u

See also: U, ս, and Appendix:Variations of "u"

u U+0075, u LATIN SMALL LETTER U ← t [U+0074] Basic Latin v → [U+0076]

ｕ U+FF55, ｕ FULLWIDTH LATIN SMALL LETTER U ← ｔ [U+FF54] Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms ｖ → [U+FF56]

Translingual

Etymology 1

Minuscule variation of U, a modern variation of classical Latin V, from seventh century Old Latin adoption of Old Italic letter 𐌖 (V).

Letter

u (upper case U)

1. The twenty-first letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

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

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA

  (file)

Symbol

u

1. (metrology) symbol for unified atomic mass unit
2. (IPA, phonetics) Used in the International Phonetic Alphabet and in several romanization systems of non-Latin scripts to represent a close back rounded vowel (/u/).
3. (physics) up quark

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:

NATO phonetic: Uniform Morse code: ··– Braille: ⠥ ASL Manual: U

Signal flag:

Semaphore:

---

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

u (lower case, upper case U, plural us or u's)

1. The twenty-first letter of the English alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

   I prefer the u in Arial to the one in Times New Roman.

See also

• (Latin script letters) letter; 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

Noun

u (plural ues)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter U.
2. A thing in the shape of the letter U

See also

• (Latin script letter names) letter; a, bee, cee, dee, e, ef, gee, aitch, i, jay, kay, el, em, en, o, pee, cue, ar, ess, tee, u, vee, double-u, ex, wye, zee/zed ^{(Category: en:Latin letter names)}

Translations

name of the letter U, u

• Arabic: أُو‎ (ar) m (ʾū), يُو‎ m (yū)
• Catalan: u (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (English letter names are called as in English, no other standard Mandarin name exists)

• Esperanto: u (eo)
• Finnish: uu (fi)
• Galician: u (gl) m
• Greek: γιου n (giou)
• Hawaiian: ʻū
• Hindi: यू (hi) (yū)
• Ido: u (io)
• Irish: ú, úr

• Japanese: ユー (yū)
• Korean: 유 (ko) (yu)
• Latin: ū (la)
• Malay: yu (ms)
• Marathi: यू (yū)
• Occitan: u (oc) f
• Polish: u (pl) n, u otwarte n (when contrasted with "ó")
• Portuguese: u (pt) m
• Russian: ю (ru) n (ju) (English), у (ru) n (u)
• Spanish: u (es) f
• Thai: ยู (th) (yuu)
• Turkish: u (tr)
• Vietnamese: u (vi)
• Welsh: u f, u bedol f, u gwpan f

Derived terms

• u-turn
• u-bolt

Pronoun

u (second person, singular or plural, nominative or objective)

1. (abbreviation, slang, text messaging, Internet) you (in text messaging and internet conversations)

   Take me with u.

Adjective

u

1. Abbreviation of underwater.

Derived terms

• u-boat (1)

---

Acehnese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [u]

Noun

u

1. coconut (fruit of the coco palm)

References

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

---

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /y/

Etymology 1

From Dutch u.

Pronoun

u

1. (formal) you (singular, subject and object)

See also

Afrikaans personal pronouns

		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.

Etymology 2

From Dutch uw.

Determiner

u

1. (formal) your (singular)

See also

Afrikaans personal pronouns

		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]

Verb

u

1. to swim

References

• Leenhardt, M. (1935) Vocabulaire et grammaire de la langue Houaïlou, Institut d'ethnologie. Cited in: "Houaïlou" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.
• Leenhardt, M. (1946) Langues et dialectes de l'Austro-Mèlanèsie. Cited in: "Ajiø" in 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 *swom, from Proto-Indo-European *swé.

Pronoun

u

1. (reflexive) reflexive pronoun

---

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin aut.

Conjunction

u

1. or

---

Aromanian

Etymology

Probably from an early (proto-Romanian) root *eaua, from Latin illam, accusative feminine singular of ille. Compare Romanian o.

Pronoun

u f (short/unstressed accusative form of ea)

1. (direct object) her

Related terms

• ãl (masculine equivalent)
• li (plural)

---

Asturian

Etymology 1

From Latin aut.

Conjunction

u

1. or

Etymology 2

From Latin ubi.

