U derives from the Semitic waw, as does F, and later, Y, W, and V. Its oldest ancestor goes to Egyptian hieroglyphics, and is probably from a hieroglyph of a mace or fowl, representing the sound [v] or the sound [w]. This was borrowed to Phoenician, where it represented the sound [w], and seldom the vowel [u].
In Greek, two letters were adapted from the Phoenician waw. The letter was adapted, but split in two, with Digamma or wau ⟨Ϝ⟩ being adapted to represent [w], and the second one being Upsilon⟨Υ⟩, which was originally adapted to represent [u], later fronted, becoming [y].
In Latin, a stemless variant shape of the upsilon was borrowed in early times as U, taking the form of modern-day V – either directly from the Western Greek alphabet or from the Etruscan alphabet as an intermediary – to represent the same /u/ sound, as well as the consonantal /w/, num – originally spelled NVM – was pronounced /num/ and via was pronounced [ˈwia].[clarification needed] From the 1st century AD on, depending on Vulgar Latin dialect, consonantal /w/ developed into /β/ (kept in Spanish), then later to /v/.
During the late Middle Ages, two minuscule forms developed, which were both used for /v/ or the vowel /u/. The pointed form ⟨v⟩ was written at the beginning of a word, while a rounded form ⟨u⟩ was used in the middle or end, regardless of sound. So whereas 'valour' and 'excuse' appeared as in modern printing, 'have' and 'upon' were printed 'haue' and 'vpon', respectively. The first recorded use of ⟨u⟩ and ⟨v⟩ as distinct letters is in a Gothic alphabet from 1386, where ⟨v⟩ preceded ⟨u⟩. Printers eschewed capital ⟨U⟩ in favor of ⟨V⟩ into the 17th century and the distinction between the two letters was not fully accepted by the French Academy until 1762.[4][better source needed] The rounded variant became the modern-day version of U and its former pointed form became V.
Pronunciation of the name of the letter ⟨u⟩ in European languages
English
In English, the letter ⟨u⟩ has four main pronunciations. There are "long" and "short" pronunciations. Short ⟨u⟩, found originally in closed syllables, most commonly represents /ʌ/ (as in 'duck'), though it retains its old pronunciation /ʊ/ after labial consonants in some words (as in 'put') and occasionally elsewhere (as in 'sugar'). Long ⟨u⟩, found originally in words of French origin (the descendant of Old English long ⟨u⟩ was respelled as ⟨ou⟩), most commonly represents /juː/ (as in 'mule'), reducing to /uː/ after ⟨r⟩ (as in 'rule'), ⟨j⟩ (as in 'June') and sometimes (or optionally) after ⟨l⟩ (as in 'lute'), and after additional consonants in American English (see do–dew merger). (After ⟨s⟩, /sjuː,zjuː/ have assimilated to /ʃuː,ʒuː/ in some words) In a few words, short ⟨u⟩ represents other sounds, such as /ɪ/ in 'business' and /ɛ/ in 'bury'.
The letter ⟨u⟩ is used in the digraphs ⟨au⟩/ɔː/, ⟨ou⟩ (various pronunciations, but usually /aʊ/), and with the value of long ⟨u⟩ in ⟨eu⟩, ⟨ue⟩, and in a few words ⟨ui⟩ (as in 'fruit'). It often has the sound /w/ before a vowel in the sequences ⟨qu⟩ (as in 'quick'), ⟨gu⟩ (as in 'anguish'), and ⟨su⟩ (as in 'suave'), though it is silent in final ⟨que⟩ (as in 'unique') and in many words with ⟨gu⟩ (as in 'guard').
Additionally, the letter ⟨u⟩ is used in text messaging, Internet and other written slang to denote 'you', by virtue of both being pronounced /juː/.
One thing to note is that certain varieties of the English language (i.e. British English, Canadian English, etc.) use the letter U in words such as colour, labour, valour, etc.; however, in American English the letter is not used and said words mentioned are spelled as color and so on. It is the thirteenth most frequently used letter in the English language, with a frequency of about 2.8% in words.
Other languages
In most languages that use the Latin alphabet, ⟨u⟩ represents the close back rounded vowel/u/ or a similar vowel.[7]
U is also the source of the mathematical symbol ∪, representing a union. It is used mainly for Venn diagrams and geometry.
It is used as for micro- in metric measurements as a replacement for the Greek letter μ (mu), of which it is a graphic approximation when that Greek letter is not available, as in "um" for μm (micrometer).
