Wāw Rubba

''Wāw rubba'' () is a usage of the Arabic word ''wa'' (). Whereas the usual use of ''wa'' is as a conjunction (meaning 'and'), the ''wāw rubba'' is used, particularly in poetry, in an exclamatory fashion to introduce a new subject. In English, it is sometimes known as the and'' of asseveration'.

Usage

''Wāw rubba'' is used to introduce a noun followed by a verb phrase. The noun in such a construction is always in the genitive case. Useful English translations include 'many a...', 'I remember...', 'I think of...', 'Oh, that...!' The construction is often used to mark a transition within a poem.

Examples

In his '' muʿallaqa'', Imruʾ al-Qays says:'wāw rubba', in Marlé Hammond, ''A Dictionary of Arabic Literary Terms and Devices'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018) .

This riddle on the touchstone likewise begins with ''wāw rubba'', here rendered simply as 'someone':

Origin of name

''Wāw rubba'' takes its name from the letter ''wāw'', with which the word ''wa'' ('and') is written, and the word ''rubba'' (), meaning 'many'; thus the phrase ''wāw rubba'' means 'the ''wāw'' of many, the ''wāw'' equivalent in meaning to ''rubba'''. This name arises from the supposition that the ''wāw'' functions like the word ''rubba'', and moreover that this usage originated through phrases like ''wa-rubba rajulin'' (, 'and many a man') from which the word ''rubba'' was elided. However, in practice ''wāw rubba'' does not necessarily denote a multitude, nor is there evidence for extensive use of the sequence ''wa-rubba'' as opposed to ''rubba'' appearing on its own. While still conventional, then, the term ''wāw rubba'' can be viewed as a misnomer.W. Wright, ''A Grammar of the Arabic Language, Translated from the German Tongue and Edited with Numerous Additions and Corrections'', 3rd edn by W. Robertson Smith and M. J. de Goeje, 2 vols (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1933 epr. Beirut: Librairie de Liban, 1996.

References

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Arabic words and phrases
Arabic grammar