Pronoun

u

1. where (relative pronoun)

Adverb

u

1. where

Related terms

• ú

---

Azerbaijani

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u lower case (upper case U)

1. The twenty-eighth letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin script letters) hərf; Aa, Bb, Cc, Çç, Dd, Ee, Əə, Ff, Gg, Ğğ, Hh, Xx, Iı, İi, Jj, Kk, Qq, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Üü, Vv, Yy, Zz

---

Bambara

Pronoun

u

1. they

---

Basque

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-second letter of the Basque alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, C c, (Ç ç), D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L, l, M m, N n, Ñ ñ, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, (Ü ü), V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

Noun

u (indeclinable)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter U.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) a, be, ze, de, e, efe, ge, hatxe, i, jota, ka, ele, eme, ene, eñe, o, pe, ku, erre, ese, te, u, uve, uve bikoitz, ixa, i greko, zeta

---

Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /ˈu/

Etymology 1

Noun

u f (plural us)

1. The Latin letter U (lowercase u).

Etymology 2

Noun

u m (plural uns)

1. one

Derived terms

• cada u

 

---

Corsican

Etymology

From the earlier lu. Compare Portuguese o and Aragonese o.

Article

u m (feminine a, masculine plural i, feminine plural e)

1. the

Usage notes

• Before a vowel, u turns into l'.

Pronoun

u m

1. him, it (direct object)

Usage notes

• Before a vowel, u turns into l'.

See also

Corsican personal pronouns

		Nominative	Dative	Accusative	Disjunctive
Singular	1st person	eiu	mi		mè
	2nd person	tù	ti		tè
	3rd person m	ellu	li	u, l'	ellu
	3rd person f	ella		a, l'	ella
Plural	1st person	noi	ci		noi
	2nd person	voi	vi		voi
	3rd person m	elli	li	i, l'	elli
	3rd person f	elle		e, l'	elle

References

• “u, lu” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa

---

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

• audio

  (file)

Preposition

u + genitive

1. at
2. by

Further reading

• u in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• u in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

---

Dutch

Etymology

Originally the accusative/dative form of jij/gij, from Middle Dutch u, from Old Dutch iu, from Proto-West Germanic *iwwiz, 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 nobility, 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

1. (personal, second-person singular, subjective) you (polite).

   Bent u klaar? ― Are you ready?

   Bent u er nog? ― Are you still there?

2. (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.

3. (personal, second-person singular, objective) thee (dialectal).

   Ik doe dat wel voor u. ― I’ll do it for thee.

4. (personal, second-person plural, subjective) you (polite).

   Hebt u die oefening gemaakt? ― Have you prepared that exercise?

5. (personal, second-person plural, objective) you (polite).

   Ze zullen dat wel voor u doen. ― They’ll do it for you.

6. (reflexive, second-person singular) thyself (dialectal)

   Gij hebt u niet gewassen. ― Thou hast not washed thyself.

7. (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, when addressing God.
• See usage notes at gij.

Inflection

Dutch personal pronouns

	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, mijns
2nd person	jij	je	jou	je	jouw	je	jouwe	je	jouwer, jouws
2nd person archaic or regiolectal	gij	ge	u	–	uw	–	uwe	u	uwer, uws
2nd person formal	u	–	u	–	uw	–	uwe	zich	uwer, uws
3rd person masculine	hij	ie1	hem	'm1	zijn	z'n1	zijne	zich	zijner, zijns
3rd person feminine	zij	ze	haar	h'r1, 'r1, d'r1	haar	h'r1, 'r1, d'r1	hare	zich	harer, haars
3rd person neuter	het	't1	het	't1	zijn	z'n1	zijne	zich	zijner, zijns
plural
1st person	wij	we	ons	–	ons, onze2	–	onze	ons	onzer, onzes
2nd person	jullie	je	jullie	je	jullie	je	–	je	–
2nd person archaic or regiolectal6	gij	ge	u	–	uw	–	uwe	u	uwer, uws
2nd person formal	u	–	u	–	uw	–	uwe	zich	uwer, uws
3rd person	zij	ze	hen3, hun4	ze	hun	–	hunne	zich	hunner, huns
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

Synonyms

• jou
• U

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-first letter of the Dutch alphabet.

See also

• Previous letter: t
• Next letter: v

---

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /u/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /u/

• Audio

  (file)

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin script letters) litero; Aa, Bb, Cc, Ĉĉ, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Ĝĝ, Hh, Ĥĥ, Ii, Jj, Ĵĵ, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Ŝŝ, Tt, Uu, Ŭŭ, Vv, Zz

Noun

u (accusative singular u-on, plural u-oj, accusative plural u-ojn)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter U.

