Shuruk: The Vav For "U"

is another vowel we can make with .

It sounds like "oo" in igloo or the U in blue.

You could just remember that the DOT is UNDER the top of the Vav, and under starts with U. But has the U sound of "blue", not of "under." So let's imagine you're screwing a blue screw under the , like this:

The blue screw! Got it? Now let's see in action!

טוּטוּ (tutu) - One of those cute frilly things that ballerinas wear, that fit the definition of "skirt" but without all that fabric.

חוּט (chut) - Speaking of fabric, it means thread.

בּוּז (booz) - Contempt

דּוּ-חַי (doo-chai) - Amphibian -- like a frog!

We're on a roll, let's learn another vowel!

Shuruk Notes

You don't really need to memorize the names of the vowels right now. This one's technically called Shuruk but I think it's easier to think of it as "when Vav makes a U sound."

Traditionally there are two "oo" vowels, and this one is pronounced as a longer vowel. But in modern Hebrew those rules get broken, and Shuruk for example is also typically used for foreign words that have a U sound.

When Vav is OH

We covered the O-sound Vav earlier, remember? The OH dot goes OVER, the U dot goes UNDER. Just remember the flying orange and the blue screw.

Oooh, Oh, Waw!

Originally a lot of ancient speakers probably pronounced Vav closer to a W sound, which is why back then it seemed so easily interchangeable with O and U sounds, especially since they hadn't actually invented vowels marks yet. This is similar to how later on, U and V were interchangeable in Latin for centuries.