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Translingual
Etymology 1
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Minuscule variation of U, a modern variation of classical Latin V, from seventh century Old Latin adoption of Old Italic letter 𐌖 (V).
See also
- (Latin script): Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Sſs Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
- (Variations of letter U): Úú Ùù Ŭŭ Ûû Ǔǔ Ůů Üü Ǘǘ Ǜǜ Ǚǚ Ǖǖ Űű Ũũ Ṹṹ Ųų Ūū Ṻṻ Ủủ Ȕȕ Ȗȗ Ưư Ứứ Ừừ Ữữ Ửử Ựự Ụụ Ṳṳ Ṷṷ Ṵṵ Ʉʉ ᵾ ᶙ ᴜ Uu Ꜷꜷ Ȣȣ ᵫ
- (other scripts) Cyrillic у (u), Greek υ (y, “upsilon”), Hebrew ו (w, “vav”)
u on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Pronunciation
IPA (file)
Symbol
u
- (metrology) Symbol for atomic mass unit
- (IPA, phonetics) a close back rounded vowel.
- (IPA, superscript ⟨ᵘ⟩) [u]-coloring, a [u] on- or off-glide (diphthong), or a weak, fleeting or epenthetic [u].
- (physics) up quark
Gallery
- Letter styles
Uppercase and lowercase versions of U, in normal and italic type
Uppercase and lowercase U in Fraktur
See also
Other representations of U:
|
English
Etymology 1

From Middle English lower case letter v (also written u), from Old English lower case u, from 7th century replacement by lower case u of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letter ᚢ (u, “ur”), derived from Raetic letter u.
Before the 1700s, the pointed form v was written at the beginning of a word, while a rounded form u was used elsewhere, regardless of sound. So whereas valor and excuse appeared as in modern printing, have and upon were printed haue and vpon. Eventually, in the 1700s, to differentiate between the consonant and vowel sounds, the v form was used to represent the consonant, and u the vowel sound. v then preceded u in the alphabet, but the order has since reversed.
Pronunciation
- Letter name
- IPA(key): /ˈjuː/
- Rhymes: -uː
- Homophones: ewe, yew, you, hew (in h-dropping dialects), hue (in h-dropping dialects)
- Phoneme
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /a/, /ʉː/, /ʊ/
Audio (CAN) (file) - (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ʌ/, /uː/, /ʊ/
- (US, Canada) IPA(key): /ʌ/, /u/, /ʊ/
Audio (GA) (file) - (South US) IPA(key): /ʌ/, /ɜ/, /uː/, /ʊ/
Letter
See also
Alternative forms
Derived terms
- u-turn
- u-bolt
Translations
|
See also
Pronoun
u (second person, singular or plural, nominative or objective, possessive determiner ur, possessive pronoun urs, singular reflexive urself, plural reflexive urselves)
- (abbreviation, slang, text messaging, Internet) you (in text messaging and internet conversations)
- Take me with u.
Derived terms
- u-boat (1)
Etymology 3
Abbreviations.
- (stenoscript) a word-initial letter ⟨u⟩
- (stenoscript) the long vowel /uː/ or /juː/ at the end of a word, or before a final consonant that is not /dʒ, v, z/. (Note: the final consonant is not written; [ʊə˞] (-ure, -oor etc.) counts as /uːr/.)
- (stenoscript) the prefix un-
Acehnese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [u]
References
- 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.
Afrikaans
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /y/
See also
| subjective | objective | possessive determiner | possessive pronoun | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | 1st | ek | my | myne | ||
| 2nd | jy | jou | joune | |||
| 2nd, formal | u | u s’n | ||||
| 3rd, masc | hy | hom | sy | syne | ||
| 3rd, fem | sy | haar | hare | |||
| 3rd, neut | dit | sy | syne | |||
| plural | 1st | ons | ons s’n | |||
| 2nd | julle / jul1 | julle s’n | ||||
| 3rd | hulle / hul1 | hulle s’n | ||||
| 1. The forms jul and hul are unstressed variants. They are used mostly in possessive function, but also otherwise, chiefly when the pronoun is repeated within the same sentence. | ||||||
See also
| subjective | objective | possessive determiner | possessive pronoun | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | 1st | ek | my | myne | ||
| 2nd | jy | jou | joune | |||
| 2nd, formal | u | u s’n | ||||
| 3rd, masc | hy | hom | sy | syne | ||
| 3rd, fem | sy | haar | hare | |||
| 3rd, neut | dit | sy | syne | |||
| plural | 1st | ons | ons s’n | |||
| 2nd | julle / jul1 | julle s’n | ||||
| 3rd | hulle / hul1 | hulle s’n | ||||
| 1. The forms jul and hul are unstressed variants. They are used mostly in possessive function, but also otherwise, chiefly when the pronoun is repeated within the same sentence. | ||||||
Ajië
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [u]
References
- Leenhardt, M. (1935) Vocabulaire et grammaire de la langue Houaïlou, Institut d'ethnologie. Cited in: "Houaïlou" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.
