ъ

• (italics) Ъ, ъ

Glagolitic letter yer’, the source for ъ (ŭ)

Modification of Glagolitic letter yer’ (Ⱏ).

ъ (lower case, upper case Ъ)

1. A letter of the Cyrillic script.

• Wikipedia article on the Cyrillic alphabet
• Search the English Wiktionary for articles beginning with Ъ
• Search the English Wiktionary for articles beginning with ъ

• IPA^(key): [ɤ̞]

ъ • (ǎ) (lower case, upper case Ъ)

1. The letter ер голя́м (er goljám, “big er”), the twenty-seventh letter of the Bulgarian alphabet.

• Previous letter: щ (št)
• Next letter: ь (ʹ)

This letter has no pronunciation of its own. It instead functions as a graphic sign.

ъ (lower case, upper case Ъ)

1. The letter твёрдый знак (tvjórdyj znak, “hard sign”), the twenty-eighth letter of the Russian alphabet

In Russian, this letter has no sound of its own, but modifies that of the preceding consonant, causing it to be pronounced hard (i.e., unpalatalized). Some writers use ' (apostrophe) instead of ъ, e.g. съезд (sʺjezd) — с'езд (sʺjezd), which is considered non-standard or obsolete. After the 1918 spelling reform when the usage of ъ was heavily reduced, some typewriters did not have the letter at all, forcing people to use ' (apostrophe).

• Previous letter: щ (šč)
• Next letter: ы (y)
• Soft sign: ь (ʹ)