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]

Character variations

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

ᵘ U+1D58, ᵘ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL U ← ᵗ [U+1D57] Phonetic Extensions ᵙ → [U+1D59]

Languages (116)

Translingual • English

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Acehnese • Afrikaans • Ajië • Akkadian • Albanian • Alemannic German • Aragonese • Aromanian • Asturian • Azerbaijani • Bambara • Basque • Catalan • Central Mazahua • Cora • Corsican • Czech • Dakota • Drung • Dutch • Esperanto • Estonian • Fala • Faroese • Finnish • French • Fula • Galician • German • Ghomara • Gothic • Guinea-Bissau Creole • Hungarian • Icelandic • Ido • Indonesian • Irish • Italian • Japanese • Judeo-Tat • Kankanaey • Kashubian • Khasi • Khiamniungan Naga • K'iche' • Kiowa • Latin • Latvian • Lithuanian • Livonian • Lower Sorbian • Luxembourgish • Malay • Maltese • Māori • Marshallese • Mauritian Creole • Mezquital Otomi • Middle Dutch • Middle English • Middle French • Middle High German • Middle Low German • Mizo • Norman • North Frisian • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Nupe • Nuxalk • Occitan • Old Czech • Old English • Old French • Old Galician-Portuguese • Old Polish • Oromo • Polish • Portuguese • Pumpokol • Romani • Romanian • Romansh • Rumu • Salar • Scottish Gaelic • Serbo-Croatian • Sicilian • Silesian • Skolt Sami • Slovak • Somali • Spanish • Sumerian • Swahili • Swedish • Tagalog • Tlingit • Tolai • Torres Strait Creole • Turkish • Turkmen • Tzotzil • Uyghur • Uzbek • Vietnamese • Volapük • Watam • Welsh • Yekora • Yele • Yoruba • Zou • Zulu

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Page categories

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 (lower case, 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, Greek υ (upsilon), Hebrew ו (vav)
• u on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• Pronunciation of IPA [uː]:

  (file)

Symbol

u

1. (metrology) Symbol for atomic mass unit.
2. (IPA, phonetics) A close back rounded vowel.
3. (IPA, superscript ⟨ᵘ⟩) [u]-coloring, a [u] on-glide or off-glide (a diphthong), or a weak, fleeting, epenthetic or echo [u].
4. (international standards) Transliterates Indic उ (or equivalent).
5. (particle physics) Up quark.

Gallery

• Letter styles
• 
  Uppercase 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 1

Anglo-Saxon Futhorc letter ᚢ (u, “ur”)

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): /ˈjuː/
• (Wales) IPA^(key): /ɪʊ̯/
• Rhymes: -uː
• Homophones: ewe, hew, hue, Hugh (h-dropping); yew, you (not in Wales)

Phoneme

• (Australia) IPA^(key): /a/, /jʉː/, /ʉː/, /ʊ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ə/, /ʌ/, /juː/, /uː/, /ʊ/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ə/, /ʌ/, /ju/, /u/, /ʊ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• (South US) IPA^(key): /ə/, /ʌ/, /ɜ/, /juː/, /uː/, /ʊ/

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/u.
2. A thing in the shape of the letter U.

Alternative forms

• you

Translations

name of the letter U, u

• Arabic: أُو (ar) m (ʔū), يُو m (yū)
• Asturian: u (ast)
• Bengali: ইউ (iu)
• Bulgarian: у (bg) n (u)
• Burmese: ယူ (my) (yu)
• 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 (el) n (giou)
• Hawaiian: ʻū
• Hindi: यू (hi) (yū)
• Ido: u (io)
• Irish: ú, úr
• Japanese: ユー (ja) (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

• long u
• short u
• U-boat (shipping)
• U-bolt
• u-space
• u-stem
• u-substitution
• u-turn
• u-word

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)}

Etymology 2

Pronoun

u (second person, singular or plural, nominative or objective, possessive determiner ur, possessive pronoun urs, singular reflexive urself, plural reflexive urselves)

2. (Internet slang, text messaging) Abbreviation of you.

   t8k me w u

   • 2009 March 10, Rosie DiManno, “Murder reduced to infantile online postings”, in Toronto Star‎^[2], archived from the original on 13 March 2009:

     "(W)ho knows I wanted her dead? cuz i only told u and (D.B.) so unless u told someone ..."

   • 2018, Tommy Orange, “Jacquie Red Feather”, in There There, New York, N.Y.: Vintage Books, →ISBN, page 100:

     What r u doing? Jacquie texted Opal. She put her phone on the bed and went to her suitcase to get her swimsuit.

Derived terms

• fuk u

Adjective

u

1. Abbreviation of underwater.

Derived terms

• u-boat (1)

Derived terms

• cul8r
• thank u

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 determiner	possessive pronoun
singular	1st		ek	my		myne
	2nd		jy	jou		joune
	2nd, formal		u			u s’n
	3rd	masc	hy	hom	sy	syne
		fem	sy	haar		hare
		neut	dit		sy	syne
plural	1st		ons			ons s’n
	2nd		julle / jul1			julle s’n
	3rd		hulle / hul1			hulle s’n

¹ The forms jul and hul are unstressed variants. They are used mostly in possessive function, but also otherwise, chiefly when the pronoun is repeated within the same sentence.

Etymology 2

From Dutch uw.

Determiner

u

1. (formal) your (singular)

See also

Afrikaans personal pronouns

			subjective	objective	possessive determiner	possessive pronoun
singular	1st		ek	my		myne
	2nd		jy	jou		joune
	2nd, formal		u			u s’n
	3rd	masc	hy	hom	sy	syne
		fem	sy	haar		hare
		neut	dit		sy	syne
plural	1st		ons			ons s’n
	2nd		julle / jul1			julle s’n
	3rd		hulle / hul1			hulle s’n

¹ The forms jul and hul are unstressed variants. They are used mostly in possessive function, but also otherwise, chiefly when the pronoun is repeated within the same sentence.

Ajië

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [u]

Verb

u

1. to swim

References

• Leenhardt, M. (1935), Vocabulaire et grammaire de la langue Houaïlou, Paris: 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.

Akkadian

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *wa (“and”). Cognate with Arabic وَ (wa) and Biblical Hebrew וְ־ (wə̆-).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

Conjunction

u

1. and
   • 1755–1750 BCE, King Hammurabi of Babylon, translated by CDLI, Hammurabi Code‎^[3], The Louvre, Prologue, lines 3-5:

     𒀭𒂗𒆤 𒁁𒂖 𒊭𒈨𒂊 𒅇 𒅕𒍢𒁴

     [Enlil bēl šamê u erṣetim]

     ^den-lil₂ be-el ša-me-e u₃ er-ṣe-tim

     Enlil, lord of heaven and earth

2. moreover, likewise, also, too

   𒅇 𒅆𒅅𒁕𒄠 𒋗𒁉𒇴 [u šiqdam šūbilam] ― u₃ ši-iq-da-am šu-bi-lam ― also, send me almonds

   • 1755–1750 BCE, King Hammurabi of Babylon, translated by OMNIKA Foundation, Hammurabi Code‎^[4], The Louvre, Law 129:

     𒋳𒈠𒀸𒊭𒀜 𒀀𒉿𒅆 𒀉𒋾𒍣𒅗𒊑𒅎 𒊭𒉌𒅎 𒄿𒈾𒄿𒌅𒅆 𒀉𒋫𒊍𒁁 𒄿𒅗𒍪𒋗𒉡𒋾𒈠 𒀀𒈾 𒈨𒂊 𒄿𒈾𒀜𒁺𒌑 𒋗𒉡𒋾 𒋳𒈠𒁁𒂖 𒀸𒊭𒁴 𒀸𒊭𒍪𒌑𒁀𒆷𒀜 𒅇 𒊬𒊒𒌝 𒀵𒍪𒌑𒁀𒆷𒀜

     [šumma aššat awīlim itti zikarim šanîm ina itūlim ittaṣbat, ikassûšunūtī-ma ana mê inaddûšunūti; šumma bēl aššatim aššassu uballaṭ, u šarrum warassu uballaṭ.]

