U

This article is about the letter of the alphabet. For other uses, seeU (disambiguation)."ASCII 85" redirects here. For the encoding, seeAscii85.

U
U u
Usage
Writing system	Latin script
Type	Alphabetic
Language of origin	Latin
Sound values	[u] [w] [ʉ] [y] [ʏ] [h] [ʊ] [iː] [ɨː] [ʌ] [ɛ] /juː/
InUnicode	U+0055 U+0075
Alphabetical position	21
History
Development	Υ υ 𐌖 V U u
Time period	1762–present
Descendants	W ᴝ ꭎ ∪ ∩
Sisters	F W Ѵ У Ў Ұ Ү ו و ܘ וּ וֹ ࠅ 𐎆 𐡅 ወ વ ૂુ उ
Other
Associated graphs	u(x) qu
Writing direction	Left-to-right

U,oru,is the twenty-firstletterand the fifthvowel letterof theLatin alphabet,used in the modernEnglish alphabetand the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Itsname in Englishisu(pronounced/ˈjuː/), pluralues.

Name

In English, the name of the letter is the "long U" sound, pronounced/ˈjuː/.In most other languages, its name matches the letter's pronunciation inopen syllables.

Pronunciation of the name of the letter⟨u⟩in European languages

History

Proto-Sinaitic	Phoenician Waw	Western Greek Upsilon	Latin V	Latin U

U derives from the Semiticwaw,as doesF,and later,Y,W,andV.Its oldest ancestor goes back toEgyptian hieroglyphs,and is probably from a hieroglyph of a mace orfowl,representing the sound[v]or the sound[w].This was borrowed to Phoenician, where it represented the sound[w],and seldom the vowel[u].

InGreek,two letters were adapted from the Phoenician waw. The letter was adapted, but split in two, withDigammaor wau⟨Ϝ⟩being adapted to represent[w],and the second one beingUpsilon⟨Υ⟩,which was originally adapted to represent[u],later fronted, becoming[y].

InLatin,a stemless variant shape of the upsilon was borrowed in early times as U, taking the form of modern-dayV– either directly from theWestern Greek alphabetor from theEtruscan alphabetas an intermediary – to represent the same/u/sound, as well as the consonantal/w/,num– originally spelledNVM– was pronounced/num/andviawas pronounced[ˈwia].From the 1st century AD on, depending onVulgar Latindialect, consonantal/w/developed into/β/(kept inSpanish), then later to/v/.

During the lateMiddle 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.The rounded variant became the modern-day version of U and its former pointed form becameV.

Use in writing systems

Pronunciation of⟨u⟩by language

Orthography	Phonemes
Afrikaans	/y/
Standard Chinese(pinyin)	/u/,/y/
Danish	/u/,/ʊ/
Dutch	/y/,/œ/
English	/ʌ/,/juː/,/uː/,/ʊ/,/ɜː/,/jʊə/,/ʊə/,/w/,silent
Esperanto	/u/
Faroese	/u/,/ʊ/
French	/y/,/ɥ/
German	/u/,/ʊ/
Icelandic	/u/,/ʏ/
Indonesian	/u/
Italian	/u/,/w/
Japanese(Hepburn)	/ɯ/,silent
Lithuanian	/ʊ/
Low German	/u/,/ʊ/
Malay	/u/,/w/
Norwegian	/ʉ/,/ɵ/
Portuguese	/u/,/w/,/ɐ/
Spanish	/u/,/w/
Swedish	/ʉ/,/ɵ/
Turkish	/u/
Welsh	/ɨ̞/,/ɨː/or/ɪ/,/iː/

English

InEnglish,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/afterlabial consonantsin 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 (ado–dew merger). (After⟨s⟩,/sjuː,zjuː/have assimilated to/ʃuː,ʒuː/in some words.)

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 intext messaging,theInternet,and other written slang to denote 'you', by virtue of both being pronounced/juː/.

Certain varieties of the English language (i.e.British English,Canadian English,etc.) use the letter U in words such ascolour,labour,valour,etc. InAmerican English,the letter is not used, and the words mentioned are spelled ascolorand 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 theclose back rounded vowel/u/or a similar vowel.

• InFrench orthographythe letter represents theclose front rounded vowel/y/;/u/is represented by⟨ou⟩.
• InDutchandAfrikaans,it represents either/y/,or a near-close near-front rounded vowel/ʏ/;likewise, the phoneme/u/is represented by⟨oe⟩.
• InWelsh orthographythe letter can represent a longclose front unrounded vowel/iː/or shortnear-close near-front unrounded vowel/ɪ/in Southern dialects. In Northern dialects, the corresponding long and short vowels are a longclose central unrounded vowel/ɨː/and a short lowered close central unrounded vowel/ɨ̞/,respectively./uː/and/ʊ/are represented by⟨w⟩.

Other systems

TheInternational Phonetic Alphabetuses ⟨u⟩ for theclose back rounded vowel.

