b
See also: B and Appendix:Variations of "b"
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TranslingualEdit
EtymologyEdit
Modification of capital letter B by dropping its upper loop, from the Greek letter Β (B, “Beta”).
PronunciationEdit
IPA (file) - A voiced bilabial stop is made with the lips alone, by a complete closure cutting off all exit of breath from the mouth, but with accompanying sonant vibrations of the vocal chords, the current of air necessary to produce this being driven from the lungs into the closed cavity of the mouth.[1] The corresponding voiceless stop is p.
LetterEdit
b (upper case B)
- The second letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.
SymbolEdit
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b
- (IPA) A voiced bilabial plosive, a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages.
- (physics) A bottom quark.
- (music) Alternative form of ♭ (“flat”)
Usage notesEdit
The letter b is used in several romanization systems to represent the bilabial plosive or stop, usually voiced (/b/), including Cyrillic б (b, “be”), Zhuyin fuhao ㄅ, and Korean jamo ㅂ (b, “bieup”).
GalleryEdit
- Letter styles
-
Uppercase and lowercase versions of B, in normal and italic type
-
Uppercase and lowercase B in Fraktur
-
Approximate form of Greek upper case beta, which was the source for both common variants of b' in uncial script
See alsoEdit
- (IPA): p (“voiceless bilabial plosive”)
- (Latin script): Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
- For more variations, see Appendix:Variations of "b".
Other representations of B:
ReferencesEdit
- ^ William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “b”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, volume I (A–C), revised edition, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
Further readingEdit
Voiced bilabial stop on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
PronunciationEdit
- (phoneme) IPA(key): /b/ (see also Pronunciation under Translingual)
- (letter name) IPA(key): /biː/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (UK) (file) - (letter name) Rhymes: -iː
- (letter name) Homophones: be, bee, Bea
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B, plural bs or b's)
- The second letter of the English alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.
Usage notesEdit
In Modern English, the letter b is sometimes silent, as when final after m, in climb, lamb, limb, tomb, thumb, and in a few other cases, such as debt and doubt. In most of these cases b is a modern graphic insertion, and was never pronounced (in the English forms); see limb, thumb, debt, and doubt.[1]
See alsoEdit
NumberEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The ordinal number second, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.
Etymology 2Edit
AdjectiveEdit
b (not comparable)
- Alternative form of b. (“born”)
SymbolEdit
b
- (astronomy) latitude in the galactic coordinate system
- (physics) barn
- (computing) bit
- (cricket) bye
- (size) big
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
See alsoEdit
Etymology 3Edit
Abbreviations.
- (stenoscript) a single consonant /b/ in a word, or a dominant /b/ in a cluster.
- (stenoscript) the sequence /biː/
- (stenoscript) Abbreviation of be and inflections being, been.
- (stenoscript) Abbreviation of by and homophones buy, bye.
- (stenoscript) Abbreviation of but.
ReferencesEdit
- ^ William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “b”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, volume I (A–C), revised edition, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
AfarEdit
LetterEdit
b
- The second letter of the Afar alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
AzerbaijaniEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b lower case (upper case B)
- The second letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
BasqueEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Basque alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
CatalanEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Catalan alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
DutchEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Dutch alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
EsperantoEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called bo and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
EstonianEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Estonian alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
FaroeseEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (upper case B)
- The third letter of the Faroese alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
FinnishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
PronunciationEdit
Audio (file)
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Finnish alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.
Usage notesEdit
- Used only in loanwords.
See alsoEdit
- (Latin-script letters) kirjain; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s (Š š), T t, U u, V v (W w), X x, Y y, Z z (Ž ž), Å å, Ä ä, Ö ö
Etymology 2Edit
NounEdit
b
Usage notesEdit
- Capitalized for the great octave or any octave below that, or in names of major keys; not capitalized for the small octave or any octave above that, or in names of minor keys.
- Finnish uses the German system; B is written as h.
DeclensionEdit
Declension of b (type maa)
|
FrenchEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the French alphabet, written in the Latin script.
FulaEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The third letter of the Fula alphabet, written in the Latin script.
Usage notesEdit
See alsoEdit
GothicEdit
RomanizationEdit
b
- Romanization of 𐌱
HungarianEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The third letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called bé and written in the Latin script.
