View source for Ü

{{short description|Latin letter U with umlaut/diaeresis}}
{{For|the region in Tibet|Ü (region)}}
{{Distinguish|Ű|Ȕ}}
{{Redirect|U-umlaut|the sound change|U-mutation (disambiguation){{!}}U-mutation}}
{{one source|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox grapheme
|letter=Ü ü
|name=U with umlaut/diaeresis
|image=Latin letter U with diaeresis.svg
|imageclass=skin-invert-image
|script=[[Latin script]]
|fam1=[[U]][[E]]
|fam2=Uͤ uͤ
|phonemes={{flex list|[{{IPAlink|y}}]|[{{IPAlink|ʏ}}]|[{{IPAlink|u}}]|[{{IPAlink|w}}]|[{{IPAlink|ɔ}}]|[{{IPAlink|ɥ}}]|[{{IPAlink|yː}}]}}[{{IPAlink|ɨ}}]
|variations=V, UE, II
|type=alphabet|typedesc=ic}}
'''Ü''' (lowercase '''ü''') is a [[Latin script]] character composed of the letter [[U]] and the [[Diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis]] diacritical mark. In some alphabets such as those of a number of [[Romance language]]s or [[Guarani alphabet|Guarani]]{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}} it denotes an instance of regular U to be construed in isolation from adjacent characters with which it would usually form a larger unit; other alphabets like the [[Azerbaijani alphabet|Azerbaijani]], [[Estonian alphabet|Estonian]], [[German alphabet|German]], [[Hungarian alphabet|Hungarian]] and [[Turkish alphabet|Turkish]] ones treat it as a letter in its own right. In those cases it typically represents a [[close front rounded vowel]] {{IPAblink|y|audio=yes}}.

Although not a part of their alphabet, Ü also appears in languages such as [[Finnish language|Finnish]] and [[Swedish language|Swedish]] when retained in foreign proper names like ''München'' ("[[Munich]]"). A small number of [[Dutch language|Dutch]] and [[Afrikaans]] words employ the character to mark [[vowel hiatus]] (e.g. ''reünie'' /reːyˈni/ ("reunion"), a loanword marked with diaeresis to suppress the native reading of ''eu'' as a digraph pronounced /øː/).

== U-umlaut ==
A glyph, '''U''' with [[Umlaut (diacritic)|umlaut]], appears in the [[German alphabet]]. It represents the umlauted form of ''u'', which results in {{IPA|de|yː|}} when long and {{IPA|de|ʏ|}} when short. The letter is [[collation|collated]] together with ''U'', or as ''UE''. In languages that have adopted German names or spellings, such as [[Swedish (language)|Swedish]], the letter also occurs. It is however not a part of these languages' alphabets. In [[Swedish language|Swedish]] the letter is called ''tyskt y'' which means ''German y''.

Though not a part of the [[Slovene alphabet]], ü is often used in eastern Styrian dialects, especially around [[Ptuj]]<ref>{{cite web |title=About Lük - Ptujski Lük |url=https://zelena-tocka.si/ptujski-luk/en/about-luk/}}</ref> as well as in the [[Resian dialect]] with the same pronouncation as in German.

In other languages that do not have the letter as part of the regular alphabet or in limited [[character set]]s such as [[ASCII]], U-umlaut is frequently replaced with the two-letter combination "'''ue'''". Software for [[optical character recognition]] sometimes sees it falsely as ''ii''.

== Letter Ü ==

The letter '''Ü''' is present in the [[Hungarian alphabet|Hungarian]], [[Turkish alphabet|Turkish]], [[Uyghur Latin alphabet|Uyghur Latin]], [[Estonian alphabet|Estonian]], [[Azeri alphabet|Azeri]], [[Turkmen alphabet|Turkmen]], [[Crimean Tatar alphabet|Crimean Tatar]], [[Kazakh alphabet|Kazakh Latin]] and [[Tatar alphabet|Tatar Latin]] [[alphabet]]s, where it represents a [[close front rounded vowel]] {{IPA|[y]}}. It is considered a distinct letter, [[Collation|collated]] separately, not a simple modification of U or Y, and is distinct from ''UE''.

