U
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Translingual
Etymology
From the Etruscan letter 𐌖 (u, “u”), from the Ancient Greek letter Υ (U, “ypsilon”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤅 (w, “waw”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓏲. Doublet of Y and V.
See also
Symbol
U
- (chemistry) Symbol for uranium.
- (genetics) IUPAC 1-letter abbreviation for uracil
- (physics) voltage
- (mathematics, statistics) uniform distribution
- (algebra) unitary group
- (linguistics) A wildcard for a rounded vowel or a back vowel
- synonyms: O
- rack unit, the unit of length defined as 1.75 inches
Gallery
- Letter styles
- Uppercase and lowercase versions of U, in normal and italic type
- Uppercase and lowercase U in Fraktur
See also
The template Template:Letter does not use the parameter(s): Character=UPlease see Module:checkparams for help with this warning.
Other representations of U:
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English
Letter
Coordinate terms
Etymology 2
An abbreviation of a word or term beginning with the letter U. Adjective sense 1 (“characteristic of the upper classes”) was coined by British linguist Alan S. C. Ross (1907–1980) in a 1954 article,[1] and popularized by the English journalist and writer Nancy Mitford (1904–1973).[2]
Noun
U
- A U-turn.
- 2003, Tony Hillerman, The Sinister Pig, →ISBN, page 115:
- Do a U across the divider and get on back here to the office.
- Abbreviation of university.
- Abbreviation of Sunday.
- (UK) A film with the film classification U (“universal”).
Adjective
U (not generally comparable, comparative Uer, superlative Uest)
- (comparable, chiefly British, dated) Abbreviation of upper class (“characteristic of the upper classes, particularly in the use of language”).
- Antonym: non-U
- 1954, Alan S[trode] C[ampbell] Ross, “Linguistic Class-indicators in Present-day English”, in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen [Modern Language Communications], volume 55, number 1, Helsinki: Modern Language Society, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 April 2015, page 24:
- I may also note here that the U-demarcation is of two types: – (1) a certain U-feature has a different, non-U counterpart as non-U wealthy / U rich; (2) a certain feature is confined to U-speech and it has a counterpart which is not confined to non-U speech e.g. the pronunciations of girl as [ɡɛl], (? [ɡjɛl]), [ɡæl], [ɡɛəl] are U, but many (perhaps most male) U-speakers, like all non-U-speakers, use the pronunciation [ɡəːl].
- [1956], Alan S. C. Ross, “U and non-U”, in David Milsted, Brewer’s Anthology of England and the English, page 120:
- To TAKE a bath is non-U against U to HAVE one’s bath.
- 1956, Nancy Mitford, Noblesse Oblige: an Inquiry into the Identifiable Characteristics of the English Aristocracy:
- In a treatise that still causes ripples in English society, Mitford defined various terms as either U (upper class) or non-U.
- 1968 August 21, “U and Non-U Today: 2. Actions”, in New Society: The Social Science Weekly, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 267, column 2:
- A wedding is a great occasion for u/non-u indicators. The u mother will be quietly dressed; the non-u one will be more ostentatious and have a corsage. The u father will be wearing his own morning coat and a carnation. The non-u father will bolster his carnation—on his hired morning coat—with a sprig of fern, and perhaps even carry a pair of grey gloves.
- 1976, J[an] T. J. Srzednicki, “Structure of Beliefs and Group Structure”, in Elements of Social and Political Philosophy (Melbourne International Philosophy Series; 2), The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, , →ISBN, page 135:
- The U/non-U priority rule will be in accord with servant master-type rules if masters are U and servants are non-U, for then the rules support each other. But since a master who cannot command is not a master, a non-U sergeant must take priority over a U-recruit, the same with impoverished aristocratic chauffeurs working for nouveau-riche plebeian millionaires.
- 1977, Beverley Nichols, “Toilet-training”, in The Spectator: A Weekly Review of Politics, Literature, Theology, and Art, volume 238, London: F. C. Westley, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 15, column 3:
- Was it all a huge joke … this U and non-U business? Yes and no. John Betjeman assured me that it was. But some jokes have an element of cruelty and a great many sensitive people, particularly women, must have suffered agonies of embarrassment because they were uncertain as to what was 'done,' and what was not.
- 1992, John Algeo, “Sociolinguistic Attitudes and Issues in Contemporary Britain”, in Tim W[illiam] Machan, Charles T. Scott, editors, English in Its Social Contexts: Essays in Historical Sociolinguistics (Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics), New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 165:
- The concept of U (for upper-class British usage, as opposed to non-U, or everything else) was introduced by Alan S. C. Ross (1954) and was taken up by Nancy Mitford (1956), becoming for a time something of a parlor game in which the participants tested themselves and everyone else for signs of U and non-U status.
- 1992, Stephan Gramley, Survey of Modern English, page 38:
- Other, perhaps more contentious generalizations, which nevertheless contain a certain amount of truth, are that afternoon tea is U, starts at four and typically consists of tea, thin sandwiches and cakes.