See also

• (Latin script letter names) litero; a, bo, co, ĉo, do, e, fo, go, ĝo, ho, ĥo, i, jo, ĵo, ko, lo, mo, no, o, po, ro, so, ŝo, to, u, ŭo, vo, zo ^{(Category: eo:Latin letter names)}

---

Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uː/

Letter

u (upper case U)

1. The twenty-third letter of the Faroese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bókstavur; A a, Á á, B b, D d, Рð, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, Í í, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ó ó, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, Ú ú, V v, Y y, Ý ý, Æ æ, Ø ø

---

Finnish

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-first letter of the Finnish alphabet, called uu and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (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

---

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /y/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -y

Noun

u m (plural u)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter U.

---

Fula

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. A letter of the Fula alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

• Common to all varieties of Fula (Fulfulde / Pulaar / Pular).

See also

• (Latin-script letters) karfeeje; ', A a, B b, Mb mb, Ɓ ɓ, C c, D d, Nd nd, Ɗ ɗ, E e, F f, G g, Ng ng, Ɠ ɠ, H h, I i, J j, Nj nj, K k, L l, M m, N n, Ŋ ŋ, Ñ ñ, Ɲ ɲ, O o, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, W w, Y y, Ƴ ƴ

---

Galician

Etymology 1

From Latin ū.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈu/

Noun

u m (plural us)

1. the name of the letter U.

Etymology 2

From Latin ubi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈu/

Adverb

u

1. (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

   Synonym: onde

2. where (interrogative adverb)

   U-los libros? Ulos? ― Where are the books? Where are they?

   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

Romanization

u

1. Romanization of 𐌿

---

Guinea-Bissau Creole

Etymology

From Portuguese tu.

Pronoun

u

1. you (second person singular).

---

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): [ˈu]
• (letter name): IPA^(key): [ˈu]

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The thirty-fourth letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	u	u-k
accusative	u-t	u-kat
dative	u-nak	u-knak
instrumental	u-val	u-kkal
causal-final	u-ért	u-kért
translative	u-vá	u-kká
terminative	u-ig	u-kig
essive-formal	u-ként	u-kként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	u-ban	u-kban
superessive	u-n	u-kon
adessive	u-nál	u-knál
illative	u-ba	u-kba
sublative	u-ra	u-kra
allative	u-hoz	u-khoz
elative	u-ból	u-kból
delative	u-ról	u-król
ablative	u-tól	u-któl
non-attributive possessive - singular	u-é	u-ké
non-attributive possessive - plural	u-éi	u-kéi

Possessive forms of u
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	u-m	u-im
2nd person sing.	u-d	u-id
3rd person sing.	u-ja	u-i
1st person plural	u-nk	u-ink
2nd person plural	u-tok	u-itok
3rd person plural	u-juk	u-ik

See also

• (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.

Further reading

• (sound and letter): u in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962.
• ([onomatopoeia] imitation of barking): u in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962.

---

Ido

Pronunciation

• (context pronunciation, letter name) IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (upper case U)

1. The twenty-first letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) litero; 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, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

---

Interlingue

Adverb

u

1. where

---

Italian

Etymology

From Latin ū (the name of the letter V).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/
• Rhymes: -u
• Hyphenation: u

Noun

u f (invariable)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter U.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) lettera; a, bi, ci, di, e, effe, gi, acca, i, i lunga, cappa, elle, emme, enne, o, pi, cu, erre, esse, ti, u, vu, doppia vu, ics, ipsilon, zeta

---

Japanese

Romanization

u

1. Rōmaji transcription of う
2. Rōmaji transcription of ウ

---

K'iche'

Pronoun

u

1. his, her, its

References

• Allen J. Christenson, Kʼiche-English dictionary

---

Lashi

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ʔu (“egg, bird”). Cognates include Burmese ဥ (u., “egg”) and Chinese 嫗 (yǔ, “to incubate”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔu/

Noun

u

1. egg

Verb

u

1. to lay an egg

References

• Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid‎^[1], Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis)

---

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /uː/
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /u/

Noun

ū f (indeclinable)

1. The name of the letter V.

Coordinate terms

• (Latin-script letter names) littera; ā, bē, cē, dē, ē, ef, gē, hā / *acca, ī, kā, el, em, en, ō, pē, kū, er, es, tē, ū, ix / īx / ex, ȳ / ī graeca / ȳpsīlon, zēta

References

• u in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], 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
    
• 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]