[[Wayuu language|Wayuu]] represents the [[close central unrounded vowel]] {{IPA|[ɨ]}} using this letter.

In the [[Swedish alphabet|Swedish]], [[Danish and Norwegian alphabet|Danish, Norwegian]] and [[Finnish alphabet]]s ''ü'' is alphabetized as ''y''.

It is not present in the [[Basque alphabet]] but the [[Souletin dialect]] uses it for {{IPA|eu|y|}}.

This same letter appears in the [[Chinese language|Chinese]] [[Romanisation]]s [[Pinyin]], [[Wade–Giles]], and the German-based [[Lessing-Othmer]], where it represents the same sound {{IPA|[y]}}: 綠/lǜ (green) or 女/nǚ (female). Standard [[Mandarin Chinese]] pronunciation has both the sounds {{IPA|[y]}} and {{IPA|[u]}}. Pinyin only uses "Ü" to represent {{IPA|[y]}} after the letters "L" or "N" to avoid confusion with words such as 路/lù (road) and 怒/nù (anger). Words such as 玉/yù (jade) or 句/jù (sentence) are pronounced with {{IPA|[y]}}, but are not spelled with "Ü", although Wade–Giles and Lessing use "Ü" in all situations. As the letter "Ü" is missing on most keyboards and the letter "V" is not present in standard Mandarin pinyin, the letter "V" is used on most computer Chinese input methods to enter the letter "Ü". As a result, romanisation of Chinese with the letter "V" representing the Ü sound is sometimes found. However, Ü sound should be officially represented by "yu" in Pinyin when it is difficult to enter Ü. For example, the surname Lü (吕) would be written as "Lyu" in passports, formerly it was represented simply as "Lu".<ref>[http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hqzx/2012-10/11/content_15809608.htm 新版护照“吕”姓改拼“LYU” 英文无ü被替代]. Beijing Daily. 2012-10-11.</ref> Four extra tones for the letter "ü", which are "ǖ, ǘ, ǚ, ǜ", is added in [[Unicode]] as per [[GB 2312|GB/T 2312]].

== U-diaeresis ==

Several languages use [[diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis]] over the letter U to show that the letter is pronounced in its regular way, without dropping out or building [[diphthong]]s with neighbouring letters.

In [[Catalan language|Catalan]], ''ü'' is used in the letter combinations ''güe'', ''güi'', ''qüe'' and ''qüi'' to indicate the pronunciation {{IPA|[ɡwe]}}, {{IPA|[ɡwi]}}, {{IPA|[kwe]}} or {{IPA|[kwi]}}, respectively (e.g. {{lang|ca|[[wikt:nicaragüenc#Catalan|nicaragüenc]]}}, {{lang|ca|[[wikt:pingüí#Catalan|pingüins]]}}, {{lang|ca|[[wikt:qüestió#Catalan|qüestió]]}}, {{lang|ca|[[wikt:aqüicultura#Catalan|aqüicultura]]}}); this contrasts with the combinations ''gue/gui/que/qui'', in which the ''u'' is silent ({{IPA|[ɡe]}}, {{IPA|[ɡi]}}, {{IPA|[ke]}}, {{IPA|[ki]}}). Catalan also uses the letter ''ü'' to indicate that a vowel pair that would normally form a diphthong must be pronounced as separate syllables (e.g. {{lang|ca|[[wikt:baül#Catalan|baül]]}}, {{lang|ca|[[wikt:diürn#Catalan|diürna]]}}).

