Short U (Cyrillic)

Cyrillic letter Short U
The Cyrillic script
Slavic letters
А А́ А̀ А̂ А̄ Ӓ Б В Г Ґ Д Ђ Ѓ Е Е́ Ѐ Е̂ Е̄ Ё Є Ж З З́ Ѕ И І Ї Ꙇ И́ Ѝ И̂ Ӣ Й Ј К Л Љ М Н Њ О О́ О̀ О̂ Ō Ӧ П Р Р̌ С С́ Т Ћ Ќ У У́ У̀ У̂ Ӯ Ў Ӱ Ф Х Ц Ч Џ Ш Щ Ꙏ Ъ Ъ̀ Ы Ы́ Ь Ѣ Э Э́ Ю Ю́ Ю̀ Я Я́ Я̀
Non-Slavic letters
Ӑ А̊ А̃ Ӓ̄ Ӕ Ә Ә́ Ә̃ Ӛ В̌ Ԝ Г̑ Г̇ Г̣ Г̌ Г̂ Г̆ Г̈ г̊ Ҕ Ғ Ӻ Ғ̌ ғ̊ Ӷ Д́ Д̌ Д̈ Д̣ Д̆ Ӗ Е̃ Ё̄ Є̈ Ԑ Ԑ̈ Җ Ӝ Ӂ Ж̣ Ҙ Ӟ З̌ З̣ З̆ Ӡ И̃ Ӥ Ҋ Қ Ӄ Ҡ Ҟ Ҝ К̣ к̊ қ̊ Ԛ ᴫ Л́ Ӆ Ԯ Ԓ Л̈ Ӎ ᵸ Н́ Ӊ Ң Ԩ Ӈ Ҥ О̆ О̃ Ӧ̄ Ө Ө̄ Ө́ Ө̆ Ӫ Ԥ П̈ Ҏ С̌ Ҫ С̣ С̱ Т́ Т̈ Т̌ Т̇ Т̣ Ҭ Ᲊ У̃ Ӳ У̊ Ӱ̄ Ұ Ү Ү́ Х̣ Х̱ Х̮ Х̑ Х̌ Ҳ Ӽ х̊ Ӿ ӿ̊ Һ Һ̈ Ԧ Ц̌ Ц̈ Ҵ Ҷ Ҷ̣ Ӵ Ӌ Ҹ Ч̇ Ч̣ Ҽ Ҿ Ш̣ ꚜ Ы̆ Ы̄ Ӹ ꚝ Ҍ Ҩ Э̆ Э̄ Э̇ Ӭ Ӭ́ Ӭ̄ Ю̆ Ю̈ Ю̄ Я̆ Я̄ Я̈ Ӏ ʼ ˮ
Archaic or unused letters
А̨ Б̀ Б̣ Б̱ В̀ Г̀ Г̧ Г̄ Г̓ Г̆ Ҕ̀ Ҕ̆ Ԁ Д̓ Д̀ Д̨ Ԃ Ꚁ Ꙣ Е̇ Е̨ Ж̀ Ж̑ Ꙃ Ꙅ Џ̆ Ꚅ Ꚅ̆ Ꙁ З̀ З̑ Ԅ Ԇ Ꚉ Ԫ Ꚃ Ꚕ І̂ І̣ І̨ Ј̵ Ј̃ Ꙉ К̓ К̀ К̆ Ӄ̆ К̑ К̇ К̈ К̄ Ԟ К̂ Л̀ Ԡ Ꙥ Ԉ Л̑ Л̇ Ԕ М̀ М̃ Ꙧ Н̀ Н̄ Н̧ Н̃ Ԋ Ԣ Н̡ Ѻ Ꙩ Ꙫ Ꙭ ꙮ Ꚙ Ꚛ П̓ П̀ П́ Ҧ П̧ П̑ Ҁ Ԛ̆ Р́ Р̀ Р̃ Ԗ С̀ С̈ Ԍ Ҫ̓ Т̓ Т̀ Ԏ Т̑ Ꚋ Т̧ Ꚍ Ꚍ̆ Ѹ Ꙋ У̇ У̨ ꙋ́ Ф̑ Ф̓ Х́ Х̀ Х̆ Х̇ Х̧ Х̾ Х̓ һ̱ Ѡ Ꙍ Ѽ Ѿ Ꙡ Ц̀ Ц́ Ц̓ Ꚏ Ꚏ̆ Ꚑ Ч́ Ч̀ Ч̆ Ч̑ Ч̓ Ԭ Ꚓ Ꚇ Ꚇ̆ Ҽ̆ Ш̀ Ш̆ Ш̑ Щ̆ Ꚗ Ꚗ̆ Ъ̄ Ъ̈ Ъ̈̄ Ꙑ Ы̂ Ы̃ Ѣ́ Ѣ̈ Ѣ̆ Ꙓ Э̨ Э̂ Ꙕ Ю̂ Ꙗ Я̈ Я̂ Я̨ Ԙ Ѥ Ѧ Ꙙ Ѫ Ꙛ Ѩ Ꙝ Ѭ Ѯ Ѱ Ѳ Ѵ Ѷ Ꙟ
List of Cyrillic letters List of Cyrillic multigraphs