- Leenhardt, M. (1946) Langues et dialectes de l'Austro-Mèlanèsie. Cited in: "Ajiø" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.
Akkadian
Etymology
From Proto-Semitic *wa (“and”). Cognate with Arabic وَ (wa) and Biblical Hebrew וְ־ (wə̆-).
Pronunciation
- (Old Babylonian) IPA(key): /u/
Conjunction
u
- and
- 1755–1750 BCE, King Hammurabi of Babylon, CDLI, transl., Hammurabi Code, The Louvre, Prologue, lines 3-5:
- 𒀭𒂗𒆤 𒁁𒂖 𒊭𒈨𒂊 𒅇 𒅕𒍢𒁴
- [Enlil bēl šamê u erṣetim]
- den-lil₂ be-el ša-me-e u₃ er-ṣe-tim
- Enlil, lord of heaven and earth
-
- moreover, likewise, also, too
- 𒅇 𒅆𒅅𒁕𒄠 𒋗𒁉𒇴 [u šiqdam šūbilam] ― u₃ ši-iq-da-am šu-bi-lam ― also, send me almonds
- 1755–1750 BCE, King Hammurabi of Babylon, OMNIKA Foundation, transl., Hammurabi Code, The Louvre, Law 129:
- 𒋳𒈠𒀸𒊭𒀜 𒀀𒉿𒅆 𒀉𒋾𒍣𒅗𒊑𒅎 𒊭𒉌𒅎 𒄿𒈾𒄿𒌅𒅆 𒀉𒋫𒊍𒁁 𒄿𒅗𒍪𒋗𒉡𒋾𒈠 𒀀𒈾 𒈨𒂊 𒄿𒈾𒀜𒁺𒌑 𒋗𒉡𒋾 𒋳𒈠𒁁𒂖 𒀸𒊭𒁴 𒀸𒊭𒍪𒌑𒁀𒆷𒀜 𒅇𒊬𒊒𒌝 𒀵𒍪𒌑𒁀𒆷𒀜
- [šumma aššat awīlim itti zikarim šanîm ina itūlim ittaṣbat, ikassûšunūtī-ma ana mê inaddûšunūti; šumma bēl aššatim aššassu uballaṭ, u šarrum warassu uballaṭ.]
- šum-ma aš-ša-at a-wi-lim it-ti zi-ka-ri-im ša-ni-im i-na i-tu-lim it-ta-aṣ-bat i-ka-su₂-šu-nu-ti-ma a-na me-e i-na-ad-du-u₂-šu-nu-ti šum-ma be-el aš-ša-tim aš-ša-su₂ u₂-ba-la-aṭ u₃ šar-ru-um IR₃-su₂ u₂-ba-la-aṭ
- If an awīlum's wife has been caught lying with another man, they will be bound and thrown into the water; if the wife's lord wishes to spare his wife, also the king may spare his servant.
| Phonetic |
|---|
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References
- Huehnergard, John (2011) A Grammar of Akkadian (Harvard Semitic Studies; 45), 3rd edition, Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns
- “šiqdu”, in The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (CAD), Chicago: University of Chicago Oriental Institute, 1956–2011
Albanian
Etymology
From Proto-Albanian *wa, from Proto-Indo-European *swom, from Proto-Indo-European *swé. Compare Latin sē.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/
Alemannic German
Pronunciation
- (Bern) IPA(key): /ʊ/
Conjunction
u
Further reading
- “u”, in Wörterbuch Berndeutsch-Deutsch (in German), berndeutsch.ch, 1999–2023
Aromanian
Asturian
Adverb
u
- where
- ¿Du yes? ¿Au vas? ¿Nu tas?
- Where are you from? Where are you going? Where are you in?
