View source for E (Cyrillic)

{{Short description|Letter of the Cyrillic script}}
{{Hatnote group|
{{About-confuse|the Cyrillic Э|З}}
{{For|the letter Ye (Е е) of the Russian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbian, and Ukrainian alphabets|Ye (Cyrillic)}}
}}
{{Infobox grapheme
| script = [[Cyrillic]]
| type = [[Alphabet]]
| typedesc = ic
| name = E
| image = Cyrillic letter E - uppercase and lowercase.svg
| imagealt = 
| phonemes = {{IPAblink|e}}, {{IPAblink|ɛ}}
| number = 
| fam1 = 
| letter = Э э
| equivalents = E e
| unicode = U+042D, U+044D
}}

[[File:Азбука_красноармейца._Э.jpg|thumb|''E'', from the ''Alphabet Book оf the Red Army Soldier'' (1921)]]
'''E''' (Э э; italics: ''Э э'' or <span style="font-family: times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: larger">Э&nbsp;э</span>; italics: <span style="font-family: times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: larger">''Э&nbsp;э''</span>); also known as '''backwards ye''', from [[Russian language|Russian]] {{lang|ru|е оборо́тное}}, ''ye oborótnoye'', {{IPA|ru|ˈjɛ ɐbɐˈrotnəjə|}}) is a letter found in three [[Slavic languages]]: [[Russian language|Russian]], [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]], and [[West Polesian]]. It represents the [[vowel]]s {{IPAblink|e}} and {{IPAblink|ɛ}}, as the e in the word "'''e'''ditor". In other Slavic languages that use the [[Cyrillic script]], the sounds are represented by [[Ye (Cyrillic)|Ye]] (Е&nbsp;е), which in Russian and Belarusian represents {{IPA|ru|je|}} in initial and postvocalic position or {{IPA|ru|e|}} with [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalization]] of the preceding [[consonant]]. This letter closely resembles and should not be confused with the older Cyrillic letter [[Ukrainian Ye]] (Є є), of which Э is a reversed version.

In [[Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet|Cyrillic Moldovan]], which was used in the [[Moldovan SSR]] during the [[Soviet Union]] and is still used in [[Transnistria]], the letter corresponds to [[ă]] in the Latin [[Romanian alphabet]], and the phoneme [ə]. It is also used in the Cyrillic alphabets used by [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] and many [[Uralic languages|Uralic]], [[Caucasian languages|Caucasian]] and [[Turkic languages]] of the former Soviet Union.

==Origin==
The letter {{angle bracket|{{Slavonic|э}}}} originated in the thirteenth century as a variant of {{angle bracket|{{Slavonic|[[є]]}}}}, at first, according to Đorđić<ref>Петар Ђорђић, ''Историја српске ћирилице'', Београд, 2-a изд., 1987, p.87</ref> in superscripted line-final position, but by the end of the century elsewhere as well.<ref>Cf ''Банишко евангелие: среднобългарски паметник от XIII век'', подгот. за печат с увод и коментар Е. Дограмаджиева и Б. Райков, София, 1981, pp.13, 341</ref> In the following centuries it continued to appear sporadically as an uncommon variant of {{angle bracket|є}}, but not later than in the fifteenth century amongst the Eastern Slavs it began to be used to indicate initial (un[[iotated]]) {{IPAblink|e}}. According to [[Yefim Karskiy]], "Western Russian [[uncial script|ustav]] knows {{angle bracket|{{Slavonic|э}}}}, e.g. in Miscellany of the 15th c. from the Public Library (manuscr. #391) ({{Slavonic|экъсеквїє}} etc.), chronicles of 15th-16th cc., Miscellany of [[Poznań]] (16th c.),<ref>Published in the vol. 17 of the [[Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles]].</ref> [[Statutes of Lithuania|Statut of 1588]]... It is difficult to say whether it has been developed here independently or it came from South Slavic manuscripts, where {{angle bracket|{{Slavonic|э}}}} occurs as early as in 13-14th cc."<ref>"Западнорусский устав знает ''э'', напр. в Сб. XV в. Публ. б. № 391 ({{Slavonic|экъсеквїє}} и др.), летописях XV—XVI вв., Позн. Сб. XVI в., Статуте 1588... Трудно сказать, развилось ли оно здесь самостоятельно или же зашло из югославянских рукописей, где ''э'' встречается уже в XIII—XIV вв." (Е. Ф. Карский, ''Белорусы: Язык белорусского народа'', вып. 1, М., 1955, р. 69). See also pp. 165-166 for more details and examples.</ref> Although the revision of [[Meletius Smotrytsky]]’s grammar published in Moscow in 1648 does not include {{angle bracket|{{Slavonic|э}}}} in its alphabet, it does consistently write {{Slavonic|Этѷмолѻ́гїа}} (''Etymologia''), in contrast to {{Slavonic|Єтѷмоло́ґїѧ}} in the first edition of 1619. It was by no means confined to this function in the period, however, as the prevalent spellings {{Slavonic|реэстръ, маэоръ}} (beside {{Slavonic|маеоръ, маіоръ}}) for modern Russian {{lang|ru|реестр}}, {{lang|ru|майор}} demonstrate.