^ abcOdinye, Sunny Ifeanyi (January 2015). "Phonology of Mandarin Chinese: Pinyin vs. IPA". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
^"Indonesian Alphabet and Pronunciation". from the original on 2021-05-08. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
^. Ancient Scripts. Archived from the original on Jun 11, 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
^Pun, Sharon (2018-08-04). "The meaning behind Myanmar names". Frontier Myanmar. from the original on 2021-02-14. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
^Everson, Michael (2002-03-20). "L2/02-141: Uralic Phonetic Alphabet characters for the UCS" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 2018-02-19. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
^Everson, Michael; Dicklberger, Alois; Pentzlin, Karl; Wandl-Vogt, Eveline (2011-06-02). "L2/11-202: Revised proposal to encode "Teuthonista" phonetic characters in the UCS" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
^ abcdConstable, Peter (2004-04-19). "L2/04-132 Proposal to add additional phonetic characters to the UCS" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
^Suignard, Michel (2017-05-09). "L2/17-076R2: Revised proposal for the encoding of an Egyptological YOD and Ugaritic characters" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 2019-03-30. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
^ abJacquerye, Denis (2016-01-22). "L2/16-032: Proposal to encode two Latin characters for Mazahua" (PDF). (PDF) from the original on 2019-03-30. Retrieved 2018-06-19.
External links
Media related to U at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition of U at Wiktionary
The dictionary definition of u at Wiktionary
October 03, 2023
this, article, about, letter, alphabet, other, uses, disambiguation, ascii, redirects, here, encoding, ascii85, twenty, first, sixth, last, letter, fifth, vowel, letter, latin, alphabet, used, modern, english, alphabet, alphabets, other, western, european, lan. This article is about the letter of the alphabet For other uses see U disambiguation ASCII 85 redirects here For the encoding see Ascii85 U or u is the twenty first and sixth to last letter and fifth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet used in the modern English alphabet the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide Its name in English is u pronounced ˈ j uː plural ues 1 2 3 a clarification needed UU uUsageWriting systemLatin scriptTypeAlphabeticLanguage of originLatinPhonetic usage u w ʉ y ʏ h ʊ iː ɨː ʌ ɛ j uː Unicode codepointU 0055U 0075Alphabetical position21HistoryDevelopmentY y 𐌖U uTime period1386 presentDescendantsWᴝꭎ fr VSistersFWѴUЎҰҮוوܘו ו ࠅ𐎆𐡅ወવ उOtherOther letters commonly used withu x quWriting directionLeft to rightThis article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet IPA For an introductory guide on IPA symbols see Help IPA For the distinction between and see IPA Brackets and transcription delimiters Contents 1 History 2 Pronunciation and use 2 1 English 2 2 Other languages 3 Other uses 4 Related characters 4 1 Ancestors descendants and siblings 4 2 Ligatures and abbreviations 5 Computing codes 6 Other representations 7 Notes 8 References 9 External linksHistoryThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed July 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message U derives from the Semitic waw as does F and later Y W and V Its oldest ancestor goes to Egyptian hieroglyphics and is probably from a hieroglyph of a mace or fowl representing the sound v or the sound w This was borrowed to Phoenician where it represented the sound w and seldom the vowel u In Greek two letters were adapted from the Phoenician waw The letter was adapted but split in two with Digamma or wau Ϝ being adapted to represent w and the second one being Upsilon Y which was originally adapted to represent u later fronted becoming y In Latin a stemless variant shape of the upsilon was borrowed in early times as U taking the form of modern day V either directly from the Western Greek alphabet or from the Etruscan alphabet as an intermediary to represent the same u sound as well as the consonantal w num originally spelled NVM was pronounced num and via was pronounced ˈwia clarification needed From the 1st century AD on depending on Vulgar Latin dialect consonantal w developed into b kept in Spanish then later to v During the late Middle Ages two minuscule forms developed which were both used for v or the vowel u The pointed form v was written at the beginning of a word while a rounded form u was used in the middle or end regardless of sound So whereas valour and excuse appeared as in modern printing have and upon were printed haue and vpon respectively The first recorded use of u and v as distinct letters is in a Gothic alphabet from 1386 where v preceded u Printers eschewed capital U in favor of V into the 17th century and the distinction between the