Letter

U

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-ninth letter of the Latvian alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

See also

• Letters of the Latvian alphabet:

  burti: Aa, Āā, Bb, Cc, Čč, Dd, Ee, Ēē, Ff, Gg, Ģģ, Hh, Ii, Īī, Jj, Kk, Ķķ, Ll, Ļļ, Mm, Nn, Ņņ, Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Šš, Tt, Uu, Ūū, Vv, Zz, Žž

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [u]

Noun

u m (invariable)

1. The name of the Latin script letter U/u.

See also

• Latvian letter names:

  a (A), garais ā (Ā), bē (B), cē (C), čē (Č), dē (D), e (E), garais ē (Ē), ef (F), gā (G), ģē (Ģ), hā (H), i (I), garais ī (Ī), jē (J), kā (K), ķē (Ķ), el (L), eļ (Ļ), em (M), en (N), eņ (Ņ), o (O), pē (P), er (R), es (S), eš (Š), tē (T), u (U), garais ū (Ū), vē (V), zē (Z), žē (Ž)

---

Lithuanian

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /ʊ/

Letter

u (upper case U)

1. The twenty-seventh letter of the Lithuanian alphabet, called u trumpoji and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ą ą, B b, C c, Č č, D d, E e, Ę ę, Ė ė, F f, G g, H h, I i, Į į, Y y, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, R r, S s, Š š, T t, U u, Ų ų, Ū ū, V v, Z z, Ž ž

---

Livonian

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (upper case U)

1. The thirty-fifth letter of the Livonian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) kēratēḑ; A a, Ā ā, Ä ä, Ǟ ǟ, B b, D d, Ḑ ḑ, E e, Ē ē, F f, G g, H h, I i, Ī ī, J j, K k, L l, Ļ ļ, M m, N n, Ņ ņ, O o, Ō ō, Ȯ ȯ, Ȱ ȱ, Õ õ, Ȭ ȭ, P p, R r, Ŗ ŗ, S s, Š š, T t, Ț ț, U u, Ū ū, V v, Z z, Ž ž

---

Malay

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-first letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) 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, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

---

Maltese

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/ (short phoneme)
• IPA^(key): /uː/ (long phoneme)
• IPA^(key): /ɔw/, /aw/ (after għ; variation is regional and idiolectal)
• In inherited words, short u occurs almost exclusively in unstressed syllables. In borrowings, it is a full phoneme and commonly stressed.

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) ittra; A a, B b, Ċ ċ, D d, E e, F f, Ġ ġ, G g, Għ għ, H h, Ħ ħ, I i, Ie ie, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Ż ż, Z z

Etymology 2

From Arabic وَ‎ (wa), from Proto-Semitic *wa. Cognate with Hebrew וְ־‎ (wə-).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/ (between consonants)
• IPA^(key): /w/ (before or after a vowel)
• Homophone: hu

Conjunction

u

1. and; used to connect words, phrases, etc.

   il-kelb u l-qattus ― the dog and the cat

   tpejjep u tixrob ― she smokes and drinks

2. when, as; used after a personal pronoun and followed by an active participle or imperfect verb

   huma u reqdin

   when they were sleeping

   (literally, “they and sleeping”)

   aħna u nitkellmu

   when we were talking

   (literally, “we and we talk”)

Alternative forms

• w (superseded representation of the consonantal pronunciation)

---

Marshallese

Pronunciation

• (phonetic) IPA^(key): [wu]
• (phonemic) IPA^(key): /wiw/
• Bender phonemes: {wiw}

Noun

u (construct form uin)

1. (alienable) a fish trap

References

• Marshallese–English Online Dictionary

---

Mauritian Creole

Pronoun

u (informal to)

1. Alternative spelling of ou

See also

Mauritian Creole personal pronouns

			singular	plural
1st person			mo mwa (objective)	nou
2nd person			to (informal), ou (formal) twa (objective)	zot
3rd person			li	zot, bann-la

---

Mezquital Otomi

Alternative forms

• ʼų́ (obsolete)

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

ú

1. salt

Adjective

ú

1. sweet

Derived terms

• udehe
• uhme
• ukjä
• utfi
• uthe
• utꞌfi
• uza

 

References

• Andrews, Enriqueta (1950) Vocabulario otomí de Tasquillo, Hidalgo‎^[3] (in Spanish), México, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, pages 36, 76
• Hernández Cruz, Luis; Victoria Torquemada, Moisés (2010) Diccionario del hñähñu (otomí) del Valle del Mezquital, estado de Hidalgo (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 45)‎^[4] (in Spanish), second edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 360

---

Middle Dutch

Etymology 1

From Old Dutch iuwa, from Proto-Germanic *izweraz.