     šum-ma aš-ša-at a-wi-lim it-ti zi-ka-ri-im ša-ni-im i-na i-tu-lim it-ta-aṣ-bat i-ka-su₂-šu-nu-ti-ma a-na me-e i-na-ad-du-u₂-šu-nu-ti šum-ma be-el aš-ša-tim aš-ša-su₂ u₂-ba-la-aṭ u₃ šar-ru-um IR₃-su₂ u₂-ba-la-aṭ

     If an awīlum's wife has been caught lying with another man, they will be bound and thrown into the water; if the wife's lord wishes to spare his wife, also the king may spare his servant.

Cuneiform spellings

Phonetic
𒅇 (u₃)

References

• Huehnergard, John (2011), A Grammar of Akkadian (Harvard Semitic Studies; 45), 3rd edition, Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns
• “šiqdu”, in The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (CAD)‎^[5], Chicago: University of Chicago Oriental Institute, 1956–2011

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *wa, from Proto-Indo-European *swom, from Proto-Indo-European *swé. Compare Latin sē.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

Pronoun

u

1. the reflexive pronoun

   u mblodhën ― they gathered (literally, “they gathered themselves”)

2. them (dative clitic)

See also

Albanian personal pronouns

number	person		nominative	accusative	dative	ablative	accusative	dative
				stressed			clitic
singular
	1st		unë	mua		meje	më
	2nd		ti	ty		teje	të
	3rd	m	ai	atë	atij		e	i
		f	ajo		asaj
plural
	1st		ne		neve	nesh	na
	2nd		ju		juve	jush	ju
	3rd	m	ata		atyre		i	u
		f	ato

Alemannic German

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• un, und

Pronunciation

• (Bern) IPA^(key): /ʊ/

Conjunction

u

1. (Bern) and
   • 2008, Ulrich Stuber, Der Bettleschloss-Tüfel:

     Si hei glachet u der Grossätti het gfunge: „So, jetz wärs Zyt für no chlei öppis z Znacht - u nächär göh mir de ungere.

     She laughed and the grandpa opined: „So, now is the time for a little bit of dinner - and afterwards we'll go downstairs.

Etymology 2

Adverb

u

1. alternative spelling of uu

Further reading

• “u”, in Wörterbuch Berndeutsch-Deutsch (in German), berndeutsch.ch, 1999–2026

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)

See also

Aromanian personal pronouns

number	person		nominative	accusative	dative	accusative	dative
				stressed		unstressed
singular
	1st		iou	mini	mie	mi	nji
	2nd		tu	tini	tsãie	ti	tsã
	3rd	m	el / nãs	el	lui	ãl	ãlj
		f	ea / nãsã	ea	ljei	u
plural
	1st		noi	noi	noauã	nã
	2nd		voi	voi	voauã	vã
	3rd	m	elj / nãsh	elj	lor	ãlj	lã
		f	eali / nãsi	eali		li

Asturian

Etymology 1

From Latin aut.

Conjunction

u

1. (Cabrales, Allande, Miranda, Valdés) alternative form of o

Etymology 2

From Latin ubi.

Alternative forms

• ou (Somiedo, Teberga)
• au

Pronoun

u

1. where (relative pronoun)

   Equí ye u alcontré la fueya.

   Here is where I found the leaf.

Related terms

• ú (adverb form)
• úlu
• aú

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 (tone ù)

1. they

See also

• olu

Basque

Pronunciation

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

Further reading

• “u”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “u”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central, Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈu]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -u

Etymology 1

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

Derived terms

• ú
• ü

See also

• (Latin-script letters) lletres; A a (À à), B b, C c (Ç ç), D d, E e (É é, È è), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í, Ï ï), J j, K k, L l (L·L l·l), M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ò ò), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú, Ü ü), V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

Etymology 2

Inherited from Latin ūnum, from an older oinom, from Proto-Italic *oinos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos.

Catalan numbers ^(edit)

		10
	←  0	1	2  →	10  →
Cardinal: u, un     Ordinal: primer     Ordinal abbreviation: 1r
Catalan Wikipedia article on 1

Noun

u m (plural uns)

1. one

Derived terms

• cada u

Central Mazahua

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ⱥ ⱥ, A̱ a̱, B b, C c, Cꞌ cꞌ, Cj cj, Cu cu, Cꞌu cꞌu, Cju cju, Ch ch, Chꞌ chꞌ, Chj chj, D d, Dy dy, E e, Ɇ ɇ, E̱ e̱, G g, Gu gu, Hu hu, ꞌHu ꞌhu, I i, I̱ i̱, J j, Jꞌ jꞌ, Jm jm, Jn jn, Jñ jñ, Ju ju, Jy jy, L l, M m, Mꞌ mꞌ, N n, Nꞌ nꞌ, Ñ ñ, Ñꞌ ñꞌ, O o, Ø ø, O̱ o̱, P p, Pj pj, R r, S s, T t, Tꞌ tꞌ, Tj tj, Ts ts, Tsꞌ tsꞌ, Tsj tsj, U u, Ꞹ ꞹ, U̱ u̱, X x, Z z, Zh zh, ꞌ

Cora

Particle

u

1. inside
2. within view (of the speaker)
3. entering a deep domain; entering a domain in an extensive manner

   utyásuuna ša'ari cahta'a

   The water is pouring into the (deep) pot.

Antonyms

• a (“outside; out of view”)

References

• Eugene Casad, Ronald Langacker (1985), “'Inside' and 'outside' in Cora grammar”, in International Journal of American Linguistics

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

number	person		nominative	dative	accusative	disjunctive
singular	1st		eiu	mi		mè
	2nd		tù	ti		tè
	3rd	m	ellu	li	u, l'	ellu
		f	ella		a, l'	ella
plural	1st		noi	ci		noi
	2nd		voi	vi		voi
	3rd	m	elli	li	i, l'	elli
		f	elle		e, l'	elle

References

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

Czech

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew

Proto-Balto-Slavic *au

Proto-Slavic *u

Old Czech u

Czech u

Inherited from Old Czech u, from Proto-Slavic *u.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

• Audio:

  (file)

Preposition

u [with genitive]

1. at
2. by

Further reading

• “u”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “u”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Dakota

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a (Á á), B b, Č č, Čh čh, Čʼ čʼ, D d, E e (É é), G g, Ǧ ǧ, H h, Ȟ ȟ, I i (Í í), K k, Kh kh, Kȟ kȟ, Kʼ kʼ, M m, N n, ŋ, O o (Ó ó), P p, Ph ph, Pȟ pȟ, Pʼ pʼ, S s, Š š, T t, Th th, Tȟ tȟ, Tʼ tʼ, U u (Ú ú), W w, Y y, Z z, Ž ž, ʼ

Drung

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tV-pu.

Noun

u

1. head

References

• Ross Perlin (2019), A Grammar of Trung‎^[6], Santa Barbara: University of California

Dutch

Etymology

Originally the dative and accusative 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 *yúHs. Doublet of jou.

The use as a nominative form is linked to the polite address uwe edelheid (“your nobility, your gentility”), which was shortened to U E. in writing and at times accordingly pronounced /yˈ(w)eː/. It is debated, however, whether this was the actual cause of the development or whether it merely reinforced it. Compare English you, which was originally an object form, as well as Afrikaans ons and nonstandard Dutch hun.

