ضمة

Arabic

Etymology

Instance noun of the Form I verb ضَمَّ (ḍamma, “to embrace; to gather; to compress the lips”), from the root ض م م (ḍ-m-m). When used to describe the vowel ـُ (u), ضَمَّة (ḍamma) means “an instance of [lip-]rounding”, since u is the only short vowel in Arabic that is pronounced with lip-rounding.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dˤam.ma/

Noun

ضَمَّة • (ḍamma) f (plural ضَمَّات (ḍammāt))

1. an embracing
2. a number of horses assembled from every quarter for a race
3. (linguistics, grammar) damma, ḍamma, the diacritic in the Arabic script that represents the vowel /u/, appearing as a small curl placed above a letter:  ـُ

Declension

Declension of noun ضَمَّة (ḍamma)

Singular	singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	ضَمَّة ḍamma	الضَّمَّة aḍ-ḍamma	ضَمَّة ḍammat
Nominative	ضَمَّةٌ ḍammatun	الضَّمَّةُ aḍ-ḍammatu	ضَمَّةُ ḍammatu
Accusative	ضَمَّةً ḍammatan	الضَّمَّةَ aḍ-ḍammata	ضَمَّةَ ḍammata
Genitive	ضَمَّةٍ ḍammatin	الضَّمَّةِ aḍ-ḍammati	ضَمَّةِ ḍammati
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	ضَمَّتَيْن ḍammatayn	الضَّمَّتَيْن aḍ-ḍammatayn	ضَمَّتَيْ ḍammatay
Nominative	ضَمَّتَانِ ḍammatāni	الضَّمَّتَانِ aḍ-ḍammatāni	ضَمَّتَا ḍammatā
Accusative	ضَمَّتَيْنِ ḍammatayni	الضَّمَّتَيْنِ aḍ-ḍammatayni	ضَمَّتَيْ ḍammatay
Genitive	ضَمَّتَيْنِ ḍammatayni	الضَّمَّتَيْنِ aḍ-ḍammatayni	ضَمَّتَيْ ḍammatay
Plural	sound feminine plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	ضَمَّات ḍammāt	الضَّمَّات aḍ-ḍammāt	ضَمَّات ḍammāt
Nominative	ضَمَّاتٌ ḍammātun	الضَّمَّاتُ aḍ-ḍammātu	ضَمَّاتُ ḍammātu
Accusative	ضَمَّاتٍ ḍammātin	الضَّمَّاتِ aḍ-ḍammāti	ضَمَّاتِ ḍammāti
Genitive	ضَمَّاتٍ ḍammātin	الضَّمَّاتِ aḍ-ḍammāti	ضَمَّاتِ ḍammāti

References

• Lane, Edward William (1863) “ضمة”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[1], London: Williams & Norgate
• Wehr, Hans (1979) “ضم”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

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Hijazi Arabic

Etymology

From the root ض م م (ḍ-m-m), "to embrace" or "to gather".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dˤamːa/

Noun

ضَمَّة • (ḍamma) f (plural ضَمَّات ‎(ḍammāt))

1. a hug
2. (linguistics) damma, the diacritic in the Arabic script that represents the vowel /u/, appearing as a small curl placed above a letter:  ـُ