Similarly, in [[Spanish language|Spanish]], ''ü'' is used in the combinations ''güe'' {{IPA|[ɡwe]}} and ''güi'' {{IPA|[ɡwi]}}, to distinguish them from "gue" {{IPA|[ɡe]}} and "gui" {{IPA|[ɡi]}} (e.g. {{lang|es|[[wikt:nicaragüense#Spanish|nicaragüense]]}}, {{lang|es|[[wikt:pingüino#Spanish|pingüinos]]}}). Unlike Catalan, though, Spanish does not use it after ''q'', instead using ''cue'' and ''cui'' to spell words with {{IPA|[kwe]}} or {{IPA|[kwi]}} sounds ({{lang|es|[[wikt:cuestión#Spanish|cuestión]]}}, {{lang|es|[[wikt:acuicultura#Spanish|acuicultura]]}}); it also does not use it to break diphthongs, sometimes using the letter ''[[ú]]'' for that purpose when necessary ({{lang|es|[[wikt:baúl#Spanish|baúl]]}}, but {{lang|es|[[wikt:diurno#Spanish|diurna]]}}).

In French, the diaeresis appears over the "u" only very rarely, in some uncommon words, ''capharnaüm'' {{IPA|[-aɔm]}} ('shambles'), ''[[Capernaum|Capharnaüm/Capernaüm]]'' {{IPA|[-aɔm]}} or ''[[Emmaus|Emmaüs]]'' {{IPA|[-ays]}}. After the [[French orthography#Diacritics|1990 spelling reforms]], it is applied to a few more words, like  ''aig'''ü'''e'' (formerly ''aigu'''ë'''''), ''ambig'''ü'''e'' (formerly ''ambigu'''ë''''') and ''arg'''ü'''er'' {{IPA|[aʁɡɥe]}} (formerly without the diaeresis).

== Usage in phonetic alphabets ==
In the [[Rheinische Dokumenta]], a phonetic alphabet for many [[West Central German]], [[Low Rhenish]], and related [[vernacular]] languages, "ü" represents a range from {{IPAblink|y}} to {{IPAblink|ʏ}}.

== Typography ==
[[Image:VolapukAOU.svg|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|[[Johann Martin Schleyer]] proposed alternate forms for Ü and ü ([[Ꞟ]] and [[ꞟ]], respectively) in [[Volapük]] but they were rarely used.]]
Historically the unique letter ''Ü'' and U-diaeresis were written as a ''U'' with two dots above the letter. 

U-umlaut was written as a ''U'' with a small ''e'' written above (Uͤ uͤ): this minute ''e'' degenerated to two vertical bars in [[medieval]] [[handwriting]]s. In most later handwritings these bars in turn nearly became dots.

In modern [[typography]] there was insufficient space on [[typewriter]]s and later [[computer keyboard]]s to allow for both a U-with-dots (also representing ''Ü'') and a U-with-bars. Since they looked near-identical the two glyphs were combined, which was also done in computer [[character encoding]]s such as [[ISO 8859-1]]. As a result, there was no way to differentiate between the three different characters. While the distinction can be recreated in modern [[Unicode]] using [[combining diacritics]], modern typographic standards do not recommend doing so. In the [[Hungarian alphabet]], double acute U ([[Ű]]) is a distinct letter representing a long ''Ü''.

==Computing codes==

{{charmap
| 00DC | name1 = Latin Capital Letter U with Diaeresis
| 00FC | name2 = Latin Small Letter U with Diaeresis
| map1 = [[EBCDIC]] family | map1char1 = FC | map1char2 = DC
| map2 = [[ISO/IEC 8859|ISO 8859]]-[[ISO/IEC 8859-1|1]]/[[ISO/IEC 8859-2|2]]/[[ISO/IEC 8859-3|3]]/[[ISO/IEC 8859-4|4]]/[[ISO/IEC 8859-9|9]]/[[ISO/IEC 8859-10|10]]/[[ISO/IEC 8859-14|14]]/[[ISO/IEC 8859-15|15]]/[[ISO/IEC 8859-16|16]] | map2char1 = DC | map2char2 = FC
| map3 = [[CP437]] | map3char1 = 9A | map3char2 = 81
| map4 = [[Code page 10029]] | map4char1 = 86 | map4char2 = 9F
| map5 = [[GB 2312|GB/T 2312]], [[GBK (character encoding)|GBK]], [[GB 18030]] | map5char2 = A8 B9
| map6 = [[HKSCS]]| map6char2 = 88 A2
| IncludeGB = yes
}}

