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Wu (kana)

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wu
hiragana
japanese hiragana wu
katakana
japanese katakana wu
transliterationwu
hiragana origin

Wu is a constructed Japanese kana.[1]

History

It is presumed that 𛄟 would have represented [wɯ][citation needed]. Along with 𛀆 and 𛀁 (yi and ye respectively), the syllable wu has no officially recognized kana, as these syllables do not occur in native Japanese words; however, during the Meiji period, linguists almost unanimously agreed on the kana for yi, ye, and wu. 𛀆 and wu are thought to have never occurred as syllables in Japanese, and 𛀁 was merged with え and エ.

Characters

In the Edo period and the Meiji period, some Japanese linguists tried to separate kana u and kana wu. The shapes of characters differed with each linguist. 𛄟 and 𛄢 were just two of many shapes.

They were phonetic symbols to fill in the blanks of the gojuon table. Japanese people didn't separate them in nomal writing.

  • u
    • Traditional kana
      • [2] (Hiragana)
      • 𛀋[3] (Hentaigana of う. Hiragana.)
      • 𛀍[4] (Hentaigana of う. Hiragana.)
      • [5] (Katakana)
    • Constructed kana
      • [6] (A part of 傴. Katakana.)
  • wu
    • Traditional kana
      • [7] (Hiragana)
      • 𛀋[8] (Hentaigana of う. Hiragana.)
      • [9] (Katakana)
      • 𛄢[10][11] (An old variant form of ウ. Katakana.)
    • Constructed kana
      • [12](う with dots. Hiragana.)
      • 𛄟[13] (A cursive script style of 汙.[1] Hiragana.)
      • [14] (A cursive script style of 紆. Hiragana.)
      • [15] (A cursive script style of 迂. Hiragana,)
      • [16] (A cursive script style of 卯. Hiragana.)
      • [17](ウ with dots. Katakana.)

These suggestions weren't accepted.

Unicode

This kana has been encoded into Unicode 14.0 since September 14, 2021 as HIRAGANA LETTER ARCHAIC WU (U+1B11F), and KATAKANA LETTER ARCHAIC WU (U+1B122).

References

  1. ^ a b Iannacone, Jake (2020). "Reply to The Origin of Hiragana /wu/ 平仮名のわ行うの字源に対する新たな発見"
  2. ^ 綴字篇
  3. ^ 村山自彊; 中島幹事 (1891). 仮名遣. 開新堂. p. 19.
  4. ^ 音韻啓蒙 : 2巻. 上巻
  5. ^ 綴字篇
  6. ^ 音韻啓蒙 : 2巻. 上巻
  7. ^ 音韻啓蒙 : 2巻. 上巻
  8. ^ 日本新文典
  9. ^ 音韻啓蒙 : 2巻. 上巻
  10. ^ 綴字篇
  11. ^ 有賀長隣. 片仮名元字. p. 4.
  12. ^ 小学日本文典入門. 巻之1
  13. ^ 綴字篇
  14. ^ 綴字篇
  15. ^ 国語仮字つかい
  16. ^ 辞礎
  17. ^ 小学日本文典入門. 巻之1

See also