u
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Translingual
Etymology 1
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
Gallery
- Letter styles
- Capital and lowercase versions of U, in normal and italic type
- Uppercase and lowercase U in Fraktur
See also
Other representations of U:
English
Etymology

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): /juː/
- 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) IPA(key): /ʌ/, /u/, /ʊ/
Audio (GA) (file)
Letter
See also
See also
Translations
Derived terms
- u-turn
- u-bolt
Pronoun
u (second person, singular or plural, nominative or objective)
- (abbreviation, slang, text messaging, Internet) you (in text messaging and internet conversations)
- Take me with u.
Acehnese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [u]
Afrikaans
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /y/
See also
subjective | objective | possessive | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
singular | 1st | ek | my | |||
2nd | jy | jou | ||||
2nd, formal | u | |||||
3rd, masc | hy | hom | sy | |||
3rd, fem | sy | haar | ||||
3rd, neut | dit | sy | ||||
plural | 1st | ons | ||||
2nd | julle | julle / jul1 | ||||
3rd | hulle | hulle / hul1 | ||||
1. In the second and third persons plural, the usual possessive forms are julle and hulle (like the subjective and objective forms), but jul and hul are sometimes used instead when the sentence would otherwise be ambiguous. |
See also
subjective | objective | possessive | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
singular | 1st | ek | my | |||
2nd | jy | jou | ||||
2nd, formal | u | |||||
3rd, masc | hy | hom | sy | |||
3rd, fem | sy | haar | ||||
3rd, neut | dit | sy | ||||
plural | 1st | ons | ||||
2nd | julle | julle / jul1 | ||||
3rd | hulle | hulle / hul1 | ||||
1. In the second and third persons plural, the usual possessive forms are julle and hulle (like the subjective and objective forms), but jul and hul are sometimes used instead when the sentence would otherwise be ambiguous. |
Ajië
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [u]
References
- Greenhill, S.J., Blust. R, & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.
Albanian
Etymology
From Proto-Albanian *wa, from Proto-Indo-European *su̯om.
Pronoun
u
- reflexive pronoun
Aromanian
Asturian
Catalan
Dutch
Etymology
Originally the accusative/dative form of jij/gij, from Middle Dutch u, from Old Dutch iu, 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 stems from an original possessive uwe edelheid (“your gentility”), which was later shortened to U E. and finally to u.
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.
- See 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 |
2nd person | jij | je | jou | je | jouw | je | jouwe | je | jouwer |
2nd person archaic or regiolectal | gij | ge | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u | uwer |
2nd person formal | u | – | u | – | uw | – | uwe | zich | uwer |
3rd person masculine | hij | ie1 | hem | 'm1 | zijn | z'n1 | zijne | zich | zijner |
3rd person feminine | zij | ze | haar | h'r1, 'r1, d'r1 | haar | h'r1, 'r1, d'r1 | hare | zich | harer |
3rd person neuter | het | 't1 | het | 't1 | zijn | z'n1 | zijne | zich | zijner |
plural | |||||||||
1st person | wij | we | ons | – | ons, onze2 | – | onze | ons | onzer |
2nd person | jullie | je | jullie | je | jullie | je | – | je | – |
2nd person archaic or regiolectal6 | gij | ge | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u | uwer |
2nd person formal | u | – | u | – | uw | – | uwe | zich | uwer |
3rd person | zij | ze | hen3, hun4 | ze | hun | – | hunne | zich | hunner |
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
Esperanto
Pronunciation
- (letter name): IPA(key): /u/
- (phoneme): IPA(key): /u/
Audio (file)
Letter
u (lower case, upper case U)
See also
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /y/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɑ̃
Fula
Galician
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈu/
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈu/
Adverb
u
- (archaic) where, whereby
- 1264, E. Portela Silva (ed.), 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
- pelo camino que vay peraa devesa de valadares asy como vay o porto do rrio u pasan os carros
- Synonym: onde
- 1264, E. Portela Silva (ed.), La región del obispado de Tuy en los siglos XII a XV. Santiago: Tip. El Eco Franciscano, page 364:
- where (interrogative adverb)
- U-los libros? ― Where are the books?
- Synonym: onde
References
- “u” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006-2012.
- “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
Ido
Pronunciation
- (context pronunciation, letter name) IPA(key): /u/
Interlingue
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/
- Rhymes: -u
- Hyphenation: u
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /uː/
Coordinate terms
References
- u in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
- Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- anger is defined as a passionate desire for revenge: iracundiam sic (ita) definiunt, ut ulciscendi libidinem esse dicant or ut u. libido sit or iracundiam sic definiunt, ulc. libidinem
- anger is defined as a passionate desire for revenge: iracundiam sic (ita) definiunt, ut ulciscendi libidinem esse dicant or ut u. libido sit or iracundiam sic definiunt, ulc. libidinem
- 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
- IPA(key): [u]
See also
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [u]
See also
- Latvian letter names:
Malay
Letter
u (lower case, upper case U)
Maltese
Alternative forms
- w (before a vowel; also after a vowel, unless the following word begins with a consonant cluster)
Etymology
From Arabic وَ (wa), from Proto-Semitic *wa. Cognate with Hebrew וְ־ (wə-).
Mauritian Creole
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 main entry.
Descendants
- Dutch: u
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)
Letter
u
- The 21st letter of the Norwegian alphabet
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 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)
Polish
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *u, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/
Audio (file)
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈu/
- Homophone: o
Letter
u (lower case, upper case U)
See also
Etymology 2
From Old 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
- 1534, Gil Vicente, Auto de Mofina Mendes:
Synonyms
- (where): onde
Pumpokol
Etymology
From Proto-Yeniseian *ʔaw (/ *ʔu) ("thou").
Romanian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/
Letter
u (lowercase, capital U)
- The twenty-fifth letter of the Romanian alphabet representing the phoneme /u/. Preceded by ţ and followed by v.
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
Serbo-Croatian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/
audio (file)
Etymology 1
See Translingual section.
Alternative forms
- (uppercase) U
Letter
u (Cyrillic spelling у)
Etymology 2
From Proto-Slavic *vъ(n).
Preposition
u (Cyrillic spelling у)
- (+ 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.
Somali
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/
Audio (Spain) (file)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/, [u], [w]
Alternative forms
- ú (obsolete)
Usage notes
Used instead of o when the following word starts with a vowel sound which is pronounced /o/.
Further reading
- “u” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.
Swedish
Pronunciation
- Letter name
- IPA(key): /ʉː/
- Phoneme
- IPA(key): /ʉː/, /ɵ/
Tolai
Torres Strait Creole
Usage notes
U is the sixth stage of coconut growth. It is preceded by pes and followed by drai koknat.
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
Uzbek
Vietnamese
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ʔu˧˧]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [ʔʊw˧˧]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [ʔʊw˧˧]
Etymology 2
From Proto-Vietic *ʔuː (“hump (of a zebu)”).
Noun
Derived terms
- u mỡ
- u nang buồng trứng
- u xơ tử cung
See also
Etymology 3
From Portuguese u.
Zulu
Letter
u (lower case, upper case U)