Cognate with West Frisian jo, Low German jo, ju, English you, German euch.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /y/

Pronoun

u

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

   Bent u klaar? ― Are you ready?

   Bent u er nog? ― Are you still there?

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

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

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

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

6. (reflexive pronoun, formal second-person singular) yourself (polite)

   U meldt u/zich aan. ― You log in.

   Meld u aan! ― Log in!

7. (reflexive pronoun, formal second-person plural) yourselves (polite)

   U meldt u/zich aan. ― You log in.

   Meld u aan! ― Log in!

8. (reflexive pronoun, second-person singular) thyself (dialectal)

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

9. (reflexive pronoun, second-person plural) yourselves (dialectal)

   Wast u eens. ― Wash yourselves.

Usage notes

• In the Netherlands, u is used in polite settings. The familiar counterpart is jij.
• 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.
• In verbs whose second and third persons singular are distinct, u may be construed with either of them. In formal context, the second person form is generally preferred except for the verb hebben (“to have”). Thus predominantly u bent, kunt, wilt, zult, whereas u heeft is more common than (or at least equally common as) u hebt.
• In the formal second person singular and plural reflexive senses, u alternates with zich, e.g. U meldt u/zich aan. 'You log in.' Zich is preferred if the reflexive pronoun immediately follows the subject pronoun u, e.g. Meldt u zich aan! 'Log in!', and if the subject pronoun u is used with a verb form that is identical with the third person singular and different from the informal second person singular, e.g. U heeft zich aangemeld. 'You have logged in.' Only u can be used in an imperative if the subject pronoun is not overt, e.g. Meld u aan! 'Log in!', where u is the reflexive pronoun.
• See also the usage notes at gij.

Declension

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	u, zich7	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
3rd person gender-neutral8	hen	–	hen	–	hun	–	hunne	zich	hunner, huns
plural	full	unstr.	full	unstr.	full	unstr.	pred.
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	u, zich7	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, gelle (object form elle) and variants are commonly used colloquially in Belgium. Archaic forms are gijlieden and gijlui ("you people").
⁷⁾ Zich is preferred if the reflexive pronoun immediately follows the subject pronoun u, e.g. Meldt u zich aan! 'Log in!', and if the subject pronoun u is used with a verb form that is identical with the third person singular but different from the informal second person singular, e.g. U heeft zich aangemeld. 'You have logged in.' Only u can be used in an imperative if the subject pronoun is not overt, e.g. Meld u aan! 'Log in!', where u is the reflexive pronoun. Otherwise, both u and zich are equally possible, e.g. U meldt u/zich aan. 'You log in.'
⁸⁾ Not officially recognized in standard Dutch. It has gained popularity, especially in mainstream media and queer circles, as a respectful term for non-binary individuals.

Alternative forms

• a (Brabant)
• U (archaic)

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• Previous letter: t
• Next letter: v

Esperanto

Pronunciation

(phoneme)

• IPA^(key): /u/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

(letter)

• IPA^(key): /ˈu/

• 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/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)}

Further reading

• “u”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “u”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

Estonian

Pronunciation

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

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) täht; 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, Z z, Ž ž, T t, U u, V v (W w), Õ õ, Ä ä, Ö ö, Ü ü (X x, Y y)

Fala

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese o, from Latin illo (“he”).

Article

u m sg (plural us, feminine a, feminine plural as)

1. (Lagarteiru, Valverdeñu) Masculine singular definite article; the

Pronoun

u

1. (Lagarteiru, Valverdeñu) Third person singular masculine accusative pronoun; him

See also

Fala personal pronouns

			nominative	dative	accusative	disjunctive
singular	first person		ei	me, -mi		mi
	second person		tú	te, -ti		ti
	third person	m	el	le, -li	uLV, oM	el
		f	ela		a	ela
plural	first person	common	nos	musL nusLV nos, -nusM		nos
		m	noshotrusM			noshotrusM
		f	noshotrasM			noshotrasM
	second person	common	vos	vusLV vos, -vusM		vos
		m	voshotrusM			voshotrusM
		f	voshotrasM			voshotrasM
	third person	m	elis	le, -li	usLV, osM	elis
		f	elas		as	elas
third person reflexive			—	se, -si		sí

Dialects:  ^L Lagarteiru   ^M Mañegu   ^V Valverdeñu

References

• Valeš, Miroslav (2021), Diccionariu de A Fala: lagarteiru, mañegu, valverdeñu (web), 2nd edition, Minde, Portugal: CIDLeS, published 2022, →ISBN, page 276

Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uː/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin script letters) bókstavur; Aa, Áá, Bb, Dd, Ðð, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Íí, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Óó, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Úú, Vv, Yy, Ýý, Ææ, Øø

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.

Pronunciation

• (sound): IPA^(key): /u/

• Audio; “uu, uusi, luukku, uu”:

  (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

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

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, Nd nd, 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

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin ū.

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

Noun

u m (plural us)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) letra; A a (Á á), B b, C c, D d, E e (É é), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í, Ï ï), L l, M m, N n, Ñ ñ, O o (Ó ó), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú, Ü ü), V v, X x, Z z
• (Latin-script letter names) letra; a, be, ce, de, e, efe, gue, hache, i, ele, eme, ene, eñe, o, pe, que, erre, ese, te, u, uve, xe, ceta / zeta

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese u, from Latin ubi.

Adverb

u

1. (obsolete) where, wherever

   Synonym: onde

   • 1483, M. Lucas Alvarez, editor, San Pedro de Ramirás. Un monasterio femenino en la Edad Media, page 364:

     Aforouos a dita leyra e vina con todas suas entradas e seydas a monte e a fonte por u quer que as senpre oubo e de dereito deua aver

     I lease to you said parcel and vineyard with all of its entrances and exits, land and water, wherever they have always been or lawfully they must be

2. where (interrogative adverb)

   Synonym: onde

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

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “u”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “u”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• “u”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026
• “u”, in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (in Galician), 2014–2026
• Antón Santamarina, editor (2006–2013), “u”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “u”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

German

Pronunciation

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Letter

u n (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) Buchstabe; A a (Ä ä), 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 (Ö ö), P p, Q q, R r, S s (ẞ ß), T t, U u (Ü ü), V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

Noun

u n (strong, genitive u, plural u or us)

1. alternative letter-case form of U

Declension

Declension of u [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	u	die	u, us
genitive	eines	des	u	der	u, us
dative	einem	dem	u	den	u, us
accusative	ein	das	u	die	u, us

Further reading

• “u”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[7] (in German)

Ghomara

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Semitic *wa

Arabic وَ (wa)

Moroccan Arabic و (u)bor.

Ghomara u

Borrowed from Moroccan Arabic و (u), from Arabic وَ (wa).

