The letter originates from the letterizhitsa⟨Ѵ ѵ⟩ with abreve (Іереѵ̆ская власть, пучина Егеѵ̆ская, etc.) used in certain Ukrainian books at the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th centuries.[citation needed] Later, this character was probably in use in theRomanian Cyrillic script, from where it was borrowed in 1836 by the compilers of Ukrainian poetry bookRusalka Dnistrovaja (Русалка днѣстровая). The book'sforeword reads “we have accepted Serbian џ … and Wallachian [Romanian]ў …”.[2] In this book,⟨ў⟩ is used mostly for etymological [l] transformed to [w]. Modern Ukrainian spelling uses⟨в⟩ (v) in that position.
For Belarusian, the combination of theCyrillic letter U with a breve⟨ў⟩ was proposed by P.A. Bessonov in 1870.[3] Before that, various ad hoc adaptations of theLatin U were used, for example, italicized in some publications ofVintsent Dunin-Martsinkyevich, with acute accent⟨ú⟩ inJan Czeczot'sDa milykh mužyczkoú (To dear peasants, 1846 edition), W with breve⟨w̆⟩ in Epimakh-Shypila, 1889, or just the letter⟨u⟩ itself (like in publications ofKonstanty Kalinowski, 1862–1863). A U withhaček⟨ǔ⟩ was also used.[4]
After 1870, both the distinction for the phoneme and the new shape of the letter still were not consistently used until the mid-1900s for technical problems, per Bulyka. Among the first publications using it were folklore collections published by Michał Federowski and the first edition ofFrancišak Bahuševič'sDudka Biełaruskaja (Belarusian flute, published inKraków, 1891).[4] For quite a while other kinds of renderings (plain⟨u⟩, or with added accent, haček, or caret) were still being used, sometimes within a single publication (Bahushevich, 1891, Pachobka, 1915), also supposedly because of technical problems.[citation needed]
The letter is callednon-syllabic u orshort u (Belarusian:у нескладовае,romanized: u nyeskladovaye[5] or у кароткае,u karotkaye) in Belarusian because although it resembles the vowel у (u), it does not formsyllables.[6] Its equivalent in theBelarusian Latin alphabet is⟨ŭ⟩,[7] although it is also sometimes transcribed as⟨w⟩.[8]
In native Belarusian words,⟨ў⟩ is used after vowels and represents a[w],[9] as in хлеў, pronounced[xlʲew] (chleŭ, ‘shed’) or воўк[vɔwk] (voŭk, ‘wolf’). This is similar to the⟨w⟩ in Englishcow/kaʊ/.
The letter⟨ў⟩ cannot occur before anon-iotated vowel in native words (except compound words such as паўакна, ‘half a window’); when that would be required by grammar,⟨ў⟩ is replaced by⟨в⟩/v/. Compare хлеў ([xlʲew]chleŭ, ‘shed’) with за хлявом ([zaxlʲaˈvom]za chlavóm, ‘behind the shed’). Also, when a word starts with an unstressed⟨у⟩/u/ and follows a word that ends in a vowel, it forms a diphthong throughliaison and it is written with⟨ў⟩ instead. For example, у хляве ([uxlʲaˈvʲe]u chlavié, ‘in the shed’) but увайшлі яны ў хлеў ([uvajʂˈlʲijaˈnɨwxlʲew]uvajšlí janý ŭ chleŭ, ‘they went into the shed’).[5][10] According to the current official orthographic rules of 2008,[11] proper names conserve the initial⟨У⟩ in writing, so the capital letter⟨Ў⟩ can occur only in all-capitals writing. Previous official orthographic rules (1959) also made exception for loanwords (каля універсітэта, ‘near the university’, now spelled каля ўніверсітэта).[12] The unofficial 2005 standardization ofTaraškievica allows the capital⟨Ў⟩ in proper names.[5] In acronyms/initialisms, the word-initial⟨ў⟩ becomes⟨У⟩: ВНУ for вышэйшая навучальная ўстанова ‘higher education institution (university, college, institute)’.[5][11][12] Also,⟨Ў⟩ becomes⟨У⟩ in name initials in Taraškievica.[5]
The letter⟨ў⟩ is also sometimes used to represent thelabial-velar approximant/w/ in foreignloanwords: this usage is allowed by the 2005 standardization ofTaraškievica. When it is used thus it can appear before non-iotated vowels, does not require a preceding vowel, and may be capital.[5]
In poetry, word-initial⟨у⟩ and⟨ў⟩ are sometimes used according to the rhythm of a poem. In this case, the capital⟨Ў⟩ may also occur.[12]
This letter is the 32nd letter of the Uzbek Cyrillic alphabet as it is a letter of its own and not a variant of ⟨у⟩. It corresponds toOʻ in the currentUzbek alphabet. It is different from the regularO, which is represented by theCyrillic letterО. Furthermore, it represents/o/, which is pronounced as either[o] or[ɵ], in contrast to the letterO, which represents/ɒ/.[13]
In September 2003, during the tenthDays of Belarusian Literacy celebrations, the authorities inPolatsk, the oldest Belarusian city, made a monument to honor the unique Cyrillic Belarusian letter⟨ў⟩. The original idea for the monument came from professorPaval Siemčanka, a scholar of Cyrillic calligraphy andtype.[15]
The letter⟨ў⟩ is also the namesake ofЎ gallery, an art gallery inMinsk between 2009 and 2020.
^Большой орфоэпический словарь русского языка (2018)
^“...приймилисмо сербскоєџ (виџуwydzu) и волоскоєў (аў,ɑʋErazm. Rotterd.,𝖆𝖚,еў,ɛʋ: спѣваў,spiwɑʋ; душеў,duʃɛʋ)...”.Markiyan Shashkevych (1837),Rusalka Dnistrovaya (Mermaid of the Dniester), p V.
^Булыка (Bulyka). У нескладовае // Энцыклапедыя літаратуры і мастацтва Беларусі. Т.4. p.377.
^Б. Тарашкевіч. Беларуская граматыка для школ. – Вільня : Беларуская друкарня ім. Фр. Скарыны, 1929 ; Мн. : «Народная асвета», 1991 [факсімільн.]. – Выданьне пятае пераробленае і пашыранае.
^E.g., perБеларуская мова: Вучэб. дапам. / Э. Д. Блінава, Н. В. Гаўрош, М. Ц. Кавалёва і інш.; Пад рэд. М. С. Яўневіча. — Мн. : Выш. школа, 1991.ISBN5-339-00539-9.