- (music) B-flat, B♭ (the 11th note of the C chromatic scale)
DeclensionEdit
| Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, front unrounded harmony) | ||
|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | |
| nominative | b | b-k |
| accusative | b-t | b-ket |
| dative | b-nek | b-knek |
| instrumental | b-vel | b-kkel |
| causal-final | b-ért | b-kért |
| translative | b-vé | b-kké |
| terminative | b-ig | b-kig |
| essive-formal | b-ként | b-kként |
| essive-modal | — | — |
| inessive | b-ben | b-kben |
| superessive | b-n | b-ken |
| adessive | b-nél | b-knél |
| illative | b-be | b-kbe |
| sublative | b-re | b-kre |
| allative | b-hez | b-khez |
| elative | b-ből | b-kből |
| delative | b-ről | b-kről |
| ablative | b-től | b-ktől |
| non-attributive possessive - singular |
b-é | b-ké |
| non-attributive possessive - plural |
b-éi | b-kéi |
| Possessive forms of b | ||
|---|---|---|
| possessor | single possession | multiple possessions |
| 1st person sing. | b-m | b-im |
| 2nd person sing. | b-d | b-id |
| 3rd person sing. | b-je | b-i |
| 1st person plural | b-nk | b-ink |
| 2nd person plural | b-tek | b-itek |
| 3rd person plural | b-jük | b-ik |
Derived termsEdit
Compound words
See alsoEdit
- (Latin-script letters) betű; A a, Á á, B b, C c, Cs cs, D d, Dz dz, Dzs dzs, E e, É é, F f, G g, Gy gy, H h, I i, Í í, J j, K k, L l, Ly ly, M m, N n, Ny ny, O o, Ó ó, Ö ö, Ő ő, P p, R r, S s, Sz sz, T t, Ty ty, U u, Ú ú, Ü ü, Ű ű, V v, Z z, Zs zs. Only in the extended alphabet: Q q W w X x Y y. Commonly used: ch. Also defined: à ë. In surnames (selection): ä aa cz ds eé eö ew oe oó th ts ÿ.
- B-dúr
- bé
Further readingEdit
- (the letter): b 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
- (in music: “B-flat”): b 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
- (in music, rare): b , synonym of bé (“♭”), defined at bé in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (’An Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
- b in Ittzés, Nóra (ed.). A magyar nyelv nagyszótára (’A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published A–ez as of 2023)
IcelandicEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (upper case B)
- The third letter of the Icelandic alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
IdoEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (upper case B)
- The second letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
IndonesianEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Indonesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
ItalianEdit
NounEdit
b f or m (invariable, lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Italian alphabet, called bi and written in the Latin script.
LatvianEdit
EtymologyEdit
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.
PronunciationEdit
| (file) |
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The third letter of the Latvian alphabet, called bē and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
LivonianEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (upper case B)
- The fifth letter of the Livonian alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
LushootseedEdit
LetterEdit
b
- The third letter of the Lushootseed alphabet, pronounced as a voiced bilabial stop.
MalayEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
MalteseEdit
PronunciationEdit
- IPA(key): /b/
- IPA(key): /p/ (per final devoicing or assimilation to a following voiceless obstruent)
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
Norwegian BokmålEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
Modification of the capital letter B by dropping its upper loop, from Latin B, from Etruscan 𐌁 (b, “be”), from Ancient Greek Β (B, “beta”), from the Phoenician 𐤁 (b, “bet”), from Proto-Canaanite 
, from Proto-Sinaitic 
, from Egyptian 𓉐, representing the plan of a house.
PronunciationEdit
- (letter name): IPA(key): /beː/
- (phoneme): IPA(key): /b/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -eː
- Hyphenation: B
- Homophones: B, be
LetterEdit
b (upper case B)
- The second letter of the Norwegian Bokmål alphabet, written in the Latin script.