===Tonal marks for Hanyu Pinyin===
{{charmap
| 01D5 | name1 = Latin Capital Letter U with Diaeresis and Macron
| 01D6 | name2 = Latin Small Letter U with Diaeresis and Macron
| 01D7 | name3 = Latin Capital Letter U with Diaeresis and Acute
| 01D8 | name4 = Latin Small Letter U with Diaeresis and Acute
| 01D9 | name5 = Latin Capital Letter U with Diaeresis and Caron
| 01DA | name6 = Latin Small Letter U with Diaeresis and Caron
| 01DB | name7 = Latin Capital Letter U with Diaeresis and Grave
| 01DC | name8 = Latin Small Letter U with Diaeresis and Grave
| map1 = [[GB 2312|GB/T 2312]], [[GBK (character encoding)|GBK]], [[GB 18030]] | map1char2 = A8 B5 | map1char4 = A8 B6 | map1char6 = A8 B7 | map1char8 = A8 B8
| map2 = [[HKSCS]]| map2char2 = 88 7C | map2char4 = 88 7D | map2char6 = 88 7E | map2char8 = 88 A1
| IncludeGB = yes
}}

===Uralic Phonetic Alphabet symbols related to Ü===
{{charmap
| 1D1E | name1 = Latin Small Letter Sideways Diaeresized U
| IncludeGB = yes
}}

===Keyboarding===
The methods available for entering {{angle bracket|Ü}} and {{angle bracket|ü}} from the keyboard depend on the operating system, the keyboard layout, and the application.
* Microsoft Windows – some keyboard layouts feature separate keys for {{angle bracket|Ü}}
** Using the Swiss French keyboard, {{angle bracket|ü}} can be entered by typing {{key press|Shift|È}}
** Using the US International layout, {{angle bracket|ü}} can be entered by typing {{key press|AltGR|Y}}
* Microsoft Windows: with the Number Lock on, hold down the {{key press|Alt}} key while typing on the numeric keypad the decimal value of the code point from the active DOS/OEM code page ''without'' a leading zero, then release the {{key press|Alt}} key; i.e. {{key press|Alt|1|5|4}} for {{angle bracket|Ü}} and {{key press|Alt|1|2|9}} for {{angle bracket|ü}}
* Microsoft Windows: with the Number Lock on, hold down the {{key press|Alt}} key while typing on the numeric keypad the decimal value of the code point from the active ANSI code page ''with'' a leading zero, then release the Alt key; i.e. {{key press|Alt|0|2|2|0}} for {{angle bracket|Ü}} and {{key press|Alt|0|2|5|2}} for {{angle bracket|ü}}
* Microsoft Word for Windows: type {{key press|Ctrl|:}} followed by {{key press|Shift|U}} for {{angle bracket|Ü}} or {{key press|Ctrl|:}} then {{key press|U}} for {{angle bracket|ü}}
* [[macOS]] with an English keyboard layout (Australian, British, or U.S.): type {{key press|Option|U}} followed by {{key press|Shift|U}} for {{angle bracket|Ü}} or {{key press|Option|U}} and then {{key press|U}} for {{angle bracket|ü}} or by keeping the {{key press|U}} key pressed and then typing {{key press|2}}
* In [[Linux]]-based operating systems, this symbol may be typed by pressing the [[Compose key]] followed by {{key press|u}}, {{key press|"}}.
* In GTK-based GUI-Applications, {{key press|Ctrl|Shift|U}} followed by the Hex-Code

==See also==
* [[Umlaut (diacritic)]]
*Ӱ ӱ : [[U with diaeresis (Cyrillic)|Cyrillic letter U with diaeresis]]
*Ү ү : [[Ue (Cyrillic)|Cyrillic letter Ue]]

==References==
<references/>
{{Latin script}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:U-Umlaut}}
[[Category:Latin letters with diacritics]]
[[Category:Vowel letters]]