In English, Yu is commonlyromanized as⟨yu⟩ or⟨ju⟩. In turn,⟨ю⟩ is used, where available, intranscriptions of English letter⟨u⟩ (inopen syllables), and also of the⟨ew⟩ digraph. The sound[y], like⟨u⟩ in French and⟨ü⟩ in German, may also be approximated by the letter⟨ю⟩.
Sometimes, it is referred to as "Iotated U" because it is a so-callediotated vowel, pronounced in isolation as/ju/, like the pronunciation of⟨u⟩ in "human". After aconsonant, no distinct[j] sound is pronounced, but the consonant issoftened. The exact pronunciation of the vowel sound of⟨ю⟩ in Slavic languages depends also on the succeeding sound. Before a soft consonant, it is[ʉ], theclose central rounded vowel, as in 'rude'. Before a hard consonant or at the end of a word, the result is a back vowel[u], as in "pool".
Apart from the formI-O, in earlySlavonic manuscripts the letter appears also in a mirrored formO-I (Ꙕ, ꙕ).[1] It is the latter form that is probably the original,[citation needed] precisely displaying the Greek combinationomicron-iota (οι). At the time that theGreek alphabet was adapted to the Slavonic language giving rise to the Cyrillic alphabet, it denoted theclose front rounded vowel/y/ in educated Greek speech. The closefront rounded vowel does not appear in East Slavic. Seeabove.
There was another way for it to lead to the modern form. By the analogy to several 'iotated' lettersѤ,Ꙗ,Ѩ andѬ, the ancient ligature (or letter)Uk⟨оѵ⟩/⟨оу⟩ possibly had its iotated form⟨іоѵ⟩/⟨іоу⟩.[citation needed]
