Kubutz or qubbutz (modern ; , formerly , qībūṣ) and shuruk (, , also known as shuruq) are two Hebrew niqqud vowel signs that represent the sound . In an alternative, Ashkenazi naming, the kubutz (three diagonal dots) is called "shuruk" and shuruk is called "melopum" ().
Appearance
The kubutz sign is represented by three diagonal dots "◌ֻ" underneath a letter.
The shuruk is the letter vav with a dot in the middle and to the left of it. The dot is identical to the grammatically different signs dagesh and mappiq, but in a fully vocalized text it is practically impossible to confuse them: shuruk itself is a vowel sign, so if the letter before the vav doesn't have its own vowel sign, then the vav with the dot is a shuruk and otherwise it is a vav with a dagesh or a mappiq. Furthermore, the mappiq only appears at the end of the word and only in the letter He (ה) in modern Hebrew and in the Bible it sometimes appears in aleph (א) and only in some Bible manuscripts it appears in the letter vav, for example in the word גֵּוּ ('torso') . Compare for example vav with dagesh in מְגֻוָּן 'varied' (without niqqud: מגוון) as opposed to shuruk in מִגּוּן 'protection' (without niqqud: מיגון); see also orthographic variants of waw.
Name
In older grammar books the kubbutz is called qibbûṣ pum etc. (קִבּוּץ פּוּם), compression or contraction of the mouth. This was shortened to qibbûṣ (also transliterated as kibbutz etc.) but later all the names of vowel signs were changed to include their own sound in their first syllable. This way kibutz changed to kubutz, and this is the common name today, although the name "kibutz" is still occasionally used, for example by the Academy of the Hebrew Language.
Shuruk was earlier called shureq (שׁוּרֶק), but this name is rarely used today.
Usage
Shuruk in modern texts
For details on the sounds of Hebrew, see Help:IPA/Hebrew and Hebrew phonology
The shuruk is used to mark at the last syllable of the word and in open syllables in the middle of the word: שָׁמְרוּ ('they guarded') חָתוּל ('cat') תְּשׁוּבָה ('answer', Tshuva)
Regardless of syllable type, shuruk is always written in foreign words and names if they weren't adapted to Hebrew word structure (mishkal): אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה ('university') הַמְבּוּרְג ('Hamburg') אוּקְרָאִינָה ('Ukraine') (closed syllable)
Differently from all other niqqud signs, a shuruk can stand on its own in the beginning of the word and not after a consonant when it is the conjunction ו־ and. Hebrew one-letter words are written together with the next word and their pronunciation may change according to the first letters of that word. The basic vocalization of this conjunction is shva na (וְ־ ), but before the labial consonants bet (ב), waw (ו), mem (מ) and pe (פ), and before any letter with shva (except yodh) it becomes a shuruk (וּ־ ). This is the consistent vocalization in the Bible and in normative modern Hebrew, but in spoken modern Hebrew it is not consistently productive and the conjunction may simply remain וְ־ in these cases. It is not reflected in writing without niqqud. Examples: וּמִכְתָּב ('and a letter') וּוֶרֶד ('and a rose') וּסְפָרִים ('and books')
Kubutz in modern texts
Kubutz is used only in native Hebrew words and in words with foreign roots that were adapted to Hebrew word structure (mishkal), for example מְפֻרְמָט ('formatted (disk)') (without niqqud מפורמט). It is written in closed syllables which do not appear at the end of the word. A closed syllable is one which ends in a consonant with shva nakh (zero vowel) or in a consonant with dagesh khazak (essentially two identical consonants, the first of which has shva nakh).