two letters was not fully accepted by the French Academy until 1762 4 better source needed The rounded variant became the modern day version of U and its former pointed form became V Pronunciation and useThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed July 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message Pronunciations of Uu Languages in italics do not use the Latin alphabet the table refers to latinizationsLanguage Dialect s Pronunciation IPA EnvironmentAfrikaans y Chinese 5 Standard Chinese Pinyin u After the Pinyin consonants b p m f d t n l g k h zh ch sh r z c s w 5 y After the Pinyin consonants j q x y To make the y sound after the consonants n or l u is used 5 Danish u Usually ʊ Before two consonantsDutch œ Before two consonants y UsuallyEnglish ɛ In bury and burial ɪ In busy and business j u Stressed and not preceding a consonant ʊ Sometimes ʌ Usually w Following q or g and preceding a vowelsilent Following q or g and preceding vowels e and i usually in French loanwordsEsperanto u Faroese ʊ Before two consonants u UsuallyFrench y Usually ɥ Before vowelsGerman ʊ Before two consonants u UsuallyIcelandic u Usually ʏ Before two consonantsIndonesian 6 Standard Indonesian u AlwaysItalian u Usually w Before vowelsJapanese ɯ Usuallysilent Unstressed between two consonantsLithuanian ʊ Low German ʊ Before two consonants u UsuallyMalay u Usually w Before vowelsNorwegian ɵ Before two consonants ʉ UsuallyPortuguese u Usually w Before vowels ɐ Only in some recent loanwordsSpanish u Usually w Before vowelsSwedish ɵ Before two consonants ʉ UsuallyWelsh Northern dialects ɨ Southern dialects ɪ nbsp Pronunciation of the name of the letter u in European languagesEnglish In English the letter u has four main pronunciations There are long and short pronunciations Short u found originally in closed syllables most commonly represents ʌ as in duck though it retains its old pronunciation ʊ after labial consonants in some words as in put and occasionally elsewhere as in sugar Long u found originally in words of French origin the descendant of Old English long u was respelled as ou most commonly represents j uː as in mule reducing to uː after r as in rule j as in June and sometimes or optionally after l as in lute and after additional consonants in American English see do dew merger After s sjuː zjuː have assimilated to ʃuː ʒuː in some words In a few words short u represents other sounds such as ɪ in business and ɛ in bury The letter u is used in the digraphs au ɔː ou various pronunciations but usually aʊ and with the value of long u in eu ue and in a few words ui as in fruit It often has the sound w before a vowel in the sequences qu as in quick gu as in anguish and su as in suave though it is silent in final que as in unique and in many words with gu as in guard Additionally the letter u is used in text messaging Internet and other written slang to denote you by virtue of both being pronounced j uː One thing to note is that certain varieties of the English language i e British English Canadian English etc use the letter U in words such as colour labour valour etc however in American English the letter is not used and said words mentioned are spelled as color and so on It is the thirteenth most frequently used letter in the English language with a frequency of about 2 8 in words Other languages In most languages that use the Latin alphabet u represents the close back rounded vowel u or a similar vowel 7 In French orthography the letter represents the close front rounded vowel y u is represented by ou In Dutch and Afrikaans it represents either y or a near close near front rounded vowel ʏ likewise the phoneme u is represented by oe In Welsh orthography the letter can represent a long close front unrounded vowel iː or short near close near front unrounded vowel ɪ in Southern dialects In Northern dialects the corresponding long and short vowels are a long close central unrounded vowel ɨː and a short lowered close central unrounded vowel ɨ respectively uː and ʊ are represented by w Other usesMain article U disambiguation The symbol U is the chemical symbol for uranium In the context of Newtonian mechanics U is the symbol for the potential energy of a system u is the symbol for the atomic mass unit and U is the symbol for one enzyme unit In the International Phonetic Alphabet the close back rounded vowel is represented by the lower case u U is also the source of the mathematical symbol representing a union It is used mainly for Venn diagrams and geometry It is used as for micro in metric measurements as a replacement for the Greek letter m mu of which it is a graphic approximation when that Greek letter is not available as in um for mm micrometer Some universities such as the University of Miami and the University of Utah are locally known as The U U or sometimes RU is a standard height unit of measure in rack units with each U equal to 44 50 millimetres 1 75 