Related terms
Catalan
Etymology 2
| 10 | ||||
| ← 0 | 1 | 2 → | 10 → | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinal: u, un Ordinal: primer Ordinal abbreviation: 1r | ||||
| Catalan Wikipedia article on 1 | ||||
Derived terms
Corsican
Etymology
From the earlier lu. Compare Portuguese o and Aragonese o.
Usage notes
- Before a vowel, u turns into l'.
Usage notes
- Before a vowel, u turns into l'.
See also
References
- “u, lu” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa
Czech
Etymology
Inherited from Old Czech u, from Proto-Slavic *u.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/
audio (file)
Drung
Etymology
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-bu-s.
Dutch
Etymology
Originally the dative and accusative form of jij/gij, from Middle Dutch u, from Old Dutch iu, from Proto-West Germanic *iwwiz, from Proto-Germanic *iwwiz, West Germanic variant of *izwiz, dative/accusative of *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́. Doublet of jou.
The use as a nominative form is linked to the polite address uwe edelheid (“your nobility, your gentility”), which was shortened to U E. in writing and at times accordingly pronounced /yˈ(w)eː/. It is debated, however, whether this was the actual cause of the development or whether it merely reinforced it. Compare English you, which was originally an object form, as well as Afrikaans ons and nonstandard Dutch hun.
Cognate with West Frisian jo, Low German jo, ju, English you, German euch.
Pronunciation
audio (file) - IPA(key): /y/
Pronoun
u
- (personal, second-person singular, subjective) you (polite).
- Bent u klaar? ― Are you ready?
- Bent u er nog? ― Are you still there?
- (personal, second-person singular, objective) you (polite).
- Ik zal het aan u geven. ― I will give it to you.
- Dit zal niet werken voor u. ― This won’t work for you.
- (personal, second-person singular, objective) thee (dialectal).
- Ik doe dat wel voor u. ― I’ll do it for thee.
- (personal, second-person plural, subjective) you (polite).
- Hebt u die oefening gemaakt? ― Have you prepared that exercise?
- (personal, second-person plural, objective) you (polite).
- Ze zullen dat wel voor u doen. ― They’ll do it for you.
- (reflexive, second-person singular) thyself (dialectal)
- Gij hebt u niet gewassen. ― Thou hast not washed thyself.
- (reflexive, second-person plural) yourselves (dialectal)
- Wast u eens. ― Wash yourselves.
Usage notes
- The capitalization of u (as in U or Uw) is now considered old-fashioned, and no longer compulsory. In religious contexts, it is still often capitalized, when addressing God.
- In verbs whose second and third persons singular are distinct, u may be construed with either of them. In formal context, the second person form is generally preferred except for the verb hebben (“to have”). Thus predominantly [[u bent, kunt, wilt, zult#Dutch|u bent, kunt, wilt, zult]], whereas [[u heeft#Dutch|u heeft]] is commoner than (or at least equally common as) [[u hebt#Dutch|u hebt]].
- See also the usage notes at gij.
Inflection
| subject | object | possessive | reflexive | genitive5 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | full | unstr. | full | unstr. | full | unstr. | pred. | ||
| 1st person | ik | 'k1 | mij | me | mijn | m'n1 | mijne | me | mijner, mijns |
| 2nd person | jij | je | jou | je | jouw | je | jouwe | je | jouwer, jouws |
| 2nd person archaic or regiolectal | gij | ge | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u | uwer, uws |
| 2nd person formal | u | – | u | – | uw | – | uwe | zich | uwer, uws |
| 3rd person masculine | hij | ie1 | hem | 'm1 | zijn | z'n1 | zijne | zich | zijner, zijns |
| 3rd person feminine | zij | ze | haar | h'r1, 'r1, d'r1 | haar | h'r1, 'r1, d'r1 | hare | zich | harer, haars |
| 3rd person neuter | het | 't1 | het | 't1 | zijn | z'n1 | zijne | zich | zijner, zijns |
| plural | |||||||||
| 1st person | wij | we | ons | – | ons, onze2 | – | onze | ons | onzer, onzes |
| 2nd person | jullie | je | jullie | je | jullie | je | – | je | – |
| 2nd person archaic or regiolectal6 | gij | ge | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u | uwer, uws |
| 2nd person formal | u | – | u | – | uw | – | uwe | zich | uwer, uws |
| 3rd person | zij | ze | hen3, hun4 | ze | hun | – | hunne | zich | hunner, huns |
| 1) Not as common in written language. 2) Inflected as an adjective. 3) In prescriptivist use, used only as direct object (accusative). 4) In prescriptivist use, used only as indirect object (dative). |
5) Archaic. Nowadays used for formal, literary or poetic purposes, and in fixed expressions. 6) To differentiate from the singular gij, and in a similar vein to "you lot" or "you guys" in English, it is common to use gijlui ("you people") or gijlieden ("you people") or one of their contracted variants, and their corresponding objects, possessives and reflexives, in the plural. | ||||||||
Alternative forms
- (Brabantian) a
Letter
u (lower case, upper case U)
Esperanto
Pronunciation
- (letter name): IPA(key): /u/
- (phoneme): IPA(key): /u/
Audio (file)
Letter
u (lower case, upper case U)
See also
Fala
Etymology
From Old Galician-Portuguese o, from Latin illo (“he”).