- 1993, Philip Pettit, “For Holism, against Atomism”, in The Common Mind: An Essay on Psychology, Society, and Politics, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN; 1st paperback edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1996, →ISBN, part II (Mind and Society), pages 205–206:
- To speak of lavatories is U, of bathrooms non-U; to lay cloth napkins at table is U, to lay paper napkins non-U; and so on through a myriad of equally trivial examples. I assume that there is something distinctively collusive in the way Sloanes use the U-concept: that as they individually decide whether something is U or non-U they look over their shoulders to make sure they stay in step—the community is the authority—rather than looking to the thing itself to see what profile it displays.
- 2001, Stephan Gramley, The Vocabulary of World English (English Language Series), London: Arnold; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 205:
- For this we must turn to speculations such as those offered in connection with U and non-U English.
- 2011, David Crystal, “65: Lunch: U or Non-U (19th Century)”, in The Story of English in 100 Words, London: Profile Books, →ISBN, page 171:
- Eventually, as we now know, the present-day use of lunch and dinner became established among the fashionable classes. As the 20th century dawned, the pages of Punch magazine are full of references to business lunches and evening dinner parties. Meanwhile, the lower orders of society continued to use dinner for their midday meal, and so the U/non-U distinction was born. But the story of lunch and dinner is not over yet. Expressions such as lunch-box and packed lunch have reinforced a change of usage among many non-U children, so that they now happily talk about school lunches (though still served by dinner ladies).
- (not comparable) Abbreviation of united.
- (not comparable) Abbreviation of upper.
- (not comparable, education, espionage) Usually in parentheses: abbreviation of unclassified.
- (not comparable, UK) In a film certificate: abbreviation of universal (“suitable for all ages”).
Preposition
U
Etymology 3
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Synonyms
- P'uman
Translations
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Further reading
- Ethnologue entry for U, uuu
Etymology 4
See Ü.
Proper noun
U
- Alternative form of Ü (“Tibetan language”)
- 1924, William Montgomery McGovern, To Lhasa in Disguise: A Secret Expedition Through Mysterious Tibet:
- Among the settled communities of Central Tibet, the Tsang dialect as spoken in Shigatse and the U dialect as spoken in Lhasa hold the field.
References
- Alan S[trode] C[ampbell] Ross (1954) “Linguistic Class-indicators in Present-day English”, in Neuphilologische Mitteilungen [Modern Language Communications], volume 55, number 1, Helsinki: Modern Language Society, →ISSN, →JSTOR, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 April 2015, footnote 2, page 21:
- In this article I use the terms upper class (abbreviated: U), correct, proper, legitimate, appropriate (sometimes also possible) and similar expressions (including some containing the word should) to designate usages of the upper class; their antonyms (non-U, incorrect, not proper, not legitimate, etc.) to designate usages which are not upper class. These terms are, of course, used factually and not in reprobation [...]. Normal means common to both U and non-U.
- “U, adj. and n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2003; “U, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Further reading
U and non-U English on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Afar
Letter
U
- The nineteenth letter in the Afar alphabet.
Angami
See also
- (Latin-script letters) Ü ü, Üi üi, A a, Ai ai, I i, Ie ie, U u, Uo uo, E e, Ei ei, O o, Ou ou, K k, Kh kh, G g, Ng ng, C c, Ch ch, J j, Jh jh, Ny ny, T t, Th th, D d, N n, Ts ts, Tsh tsh, Dz dz, P p, Ph ph, B b, M m, Pf pf, Bv bv, Y y, Yh yh, R r, Rh rh, L l, Lh lh, F f, V v, W w, Wh wh, S s, Sh sh, Z z, Zh zh, H h
Azerbaijani
Letter
U upper case (lower case u)
Central Franconian
Etymology
Pronunciation
Letter
U
- A letter in the German-based alphabet of Central Franconian.
- A letter in the Dutch-based alphabet of Central Franconian.
Usage notes
- In the German-based spelling, /ø/ is represented by Ö, while /y/, /yː/ are represented by Ü (see these).
- In the Dutch-based spelling, both short /u/ and long /uː/ are written oe. The short vowel is optionally indicated in open syllables by doubling the following consonant: floeppe or floepe.
- In the German-based spelling, long u may be doubled to u in the following cases:
- In the Dutch-based spelling, both short /y/ and long /yː/ are always written uu in closed syllables, u in open syllables.
Chinese
Etymology 1
From English U. The sense of “university”, is short for university and the sense of “subject failed in examinations” is short for unclassified as written on the results notice.
Pronunciation
Noun
U
- (Hong Kong Cantonese) university (Classifier: 間/间 c)
- (Hong Kong Cantonese) a failed subject in HKCEE, HKALE or HKDSE (Classifier: 個/个 c)
Pronunciation
Pronunciation 1
Letter
U
- The twenty-first letter of the Latin alphabet.
