b

See also: B and Appendix:Variations of "b"

b	U+0062, b LATIN SMALL LETTER B

← a
[U+0061]

Basic Latin

c →
[U+0063]

ｂ	U+FF42, ｂ FULLWIDTH LATIN SMALL LETTER B

← ａ
[U+FF41]

Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms

ｃ →
[U+FF43]

Translingual[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:

b

Wikipedia

Etymology[edit]

Modification of capital letter B by dropping its upper loop, from the Greek letter Β (B, “Beta”).

Pronunciation[edit]

IPA (file)

A voiced bilabial stop is made with the lips alone, by a complete closure cutting off all exit of breath from the mouth, but with accompanying sonant vibrations of the vocal chords, the current of air necessary to produce this being driven from the lungs into the closed cavity of the mouth.^[1] The corresponding voiceless stop is p.

Letter[edit]

b (upper case B)

The second letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

Symbol[edit]

ᵇ	U+1D47, ᵇ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL B

← ᵆ
[U+1D46]

Phonetic Extensions

ᵈ →
[U+1D48]

b

(IPA) A voiced bilabial plosive, a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages.
(physics) A bottom quark.
(music) Alternative form of ♭ (“flat”)

Usage notes[edit]

The letter b is used in several romanization systems to represent the bilabial plosive or stop, usually voiced (/b/), including Cyrillic б (b, “be”), Zhuyin fuhao ㄅ, and Korean jamo ㅂ (b, “bieup”).

Gallery[edit]

Letter styles
Uppercase and lowercase versions of B, in normal and italic type
Uppercase and lowercase B in Fraktur
Approximate form of Greek upper case beta, which was the source for both common variants of b' in uncial script

References[edit]

^ William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “b”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, volume I (A–C), revised edition, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /b/ (see also Pronunciation under Translingual)
(letter name) IPA^(key): /biː/
Audio (US) (file)
Audio (UK) (file)
(letter name) Rhymes: -iː
(letter name) Homophones: be, bee, Bea

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B, plural bs or b's)

The second letter of the English alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes[edit]

In Modern English, the letter b is sometimes silent, as when final after m, in climb, lamb, limb, tomb, thumb, and in a few other cases, such as debt and doubt. In most of these cases b is a modern graphic insertion, and was never pronounced (in the English forms); see limb, thumb, debt, and doubt.^[1]

Number[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The ordinal number second, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2[edit]

Adjective[edit]

b (not comparable)

Alternative form of b. (“born”)

Symbol[edit]

b

(astronomy) latitude in the galactic coordinate system
(physics) barn
(computing) bit
(cricket) bye
(size) big

Derived terms[edit]

(computing): Kb, Mb, Gb, Tb, Pb, Eb
(computing): bps, b/s
(cricket): lb

Translations[edit]

in computing

Esperanto: bit (eo)

Etymology 3[edit]

Abbreviations.

(stenoscript) a single consonant /b/ in a word, or a dominant /b/ in a cluster.
(stenoscript) the sequence /biː/
(stenoscript) Abbreviation of be and inflections being, been.
(stenoscript) Abbreviation of by and homophones buy, bye.
(stenoscript) Abbreviation of but.

References[edit]

^ William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “b”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, volume I (A–C), revised edition, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Afar[edit]

Letter[edit]

b

The second letter of the Afar alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Azerbaijani[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /b/

Letter[edit]

b lower case (upper case B)

The second letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Basque[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

IPA^(key): /be/, [be̞]

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Basque alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.

Catalan[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

IPA^(key): /be/

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Catalan alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Audio (file)
Rhymes: -eː
(letter name): IPA^(key): /beː/

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Dutch alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Esperanto[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(letter name): IPA^(key): /bo/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/
Audio (file)
Homophone (letter name): bo-

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called bo and written in the Latin script.

Estonian[edit]

b on Estonian Wikipedia

Pronunciation[edit]

(letter name, bee): IPA^(key): /ˈb̥eː/, [ˈb̥eː]
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /ˈb̥/, [ˈb̥]

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Estonian alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.

Noun[edit]

b (genitive b or b', partitive b-d or b'd)

The letter b (the second letter of the Estonian alphabet)
(music) B-flat (note)
Synonym: si-bemoll

Declension[edit]

Inflection of b (ÕS type 26i/idee, no gradation)

	singular	plural
nominative	b-	b-d
accusative	b-	b-d
genitive	b-	b-de
partitive	b-d	b-id b-sid
illative	b-sse	b-desse b-isse
inessive	b-s	b-des b-is
elative	b-st	b-dest b-ist
allative	b-le	b-dele b-ile
adessive	b-l	b-del b-il
ablative	b-lt	b-delt b-ilt
translative	b-ks	b-deks b-iks
terminative	b-ni	b-deni
essive	b-na	b-dena
abessive	b-ta	b-deta
comitative	b-ga	b-dega

(music):

