う

See also: ゔ and ラ

う U+3046, う HIRAGANA LETTER U ← ぅ [U+3045] Hiragana ぇ → [U+3047]

Japanese

Stroke order

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɯ̟ᵝ]

• Audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 宇 in the cursive sōsho style.

Syllable

う (romaji u)

1. The hiragana syllable う (u). Its equivalent in katakana is ウ (u). It is the third syllable in the gojūon order; its position is あ行う段 (a-gyō u-dan, “row a, section u”).

See also

• (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, ゆゅ, よょ, ら, り, る, れ, ろ, わゎ, ゐ, ゑ, を, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

Etymology 2

Kana spelling of various words.

Noun

う (rōmaji u)

1. 鵜: cormorant

Etymology 3

/mu/ → /ũ/ → /u/ → (fused with the /a/ ending in the preceding verb stem) /ɔː/ → /oː/

From Old Japanese む (mu). See the entry at よう for more information.

Suffix

う (rōmaji -u)

1. (jodōshi) Used to make the volitional form of verbs.
   1. Expressing one's will to do something.

      そろそろ帰 (かえ)ろう。

      Sorosoro kaerō.

      I'll return before long.

      手伝 (てつだ)おうか。

      Tetsudaō ka.

      Shall I help?

      • 誕 (たん)生 (じょう)日 (び)ケーキを作 (つく)ろうと思 (おも)っています。

        Tanjōbi kēki o tsukurō to omotte imasu.

        I'm thinking about baking a birthday cake.

      • 誕 (たん)生 (じょう)日 (び)ケーキを作 (つく)ろうとしています。

        Tanjōbi kēki o tsukurō to shite imasu.

        I'm trying to bake a birthday cake.

   2. Inducing or stimulating other person to do something.

      明日一緒 (あしたいっしょ)に学 (がっ)校 (こう)に行 (い)こう。

      Ashita issho ni gakkō ni ikō.

      Let's go to school together tomorrow.

   3. (archaic) Presenting a supposition.

      Synonyms: だろう (darō), でしょう (deshō)

      そんなことはなかろう。

      Sonna koto wa nakarō.

      There's probably no such thing.

Usage notes

Attaches only to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis or incomplete form”) of Group I (godan) verbs, with the sound change au → ō.

• 書 (か)く (kaku) → 書 (か)か (kaka) + う (u) → 書 (か)こう (kakō)
• 呼 (よ)ぶ (yobu) → 呼 (よ)ば (yoba) + う (u) → 呼 (よ)ぼう (yobō)
• 言 (い)う (iu) → 言 (い)わ (iwa) + う (u) → 言 (い)おう (iō)

The volitional form of Group II (ichidan) and Group III (irregular) verbs are formed with よう (-yō) instead of う (-u).

In traditional Japanese grammar, this is a 助動詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary verb”), with the sole form う (u) as the 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal form”) and the 連体形 (rentaikei, “adnominal form”).

See also

• よう (-yō)
• ん (-n)
• む (-mu)