Article
u m sg (plural us, feminine a, feminine plural as)
- (Lagarteiru, Valverdeñu) Masculine singular definite article; the
See also
| nominative | dative | accusative | disjunctive | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| first person | singular | ei | me, -mi | mi | ||
| plural | common | nos | musL nusLV nos, -nusM |
nos | ||
| masculine | noshotrusM | noshotrusM | ||||
| feminine | noshotrasM | noshotrasM | ||||
| second person | singular | tú | te, -ti | ti | ||
| plural | common | vos | vusLV vos, -vusM |
vos | ||
| masculine | voshotrusM | voshotrusM | ||||
| feminine | voshotrasM | voshotrasM | ||||
| third person | singular | masculine | el | le, -li | uLV, oM | el |
| feminine | ela | a | ela | |||
| plural | masculine | elis | usLV, osM | elis | ||
| feminine | elas | as | elas | |||
| reflexive | — | se, -si | sí | |||
Finnish
Etymology
The Finnish orthography using the Latin script was based on Swedish, German and Latin. No earlier script is known. See the Wikipedia article on Finnish for more information, and u for development of the glyph itself.
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Letter
u (lower case, upper case U)
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /y/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -y
Fula
Galician
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈu/
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈu/
Adverb
u
- (archaic) where, whereby
- 1264, E. Portela Silva, editor, La región del obispado de Tuy en los siglos XII a XV, Santiago: Tip. El Eco Franciscano, page 364:
- pelo camino que vay peraa devesa de valadares asy como vay o porto do rrio u pasan os carros
- by the road that goes to the wood of Valadares as it goes by the ford of the river where the carts cross
- Synonym: onde
-
- where (interrogative adverb)
- U-los libros? Ulos? ― Where are the books? Where are they?
- Synonym: onde
References
- “u” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
- “u” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
- “u” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
Gothic
Hungarian
Pronunciation
- (phoneme): IPA(key): [ˈu]
- (letter name): IPA(key): [ˈu]
Letter
u (lower case, upper case U)
Declension
| Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony) | ||
|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | |
| nominative | u | u-k |
| accusative | u-t | u-kat |
| dative | u-nak | u-knak |
| instrumental | u-val | u-kkal |
| causal-final | u-ért | u-kért |
| translative | u-vá | u-kká |
| terminative | u-ig | u-kig |
| essive-formal | u-ként | u-kként |
| essive-modal | — | — |
| inessive | u-ban | u-kban |
| superessive | u-n | u-kon |
| adessive | u-nál | u-knál |
| illative | u-ba | u-kba |
| sublative | u-ra | u-kra |
| allative | u-hoz | u-khoz |
| elative | u-ból | u-kból |
| delative | u-ról | u-król |
| ablative | u-tól | u-któl |
| non-attributive possessive - singular |
u-é | u-ké |
| non-attributive possessive - plural |
u-éi | u-kéi |
| Possessive forms of u | ||
|---|---|---|
| possessor | single possession | multiple possessions |
| 1st person sing. | u-m | u-im |
| 2nd person sing. | u-d | u-id |
| 3rd person sing. | u-ja | u-i |
| 1st person plural | u-nk | u-ink |
| 2nd person plural | u-tok | u-itok |
| 3rd person plural | u-juk | u-ik |
See also
Further reading
- (sound and letter): u in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
- ([onomatopoeia] imitation of barking): u in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
Ido
Pronunciation
- (context pronunciation, letter name) IPA(key): /u/
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈu/*
- Rhymes: -u
- Hyphenation: ù
Letter
u f or m (invariable, lower case, upper case U)
See also
Further reading
- u in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)
Kashubian
Etymology
The Kashubian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Kashubian alphabet article on Wikipedia for more, and u for development of the glyph itself.