Determiner

u

1. your (plural)
2. your (singular, informal)

Usage notes

See the usage notes for gi.

Descendants

• Dutch: uw
• Limburgish: eur

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Pronoun

u

1. accusative/dative of gi

Descendants

• Dutch: u

Further reading

• “uwe”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “u (II)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page II

---

Middle English

Noun

u

1. Alternative form of ew

---

Middle French

Etymology

From Latin u, v.

Letter

u

1. u (letter)
2. v (letter)

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

Pronoun

ū

1. (personal pronoun, dative, Middle German) Alternative form of iu.

---

Middle Low German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uː/

Pronoun

û

1. (personal pronoun, dative, accusative) Alternative form of jû.
2. (possessive) Alternative form of jû.

Declension

Possessive pronoun:

Declension of u

	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

Alternative forms

• ieil (Guernsey)
• yi (Jersey)

Etymology

From Old French ueil, from Vulgar Latin oclus, from Latin oculus, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- (“eye; to see”).

Noun

u m (plural uûs or uur)

1. (France, anatomy) eye

---

Norwegian

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ʉː/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /ʉː/, /ʉ/, /ʊ/

• Audio

  (file)

Letter

u

1. The 21st letter of the Norwegian alphabet

---

Occitan

Noun

u f (plural us)

1. u (the letter u, U)

---

Old French

Etymology 1

From Latin ubi.

Adverb

u

1. Alternative form of ou (“where”)
   • c. 1170, Wace, Le Roman de Rou‎^[5]:

     Dez ke Richart le sout, un espie enveia
     Saveir u Thiebaut ert, e combien gent il a.

     As soon as Richard knew about it, he sent a spy
     to know where Thibalt was, and how many people he had with him.

Descendants

• Middle French: ou
  • French: où

Etymology 2

From Latin u, v.

Letter

u

1. u (letter)
2. v (letter)

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

Etymology

From Latin ubi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈu/

Adverb

u

1. 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.

Descendants

• Galician: u
• Portuguese: u

---

Polish

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *u, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

• Audio

  (file)

Preposition

u (+ genitive)

1. at

Further reading

• u in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• u in Polish dictionaries at PWN

---

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈu/
• Homophone: o

Etymology 1

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-first letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

u m (plural us)

1. u (name of the letter U, u)

See also

• (Latin-script letters) letra; A a (Á á, À à,  â, àã), B b, C c (Ç ç), D d, E e (É é, Ê ê), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í), J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ô ô, Õ õ), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú), V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

Etymology 2

From Old Portuguese u, from Latin ubi. Cognate with Galician u, French où, Italian ove and Romanian iuo.

Adverb

u

1. (obsolete) where
   • 1534, Gil Vicente, Auto de Mofina Mendes:

     […] nam ſey per u

     […] (I) don't know where}}

   Synonym: onde

Etymology 3

Article

u m

1. Eye dialect spelling of o.

---

Pumpokol

Etymology

From Proto-Yeniseian *ʔaw (/ *ʔu) ("thou").

Pronoun

u

1. you (second-person plural subjective)

Synonyms

• úe

---

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-sixth letter of the Romanian alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ă ă,  â, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, Πî, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, Ș ș, T t, Ț ț, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

---

Romansch

Etymology

From Latin aut.

Conjunction

u

1. or

---

Rumu

Noun

u

1. water

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)

1. The 27th letter of the Serbo-Croatian Latin alphabet (gajica), preceded by t and followed by v.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Slavic *vъ(n).

Preposition

u (Cyrillic spelling у)

1. (+ 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

2. (+ 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

3. (+ 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?

4. (+ 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.

Preposition

u (Cyrillic spelling у)

1. (+ genitive case) chez

---

Sicilian

Alternative forms

• lu

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *illu, from Latin illum, from ille.

