Damma (ضَمَّة) in Arabic
Short "u" vowel placed above the letter, shaped like a small waw.
Last updated: May 2026
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Damma — ḍamma
Short "u" — like the "u" in English "put" or "book".
- Position
- above
- Family
- harakat
- Unicode
- U+064F
- Keyboard
- Shift + E
What does Damma mean?
Damma is the short "u" vowel of Arabic, shaped like a miniature waw (و) and placed above the letter. It is the third member of the core short-vowel trio: fatha, kasra, damma.
Damma marks the nominative case (e.g. on the subject of a sentence) and shows up in countless noun and verb forms — كُتُب "books", كُلّ "all/every", مُسْلِم "Muslim". It is slightly less common than fatha and kasra but still appears on nearly every page of vocalised Arabic.
How to type Damma on Arabic keyboard
Shortcut on Arabic 101: Shift + E
Typing order: type the base letter first, then hold Shift and press the diacritic key. Most Arabic input requires this letter-then-diacritic sequence — typing the diacritic first will produce nothing or a disconnected mark.
Example: to type بُ, press the base letter key, then Shift + E.
Example words with Damma
Practice typing Damma
Knowing the shortcut is one thing — building the muscle memory is another. Our diacritics drills weave fatha, kasra, damma, shadda, sukun, and the tanween marks into real words and full sentences.
Frequently asked questions
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How do I type damma on the Arabic keyboard?
On the Arabic 101 keyboard layout, hold Shift and press E. Type the base letter first, then add the damma — for example, type ب, then Shift+E to produce بُ.
Why does damma look like a small waw?
Damma evolved historically as a miniature waw (و) because waw is the letter that carries the long "ū" sound. The visual link is intentional — damma is the "short version" of the waw vowel, exactly as fatha is the short version of alif and kasra of ya.
What case does damma mark on Arabic nouns?
Damma marks the nominative case — the case used for the subject of a sentence. For example, in الْوَلَدُ ذَهَبَ "the boy went", the damma on د in الْوَلَدُ marks that the boy is the subject. In speech, case endings are often dropped, but in formal/Quranic Arabic they are written.
Related diacritics
Or see the full Arabic diacritics guide.