/-u) m

Alternative spelling of ـه after a consonant

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology 1

Letter

و • (vav)

A letter of the Ottoman Turkish alphabet.

Etymology 2

From Arabic وَ (wa).

Conjunction

و • (ve)

and

Descendants

Turkish: ve

References

Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “ve”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
Redhouse, James W. (1890) “و”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[1], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 2119

Pashto

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /wɑw/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /w/

Letter

و • (wâw)

The thirty-eighth letter of the Pashto alphabet.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form
و	ـو

Persian

Pronunciation

(Dari) IPA^(key): /wɑːw/
(Iran) IPA^(key): /vɑːv/

Letter

و / وـ / ـوـ / ـو • (vâv)

The thirtieth letter of the Perso-Arabic alphabet. It is preceded by ن and followed by ه. Its name is واو.

Etymology 1

Both inherited from Middle Persian and borrowed from Arabic, hence the multiple pronunciations:

Pronunciation 1: From Middle Persian 𐭠𐭥𐭣 (ʾʿd /⁠ud⁠/), 𐭠𐭥 (ʾʿ /⁠u⁠/); from Old Persian 𐎢𐎫𐎠 (u-t-a /⁠utā⁠/, “and”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *(H)utá, from *(H)u, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂u.
Pronunciation 2: From Arabic وَ (wa), from Proto-Semitic *wa. Also the etymology of the written form.

Pronunciation

(Pronunciation 1)

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [‿u]

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [‿ʊ]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [‿ʊ]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [‿u]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [‿o]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [‿u]

Readings
Classical reading^?	‿u
Dari reading^?	‿u
Iranian reading^?	‿o
Tajik reading^?	‿u

Audio (Iran): (file)

(Pronunciation 2)

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [wa]

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [wä]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [wä]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [wä]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʋæ]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [vä]

Readings
Classical reading^?	wa
Dari reading^?	wa
Iranian reading^?	ʋa
Tajik reading^?	va

Both pronunciations are generally interchangeable, with pronunciation 1 being more common in context and pronunciation 2 being more common in formal speech, after a pause and/or for emphasis.
In poetry, both pronunciations are used based on rhyme, but pronunciation 1 is used more often.

Conjunction


Iranian Persian	و
Dari	و
Tajik	у, ва

و • (o, va)

and
- 21st century, Mohammad Farrokhi Yazdi
  گر چه جیب و جام من از مال و مِی تُهیست.
  Gar če jib o jām-e man az māl o mey tohist.
  Although my pocket and my cup are empty of money and wine.

Usage notes

In the contemporary spelling of Persian, the و (va) conjunction is not joined to the following word. However, the practice of joining the conjunction to the following word, as it is in Arabic, was not uncommon in early classical texts.

Descendants

→ Hindustani:
Hindi: व (va)

Urdu: و (va, o)
→ Marathi: व (va)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Alternative forms

رو (ro) (between vowels)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /o/

Particle

و • (-o)

(in Iran) Colloquial form of (rā)
― dasteto boland kon. ― Raise your hand.

South Levantine Arabic

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /w/, [w]
Audio (Ramallah): (file)

Etymology 1

From Arabic وَ (wa).

Conjunction

و • (w-)

and
when, while
Synonym: لما (lamma)

مبيّن إنّك مبسوط وإنتا بتعلّم.
mbayyen ʔinnak mabsūṭ w-inta bitʕallem
It's clear that you're happy when you're teaching.

Usage notes

The pronunciation varies by phonological context. It becomes u- before a single consonant (optional if the preceding word ends in a vowel) and we- before a consonant cluster.

Etymology 2

Suffix

ـو • (-o) m

Alternative spelling of ـه (“he, him, his”) after a consonant

Etymology 3

Suffix

ـو • (-o)

attached to kinship terms in order to form terms of endearment
جدّ (jidd, “grandfather”) → جدّو (jiddo, “grandpa”)

عمّة (ʕamme, “aunt”) → عمتو (ʕamto, “auntie”)

Tunisian Arabic

Conjunction

و (u)

and
حَاجْتِي بْقْلَمْ وكَرّاسَة ― ḥājtī b-qlam u karrāsa ― I need a pencil and a copy-book.

Urdu

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

(letter name): (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ʋɑːʋ/
(phoneme): (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ʋ/, /uː/, /oː/, /ɔː/

Letter

و • (vāv)

The thirty-third letter of the Urdu abjad.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form
و	ـو

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Classical Persian (wa, u).

Pronunciation

(Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ʋə/, /oː/

Conjunction

و • (va, o) (Hindi spelling व)

and

Ushojo

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /wɑːw/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /w~v/

Letter

و (wāw)

The thirty-ninth letter of the Ushojo abjad.

Conjunction

و (va)

or

Yoruba

Pronunciation

(letter name): IPA^(key): /wí/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /w/

Letter

و (w)

The twenty-fourth letter of the Yoruba alphabet in the ajami script, equivalent to Latin script w.

Forms

Isolated form	Final form
و	ـو