Pronunciation

• (Iɛraben) IPA^(key): [u]

Preposition

u

1. (only with clauses) and

   Synonym: (only with nouns and pronouns) i

References

• Mourigh, Khalid (2015) A Grammar of Ghomara Berber (Thesis)‎^[8], Leiden

Gothic

Romanization

u

1. romanization of 𐌿

Guinea-Bissau Creole

Etymology

Derived 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, Q q, R r, S s, Sz sz, T t, Ty ty, U u, Ú ú, Ü ü, Ű ű, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z, Zs zs

Further reading

• (sound and letter): u in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• ([onomatopoeia] imitation of barking): u in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʏː] (letter name)

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-fourth letter of the Icelandic alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bókstafur; A a, Á á, B b, D d, Рð, E e, É é, 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, X x, Y y, Ý ý, Þ þ, Æ æ, Ö ö

Ido

Pronunciation

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

Letter

u (lower case, 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

Indonesian

Pronunciation

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

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) huruf; 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

Irish

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) litir; A a (Á á), B b (Bh bh, bhF bhf, bP bp), C c (Ch ch), D d (Dh dh, dT dt), E e (É é), F f (Fh fh), G g (gC gc, Gh gh), H h, I i (Í í), L l, M m (mB mb, Mh mh), N n (nD nd, nG ng), O o (Ó ó), P p (Ph ph), R r, S s (Sh sh), T t (Th th, tS ts), U u (Ú ú), V v
• (diacritics) ◌́ ◌̇
• (dotted letters used chiefly in Gaelic type) Ḃ ḃ, Ċ ċ, Ḋ ḋ, Ḟ ḟ, Ġ ġ, Ṁ ṁ, Ṗ ṗ, Ṡ ẛ ṡ, Ṫ ṫ

Italian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Letter

u f or m (lower case, upper case U, invariable)

1. The nineteenth letter of the Italian alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.

Noun

u f (invariable)

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

See also

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

Further reading

• “u” in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Japanese

Romanization

u

1. The hiragana syllable う (u) or the katakana syllable ウ (u) in Hepburn romanization.

Judeo-Tat

Etymology

Etymology tree

Middle Persian 𐭥𐭫𐭤 (ʿlh)

Classical Persian او (ō)

Judeo-Tat u

Inherited from Classical Persian او (ō), from Middle Persian 𐭥𐭫𐭤 (ʿlh).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

Pronoun

u

2. he, she, it

See also

Judeo-Tat personal pronouns

	singular	plural
1st person	mə	imu
2nd person	ty	işmu
3rd person	u	uho

References

• Нафталиев, М. Н. (2015), “u”, in Е. М. Назарова, editor, Еврейско (джуури)-русский словарь [Juhuri–Russian Dictionary]‎^[9], Moscow: СТМЭГИ, page 504
• Агарунов, Я.; Агарунов, М. (2010), Большой словарь языка горских евреев джуури [Large Dictionary of the Juhuri Language of Mountain Jews]‎^[10] (in Russian), Baku: Абилов, Зейналов и сыновья, page 258

Kankanaey

Etymology

Borrowed from Tagalog u. Letter pronunciation is influenced by English u.

Pronunciation

• (letter name) IPA^(key): /ju/ [ju]
  • Syllabification: u
• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /u/ [u]
• Rhymes: -u

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-third letter of the Kankanaey alphabet, called yu and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) letra; 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, Ñ ñ, Ng ng, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

References

• Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (2016), Ortograpiya di Kankanaëy [Kankanaey Orthography]‎^[11] (in Kankanaey and Tagalog), →ISBN, pages 10-11

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 (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ą ą, àã, B b, C c, D d, E e, É é, Ë ë, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, Ł ł, M m, N n, O o, Ò ò, Ó ó, Ô ô, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, Ù ù, W w, Y y, Z z, Ż ż

Khasi

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔuː/

Article

u m (feminine ka, masculine and feminine plural ki)

1. the (masculine singular definite article)

Pronoun

u m (feminine ka, masculine and feminine plural ki)

1. he, it

See also

Khasi personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person		nga	ngi
2nd person	m	me	phi
	f	pha
3rd person	m	u	ki
	f	ka

References

• Singh, U Nissor (1906), Khasi-English dictionary‎^[12], Shillong: Eastern Bengal and Assam Secretariat Press, page 242. Searchable online at SEAlang.net.

Khiamniungan Naga

Etymology

The Khiamniungan Naga language is presently written using the Latin alphabet. No indigenous or alternative script has been documented from earlier periods in the language's history. For a detailed description of the writing system's conventions including vowel and Consonant representation, tone marking (such as the use of h for glottal, the letter ü is pronounced ə), and orthographic rules, see the Wikipedia article on the Khiamniungan alphabet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u³³/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. (Patsho) The twenty-third letter of the Khiamniungan Naga alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ch ch, E e, H h, I i, J j, K k, Kh kh, L l, M m, N n, Ng ng, Ny ny, O o, P p, Ph ph, S s, Sh sh, T t, Th th, Ts ts, Tsh tsh, U u, Ü ü, V v, W w, Y y

Pronunciation guide

Uppercase	IPA	Canonical Pronunciation	Phonetic examples in English	Phonetic examples in Khiamniungan Naga
A	a	aa	father	āmpāu(pastor)
Ch	tʃʰ	tʃʰə	chair, watch	chām(book)
E	ɛ	a	bed, elephant	ēm(colony of Jhumland)
H	h	hə	husband	hǖhêi(hello)
I	i	ee	beet	îe(winnowing tray)
J	tʃ	tʃə	picture, culture, nature	jām(house)
K	k	kə	sky, skip	kēu(uncle)
Kh	kʰ	kʰə	canoe, Cost, cat	khèu(head)
L	l	lə	alone	lāi(spear)
M	m	mə	money	màu(ant)
N	n	nə	nine, never	nòk
Ng	ŋ	ŋə	sing, throng	ngēm(news)
Ny	ɲ	ɲə	canyon, bunyan	nyù(mother)
O	ɔ	ɔ	orange	ônyù(sky)
P	P	pə	spill, span	pòu(father)
Ph	pʰ	pʰə	pound	phōh(hand)
S	ʃ	ʃə	sound	sā(liver)
Sh	ʃʰ	ʃʰə	shine	shām(mat)
T	t	tə	stop, stand	tòuh(wild pig)
Th	tʰ	tʰə	Thomas	thoi(pumking)
Ts	ts	tsə	cats, hats, pizza	tsēm(salt)
Tsh	Tsʰ	Tsʰə	tshep(kiss)	tshō(traditional basket)
U	ʊ, u	ʊ, u	look, hoop	ûo(goat)
Ü	ə	ə	banana	chǖlám
V	v	və	very	vèu(chicken)
W	w	wə	watt	wā(flour)
Y	j	jə	yellow	yòh(pig)
Glottal(h) is used at the end of the word	ʔ	ʔ stop	Mountain, button, cotton	chāh(through)

K'iche'

Pronoun

u

1. his, her, its

References

• Christenson, Allen J. (2003), Kʼicheʼ-English dictionary and Guide to the pronunciation of the Kʼicheʼ-Maya alphabet‎^[13], Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, →OCLC

Kiowa

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

Usage notes

May occur long (u꞉) or nasal (un̶) or both (un̶꞉), but only after the velar consonants g̶, g, k, kʼ.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ai ai, Au au, Aui aui, B̶ b̶, B b, D̶ d̶, D d, E e, G̶ g̶, G g, H h, I i, K k, Kʼ kʼ, L l, M m, N n, 𝽎, O o, Oi oi, P p, Pʼ pʼ, S s, T t, Tʼ tʼ, Ts ts, Tsʼ tsʼ, U u, Ui ui, W w, Y y, Z z, ꞉

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈuː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈuː]

Noun

ū n or f (indeclinable)

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

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^[14], 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 1

• 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

• (Latin-script letters) burts; A a, Ā ā, B b, C c, Č č, D d, E e, Ē ē, F f, G g, Ģ ģ, H h, I i, Ī ī, J j, K k, Ķ ķ, L l, Ļ ļ, M m, N n, Ņ ņ, O o, P p, R r, S s, Š š, T t, U u, Ū ū, V v, Z z, Ž ž

Pronunciation 2

• IPA^(key): [u]

Noun

u m (invariable)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) latviešu burtu vārdi; a, garais ā, bē, cē, čē, dē, e, garais ē, ef, gā, ģē, hā, i, garais ī, jē, kā, ķē, el, eļ, em, en, eņ, o, pē, er, es, eš, tē, u, garais ū, vē, zē, žē

Lithuanian

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /ʊ/

Letter

u (lower case, 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 (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) kēratē’ḑ; 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

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-ninth letter of the Lower Sorbian alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script.
2. The name of the Latin script letter u/U.

