Ve (Cyrillic)
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Ve (В в; italics: В в or В в; italics: В в) is a letter of the Cyrillic script. It commonly represents the voiced labiodental fricative {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, like Template:Angbr in "vase". It can also represent {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.
The capital letter Ve looks the same as the capital Latin letter B but is pronounced differently.
Ve is commonly romanized by the Latin letter V (as described by ISO 9), but sometimes the Latin letter W is used instead, such as in Polish,Template:Citation needed or by the German Duden transcription.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
History
Both Ve and the Cyrillic letter Be (Б б) were derived from the Greek letter Beta (Β β), which already represented {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in Greek by the time the Cyrillic alphabet was created.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In the Early Cyrillic alphabet, its name was Template:Script (vědě), meaning "I know". In the old Russian alphabet the name was vedi.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In the Cyrillic numeral system, it had the value of 2.
Form
The cursive, handwritten, and italic forms look rounded like the capital letter, or the Greek letter beta (Template:Char). This form is also used in Bulgarian forms.
Usage
In Russian and Bulgarian, Ve generally represents {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, but at the end of a word or before voiceless consonants, it represents the voiceless {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. Before a palatalizing vowel or soft sign, it represents {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.
In standard Ukrainian pronunciation (based on the Poltava dialect), Ve usually represents [ʋ] in the word initial position (or preceding most vowels) and a sound like the English W ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}) when in the word final position. Because of this, it is not uncommon to see words ending in Template:Angbr transcribed to end in Template:Angbr, for example, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} = Vladyslaw for Vladislav.
Additionally, some Ukrainians also use this pronunciation in words where the letter is directly preceded by a consonant, while for others all occurrences of the letter Ve denote {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. In Eastern Ukraine, the letter Ve may represent a voiceless {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, but this is considered a Russianism, as word-final devoicing does not occur in standard Ukrainian. For example, the standard Ukrainian pronunciation of the word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ([he] said) is {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. However, in Eastern Ukraine one is likely to hear the Russified {{#invoke:IPA|main}} (with final devoicing).
In Belarusian, the letter Ve represents only the sound {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. In the word final position, or if directly proceeded by a consonant, it mutates to the letter Short U (Ў ў), a Belarusian letter representing the sound {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. E.g., the Belarusian noun "language" is {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (mova), but the adjectival form is {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (mowny), and the genitive plural of the noun (formed by removing the final Template:Angbr) is {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (mow).
In Rusyn, the letter Ve represents the sound /v/, or /w/ if it is at the end of the word.
In Serbian and Montenegrin, the letter Ve represents only the sound /v/.
In Macedonian the letter is used for the sound /v/, but if the letter appears at the end of the word then it is pronounced as /f/. An example of this is the word бев [bɛf] ('I was').
In Mongolian, Kalmyk, and Dungan, it is used for /w/.
Related letters and other similar characters
- Β β : Greek letter Beta
- Б б : Cyrillic letter Be
- Ѵ ѵ : Cyrillic Letter Izhitsa
- B b : Latin letter B
- V v : Latin letter V
- W w : Latin letter W
- Ԝ ԝ : Cyrillic Letter We