ゆ

Japanese

hentaigana form (obsolete variant hiragana form (𛃥). Another form of cursive 由)

Stroke order

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [jɯ̟ᵝ]

Etymology 1

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

Syllable

ゆ (romaji yu)

1. The hiragana syllable ゆ (yu). Its equivalent in katakana is ユ (yu). It is the thirty-seventh syllable in the gojūon order; its position is や行う段 (ya-gyō u-dan, “row ya, 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, こ𛄲 (𛄲)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, 𛀆, ゆゅ, 𛀁, よょ, らら゚, りり゚, るる゚, れれ゚, ろろ゚, わゎわ゙, ゐ𛅐 (𛅐)ゐ゙, 𛄟 (𛄟), ゑ𛅑 (𛅑)ゑ゙, を𛅒 (𛅒)を゙, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

Etymology 2

Attaches to the irrealis form of verbs. Conjugates as a lower bigrade: ye, ye, yu, yuru, yure, -.

Suffix

ゆ • (-yu) 

1. expresses passiveness
2. expresses possibility
3. expresses natural, spontaneous occurrence

Derived terms

Derived terms

• あらゆる (arayuru)
• 所謂(いわゆる) (iwayuru)
• 聞(き)こえる (kikoeru)

• 見(み)える (mieru)
• 覚(おぼ)える (oboeru)

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Okinawan

Etymology

From Proto-Ryukyuan *wo, from Proto-Japonic *wo. Cognate with standard Japanese を (wo).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ju/

Particle

ゆ (rōmaji yu)

1. (archaic, literary) A case particle.
   1. (archaic, literary, with transitive verb) An accusative case particle: a grammatical marker following the direct object.

      誰(たる)ゆ恨(うら)みとぅてぃ鳴(な)ちゅが浜千鳥(はまちどぅり)。

      Taru-yu uramituti nachuga hamachiduri.

      (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   2. (archaic, literary, with intransitive verb) away from, off
   3. (archaic, literary, with intransitive verb) along, following a specified route, track, orbit, etc.

References

• “ゆ” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.
• “ユ” in Okinawa Center of Language Study, Shuri-Naha Dialect Dictionary (archived; reopens 2024).