Letter
u (lower case, upper case U)
Lashi
Etymology
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ʔu (“egg, bird”). Cognates include Burmese ဥ (u., “egg”) and Chinese 嫗 (yǔ, “to incubate”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʔu/
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /uː/, [uː]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /u/, [uː]
Coordinate terms
References
- u in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
- u in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- Arthur E. Gordon, The Letter Names of the Latin Alphabet (University of California Press, 1973; volume 9 of University of California Publications: Classical Studies), part III: “Summary of the Ancient Evidence”, page 32: "Clearly there is no question or doubt about the names of the vowels A, E, I, O, U. They are simply long A, long E, etc. (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū). Nor is there any uncertainty with respect to the six mutes B, C, D, G, P, T. Their names are bē, cē, dē, gē, pē, tē (each with a long E). Or about H, K, and Q: they are hā, kā, kū—each, again, with a long vowel sound."
Latvian
Etymology
Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.
Pronunciation 1
- IPA(key): [u]
See also
Pronunciation 2
- IPA(key): [u]
See also
- Latvian letter names:
Lower Sorbian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/
Letter
u (upper case U)
See also
- See Template:list:Latin script letters/dsb.
- See Template:list:Latin script letter names/dsb.
Malay
Letter
u (lower case, upper case U)
Maltese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/ (short phoneme)
- IPA(key): /uː/ (long phoneme)
- IPA(key): /ɔw/, /aw/ (after għ; variation is regional and idiolectal)
- In inherited words, short u occurs almost exclusively in unstressed syllables. In borrowings, it is a full phoneme and commonly stressed.
Letter
u (lower case, upper case U)
See also
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/ (between consonants)
- IPA(key): /w/ (before or after a vowel)
- Homophone: hu
Conjunction
u
- and; used to connect words, phrases, etc.
- il-kelb u l-qattus ― the dog and the cat
- tpejjep u tixrob ― she smokes and drinks
- when, as; used after a personal pronoun and followed by an active participle or imperfect verb
- huma u reqdin
- when they were sleeping
- (literally, “they and sleeping”)
- aħna u nitkellmu
- when we were talking
- (literally, “we and we talk”)
Alternative forms
- w (superseded representation of the consonantal pronunciation)
Marshallese
References
Mauritian Creole
Mezquital Otomi
Alternative forms
- ʼų́ (obsolete)
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Derived terms
- udehe
- uhme
- ukjä
- uthe
- utfi
- utꞌfi
- uza
References
- Andrews, Enriqueta (1950) Vocabulario otomí de Tasquillo, Hidalgo (in Spanish), México, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, pages 36, 76
- Hernández Cruz, Luis; Victoria Torquemada, Moisés (2010) Diccionario del hñähñu (otomí) del Valle del Mezquital, estado de Hidalgo (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 45) (in Spanish), second edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 360
Middle Dutch
Etymology 1
From Old Dutch iuwa, from Proto-Germanic *izweraz.
Usage notes
See the usage notes for gi.
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Descendants
- Dutch: u
Further reading
- “uwe”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
- Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “u (II)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page II
Middle English
Middle French
Usage notes
- u and v were represented by a single character in Middle French, although scholars consider them to be separate letters both in terms of usage and in terms of pronunciation.
Middle High German
Middle Low German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /uː/
Pronoun
û
Declension
Possessive pronoun:
| nominative | accusative | dative | genitive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong declension | ||||
| Masculine | û | ûwen | ûwem(e) (ûwennote) | ûwes |
| Neuter | û | |||
| Feminine | ûwe | ûwer(e) | ||
| Plural | ûwe | ûwen | ûwer(e) | |
| Weak declension | ||||
| Masculine | ûwe | ûwen | ûwen | |
| Neuter | ûwe | |||
| Feminine | ûwen | |||
| Plural | ûwen | |||
| The longer forms become rarer in the course of the period. | ||||
Norman
Etymology
From Old French ueil, from Vulgar Latin oclus, from Latin oculus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- (“eye; to see”).
Norwegian
Pronunciation
- (letter name): IPA(key): /ʉː/
- (phoneme): IPA(key): /ʉː/, /ʉ/, /ʊ/
Audio (file)
Nupe
Pronunciation
- (phoneme): IPA(key): /u/, (after /n/ or /m/) /ũ/
Letter
u (lower case, upper case U)
Old Czech
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *u.