in U is used in the symbol of the World War II organization Ustase U is an honorific in Burmese 8 Related charactersAncestors descendants and siblings 𐤅 Semitic letter Waw from which the following symbols originally derive Y y Greek letter Upsilon from which U derives V v Latin letter V descended from U W w Latin letter W descended from V U Y y Latin letter Y also descended from Upsilon U u Cyrillic letter U which also derives from Upsilon Ү ү Cyrillic letter Ue Ϝ ϝ Greek letter Digamma F f Latin letter F derived from Digamma IPA specific symbols related to U ʊ citation needed ɥ Uralic Phonetic Alphabet specific symbols related to U 9 U 1D1C ᴜ LATIN LETTER SMALL CAPITAL U U 1D41 ᵁ MODIFIER LETTER CAPITAL U U 1D58 ᵘ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL U U 1D64 ᵤ LATIN SUBSCRIPT SMALL LETTER U U 1D1D ᴝ LATIN SMALL LETTER SIDEWAYS U U 1D1E ᴞ LATIN SMALL LETTER SIDEWAYS DIAERESIZED U U 1D59 ᵙ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL SIDEWAYS U Teuthonista phonetic transcription specific symbols related to U 10 U AB4E ꭎ LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH SHORT RIGHT LEG U AB4F ꭏ LATIN SMALL LETTER U BAR WITH SHORT RIGHT LEG U AB51 ꭑ LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED UI U AB52 ꭒ LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH LEFT HOOK U AB5F ꭟ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL U WITH LEFT HOOK U 1DB8 ᶸ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL CAPITAL U used for phonetic transcription 11 Ꞿ ꞿ Glottal U used in the transliteration of Ugaritic 12 U with diacritics Ŭ ŭ Ʉ ʉ ᵾ 11 ᶶ 11 Ꞹ 13 ꞹ 13 Ụ ụ U u Ǜ ǜ Ǘ ǘ Ǚ ǚ Ǖ ǖ Ṳ ṳ U u U u U u Ṷ ṷ Ǔ ǔ Ȗ ȗ U u Ŭ ŭ Ư ư Ứ ứ Ừ ừ Ử ử Ự ự Ữ Ữ Ủ ủ u u u u u u Ṻ ṻ u u Ũ ũ Ṹ ṹ Ṵ ṵ ᶙ 11 Ų u Ų u Ų u Ȕ ȕ U u U A7B8 Ꞹ LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH STROKE and U A7B9 ꞹ LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH STROKE are used in the Mazahua language and feature a bar diacriticLigatures and abbreviations Union Intersection an upside down upper case U citation needed Computing codesCharacter information Preview U uUnicode name LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U LATIN SMALL LETTER UEncodings decimal hex dec hexUnicode 85 U 0055 117 U 0075UTF 8 85 55 117 75Numeric character reference amp 85 wbr amp x55 wbr amp 117 wbr amp x75 wbr EBCDIC family 228 E4 164 A4ASCII b 85 55 117 75Other representationsNATO phonetic Morse codeUniform nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp Signal flag Flag semaphore American manual alphabet ASL fingerspelling British manual alphabet BSL fingerspelling Braille dots 136 Unified English BrailleNotes Ues is the plural of the name of the letter the plural of the letter itself is rendered U s Us u s or us Also for encodings based on ASCII including the DOS Windows ISO 8859 and Macintosh families of encodings References U Oxford English Dictionary 2nd ed Oxford University Press 1989 Merriam Webster s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged 1993 Brown Goold Kiddle Henry 1870 The institutes of English grammar New York W Wood amp co p 19 Pflughaupt Laurent 2008 Letter by Letter An Alphabetical Miscellany Translated by Bruhn Gregory Princeton Architectural Press pp 123 124 ISBN 978 1 56898 737 8 Retrieved 2009 06 21 a b c Odinye Sunny Ifeanyi January 2015 Phonology of Mandarin Chinese Pinyin vs IPA ResearchGate Retrieved 2021 05 17 Indonesian Alphabet and Pronunciation Archived from the original on 2021 05 08 Retrieved 2021 05 17 Latin Ancient Scripts Archived from the original on Jun 11 2017 Retrieved 2017 06 08 Pun Sharon 2018 08 04 The meaning behind Myanmar names Frontier Myanmar Archived from the original on 2021 02 14 Retrieved 2021 02 09 Everson Michael 2002 03 20 L2 02 141 Uralic Phonetic Alphabet characters for the UCS PDF Archived PDF from the original on 2018 02 19 Retrieved 2018 03 24 Everson Michael Dicklberger Alois Pentzlin Karl Wandl Vogt Eveline 2011 06 02 L2 11 202 Revised proposal to encode Teuthonista phonetic characters in the UCS PDF Archived PDF from the original on 2017 10 11 Retrieved 2018 03 24 a b c d Constable Peter 2004 04 19 L2 04 132 Proposal to add additional phonetic characters to the UCS PDF Archived PDF from the original on 2017 10 11 Retrieved 2018 03 24 Suignard Michel 2017 05 09 L2 17 076R2 Revised proposal for the encoding of an Egyptological YOD and Ugaritic characters PDF Archived PDF from the original on 2019 03 30 Retrieved 2019 03 08 a b Jacquerye Denis 2016 01 22 L2 16 032 Proposal to encode two Latin characters for Mazahua PDF Archived PDF from the original on 2019 03 30 Retrieved 2018 06 19 External links nbsp Media related to U at Wikimedia Commons nbsp The dictionary definition of U at Wiktionary nbsp The dictionary definition of u at Wiktionary Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title U amp oldid 1176147583, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