== Usage ==

=== In modern Russian ===
[[File:Russian alphabet (marks by Peter I), page 4.gif|thumb|right|Specimens of the [[civil script]] with annotations by Peter I.]]
In the specimens of the [[civil script]] presented to [[Peter I of Russia|Peter I]] in 1708, forms of {{angle bracket|э}} were included among forms of {{angle bracket|{{Slavonic|є}}}}, but the latter was deleted by Peter. The former was used in some early 18th-century Russian texts, but some authorities of the period considered it superfluous, like [[Mikhail Lomonosov]], on the grounds that "the letter Е, having several different pronunciations, could serve in the pronoun {{lang|ru|етотъ}} and the interjection {{lang|ru|ей}}"<ref>''Россійская Грамматика'' Михайла Ломоносова, печатана в Санктпетербургѣ, при Императорской Академїи Наук, 1755 года, p.43</ref> and that it was inappropriate to introduce letters solely for use in loanwords. However, the inclusion of {{angle bracket|Э}} in its modern function, in the Russian Academy's Dictionary of 1789–94, marks the point from which it can be considered as an established part of the Russian orthographical standard.

There were still some objections to the letter even as late as 1817, when [http://www.rulex.ru/01110753.htm M. T. Kačenovskij] was questioning whether "yet another hard э" was necessary when the language already had "a soft ѣ and a hard е".<ref>[М. Т.] Каченовский, “Исторический взгляд на Грамматику Славянских наречий”, ''Труды О-ва любителей Российской словесности при имп. Московском университете'', ч.IX (1817), pp.17-46. He was referring specifically to the spelling {{Slavonic|Этѷмоло́ґїѧ}} in the 1648 grammar mentioned above: {{lang|ru|“Каким образом появляется здесь обратное Э, которое в азбуке Мелетием обойдено? Разве нужно, при мягком Ѣ, при твердом Е, еще одно твердое Э?”}} so how far his remarks extend to the Russian of his own day is debatable. The reference to "a soft ѣ and a hard е" was referring to the pronunciation of Church Slavonic current in his day (which is still maintained by the [[Old Believers]]). That may have still been regarded as the literary ideal: see Б. А. Успенский, ''Архаическая система церковнославянского произношения'', Москва, 1968, especially pp.29-35.</ref>

In contemporary Russian, {{angle bracket|э}} is used to represent {{IPA|ru|e|}}, {{IPA|ru|ɛ|}} in initial position ({{lang|ru|'''э'''лектричество}} 'electricity') and postvocalic position ({{lang|ru|ду'''э'''ль}} 'duel'). Among such words are only a few native Russian roots: {{lang|ru|эт-}} (это 'this is', этот/эта/это 'this (m./f./n.)', эти 'these', поэтому 'thus' etc.), {{lang|ru|эк-}} (экий 'what a'), {{lang|ru|эдак-}}/{{lang|ru|этак-}} (эдак/этак 'that way', эдакий/этакий 'sort of') and a few interjections like {{lang|ru|эй}} 'hey', {{lang|ru|э}} 'uh, oh', {{lang|ru|э-э-э}} 'uh'.

Even though Russian contains a significant number of loanwords in which {{IPA|ru|e|}} occurs after a hard (unpalatalised) consonant, it is still the practice to use the letter {{angle bracket|е}} for {{IPA|ru|e|}}, {{IPA|ru|ɛ|}}: {{lang|ru|теннис, сепсис}} ([[tennis]], [[sepsis]]). There are few traditional exceptions to that practice among [[proper noun|common noun]] loanwords:
* the original list (the first half of the 20th century) contained just three words:
** {{lang|ru|мэр}} 'mayor', from French {{lang|fr|'maire'}}
** {{lang|ru|пэр}} 'peer (a noble)', from French {{lang|fr|'pair'}}
** {{lang|ru|сэр}} 'sir', from English or from Old French {{lang|fr|'sieur'}}
* two later additions (1950s-1960s):
** {{lang|ru|мэтр}} 'master, skilled artist', from French {{lang|fr|'maître'}}
** {{lang|ru|пленэр}}, from French {{lang|fr|'[[en plein air|(en) plein air]]'}}
* new additions (1980s and later) are more numerous:
** {{lang|ru|рэкет}} 'racket, racketeering', from English
** {{lang|ru|рэп}} 'rap (music)', from English
** {{lang|ru|фэнтези}} 'fantasy (literature)', from English
** and several others; spelling of new words sometimes varies and dictionaries often give variants or contradict one another (like {{lang|ru|хетчбэк}} 'hatchback (car)' in spelling dictionary vs {{lang|ru|хетчбек}}/{{lang|ru|хэтчбек}} in explanatory dictionary [http://www.gramota.ru/slovari/dic/?lop=x&bts=x&zar=x&ag=x&ab=x&sin=x&lv=x&az=x&pe=x&word=%F5%3F%F2%F7*]).