Descendants
- Czech: u
References
- Jan Gebauer (1903–1916), “u”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění
Old French
Adverb
u
Usage notes
- u and v were represented by a single character in Old French, although scholars consider them to be separate letters both in terms of usage and in terms of pronunciation.
Old Galician-Portuguese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈu/
Adverb
u
- where
- 13th century, Vindel manuscript, Martín Codax, Mia irmana fremosa, treides comigo (facsimile)
- Mia irmana fremoſa treides de grado / ala ygreia de uigo u e o mar leuado / E miraremos las ondas.
- Lovely sister, come willingly / To the church in Vigo, where the sea is up, / And we will gaze at the waves.
- Mia irmana fremoſa treides de grado / ala ygreia de uigo u e o mar leuado / E miraremos las ondas.
- 13th century, Vindel manuscript, Martín Codax, Mia irmana fremosa, treides comigo (facsimile)
Old Polish
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *u. First attested in the 14th century.
Preposition
u [+genitive]
- Denotes approximate location; by, at
- Denotes subject of action; at
- Denotes movement away; away, out of
- Denotes topographic region; in; at, on
- Denotes property; in the homestead of
- Denotes position in a group; among, between
- Denotes possession; in the possession of
- With być; creates a possessive phrase meaning "to have".
- Denotes witness or subject of some action; in front of, on behalf of
- Denotes opinion; in one's eyes, in one's opinion, according to
- Denotes person from whom someone receives; from
- Denotes person being asked or requested; from, of
- Denotes object to which something belongs; 's
- Denotes perpetrator or performer of an action to create a passive voice; by
- Denotes time; during, at the time of
References
- Boryś, Wiesław (2005) Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
- B. Sieradzka-Baziur, editor (2011–2015), “u”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN
Polish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/
- (Middle Polish) IPA(key): /ˈu/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -u
- Syllabification: u
Etymology 1
The Polish orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the history of Polish orthography article on Wikipedia for more, and u for development of the glyph itself.
Letter
u (upper case U, lower case)
See also
Etymology 2
Inherited from Old Polish u.
Preposition
u [+genitive]
- Denotes a part belonging to a larger whole; of
- palce u nogi ― toes (literally, “fingers of the foot”)
- Denotes near position; by, at
- Denotes position with something else; at, by; with; chez
- u Kasi ― at Kasia's
- u rodziców ― at one's parents
- u lekarza ― at the doctor's
- u dentysty ― at the dentist's
- Denotes tutor or doer of an action; at, with; from
- Denotes someone or something for which something else is named.
- Denotes someone or something about which something may apply; among; in
- u mężczyzn ― in men
- u dzikich zwierząt ― in wild animals
- Denotes subject of an action; at
Trivia
According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), u is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 103 times in scientific texts, 27 times in news, 53 times in essays, 75 times in fiction, and 141 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 399 times, making it the 122nd most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.[1]
References
Further reading
- u in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- u in Polish dictionaries at PWN
- “1. u”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish], 2010-2022
- “2. u”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish], 2010-2022
- “U”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 07.03.2022
- Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807-1814), “u”, in Słownik języka polskiego
- Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “u”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
- J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1919), “u”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 7, Warsaw, page 195
- u in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego
Portuguese
Letter
u (lower case, upper case U)
See also
Etymology 2
From Old Galician-Portuguese u, from Latin ubi. Cognate with Galician u, French où, Italian ove and Romanian iuo.
Adverb
u
- (obsolete) where
- 1534, Gil Vicente, Auto de Mofina Mendes:
- […] nam ſey per u
- […] (I) don't know where
- Synonym: onde
-
Romani
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/
Letter
u (lower case, upper case U)
See also
- (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, X x, I i, J j, K k, Kh kh, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Ph ph, R r, S s, T t, Th th, U u, V v, Z z International Standard: (À à, Ä ä, Ǎ ǎ), Ć ć, Ćh ćh, (È è, Ë ë, Ě ě), (Ì ì, Ï ï, Ǐ ǐ), (Ò ò, Ö ö, Ǒ ǒ), Rr rr, Ś ś, (Ù ù, Ü ü, Ǔ ǔ), Ź ź, Ʒ ʒ, Q q, Ç ç, ϴ θ. Pan-Vlax: Č č, Čh čh, Dž dž, (Dź dź), Ř ř, Š š, (Ś ś), Ž ž, (Ź ź).