See also

• See Template:list:Latin script letters/dsb.
• See Template:list:Latin script letter names/dsb.

Luxembourgish

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) Buschtaf; A a (Ä ä), B b, C c, D d, E e (Ë ë, É é), 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

Malay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈju/ [ˈju]
• Rhymes: -u
• Hyphenation: yu

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

Etymology 2

Clipping of universiti

Noun

u (plural u-u)

1. (colloquial) university

   Synonyms: universiti, uni (colloquial)

   budak u ― university student

   masuk u ― to enter the university

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

   • 2008, Trevor Żahra, Il-Ġenn li Jżommni f’Sikti, Merlin Publishers, →ISBN:

     Kulħadd jibża’ u ħadd ma jabbuża jmissu!

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

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)

Māori

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/ [ʉ]

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ā ā, E e, Ē ē, H h, I i, Ī ī, K k, M m, N n, O o, Ō ō, P p, R r, T t, U u, Ū ū, W w, Ng ng, Wh wh

Marshallese

Etymology

From Proto-Micronesian *wuu, from Proto-Oceanic *solos.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

u (construct uin)

1. (alienable) a fish trap

References

• Abo, Takaji; Bender Byron W.; Capelle, Alfred; DeBrum, Tony (2009–), “u”, in Marshallese–English Online Dictionary‎^[15]

Mauritian Creole

Pronoun

u (informal to)

1. alternative spelling of ou (“you”)

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

References

• Baker, Philip; Hookoomsing, Vinesh Y. (1987), Diksiyoner kreol morisyeṅ [Mauritian Creole Dictionary] (in French and English), Paris: L'Harmattan, →ISBN, page 328

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^[16] (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)‎^[17] (in Spanish), second edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 360

Middle Dutch

Etymology 1

From Old Dutch iuwa, from Proto-West Germanic *iuwar.

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 corresponding lemma form.

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 (lower case, upper case 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, Central 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

	singular			plural
	masculine	neuter	feminine
	Strong declension
nominative	û			ûwe
accusative	ûwen	û	ûwe
dative	ûwem(e) (ûwennote)		ûwer(e)	ûwen
genitive	ûwes			ûwer(e)
	Weak declension
nominative	ûwe			ûwen
accusative	ûwen	ûwe	ûwen
dative	ûwen
genitive

The longer forms become rarer in the course of the period.

Mizo

Etymology 1

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *ʔuu (“older sibling”).

Noun

u

1. older sibling, or other elder members of the same generation

Etymology 2

Particle

u

1. Plural verbal particle, used in imperative commands when there is a plural subject
   • Hausanga Hauzel, editorial in Vanglaini, 9 September 2024

     Mizote u, min chhan rawh u

     Mizo brethren, save us

Derived terms

• che u

Further reading

• Lorrain, J. Herbert (1940), “u”, in Dictionary of the Lushai language, Calcutta: Asiatic Society

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. (continental, anatomy) eye

North Frisian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ʊ] (short vowel)
• IPA^(key): [uː] (long vowel, spelt uu)

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

Usage notes

• In Sylt Frisian, the diphthong ⟨ua⟩ has been lowered to [ɔɐ̯], thus merging with ⟨or⟩.

See also

• (North Frisian letters): a, ä, å, ā, b, c, d, đ, e, ē, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, ö, p, r, s, t, u, ü, v, w (q, x, y, z)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

The lowercase form of U. From Latin V, from an Old Italic form of Ancient Greek Υ (U, “upsilon”), ultimately from Phoenician 𐤅 (w, “waw; hook”). In medieval Latin-script writing, ⟨u⟩ and ⟨v⟩ were positional forms of a single letter; they later became distinct letters, with ⟨u⟩ used for the vowel.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʉː
• Homophone: U
• Hyphenation: u

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bokstav; 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, Æ æ, Ø ø, Å å

Noun

u m (definite singular u-en, indefinite plural u-er, definite plural u-ene)

1. The lowercase form of U, the twenty-first letter of the Norwegian Bokmål alphabet, written in the Latin script; preceded by t and followed by v.
2. The written representation of the Norwegian vowel phonemes /ʉː/, /ʉ/ and /ʊ/.
3. The vowel sound represented by the letter u.
4. A figure, shape, formation, object, or mark resembling the lowercase letter u.

Derived terms

• u-omlyd (“u-umlaut”)

Adverb

u

1. abbreviation of ultimo (“in the final third of a month; at the end of a month”)

Symbol

u

1. (chemistry, physics) The international symbol for the unified atomic mass unit.

References

• “u” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “u” in Norwegian Academy Dictionary (NAOB).
• “U – bokstav” in Store norske leksikon.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bokstav; 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, Æ æ, Ø ø, Å å

Noun

u m (definite singular u-en, indefinite plural u-ar, definite plural u-ane)

1. the letter U

References

• “u” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Nupe

Pronunciation

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /u/, (after /n/ or /m/) /ũ/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) banki; A a (Á á, À à), B b, C c, D d, Dz dz, E e (É é, È è), F f, G g, Gb gb, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì), J j, K k, Kp kp, L l, M m (Ḿ ḿ, M̀ m̀, M̄ m̄), N n (Ń ń, Ǹ ǹ, N̄ n̄), O o (Ó ó, Ò ò), P p, R r, S s, Sh sh, T t, Ts ts, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù), V v, W w, Y y, Z z, Zh zh

Nuxalk

Pronunciation

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /u/, [u~ʊ~o~o̞~ɔ]

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Aa aa, C c, Cw cw, H h, I i, Ii ii, K k, K’ k’, Kw kw, Kw’ kw’, L l, Lh lh, M m, N n, P p, P’ p’, Q q, Q’ q’, Qw qw, Qw’ qw’, S s, T t, T’ t’, Tl’ tl’, Ts ts, Ts’ ts’, U u, Uu uu, W w, X x, Xw xw, Y y, 7

Occitan

Noun

u f (plural us)

1. u (the letter u, U)

Old Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈu/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈu/

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew

Proto-Balto-Slavic *au

Proto-Slavic *u

Old Czech u

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *u.

Preposition

u

1. denotes approximate location; by, at; with [with genitive]

Descendants

• Czech: u

Etymology 2

Preposition

u

1. alternative form of v (often before labial consonants)

References

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916), “u”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uː/
• Rhymes: -uː

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. a letter of the Old English alphabet

Usage notes

• This letter can represent short /u/ and long /uː/, which were typically not distinguished in Old English manuscripts. Modern editions of manuscripts typically mark long vowels with a macron ⟨ū⟩ or an acute accent ⟨ú⟩.
• It can also represent the consonant /w/. This sound may also be represented with a double ⟨uu⟩. However, it is usually written with the letter ƿ (⟨w⟩ in most modern manuscripts)

Old French

Etymology 1

From Latin ubi.

Adverb

u

1. alternative form of ou (“where”)
   • c. 1170, Wace, Le Roman de Rou‎^[18]:

     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 (lower case, upper case 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 Galician-Portuguese

Alternative forms

• hu

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *kʷuðei

Old Latin cubī

Latin ubi

Old Galician-Portuguese u

Inherited 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.