Pronunciation 2
Usage notes
- The pronunciation above are only used while referring to letters in Pinyin. They are not used in other context (such as English).
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /y/
Audio (file)
Pronoun
U (personal & reflexive pronoun, capitalized form of u)
- (archaic) Second-person singular & plural, objective & subjective: you (polite).
Usage notes
- See usage notes at u.
Alternative forms
- (Brabantian) a
Esperanto
Pronunciation
- (letter name): IPA(key): /u/
- (phoneme): IPA(key): /u/
Audio (file) Audio (file)
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
Finnish
Etymology
The Finnish orthography using the Latin script was based on those of Swedish, German and Latin, and was first used in the mid-16th century. No earlier script is known. See the Wikipedia article on Finnish for more information, and U for information on the development of the glyph itself.
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
See also
German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʔuː/
Audio (file)
Hungarian
Pronunciation
- (phoneme): IPA(key): [ˈu]
- (letter name): IPA(key): [ˈu]
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
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 |
Ido
Irish
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
Derived terms
See also
- See Template:list:Latin script letters/ga.
Italian
Pronunciation
- (letter name) IPA(key): /ˈu/*
- Rhymes: -u
- Hyphenation: Ù
- (phonemic realization) IPA(key): /ˈu/
- (phonemic realization when followed by a vowel in the same syllable) IPA(key): /w/
Letter
U f or m (invariable, upper case, lower case u)
Japanese
Noun
U • (yū)
- (typography, newspapers) a unit in newspaper typesetting, equal to 11 mils, 11⁄1000 in, 1⁄8 倍 (bai) and 1⁄128 段 (dan)
Kashubian
Etymology
The Kashubian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Kashubian alphabet article on Wikipedia for more, and U for development of the glyph itself.
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
Latin
Etymology
Originally took the form of the modern-day V, which is derived from U.
Pronunciation
- Classical: IPA: short /u/, long /u:/
Letter
U
- A letter of the Latin alphabet.
References
- "U" in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- U in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
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]
Malay
Pronunciation
- (Name of letter) IPA(key): [ju]
- (Phoneme) IPA(key): [u]
- (Phoneme, Closed ultima) IPA(key): [o]
Nupe
Pronunciation
- (phoneme): IPA(key): /u/, (after /n/ or /m/) /ũ/
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
Polish
Etymology
The Polish orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the history of Polish orthography article on Wikipedia for more, and U for development of the glyph itself.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
Portuguese
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
Romani
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /u/
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
See also
- (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).
Saanich
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /əw/, /u/
Scottish Gaelic
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
Silesian
Etymology
The Silesian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Silesian language article on Wikipedia for more, and U for development of the glyph itself.
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
Slovene
Letter
U (capital, lowercase u)
- The 22nd letter of the Slovene alphabet. Preceded by T and followed by V.
Spanish
Tagalog
Pronunciation
- (Standard Tagalog)
- IPA(key): /ˈju/ [ˈju] (letter name, Filipino alphabet)
- IPA(key): /ˈʔu/ [ˈʔu] (letter name, Abakada alphabet, Abecedario)
- IPA(key): /ˈu/ [ˈu] (phoneme, stressed)
- IPA(key): /ˈu/ [ˈu] (phoneme, unstressed)
- Rhymes: -u
- Syllabification: U
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u, Baybayin spelling ᜌᜓ)
- The twenty-third letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Filipino alphabet), called yu and written in the Latin script.
See also
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u, Baybayin spelling ᜂ)
- The eighteenth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Abakada alphabet), called u and written in the Latin script.
- (historical) The twenty-fourth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Abecedario), called u and written in the Latin script.
Further reading
- “U”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
Turkish
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
Vietnamese
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ʔu˧˧]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [ʔʊw˧˧]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [ʔʊw˧˧]
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
See also
- (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)
Welsh
Pronunciation
- (North Wales) IPA(key): /ɨː/
- (South Wales) IPA(key): /ˌiː ˈbeːdɔl/, /ˌiː ˈbɛdɔl/, /ˌiː ˈɡʊpan/
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
Mutation
- U cannot mutate but, being a vowel, does take h-prothesis, for example with the word uchelwydd (“mistletoe”):
Welsh mutation | |||
---|---|---|---|
radical | soft | nasal | h-prothesis |
uchelwydd | unchanged | unchanged | huchelwydd |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
See also
- (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 reading
- R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “U”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
Yoruba
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)
See also
- (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
- (Benin) (Latin-script letters) lɛ́tà; A a, B b, D d, E e, Ɛ ɛ, F f, G g, Gb gb, H h, I i, J j, K k, Kp kp, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ɔ ɔ, P p, R r, S s, Sh sh, T t, U u, W w, Y y
Zulu
Letter
U (upper case, lower case u)