Etymology: the 21st letter of the modern English, and the 20th of the ancient Roman alphabet, was in the latter identical in form and origin with V, the same symbol being employed both as a vowel and a consonant. In Latin manuscripts written in capitals the form V is retained; but in uncial manuscripts, of which the earliest specimens belong to the third or fourth century, the modified form ? appears, and is continued in the later half-uncial (from c500) and minuscule manuscripts (from the eighth century) as ?. In Anglo-Saxon manuscripts the latter form (?) was regularly employed as a minuscule to denote the vowel u, the corresponding form in capitals being either V or ?. In early manuscripts u and uu are also employed with the value of w, and very rarely u in place of b (later f) to denote intervocalic v; in late manuscripts the substitution of u for f (= v) becomes fairly common, usually between vowels but sometimes also initially. In Middle English, after continental usage, the two symbols u and v were employed, but without clear distinction in value, each of them being used to denote either the vowel u or the consonant v. The practice with regard to the employment of the two forms varied considerably, but the general tendency was to write v initially and u in other positions, regardless of phonetic considerations, e.g. vnder, vpon, vse but cure, full, huge, and vain, vice, vile but saue, euer, giuen. For the sake of clearness, however, v was frequently preferred to u, especially in conjunction with n and m, as in tvne, rovnd, mvse. (In Scottish manuscripts intervocalic u with the value of v is much rarer than in English, its place being largely taken by f, ff, v or w.) The early printers followed the common usage with regard to u and v in small letters; in capitals they employed only one symbol, viz.  in black letter, and V in Roman. During the sixteenth century, however, continental printers began to distinguish between u and v, using the former as a vowel and the latter as a consonant. The distinction is found in Italian printing as early as 1524, but its general introduction dates from 1559–60, when it was employed in the Grammatica of Ramus; apparently the innovation was due to the printer rather than to the author. In English there were several attempts to introduce the distinction before 1600; after 1600 it rapidly became more common, and had come to be general by 1630. In capitals, however, V for some time continued to serve in the old double function, although ? had been introduced in the work of Ramus. This was subsequently adopted and remained the usual form for the capital vowel until the close of the 17th century, after which it rapidly gave way to U, a form which is employed, though at first sparingly, from at least 1625. (In italic type the vowel was ?, the consonant V.) From about 1700 the regular forms have been U u for the vowel, and V v for the consonant. One result of the long-continued confusion of u and v was that in dictionaries, indexes, etc., words beginning with the vowel and with the consonant were combined in one list, va- being followed by vb- (i.e. ub-), ve- by vf-, etc. This practice was very commonly continued even after the two letters had been distinguished, and in English dictionaries remained as late as Todd's edition of Johnson (1818) and Richardson's dictionary (1837). When the two letters were separated, v- was sometimes placed before u-; a late example of this occurs in Jodrell's dictionary (1820). The modern arrangement, by which u- precedes v-, is found from at least the early part of the 18th cent., and has been usual in English dictionaries from that of Webster (1828) onwards. In Old English the vowel-sounds denoted by u were those of Latin u, short and long, in the former case corresponding to that of modern English pull, bush, in the latter to that of rude, brute. In Middle English the short u in native words partly retained its own sound, and was partly altered by lengthening or other phonetic changes; in some words the sound remained while the spelling was altered, as in wolf (Old English wulf), woll (Old English wull). The long u also retained its sound (unless when shortened before certain consonants), but was denoted by the new symbol ou derived < French spelling. Short and long u also freely occurred in words of French and Latin origin, but differed in quality from those of the native words, having the value of ü, ǖ; in the case of ū the difference continued to be marked, and the resultant sounds are now quite distinct. Under the influence of these forms southern Middle English scribes substituted u for Old English y, ý (which had expressed the sounds ü, ǖ), writing cun, cuðen, etc., for Old English cyn, cýðan, which in midland and northern dialects became kin, kithe. In modern English the short u of Old English (apart from changes due to lengthening, etc.) has normally become /ʌ/ (written u or o), as dumb, sun, thus = Old English dumb, sunne, þus, or some, love = Old English sum, lufu. This change apparently had not proceeded far enough to be clearly noticeable until the middle of the 17th century, and was probably not generally completed until the beginning of the 18th. Over all the north of England, however, and a large part of the midlands, the original sound of u remains in words of this class, and even in standard English it is preserved in a few instances after labial consonants, as in bull, full, pull, bush, put. Short u also has this sound in some common words not of native origin (mostly with labial initials), as bushel, butcher, pudding, pulpit, push, sugar. The Old English ū (Middle English ou) has normally become the diphthong /aʊ/, written ou or ow, as in thou, town = Old English þú, tún, but in a few instances has been shortened, as in plum, thumb. The Middle English ū from French or Latin, on the other hand, has become the diphthong /juː/, /jʊə/, written u, ue, or u-e, as in huge, mute, future, cure, with reduction to /uː/, /ʊə/ after s (= /ʃ/, /ʒ/), j, and r, as in sure, jury, brute, rule, optionally after l, as in lute, lure, and more widely in American usage. This mode of spelling has also been extended to some native words which originally had a diphthong, and would normally be written with ew, as hue, rue, true, truth (compared with new, grew, strew). The same sounds /juː/, /uː/ are also represented by ui in a few words, as nuisance, bruise, fruit. In combination with other vowels u is employed in the groups au /ɔː/, eu /juː/, ou (with varying value, as in foul, soul, four, young, route), ue and ui (see above). It is silent after g in many words, as guard, guide, plague, and in final -que, as masque, grotesque. It has the value of w after q in other positions, and in various words after g and s, as queen, quick, inquest; guano, iguana, anguish; suave, persuade, etc. The name of the letter down to the 16th century was u, pronounced like the long u of French or Latin origin, and consequently undergoing the same change to /juː/ which took place in ordinary words. The completion of the change is indicated by the use of the letter (u or v) to represent the personal pronoun you in such passages as Shakes. L.L.L. v. i. 60 and Dekker and Webster Westward Hoe ii. i. (Compare IOU.) In Scotland the name /u/ was locally in use as late as the 19th century.

Etymology: Burmese.