NounEdit
b m (definite singular b-en, indefinite plural b-er, definite plural b-ene)
- the letter b, the second letter of the Norwegian alphabet
- (music) the tone h lowered by half a step
- 1944, Børre Qvamme, Musikk, page 35–36:
- enhver tone er mangetydig, fiss er også gess, diss er ess, b er aiss og så videre
- every tone is ambiguous, fiss is also gess, diss is ace, b is aiss and so on
- 2000, Bjørnar Pedersen og Egil Birkeland, Hillman Hunter:
- skotske sekkepiper stemmes i B
- Scottish bagpipes are tuned in B
- (music) a B-flat (sign indicating that the following note is to be lowered by half a step)
- 1974, Jens Bjørneboe, Haiene, page 98:
- ingen vil påstå at notebladet med nøkler, kryss og b’er er selve musikken
- no one will claim that the sheet music with keys, crosses and bs is the music itself
- (physics) symbol for bar (“bar”)
Norwegian NynorskEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b m (upper case B, definite singular b-en, indefinite plural b-ar, definite plural b-ane)
- The second letter of the Norwegian alphabet, written in the Latin script.
- (music) B-flat
NupeEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
PolishEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (upper case B, lower case)
- The third letter of the Polish alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
- (Latin-script letters) A a, Ą ą, B b, C c, Ć ć, D d, E e, Ę ę, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, Ł ł, M m, N n, Ń ń, O o, Ó ó, P p (Q q), R r, S s, Ś ś, T t, U u (V v), W w (X x), Y y, Z z, Ź ź, Ż ż
Further readingEdit
PortugueseEdit
PronunciationEdit
Audio (BR) (file)
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
RomaniEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
- (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).
RomanianEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The fourth letter of the Romanian alphabet, called be or bî and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
Serbo-CroatianEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (Cyrillic spelling б)
- The second letter of the Serbo-Croatian alphabet (gajica), written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
Skolt SamiEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (upper case B)
- The third letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
SloveneEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Gay's Latin alphabet b, from Czech alphabet b, from Latin b, modification of capital letter B by dropping its upper loop, which is derived from the Etruscan letter 𐌁 (b, “be”), from the Ancient Greek letter Β (B, “beta”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤁 (b, “bet”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓉐. Pronunciation as IPA(key): /bə/ is initial Slovene (phoneme plus a fill vowel) and the second pronunciation is probably taken from German B.
PronunciationEdit
- (phoneme): IPA(key): /b/, [p], [b̪]
- (letter name): IPA(key): /bə́/, /bèː/, /béː/
Audio (letter name, non-tonal) (file) - Rhymes: -ə, -eː
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Slovene alphabet, written in the Latin script.
- The third letter of the Resian alphabet, written in the Latin script.
- The second letter of the Natisone Valley dialect alphabet, written in the Latin script.
SymbolEdit
b
- (SNPT) Phonetic transcription of sound [b].
NounEdit
b m inan
- The name of the Latin script letter B / b.
- (linguistics) The name of the phoneme /b/.
InflectionEdit
- Overall more common
| Masculine inan., soft o-stem | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| nom. sing. | b | ||
| gen. sing. | b-ja | ||
| singular | dual | plural | |
| nominative (imenovȃlnik) |
b | b-ja | b-ji |
| genitive (rodȋlnik) |
b-ja | b-jev | b-jev |
| dative (dajȃlnik) |
b-ju | b-jema | b-jem |
| accusative (tožȋlnik) |
b | b-ja | b-je |
| locative (mẹ̑stnik) |
b-ju | b-jih | b-jih |
| instrumental (orọ̑dnik) |
b-jem | b-jema | b-ji |
- More common when with a definite adjective
| Masculine inan., no endings | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| nom. sing. | b | ||
| gen. sing. | b | ||
| singular | dual | plural | |
| nominative | b | b | b |
| accusative | b | b | b |
| genitive | b | b | b |
| dative | b | b | b |
| locative | b | b | b |
| instrumental | b | b | b |
Derived termsEdit
See alsoEdit
- (Latin-script letters) čŕka; A a, B b, C c, Č č, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, R r, S s, Š š, T t, U u, V v, Z z, Ž ž
- ƀ
Further readingEdit
- “b”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
SpanishEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Spanish alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.