   • 1264, E. Portela Silva, editor, 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

Descendants

• Galician: u (archaic)
• Portuguese: u (obsolete)

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “u”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Old Polish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew

Proto-Balto-Slavic *au

Proto-Slavic *u

Old Polish u

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *u. First attested in the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /u/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /u/

Preposition

u [with genitive]

1. denotes approximate location; by, at
2. denotes subject of action; at
3. denotes movement away; away, out of
4. denotes topographic region; in; at, on
5. denotes property; in the homestead of
6. denotes position in a group; among, between
7. denotes possession; in the possession of
8. with być; creates a possessive phrase meaning "to have"
9. denotes witness or subject of some action; in front of, on behalf of
10. denotes opinion; in one's eyes, in one's opinion, according to
11. denotes person from whom someone receives; from
12. denotes person being asked or requested; from, of
13. denotes object to which something belongs; 's
14. denotes perpetrator or performer of an action to create a passive voice; by
15. denotes time; during, at the time of

Related terms

prefix

• u-

Descendants

• Polish: u
• Silesian: u

References

• Boryś, Wiesław (2005), “u”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
• Bożena Sieradzka-Baziur, et al., editors (2011–2015), “u”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

Oromo

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʊ/

• Syllables - u, Count - 1

  • Audio:

    (file)

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

Polish

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈu/

• (Middle Polish) IPA^(key): /ˈu/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Audio 3:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -u
• Syllabification: u
• Homophones: ó, u-, -u, -u-

Etymology 1

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.

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (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, R r, S s, Ś ś, T t, U u, W w, Y y, Z z, Ź ź, Ż ż

Noun

u n (indeclinable)

1. u, close back rounded vowel

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew

Proto-Balto-Slavic *au

Proto-Slavic *u

Old Polish u

Polish u

Inherited from Old Polish u.

Preposition

u [with genitive]

1. denotes a part belonging to a larger whole; of

   palce u nogi ― toes (literally, “fingers of the foot”)

2. denotes near position; by, at

   Synonyms: blisko, koło, niedaleko, opodal, podle, w pobliżu

   u drzwi ― at the door

   u bram ― at the gates

3. denotes position with something else; at, by; with; chez

   u Kasi ― at Kasia's

   u rodziców ― at one's parents'

   u lekarza ― at the doctor's

   u dentysty ― at the dentist's

4. denotes tutor or doer of an action; at, with; from
5. denotes someone or something for which something else is named

   Near-synonyms: pośród, wpośród, wśród

6. denotes someone or something about which something may apply; among; in

   u mężczyzn ― in men

   u dzikich zwierząt ― in wild animals

7. denotes subject of an action; at

Trivia

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), u is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 103 times in scientific texts, 27 times in news, 53 times in essays, 75 times in fiction, and 141 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 399 times, making it the 122nd most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.

Further reading

• “u”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[19] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “u”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[20] (in Polish)
• Maria Renata Mayenowa, et al., editors (2010-2023), “1. u”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
• Maria Renata Mayenowa, et al., editors (2010-2023), “2. u”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
• “U”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 07.03.2022
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814), “u”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “u”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1919), “u”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 7, Warsaw, page 195
• u in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈu/

• Rhymes: -u

Etymology 1

Letter

u m (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) letra; A a (Á á, À à, Â â, Ã ã), 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

Noun

u m (plural us)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) letra; á, bê, cê, dê, é, efe, gê / guê, agá, i, jota, cá / capa, ele, eme, ene, ó, pê, quê, erre, esse, tê, u, vê, dáblio, xis, ípsilon, zê

Etymology 2

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

Adverb

u

1. (obsolete) where

   Synonym: onde

   • 1534, Gil Vicente, Auto de Mofina Mendes:

     […] nam ſey per u

     […] (I) don't know where

2. (Northern Portugal) where (interrogative adverb)

   Synonym: onde

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

Etymology 3

Article

u m

1. eye dialect spelling of o

Further reading

• “u”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “u”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Pumpokol

Etymology

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

Pronoun

u

1. you (second-person plural subjective)

Synonyms

• úe

Romani

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. (International Standard) The twenty-eighth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.
2. (Pan-Vlax) The twenty-ninth letter of the Romani 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, 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).

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) Aa, Ăă, Ââ, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Îî, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Șș, Tt, Țț, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, Zz

Romansh

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

Salar

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *ol.

Pronoun

u

1. Third person singular pronoun; he, she, it.

Declension

Declension of u

	singular	plural
nominative	u	ular
genitive	uniği	ularniği
dative	uğa	ulara
definite accusative	unı	ularnı
locative	uda	ularda
ablative	udan	ulardan
instrumental	ula	ularla
pronominal	uğı	ularğı
indefinite article	u-or	ular-or
definite article	ucük	ularcük

See also

Salar personal pronouns

	singular	plural
1st person	men	piser
2nd person	sen	seler
3rd person	u	ular

References

• Tenishev, Edhem (1976), “vu”, in Stroj salárskovo jazyká [Grammar of Salar], Moscow: Nauka
• 林莲云 [Lin Lianyun] (1985), “u”, in 撒拉语简志 [A Brief History of Salar]‎^[21], Beijing: 民族出版社: 琴書店, →OCLC, page 53
• Ma, Chengjun; Han, Lianye; Ma, Weisheng (December 2010), “u”, in 米娜瓦尔·艾比布拉 [Minavar Abibra], editor, 撒维汉词典 [Sā-Wéi-Hàn cídiǎn, Salar-Uyghur-Chinese dictionary] (in Chinese), 1st edition, Beijing, →ISBN, page 362
• Yakup, Abdurishid (2002), “u”, in An Ili Salar Vocabulary: Introduction and a Provisional Salar-English Lexicon‎^[22], Tokyo: University of Tokyo, →ISBN, page 41

Scottish Gaelic

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The eighteenth letter of the Scottish Gaelic alphabet, written in the Latin script; preceded by t; traditionally named ur (“heather”).

See also

• (Latin-script letters) litir; A a (À à), B b (Bh bh), C c (Ch ch), D d (Dh dh), E e (È è), F f (Fh fh), G g (Gh gh), H h, I i (Ì ì), L l, M m (Mh mh), N n, O o (Ò ò), P p (Ph ph), R r, S s (Sh sh), T t (Th th), U u (Ù ù)
• (diacritics) ◌̀
• (obsolete vowels) Á á É é Ó ó

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

See Translingual section.

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U, Cyrillic equivalent у)

1. The twenty-seventh letter of the Serbo-Croatian alphabet (gajica), written in the Latin script; preceded by t and followed by v.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Slavic *vъ(n).

Preposition

u (Cyrillic spelling у)

1. in, at (without change of position, answering the question gdjȅ/gdȅ) [with locative]

   biti u školi ― to be in school

   u c(ij)elim društvu ― in the whole society

2. to, into (with change of position, answering the question kùda) [with accusative]

   ići u školu ― to go to school

   putovati u Ameriku ― to travel to America

3. on, in, at, during (in expressions concerning time) [with accusative]

   u podne ― at noon

   u sr(ij)edu ― on Wednesday

   u zoru ― at dawn

   U koliko sati? ― At what time?

4. in, during (in expressions concerning time) [with locative]

   u jednom danu ― in one day

   u mladosti ― during one's youth

Sicilian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/ (stressed)
• IPA^(key): /ʊ/ (unstressed)

Etymology 1

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

Etymology 2

From the lenition of lu, from the apheresis of Vulgar Latin *illu, from Latin illum, from ille. Cognate with Galician o, Portuguese o and Neapolitan lu ~ lo ~ 'u ~ 'o ~o. Akin to ḍḍu (“that”) and its collateral chiḍḍu (“that”).