Other uses

Main article:U (disambiguation)

• The symbol 'U' is the chemical symbol foruranium.
• In the context ofNewtonian mechanics,'U' is the symbol for thepotential energyof a system.
• 'u' is the symbol for theatomic mass unit,and 'U' is the symbol for oneenzyme unit.
• In theInternational Phonetic Alphabet,theclose back rounded vowelis represented by the lowercase⟨u⟩.
• 'U' is also the source of the mathematical symbol ∪, representing aunion.It is used mainly forVenn diagramsandgeometry.
• It is used formicro-in metric measurements as a replacement for the Greek letterμ(mu), of which it is a graphic approximation when that Greek letter is not available, as in "um"forμm(micrometer).
• Some universities, such as theUniversity of Miamiand theUniversity of Utah,are locally known as "The U".
• 'U' (or sometimes RU) is a standard height unit of measure inrack units,with each U equal to 44.50 millimetres (1.75 in).
• 'U' is used as the symbol of the World War II organizationUstaše.
• Uis an honorific in Burmese.

Related characters

Ancestors, descendants and siblings

• ⟨𐤅‎⟩:SemiticletterWaw,from which the following symbols originally derive:
  • ⟨Υ υ⟩:GreekletterUpsilon,from which U derives
    • ⟨V v⟩:Latin letterV,descended from U
      • ⟨W w⟩:Latin letterW,descended from V/U
    • ⟨Y y⟩:Latin letterY,also descended from Upsilon
    • ⟨У у⟩:CyrillicletterU,which also derives from Upsilon
    • ⟨Ү ү⟩:Cyrillic letterUe
  • ⟨Ϝ ϝ⟩:GreekletterDigamma
    • ⟨F f⟩:Latin letterF,derived from Digamma
• IPA-specific symbols related to U: ⟨ʊ⟩ ⟨ɥ⟩
• Uralic Phonetic Alphabet-specific symbols related to U:
  • U+1D1CᴜLATIN LETTER SMALL CAPITAL U
  • U+1D41ᵁMODIFIER LETTER CAPITAL U
  • U+1D58ᵘMODIFIER LETTER SMALL U
  • U+1D64ᵤLATIN SUBSCRIPT SMALL LETTER U
  • U+1D1DᴝLATIN SMALL LETTER SIDEWAYS U
  • U+1D1EᴞLATIN SMALL LETTER SIDEWAYS DIAERESIZED U
  • U+1D59ᵙMODIFIER LETTER SMALL SIDEWAYS U
• Teuthonistaphonetic transcription-specific symbols related to U:
  • U+AB4EꭎLATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH SHORT RIGHT LEG
  • U+AB4FꭏLATIN SMALL LETTER U BAR WITH SHORT RIGHT LEG
  • U+AB51ꭑLATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED UI
  • U+AB52ꭒLATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH LEFT HOOK
  • U+AB5FꭟMODIFIER LETTER SMALL U WITH LEFT HOOK
• U+1DB8ᶸMODIFIER LETTER SMALL CAPITAL U:used for phonetic transcription
• ⟨Ꞿ ꞿ⟩:Glottal U, used in the transliteration ofUgaritic
• U withdiacritics:⟨Ŭ ŭɄ ʉᵾ⟩⟨ᶶ⟩⟨Ꞹ⟩⟨ꞹ⟩⟨Ụ ụ⟩⟨Ü ü⟩⟨Ǜ ǜ⟩⟨Ǘ ǘ⟩⟨Ǚ ǚ⟩⟨Ǖ ǖ⟩⟨Ṳ ṳ⟩⟨Ú ú⟩⟨Ù ù⟩⟨Û û Ṷ ṷ⟩⟨Ǔ ǔ⟩⟨Ȗ ȗ⟩⟨Ű ű⟩⟨Ŭ ŭ⟩⟨Ư ư⟩⟨Ứ ứ⟩⟨Ừ ừ⟩⟨Ử ử⟩⟨Ự ự⟩⟨Ữ Ữ⟩⟨Ủ ủ⟩⟨Ū ū⟩⟨Ū̀ ū̀⟩⟨Ū́ ū́⟩⟨Ṻ ṻ⟩⟨Ū̃ ū̃⟩⟨Ũ ũ⟩⟨Ṹ ṹ⟩⟨Ṵ ṵ⟩⟨ᶙ⟩⟨Ų ų Ų́ ų́ Ų̃ ų̃⟩⟨Ȕ ȕ⟩⟨Ů ů⟩
  • U+A7B8ꞸLATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH STROKEandU+A7B9ꞹLATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH STROKEare used in theMazahua languageand feature abar diacritic.

Ligatures and abbreviations

• ∪:Union,aninfix notation.
• ∩:Intersection,an infix notation.

Other representations

Computing

Character information

Preview	U		u		Ｕ		ｕ
Unicode name	LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U		LATIN SMALL LETTER U		FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U		FULLWIDTH LATIN SMALL LETTER U
Encodings	decimal	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex	dec	hex
Unicode	85	U+0055	117	U+0075	65333	U+FF35	65365	U+FF55
UTF-8	85	55	117	75	239 188 181	EF BC B5	239 189 149	EF BD 95
Numeric character reference	U	U	u	u	Ｕ	Ｕ	ｕ	ｕ
EBCDICfamily	228	E4	164	A4
ASCII	85	55	117	75

Other

NATO phonetic	Morse code
Uniform

Signal flag	Flag semaphore	American manual alphabet(ASLfingerspelling)	British manual alphabet(BSLfingerspelling)	Braille dots-136 Unified English Braille

External links

• Media related toUat Wikimedia Commons
• The dictionary definition ofUat Wiktionary
• The dictionary definition ofuat Wiktionary