Rumu
References
- Rumu-English-Motu dictionary; Rumu (misc)
- Transnewguinea.org, citing G. E. MacDonald, The Teberan Language Family, pages 111-121, in The Linguistic Situation in the Gulf District and Adjacent Area, Papua New Guinea (editor K. J. Franklin) (1973)
- Karl J. Franklin, Comparative Wordlist 1 of the Gulf District and adjacent areas (1975), page 67
Salar
Etymology
From Proto-Turkic *ol.
Declension
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | u | ular |
| genitive | aniği | ularniği |
| dative | aña | ulara |
| definite accusative | ani | ularni |
| locative | Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. | Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. |
| ablative | Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. | Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. |
| instrumental | Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. | Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. |
See also
References
- Tenishev, Edhem (1976), Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.”, in Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. [Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.], Moscow: Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
- 林 (Lin), 莲云 (Lianyun) (1985), Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.”, in Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. [Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.], Beijing: 民族出版社: 琴書店, →OCLC, page 53
- Ma, Chengjun; Han, Lianye; Ma, Weisheng (December 2010), Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.”, in 米娜瓦尔 艾比布拉 (Minavar Abibra), editor, Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. [Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.], 1st edition, Beijing, →ISBNLua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information., page 362
- Yakup, Abdurishid (2002), Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.”, in Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information., Tokyo: University of Tokyo, →ISBNLua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information., page 41
Serbo-Croatian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.audio (file)
Etymology 1
See Translingual section.
Alternative forms
- (uppercase) U
Letter
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Etymology 2
From Proto-Slavic *vъ(n).
Preposition
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
- (+ locative case) in, at (without change of position, answering the question gdjȅ/gdȅ)
- biti u školi ― to be in school
- u c(ij)elom društvu ― in the whole society
- (+ accusative case) to, into (with change of position, answering the question kùda)
- ići u školu ― to go to school
- putovati u Ameriku ― to travel to America
- (+ accusative case) on, in, at, during (in expressions concerning time)
- u podne ― at noon
- u sr(ij)edu ― on Wednesday
- u zoru ― at dawn
- U koliko sati? ― At what time?
- (+ locative case) in, during (in expressions concerning time)
- u jednom danu ― in one day
- u mladosti ― during one's youth
Etymology 3
From Proto-Slavic *u.
Preposition
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
- (+ genitive case) chez
Sicilian
Etymology 1
From the lenition of lu, from the apheresis of Vulgar Latin *illu, from Latin illum, from ille.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/ (stressed)
- IPA(key): /ʊ/ (unstressed)
Article
Usage notes
- As for other Romance languages, such as Neapolitan or Portuguese, Sicilian definite articles have undergone a consonant lenition that has led to the phonetic fall of the initial l. The use of this illiquid variant has not yet made the use of liquid variants disappear, but today it is still the prevalent use in speech and writing.
- In the case of the production of literary texts, such as singing or poetry, or of formal and institutional texts, resorting to "liquid articles" and "liquid articulated prepositions" confers greater euphony to the text, although it may sound a form of courtly recovery.
- Illiquid definite articles can be phonetically absorbed by the following noun. I.e: l'arancinu (liquid) and ârancinu (illiquid).
Inflection
| Sicilian articles | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine singular definite article | Feminine singular definite article | Masculine and feminine plural definite article | ||
| Definite articles (liquid) | lu | la | li | |
| Definite articles (illiquid) | u | a | i | |
| Definite articles | nu (also: un,'n) |
na | ||
Etymology 2
From the lenition of lu, from the apheresis of Vulgar Latin *illu, from Latin illum, from ille.
Alternative forms
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/ (stressed)
- IPA(key): /ʊ/ (unstressed)
Pronoun
Usage notes
- This pronoun can blend in contracted forms with other particles, especially other personal pronominal particles.
Silesian
Pronunciation
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Etymology 1
The Silesian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Silesian language article on Wikipedia for more, and u for development of the glyph itself.
Letter
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
See also
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Etymology 2
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. from Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information..
Preposition
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Further reading
- u in silling.org
Somali
Spanish
Pronunciation
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Letter
u (lower case, upper case U)
Noun
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
- Name of the letter U
Pronunciation
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Usage notes
- Used instead of o when the following word starts with a vowel sound which is pronounced /o/.
Alternative forms
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Further reading
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.”, in Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information., Real Academia Española, 2014
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Sumerian
Romanization
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Swahili
Verb
u
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. you are; thou art
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
- Pepo waliwatoka watu wengi, wakapiga kelele wakisema: "Wewe u Mwana wa Mungu!" ― Demons came out of many people, shouting, "You are the Son of God!"