Alternative forms

• lu (liquid form)

Article

u m sg (f a, plural i)

1. (masculine singular definite article) the

   Synonym: lu

Usage notes

• As for other Romance languages, such as Neapolitan or Portuguese, Sicilian definite articles have undergone a consonant lenition that has led to the phonetic fall of the initial l. The use of this illiquid variant has not yet made the use of liquid variants disappear, but today it is still the prevalent use in speech and writing.
• In the case of the production of literary texts, such as singing or poetry, or of formal and institutional texts, resorting to "liquid articles" and "liquid articulated prepositions" confers greater euphony to the text, although it may sound a form of courtly recovery.
• Illiquid definite articles can be phonetically absorbed by the following noun. I.e: l'arancinu (liquid) and ârancinu (illiquid).

Inflection

Sicilian articles

		singular		plural
		masculine	feminine
indefinite article		nu, un, 'n	na	—
definite article	liquid	lu	la	li
	illiquid	u, û	a, â	i, î

Etymology 3

See etymology 2.

Alternative forms

• lu (liquid form)

Pronoun

u m sg (plural i, female a)

1. (accusative) him

   Synonym: lu

   U canusci? ― Do you know him?

2. (accusative) it, this or that thing

   Synonym: lu

   Quannu tû desi. ― When I gave it to you.

Usage notes

• This pronoun can blend in contracted forms with other particles, especially other personal pronominal particles.

Inflection

Sicilian pronominal particles

	singular		plural
	masculine	feminine
mi	mû	mâ	mî
ti	tû	tâ	tî
ci	ci u	ci a	cî
ni	nû	nâ	nî
vi	vû	vâ	vî
ci	ci u	ci a	cî

Sicilian personal pronouns

number	person		nominative	prepositional	accusative	dative	reflexive
singular
	1st		eu	(a) mìa	mi
	2nd		tu	tia	ti
	3rd	m	iḍḍu		lu / u	ci	si
		f	iḍḍa		la / a
plural
	1st		nuàutri, nui		ni
	2nd		vuàutri, vui		vi
	3rd		iḍḍi		li / i	ci	si

Silesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈu/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -u
• Syllabification: u

Etymology 1

The Silesian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. 3 main scripts exist, the Steuer Alphabet made in 1934, the Silesian Phonetic Alphabet in 2006, and the Elementary alphabet made in the late 2000s. See the Silesian language article on Wikipedia for more, and u for development of the glyph itself.

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-ninth letter of the Silesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, àã, B b, C c, Ć ć, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, Ł ł, M m, N n, Ń ń, O o, Ŏ ŏ, Ō ō, Ô ô, Õ õ, P p, R r, S s, Ś ś, T t, U u, W w, Y y, Z z, Ź ź, Ż ż

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew

Proto-Balto-Slavic *au

Proto-Slavic *u

Old Polish u

Silesian u

Inherited from Old Polish u.

Preposition

u [with genitive]

1. denotes approximate location; by, at; with
2. denotes a part belonging to a larger whole; of

   Synonym: przi

Further reading

• u in silling.org

Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /u/, /w/

Letter

u (lower case, 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

Slovak

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew

Proto-Balto-Slavic *au

Proto-Slavic *u

Slovak u

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *u.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/, [u]
• Rhymes: -u

Preposition

u

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Further reading

• “u”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026

Somali

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔú/
• Hyphenation: u

Preposition

ú (comitative la, instrumental ku, ablative ka) (allative)

1. to

   Warkii wuu u sheegay ― He told the news to him.

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

Derived terms

• magacuyaal

References

• “u”, in Qaamuuska Af-Soomaaliga, 2012

Spanish

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/ [u]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -u
• Syllabification: u

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-second letter of the Spanish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

u f (plural us or úes)

1. Name of the letter U.
2. (Latin America) clipping of universidad (“university”)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/, [u], [w]

Conjunction

u

1. or

   diez u once

   ten or eleven

Usage notes

• Used instead of o when the following word starts with a vowel sound which is pronounced /o/.

Alternative forms

• ú (obsolete)

Further reading

• “u”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Sumerian

Romanization

u

1. romanization of 𒌋

Swahili

Verb

u

1. (dated or literary) positive degree present and gnomic second-person singular of -wa (“you are, thou art”)
   • 2005, “Luka 4:41”, in Biblia (Swahili Revised Union Version), translation from New International Version:

     Pepo nao waliwatoka watu wengi, wakipiga kelele na kusema, Wewe u Mwana wa Mungu.

     Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, "You are the Son of God!"

Derived terms

• u hali gani (“how are you?”)

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.

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish u. Each pronunciation has a different source:

• Filipino alphabet pronunciation is influenced by English u.
• Abakada alphabet pronunciation is influenced by the Baybayin character ᜂ (o).
• Abecedario pronunciation is from Spanish u.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog)
  • IPA^(key): /ˈju/ [ˈjʊ] (letter name, Filipino alphabet)
  • IPA^(key): /ˈʔu/ [ˈʔʊ] (letter name, Abakada alphabet, Abecedario)
  • IPA^(key): /ˈu/ [ˈʊ] (phoneme, stressed)
  • IPA^(key): /ˈu/ [ˈʊ] (phoneme, unstressed)
• Rhymes: -u
• Syllabification: u

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. the twenty-third letter of the Filipino alphabet, called yu and written in the Latin script
2. the eighteenth letter of the Abakada alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script
3. (historical) the twenty-fourth letter of the Abecedario, called u and written in the Latin script

See also

• (Latin-script letters) titik; 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, Ñ ñ, Ng ng, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

Noun

u (Baybayin spelling ᜂ)

1. the name of the Latin script letter U/u, in the Abakada alphabet
2. (historical) the name of the Latin script letter U/u, in the Abecedario

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) titik; ey, bi, si, di, i, ef, dyi, eyts, ay, dyey, key, el, em, en, enye, en dyi, o, pi, kyu, ar, es, ti, yu, vi, dobolyu, eks, way, zi
• uo

Further reading

• “u”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018

Tlingit

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʊ/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• Canada:
• (Latin-script letters) A a, Á á, À à,  â, Ch ch, Chʼ chʼ, D d, Dł dł, Dz dz, E e, É é, È è, Ê ê, G g, Gw gw, Gh gh, Ghw ghw, H h, I i, Í í, Ì ì, Πî, J j, K k, Kw kw, Kʼ kʼ, Kʼw kʼw, Kh kh, Khw khw, Khʼ khʼ, Khʼw khʼw (L l), Ł ł, Łʼ łʼ (M m), N n (O o), S s, Sʼ sʼ, Sh sh, T t, Tʼ tʼ, Tl tl, Tlʼ tlʼ, Ts ts, Tsʼ tsʼ, U u, Ú ú, Ù ù, Û û, W w, X x, Xw xw, Xʼ xʼ, Xʼw xʼw, Xh xh, Xhw xhw, Xhʼ xhʼ, Xhʼw xhʼw, Y y (Ÿ ÿ), ․
• US:
• (Latin-script letters) A a, Á á, Aa aa, Áa áa, Ch ch, Chʼ chʼ, D d, Dl dl, Dz dz, E e, É é, Ee ee, Ée ée, Ei ei, Éi éi, G g, Gw gw, G̱ g̱, G̱w g̱w, H h, I i, Í í, J j, K k, Kw kw, Kʼ kʼ, Kʼw kʼw, Ḵ ḵ, Ḵw ḵw, Ḵʼ ḵʼ, Ḵʼw ḵʼw, L l, Lʼ lʼ (Ḻ ḻ, M m), N n (O o), Oo oo, Óo óo, S s, Sʼ sʼ, Sh sh, T t, Tʼ tʼ, Tl tl, Tlʼ tlʼ, Ts ts, Tsʼ tsʼ, U u, Ú ú, W w, X x, Xw xw, Xʼ xʼ, Xʼw xʼw, X̱ x̱, X̱w x̱w, X̱ʼ x̱ʼ, X̱ʼw x̱ʼw, Y y (Ÿ ÿ, Y̱ y̱), ․

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

Etymology

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

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 and written in the Latin script.