Derived termsEdit
TurkishEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Turkish alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
TurkmenEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (upper case B)
- The second letter of the Turkmen alphabet, written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
VietnameseEdit
PronunciationEdit
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ʔɓe˧˧], [ʔɓe˧˧ ʔɓɔ˨˩], [ʔɓəː˨˩]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [ʔɓej˧˧], [ʔɓej˧˧ ʔɓɔ˦˩], [ʔɓəː˦˩]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [ʔɓej˧˧], [ʔɓej˧˧ ʔɓɔ˨˩], [ʔɓəː˨˩]
- Phonetic: bê, bê bò, bờ
LetterEdit
b (upper case B)
- The fourth letter of the Vietnamese alphabet, called bê, bê bò, or bờ and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
- (Quốc ngữ letters) chữ cái; A a (À à, Ả ả, Ã ã, Á á, Ạ ạ), Ă ă (Ằ ằ, Ẳ ẳ, Ẵ ẵ, Ắ ắ, Ặ ặ), Â â (Ầ ầ, Ẩ ẩ, Ẫ ẫ, Ấ ấ, Ậ ậ), B b, C c (Ch ch), D d, Đ đ, E e (È è, Ẻ ẻ, Ẽ ẽ, É é, Ẹ ẹ), Ê ê (Ề ề, Ể ể, Ễ ễ, Ế ế, Ệ ệ), G g (Gh gh, Gi gi), H h, I i (Ì ì, Ỉ ỉ, Ĩ ĩ, Í í, Ị ị), K k (Kh kh), L l, M m, N n (Ng ng, Ngh ngh, Nh nh), O o (Ò ò, Ỏ ỏ, Õ õ, Ó ó, Ọ ọ), Ô ô (Ồ ồ, Ổ ổ, Ỗ ỗ, Ố ố, Ộ ộ), Ơ ơ (Ờ ờ, Ở ở, Ỡ ỡ, Ớ ớ, Ợ ợ), P p (Ph ph), Q q (Qu qu), R r, S s, T t (Th th, Tr tr), U u (Ù ù, Ủ ủ, Ũ ũ, Ú ú, Ụ ụ), Ư ư (Ừ ừ, Ử ử, Ữ ữ, Ứ ứ, Ự ự), V v, X x, Y y (Ỳ ỳ, Ỷ ỷ, Ỹ ỹ, Ý ý, Ỵ ỵ)
WelshEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Welsh alphabet, called bi and written in the Latin script. It is preceded by a and followed by c.
MutationEdit
- b at the beginning of words mutates to f in a soft mutation, to m in a nasal mutation and is unchanged by aspirate mutation, for example with the word bara (“bread”):
| Welsh mutation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| radical | soft | nasal | aspirate |
| bara | unchanged | ||
| Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. | |||
See alsoEdit
- (Latin-script letters) llythyren; A a (Á á, À à, Â â, Ä ä), B b, C c, Ch ch, D d, Dd dd, E e (É é, È è, Ê ê, Ë ë), F f, Ff ff, G g, Ng ng, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì, Î î, Ï ï), J j, L l, Ll ll, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ò ò, Ô ô, Ö ö), P p, Ph ph, R r, Rh rh, S s, T t, Th th, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù, Û û, Ü ü), W w (Ẃ ẃ, Ẁ ẁ, Ŵ ŵ, Ẅ ẅ), Y y (Ý ý, Ỳ ỳ, Ŷ ŷ, Ÿ ÿ)
Further readingEdit
- R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “b”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
YorubaEdit
PronunciationEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called bí and written in the Latin script.
See alsoEdit
- (Latin-script letters) lẹ́tà; A a (Á á, À à, Ā ā), B b, D d, E e (É é, È è, Ē ē), Ẹ ẹ (Ẹ́ ẹ́, Ẹ̀ ẹ̀, Ẹ̄ ẹ̄), F f, G g, Gb gb, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì, Ī ī), J j, K k, L l, M m (Ḿ ḿ, M̀ m̀, M̄ m̄), N n (Ń ń, Ǹ ǹ, N̄ n̄), O o (Ó ó, Ò ò, Ō ō), Ọ ọ (Ọ́ ọ́, Ọ̀ ọ̀, Ọ̄ ọ̄), P p, R r, S s, Ṣ ṣ, T t, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù, Ū ū), W w, Y y
ZuluEdit
LetterEdit
b (lower case, upper case B)
- The second letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.