Usage notes
This term is archaic except in the common greeting u hali gani. Along with m and ni it is not conjugated.
See also
Swedish
Pronunciation
- Letter name
- IPA(key): /ʉː/
- Phoneme
- IPA(key): /ʉː/, /ɵ/
Tagalog
Etymology
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: u
- (letter name, Filipino alphabet): Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
- (letter name, Abakada alphabet, Abecedario): Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
- (phoneme): Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
- (phoneme, Spanish-based spellings, before vowels): Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
- Rhymes: -u
Letter
u (lower case, upper case U, Baybayin spelling ᜌᜓ)
- The twenty-third letter of the Tagalog alphabet (Filipino alphabet), called yu and written in the Latin script.
See also
Letter
u (lower case, upper case U, Baybayin spelling ᜂ)
- The eighteenth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (Abakada alphabet), called u and written in the Latin script.
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. The twenty-fourth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (Abecedario), called u and written in the Latin script.
Noun
u (Baybayin spelling ᜂ)
- The name of the Latin-script letter U/u,Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. in the Abakada alphabet.
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. The name of the Latin-script letter U/u,Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. in the Abecedario.
See also
Further reading
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.”, in Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information., Manila: Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2018
Tolai
Torres Strait Creole
Noun
u
Usage notes
U is the sixth stage of coconut growth. It is preceded by pes and followed by drai koknat.
Turkish
Letter
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
See also
Noun
u
See also
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Tzotzil
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʔu/
Synonyms
- (moon): jch'ul me'tik
References
- “ˀu(1)” in Laughlin, Robert M. (1975) The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantán. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Uyghur
Letter
u
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Pronoun
u
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Uzbek
| Other scripts | |
|---|---|
| Cyrillic | Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. |
| Latin | |
| Perso-Arabic | |
Declension
| Nominative | Accusative | Genitive | Dative | Locative | Ablative | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | 1st person | men | meni | mening | menga | menda | mendan |
| 2nd person | sen | seni | sening | senga | senda | sendan | |
| 3rd person | u | uni | uning | unga | unda | undan | |
| plural | 1st person | biz | bizni | bizning | bizga | bizda | bizdan |
| 2nd person | siz | sizni | sizning | sizga | sizda | sizdan | |
| 3rd person | ular | ularni | ularning | ularga | ularda | ulardan | |
Vietnamese
Pronunciation
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.Audio (Hồ Chí Minh City) (file)
Etymology 1
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Etymology 2
From Proto-Vietic *ʔuː (“hump (of a zebu)”). Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Noun
(classifier Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.) Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
- a nodule; protuberance; swelling
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. a tumor; neoplasm
Derived terms
- u mỡ
- u xơ tử cung
- u nang buồng trứng
See also
Verb
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Etymology 3
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Noun
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Etymology 4
From Portuguese u.
Welsh
Alternative forms
- (with grave accent to indicate otherwise unpredictable short vowel): ù
- (with acute accent to indicate unusually stressed short vowel): ú
- (with circumflex to indicate otherwise unpredictable or unusually stressed long vowel or disyllabicity): û
- (with diaeresis to indicate disyllabicity): ü
Pronunciation
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. IPA(key): /ɨː/
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information. IPA(key): /ˌiː ˈbeːdɔl/, /ˌiː ˈbɛdɔl/, /ˌiː ˈɡʊpan/
Letter
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Mutation
- u cannot mutate but, being a vowel, does take h-prothesis, for example with the word uchelwydd (“mistletoe”):
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Derived terms
- Digraph sequences: uw
Noun
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Mutation
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Yoruba
Letter
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Noun
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
See also
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
- As used in Benin: Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
- Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Pronoun
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
- him, her, it (third-person singular object pronoun following a monosyllabic verb with a high-tone /u/)
Pronoun
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
- him, her, it (third-person singular object pronoun following a monosyllabic verb with a low- or mid-tone /u/)
See also
| singular | plural or honorific | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | mi | wa |
| 2nd person | ọ / ẹ | yín |
| 3rd person | [preceding vowel repeated for monosyllabic verbs] / ẹ̀ | wọn |
Zou
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u˧/
References
- Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information., Canchipur: Manipur University, page 41, 60
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.
Zulu
Letter
Lua error: not enough memory. See Wiktionary:Lua memory errors for more information.



