The Russian small letterб (be) is similar (but not identical) in shape to thedigit 6. Its lowercase form also somewhat resembles a lowercase letterB ("b"), the letter to which it corresponds in the Latin alphabet. After all, the lowercase Latin letterB ("b") developed from scribal alterations to the capital letterB ("B"), just as б did from scribal alterations to the capital letterВ ("Ve").
In Serbian and Macedonian the italic form is allowed to vary, but the regular should look like in other languages.[1]
The cursive form of the lowercase letter Be resembles the lowercaseGreek letter Delta (δ), but they are slightly different in their upper portions.
Be, from theAlphabet Book оf the Red Army soldier (1921)
InRussian andBulgarian, the letter Be generally represents thevoiced bilabial plosive/b/, but word-finally or before a voicelessconsonant, it also represents the voiceless[p]. Before apalatalizing vowel, it represents/bʲ/. InMacedonian, the letter represents the sound/b/, but if it is in the final position of the word, it is pronounced as/p/, like inлеб/lɛp/ ('bread').