See also

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

Noun

u

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

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) harf; a, be, ce, çe, de, e, fe, ge, yumuşak ge, he, ı, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, ö, pe, re, se, şe, te, u, ü, ve, ye, ze

Turkmen

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /u/, /uː/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

See also

• (Latin-script letters) harp; A a, B b, Ç ç, D d, E e, Ä ä, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, Ž ž, K k, L l, M m, N n, Ň ň, O o, Ö ö, P p, R r, S s, Ş ş, T t, U u, Ü ü, W w, Y y, Ý ý, Z z

Tzotzil

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔu/

Noun

u

1. moon
2. month

Synonyms

• (moon): jchʼul meʼtik

References

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

Uyghur

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. Latin (ULY) transcription of ئۇ (u)

Pronoun

u

1. Latin (ULY) transcription of ئۇ (u)

Uzbek

Other scripts

Arabic	Afghan Uzbek	او
	Yangi Imlo	ئۇ
Cyrillic		у
Latin		u

Alternative forms

• ul — archaic

Etymology

Inherited from Chagatai او (u), from Proto-Turkic *ol. Cognate with Uyghur ئۇ / u / у; Azerbaijani او / о / o, Turkish o; etc.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔʊ/, [ʔʊ]
• Hyphenation: u

Determiner

u

1. (distal demonstrative) that, those

   Antonyms: bu, shu

   u eshik ― that door

Pronoun

u (plural ular)

1. (distal demonstrative) that

   Antonym: bu

   U eshik. ― That is a door.

2. (personal) he, she, it

Declension

Uzbek personal pronouns

		nominative	accusative	genitive	dative	locative	ablative
singular	1st person	men	meni	mening	menga	menda	mendan
	2nd person	sen	seni	sening	senga	senda	sendan
	3rd person	u	uni	uning	unga	unda	undan
plural	1st person	biz	bizni	bizning	bizga	bizda	bizdan
	2nd person	siz	sizni	sizning	sizga	sizda	sizdan
	3rd person	ular	ularni	ularning	ularga	ularda	ulardan

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔu˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔʊw˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔʊw˧˧]

• Audio (Saigon):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Noun

u • (𡠄)

1. (Northern Vietnam) mother; mom

Synonyms

• mẹ, mợ, mạ, má

Etymology 2

From Proto-Vietic *ʔuː (“hump (of a zebu)”).

Noun

u • (幽, 𢉾) (classifier khối, cục)

1. a nodule; protuberance; swelling
2. (oncology, pathology) a tumor; neoplasm

Derived terms

• u mỡ
• u nang buồng trứng
• u xơ tử cung

See also

• ung thư

Verb

u

1. to get bumpy; to swell

Etymology 3

Noun

u

1. (children's games) a game consists of two teams, where the offensive player has to chant ⟨u⟩ during offense

Etymology 4

From Portuguese u.

Noun

u

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

See also

• (Quốc ngữ letters) chữ cái; A a (À à, Ả ả, àã, Á á, Ạ ạ), Ă ă (Ằ ằ, Ẳ ẳ, Ẵ ẵ, Ắ ắ, Ặ ặ),  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)

Etymology 5

Romanization

u

1. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 幽

Derived terms

• âm u
• thâm u
• u ám
• u buồn
• u hồn
• u linh
• u sầu
• u tịch
• u uất

Volapük

Conjunction

u

1. or

Alternative forms

• (in front of vowels) ud

Watam

Pronoun

u

1. you

References

• Bill Palmer, editor (2018), The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area, Berlin: de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 208

Welsh

Alternative forms

• (with grave accent to indicate otherwise unpredictable short vowel): ù
• (with acute accent to indicate unusually stressed short vowel): ú
• (with circumflex to indicate otherwise unpredictable or unusually stressed long vowel or disyllabicity): û
• (with diaeresis to indicate disyllabicity): ü

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /ɨː/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˌiː ˈbeːdɔl/, /ˌiː ˈbɛdɔl/, /ˌiː ˈɡʊpan/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-eighth letter of the Welsh alphabet, called u and written in the Latin script; preceded by th and followed by w.

Mutation

• u cannot mutate but, being a vowel, does take h-prothesis, for example with the word uchelwydd (“mistletoe”):

Mutated forms of uchelwydd

radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
uchelwydd	unchanged	unchanged	huchelwydd

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) llythyren; A a (Á á, À à,  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, Πî, 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)

• (Latin-script letter names) llythyren; a, bi, ec, èch, di, èdd, e, èf, èff, èg, eng, aetsh, i / i dot, je, ce, el, èll, em, en, o, pi, ffi, ciw, er, rhi, ès, ti, èth, u / u bedol / u gwpan, fi, w, ecs, y, sèd

Derived terms

• Digraph sequences: uw

Noun

u f (plural uau)

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

Mutation

Mutated forms of u

radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
u	unchanged	unchanged	hu

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Yekora

Etymology

From Proto-Binanderean *ju (“blood”). Cognate with Zia yu (“blood”), Guhu-Samane dzuu (“blood”).

Noun

u

1. blood

References

• Jacinta Mary Smallhorn (2011), The Binanderean languages of Papua New Guinea: reconstruction and subgrouping‎^[23], Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, →ISBN , page 183

Yele

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /u/

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

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

Derived terms

• The digraph ⟨uu⟩ transcribes the long vowel /uː/
• The digraph ⟨꞉u⟩ transcribes the nasal vowel /ũ/
• The trigraph ⟨꞉uu⟩ transcribes the long nasal vowel /ũː/

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, â, b, Ch ch, D d, e, é, ê, Gh gh, i, î, j, K k, L l, M m, N n, Ń ń, o, ó, P p, T t, U u, V v, W w, Y y, ꞉

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

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

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-third letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called ú and written in the Latin script.

Noun

ú

1. The name of the Latin script letter U/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

• (Latin-script letter names) lẹ́tà; á, bí, dí, é, ẹ́, fí, gí, gbì, hí, í, jí, kí, lí, mí, ní, ó, ọ́, pí, rí, sí, ṣí, tí, ú, wí, yí

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (mid-tone): IPA^(key): /ū/
• (high-tone): IPA^(key): /ú/

Pronoun

u

1. him, her, it (third-person singular object pronoun following a monosyllabic verb with a high-tone /u/)

Pronoun

ú

1. him, her, it (third-person singular object pronoun following a monosyllabic verb with a low- or mid-tone /u/)

See also

Yoruba personal pronouns

		subject		object1	emphatic
		affirmative	negative
singular	1st person	mo	n̄ / mi	mi	èmi
	2nd person	o		ọ / ẹ	ìwọ
	3rd person	ó	[pronoun dropped]	[preceding vowel repeated for mono­syllabic verbs] / ẹ̀	òun
plural	1st person	a		wa	àwa
	2nd person	ẹ		yín	ẹ̀yin
	3rd person	wọ́n	wọn	wọn	àwọn

¹ 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.

Zou

Etymology

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *ʔuu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ʔū]
• Hyphenation: u

Noun

u

1. older sibling

References

• Philip Thangliènmâng (2010), Minimal dictionary and Self-tutor Functional Grammar in Zo-English-Hindi, New Delhi: Zoculsin, →ISBN, page 55
• Lukram Himmat Singh (2013), A Descriptive Grammar of Zou (PhD thesis), Canchipur: Manipur University, pages 41, 60

Zulu

Letter

u (lower case, upper case U)

1. The twenty-first letter of the Zulu 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