In [[proper noun]]s, however, {{angle bracket|э}} may occur after consonants: {{lang|ru|Улан-Удэ}} '[[Ulan-Ude]]' and {{lang|ru|Блэр}} 'Blair'. However, many such loanwords are spelled with {{angle bracket|е}}: {{lang|ru|Блерио}} 'Blériot' (a French aviator). That is the case especially for names that entered the language centuries ago like: {{lang|ru|Берлин}}, 'Berlin'. The use of {{angle bracket|э}} is much more frequent for names from non-[[European languages]]: {{lang|ru|Мао Цзэдун}} 'Mao Zedong'.

The letter {{angle bracket|э}} is also used in Russian to render initial [[Open-mid front rounded vowel|œ]] in foreign words: thus {{lang|fr|Eure}} (the river in [[France]]) is written {{lang|ru|Эр}}. After consonants this is transcribed as {{angle bracket|[[ё]]}}. In the 19th century, some writers used {{angle bracket|ӭ}} for that sound in both positions,<ref>Я. К. Грот, ''Русское правописание,'' 19-ое изд., Санктпетербург, 1910, p.78</ref> but that was never accepted as standard orthography. (The letter {{angle bracket|[[ӭ]]}} was re-invented in the 20th century for [[Kildin Sami]].) It is also used to represent a stressed {{IPAc-en|æ}} in languages such as English, which can cause a problem of conflating {{IPAc-en|æ}} with English {{IPAc-en|ɛ}} (for example, "Addison" and "Edison" would be spelled the same). However, in other positions, Russian also uses {{angle bracket|а}} for {{IPAc-en|æ}} and {{angle bracket|е}} for {{IPAc-en|ɛ}}.

=== In modern Belarusian ===
Unlike Russian, Belarusian has many native words in which it occurs after a hard consonant. Moreover, its orthography [[Belarusian orthography reform of 1933|was standardized]] later than that of Russian (which reached its present form at the beginning of the 20th century), on the basis of the spoken language rather than historical tradition. Consequently, {{angle bracket|э}} and {{angle bracket|е}} are written in accordance with pronunciation: {{angle bracket|э}} for initial {{IPA|be|e|}} and after hard consonants, {{angle bracket|е}} for initial and postvocalic {{IPA|be|je|}} and after soft consonants. That also means that {{angle bracket|э}} is much more frequent in Belarusian than in Russian.

=== In other languages ===
In [[Tuvan language|Tuvan]] the Cyrillic letter can be written as a [[Digraph (orthography)#Homogeneous digraph|double vowel]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/tuvan.php|title=Tuvan language, alphabet and pronunciation|work=omniglot.com|access-date=14 June 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jWwqAAAAQBAJ|title=Compendium of the World's Languages|first1=George L.|last1=Campbell|first2=Gareth|last2=King|date=24 July 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136258459|access-date=14 June 2016|via=Google Books}}</ref>

In the [[Tajik language]], the letters е and э have the same function, except that э is used at the beginning of a word (ex. Эрон, "[[Iran]]").<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/tajik-ii-tajiki-persian|title=Encyclopedia Irancia, TAJIK PERSIAN|access-date=19 December 2017}}</ref>

In [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]], э is the standard letter to represent the /ɛ/ phoneme. When doubled, it represents the /eː/ phoneme. Е, however, is only used in the few Mongolian words containing it, Russian loanwords and Russian-style transcriptions of foreign names.

==Related letters and other similar characters==
* Е е : [[Е|Cyrillic letter Ye]]
* Є є : [[Є|Cyrillic letter Ukrainian Ye]]
* Ε ε : [[Ε|Greek letter Epsilon]]
* E e : [[E|Latin letter E]]
* É é : [[É|Latin letter E with acute]]
* Ė ė : [[Ė|Latin letter E with overdot]] - a Lithuanian letter
* ℈ : Scruple ([[Apothecaries' system]])
*€ : [[Euro Sign]]
{{anchor|Code positions}}

==Computing codes==

{{charmap
|042D|name1=Cyrillic Capital Letter E
|044D|name2=Cyrillic Small Letter E
|map1=[[KOI8-R]] and [[KOI8-U]] |map1char1=FC |map1char2=DC
|map2=Code page 855 |map2char1=F8 |map2char2=F7
|map3=[[Code page 866]] |map3char1=9D |map3char2=ED
|map4=[[Windows-1251]] |map4char1=DD |map4char2=FD
|map5=[[ISO-8859-5]] |map5char1=CD |map5char2=ED
|map6=[[Macintosh Cyrillic encoding|Macintosh Cyrillic]] |map6char1=9D |map6char2=FD
}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Wiktionary-inline|Э}}
*{{Wiktionary-inline|э}}

{{Cyrillic navbox}}

[[Category:Cyrillic letters]]
[[Category:Vowel letters]]