𛄢

See also: 汙, ウ, and 于

𛄢 U+1B122, 𛄢 KATAKANA LETTER ARCHAIC WU [unassigned: U+1B123–U+1B131] ← 𛄡 [U+1B121] Kana Extended-A 𛄲 → [U+1B132]

Japanese

Etymology

From the bottom of 宇. May be confused with 于.

Syllable

𛄢 • (wu) 

1. The katakana syllable 𛄢 (wu). Its equivalent in hiragana is 𛄟 (wu).

Usage notes

In modern Japanese, old /β̞u/ evolved into /u/, and is written as う in hiragana and ウ in katakana. Sound /β̞u/ reintroduced later is written as うぅ in hiragana and ウゥ in katakana - however most speakers pronounce this as a long /u/ sound.

• 𛄢 is a retrospective invention. It was not actually used in the ancient Japanese literature (which uses man'yōgana instead) and thus is not included in the historical kana orthography.
• In Meiji era grammar books, 𛄟 was sometimes used to spell ワ行下二段活用 verbs.
• In ancient times, all は行 sounds were pronounced /pV/ (“V” being any of the Japanese vowels). Then, during the Nara period, it shifted to /ɸV/ when it was in the middle or at the end of a word. Between the Heian and Kamakura periods, /ɸV/ changed to /βV/→/β̞V/→/V/. Some older grammar books used 𛄟 to show this in ハ行四段活用 verbs, ハ行上二段活用 verbs, and ハ行下二段活用 verbs (e.g. 思(おも)ふ (omofu) as 思(おも)𛄟 (omowu).
• The katakana syllabary is used primarily for transcription of foreign language words into Japanese and the writing of gairaigo (loan words), as well as to represent onomatopoeias, technical and scientific terms, and the names of plants, animals, and minerals. It is also occasionally used in some words for emphasis, or to ease reading; katakana may be preferred for words becoming buried in the text if they are written under their canonical form in hiragana. Names of Japanese companies, as well as certain Japanese language words such as colloquial terms, are also sometimes written in katakana rather than the other systems. Formerly, female given names were often written in katakana.^[edit]

See also

The Katakana script
アァア゙	カヵガカ゚カ̣	サザサ゚サ̅サ̣̅	タダタ゚タ̣	ナ	ハㇵバパパ̣	マ	ヤャ	ラㇻラ゚	ワヮヷ	ン𛅧ン゙
イィイ゙イ゚ィ゚	キギキ゚キ̣	シㇱジシ゚	チヂチ゚チ̣チ̅チ̣̅	ニ	ヒㇶビピピ̣	ミ	𛄠	リㇼリ゚	ヰ𛅤ヸ
ウゥヴゥ゙ウ゚ウ̅ゥ̅	クㇰグㇰ゙ク゚ク̣	スㇲズㇲ゙ス゚	ツッヅツ゚ツ̣ツ̅ツ̣̅	ヌㇴ	フㇷブプㇷ゚プ̣	ムㇺ	ユュ	ルㇽル゚	𛄢
エェエ゙ [𛀀]	ケヶゲケ゚ケ̣	セゼセ゚セ̅セ̣̅	テデテ゚テ̣	ネ	ヘㇸベペペ̣	メ	エ / 𛄡	レㇾレ゚	ヱ𛅥ヹ
オォオ゙オ̅ォ̅	コ𛅕ゴコ゚コ̣コ̅	ソゾソ゚ソ̅ソ̣̅	トㇳドㇳ゙ト゚ト̣ト̅	ノ	ホㇹボポポ̣	モ	ヨョ	ロㇿロ゚	ヲ𛅦ヺ
Halfwidth katakana characters ｱｧ ｲｨ ｳｩ ｴｪ ｵｫ ｶ ｷ ｸ ｹ ｺ ｻ ｼ ｽ ｾ ｿ ﾀ ﾁ ﾂｯ ﾃ ﾄ ﾅ ﾆ ﾇ ﾈ ﾉ ﾊ ﾋ ﾌ ﾍ ﾎ ﾏ ﾐ ﾑ ﾒ ﾓ ﾔｬ ﾕｭ ﾖｮ ﾗ ﾘ ﾙ ﾚ ﾛ ﾜ ｦ ﾝ
Taiwanese kana tone signs 𚿰 𚿱 𚿲 𚿳 𚿵 𚿶 𚿷 𚿸 𚿹 𚿺 𚿻 𚿽 𚿾
Additional symbols ーヽヾヽ゚ヿ