Short U (Ў, ў) is a letter of the Belarusian Cyrillic alphabet. The letter is called non-syllabic u or short u (Belarusian: у нескладовае, u nyeskladovaye or у кароткае, u karotkaye) in Belarusian, because while resembling the vowel у (u) it does not form syllables. Its equivalent in the Belarusian Latin alphabet is ŭ.

This letter is not used in any other Slavic language. Among the non-Slavic languages using Cyrillic alphabets, ў is used in the Dungan language and in the Siberian Yupik language. It was also used in Uzbek before the adoption of the Latin alphabet in 1992.

In Belarusian

In native Belarusian words, ў represents the sonorant bilabial fricative consonant, as in хлеў, (xljeŭ, ‘shed’) or воўк [vɔʊk] (voŭk, ‘wolf’). This is similar to the w in English cow /kaʊ/. The letter ў cannot occur before a vowel; when grammar would require this, ў is replaced by в /v/. Compare хлеў (IPA: [xlʲeʊ] xljeŭ) with за хлявом ([za xlʲaˈvom] za xljavóm, ‘behind the shed’). Also, when a word beginning with у /u/ follows a vowel, so that it forms a diphthong through liaison, it is usually, but not necessary, written with ў instead. For example, у хляве ([u xlʲaˈvʲe] u xljavjé, ‘in the shed’) but увайшлі яны ў хлеў ([uvajʃˈlʲi jaˈnɨ ʊ xlʲeʊ] uvajšlí janý ŭ xljeŭ, ‘they went into the shed’).

The letter ў is also used to represent the labial-velar approximant /w/ in foreign loanwords.

History

The letter originates from the letter izhitsa (ѵ) with a breve (Іереѵ̆ская власть, пучина Егеѵ̆ская, etc.) used in certain Ukrainian books during the end of the 16th–beginning of the 17th centuries. Later, this character was probably in use in the Romanian Cyrillic script, from where it was borrowed in 1837 by the compilers of Ukrainian poetry book Rusalka Dnistrovaya (Русалка днѣстровая). The book's forward reads “we have accepted Serbian џ . . . and Wallachian [Romanian] ў . . .”. In this book, ў is used mostly for etymological [l] transformed to [w]—modern Ukrainian spelling uses letter в (v) in this position.

For the Belarusian language, the combination of the Cyrillic letter u with a breve (ў) was proposed by P.A. Bessonov in 1870. Before that, various ad hoc adaptations of the Latin u were used, for example, italicized in some publications of Vintsent Dunin-Martsinkyevich, with accent (ú) in Jan Czeczot's Da milykh mužyczkoú (To dear peasants, 1846 edition), w with breve (w̆) in Epimakh-Shypila, 1889, or just the letter u itself (e.g., in publications of Kalinowski, 1862–1863). A u with háček (ǔ) was also used.

After 1870, both the distinction for the phoneme and the new shape of the letter still were not consistently used until the mid-1900s. Among the first publications using it were folklore collections published by Michał Federowski and the first edition of Francišak Bahuševič's Dudka Biełaruskaja (Belarusian flute, published in Kraków, 1891). Also, for quite a while other kinds of renderings (plain u, or with added accent, háček, or caret) were still being used, sometimes within a single publication (Bahushevich, 1891, Pachobka, 1915).

Monument

In September 2003, during the tenth Days of Belarusian Literacy celebrations, the authorities in Polatsk, the oldest Belarusian city, made a monument to honor the unique Cyrillic Belarusian letter ў. The original idea for the monument came from professor Paval Siemčanka, a scholar of Cyrillic calligraphy and type.

See also

• Ŭ in Esperanto and Belarusian
• Breve
• W
• Й, й - Short I (Cyrillic)
• Ё, ё - Yo (Cyrillic)
• Ł, ł - L with a stroke (Polish)