Article

u m sg (f a, plural i)

1. (definite article) the

Related terms

Sicilian articles
	Masculine	Feminine
indefinite singular	un, nu	na
definite singular	lu, û	la, â
definite plural	li, î	li, î

---

Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /u/, /w/

Letter

u (upper case U)

1. The thirty-first letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bukva; A a,  â, B b, C c, Č č, Ʒ ʒ, Ǯ ǯ, D d, Đ đ, E e, F f, G g, Ǧ ǧ, Ǥ ǥ, H h, I i, J j, K k, Ǩ ǩ, L l, M m, N n, Ŋ ŋ, O o, Õ õ, P p, R r, S s, Š š, T t, U u, V v, Z z, Ž ž, Å å, Ä ä, ʹ

---

Somali

Preposition

u

1. to
2. for

Usage notes

• In Somali, prepositions fall before the verb and not before the noun they modify:

  u sheeg -- to tell (lit. to call to)

  u keen -- to bring to

---

Spanish

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

• Audio (Spain)

  (file)

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The 22nd letter of the Spanish alphabet.

Noun

u f (plural úes)

1. Name of the letter U.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/, [u], [w]

Conjunction

u

1. or

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.

---

Swahili

Verb

u

1. (uncommon, archaic) you are; thou art

   u hali gani? ― how are you doing?

   Pepo waliwatoka watu wengi, wakapiga kelele wakisema: "Wewe u Mwana wa Mungu!" ― Demons came out of many people, shouting, "You are the Son of God!"

Usage notes

This term is archaic except in the common greeting u hali gani. Along with m and ni it is not conjugated.

See also

• m

---

Swedish

Pronunciation

Letter name

• IPA^(key): /ʉː/

Phoneme

• IPA^(key): /ʉː/, /ɵ/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-first letter of the Swedish alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

---

Tolai

Pronoun

u

1. Second-person singular pronoun: you (singular)

Declension

Tolai personal pronouns

	singular	dual	paucal	plural
1st person exclusive	iau	amir mir	amital mital	avet ave1
1st person inclusive	-	dor	datal	dat da1
2nd person	u	amur mur	amutal mutal	avat ava1
3rd person	ia i	dir di	dital	diat dia1
1) The plural pronouns lose the final -t when preceding a verb.

---

Torres Strait Creole

Noun

u

1. (eastern dialect) a mature coconut

Usage notes

U is the sixth stage of coconut growth. It is preceded by pes and followed by drai koknat.

---

Turkish

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-fifth letter of the Turkish alphabet, called [[u#|u]] and written in the Latin script.

Noun

1. The name of the Latin-script letter [[U#|U]].

---

Turkmen

Letter

1. The letter of the alphabet, called [[u#|u]] and written in the Latin script.

---

Tzotzil

Noun

2. month

References

• “ˀu(1)” in Laughlin, Robert M. (1975) The Great Tzotzil Dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantán. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.

---

Uyghur

---

Uzbek

Pronoun

1. Demonstrative pronoun used to indicate a thing that is far away from the speaker. that.

---

Vietnamese

Etymology 1

Noun

1. mother; mom

Etymology 2

From .

Noun

(classifier )

1. excrescence; protuberance; swelling
2. tumor

Verb

1. to get bumpy; to swell

Etymology 3

From .

Noun

1. The name of the Latin-script letter [[U#|U]].

---

Volapük

Conjunction

1. or

Alternative forms

• (in front of vowels) ud

---

Welsh

Alternative forms

• :
• :
• :
• :

Letter

1. The letter of the alphabet, called [[u#|u]] and written in the Latin script. It is preceded by and followed by .
2. The name of the Latin-script letter [[U#|U]].

Derived terms

• Digraph sequences:

---

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Letter

1. The letter of the alphabet, called [[ú#|ú]] and written in the Latin script.

See also

• As used in Benin:

Etymology 2

Noun

1. The name of the Latin-script letter [[U#|U]].

Etymology 3

Pronoun

1. him, her, it

Pronoun

1. him, her, it

See also

Affirmative subject pronouns

	singular	plural or honorific
1st person
2nd person
3rd person

Negative subject pronouns

	singular	plural or honorific
1st person	/
2nd person
3rd person	[pronoun dropped]

Object pronouns

	singular	plural or honorific
1st person
2nd person	/
3rd person	[preceding vowel repeated for monosyllabic verbs] /

Note: except for yín, object pronouns have a high tone following a low or mid tone monosyllabic verb, and a mid tone following a high tone. For complex verbs, the tone does not change.

Emphatic pronouns

	singular	plural or honorific
1st person
2nd person
3rd person

---

Zou

Noun

1. sister
2. brother

References

• http://www.languageinindia.com/feb2013/zouphonologyfinal.pdf

---

Zulu

Letter

1. The letter of the alphabet, written in the Latin script.