Inflection of b (ÕS type 26i/idee, no gradation)

	singular	plural
nominative	b'	b'd
accusative	b'	b'd
genitive	b'	b'de
partitive	b'd	b'id b'sid
illative	b'sse	b'desse b'isse
inessive	b's	b'des b'is
elative	b'st	b'dest b'ist
allative	b'le	b'dele b'ile
adessive	b'l	b'del b'il
ablative	b'lt	b'delt b'ilt
translative	b'ks	b'deks b'iks
terminative	b'ni	b'deni
essive	b'na	b'dena
abessive	b'ta	b'deta
comitative	b'ga	b'dega

References[edit]

b in Sõnaveeb
b in Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat

Faroese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

IPA^(key): /p/

Letter[edit]

b (upper case B)

The third letter of the Faroese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Finnish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Audio (file)

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Finnish alphabet, called bee and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes[edit]

Used only in loanwords.

Etymology 2[edit]

From German B (“B-flat”).

Noun[edit]

b

(music) B flat

Usage notes[edit]

Capitalized for the great octave or any octave below that, or in names of major keys; not capitalized for the small octave or any octave above that, or in names of minor keys.
Finnish uses the German system; B is written as h.

Declension[edit]

Declension of b (type maa)

	singular	plural
nominative	b	b:t
genitive	b:n	b:iden b:itten
partitive	b:tä	b:itä
accusative	b b:n	b:t
inessive	b:ssä	b:issä
elative	b:stä	b:istä
illative	b:hen	b:ihin
adessive	b:llä	b:illä
ablative	b:ltä	b:iltä
allative	b:lle	b:ille
essive	b:nä	b:inä
translative	b:ksi	b:iksi
instructive	–	b:in
abessive	b:ttä	b:ittä
comitative	–	b:ineen

French[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(letter name) IPA^(key): /be/

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the French alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Fula[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

IPA^(key): /b/

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The third letter of the Fula alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes[edit]

Common to all varieties of Fula (Fulfulde / Pulaar / Pular).

Gothic[edit]

Romanization[edit]

b

Romanization of 𐌱

Hungarian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(phoneme): IPA^(key): [ˈb]
(letter name): IPA^(key): [ˈbeː]
Audio (file)

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The third letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called bé and written in the Latin script.
(music) B-flat, B♭ (the 11th note of the C chromatic scale)
Coordinate terms: cesz, desz, esz, fesz, gesz, asz

Declension[edit]

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	b	b-k
accusative	b-t	b-ket
dative	b-nek	b-knek
instrumental	b-vel	b-kkel
causal-final	b-ért	b-kért
translative	b-vé	b-kké
terminative	b-ig	b-kig
essive-formal	b-ként	b-kként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	b-ben	b-kben
superessive	b-n	b-ken
adessive	b-nél	b-knél
illative	b-be	b-kbe
sublative	b-re	b-kre
allative	b-hez	b-khez
elative	b-ből	b-kből
delative	b-ről	b-kről
ablative	b-től	b-ktől
non-attributive possessive - singular	b-é	b-ké
non-attributive possessive - plural	b-éi	b-kéi

Possessive forms of b
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	b-m	b-im
2nd person sing.	b-d	b-id
3rd person sing.	b-je	b-i
1st person plural	b-nk	b-ink
2nd person plural	b-tek	b-itek
3rd person plural	b-jük	b-ik

Derived terms[edit]

Compound words

Icelandic[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(letter name) IPA^(key): /pjɛː/

Letter[edit]

b (upper case B)

The third letter of the Icelandic alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Ido[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(context pronunciation) IPA^(key): /b/
(letter name) IPA^(key): /be/

Letter[edit]

b (upper case B)

The second letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Indonesian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(letter name): IPA^(key): /be/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Indonesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Italian[edit]

Noun[edit]

b f or m (invariable, lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Italian alphabet, called bi and written in the Latin script.

Latvian[edit]

Latvian Wikipedia has an article on:

b

Wikipedia ^lv

Etymology[edit]

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

Pronunciation[edit]

IPA^(key): [b]

(file)

Letter[edit]

B

b (lower case, upper case B)

The third letter of the Latvian alphabet, called bē and written in the Latin script.

Livonian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /b/

Letter[edit]

b (upper case B)

The fifth letter of the Livonian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Lushootseed[edit]

Letter[edit]

b

The third letter of the Lushootseed alphabet, pronounced as a voiced bilabial stop.

Malay[edit]

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Maltese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

IPA^(key): /b/
IPA^(key): /p/ (per final devoicing or assimilation to a following voiceless obstruent)

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Norwegian Bokmål Wikipedia has an article on:

b

Wikipedia ^nb

Alternative forms[edit]

B

Etymology[edit]

Modification of the capital letter B by dropping its upper loop, from Latin B, from Etruscan 𐌁 (b, “be”), from Ancient Greek Β (B, “beta”), from the Phoenician 𐤁‎ (b, “bet”), from Proto-Canaanite , from Proto-Sinaitic , from Egyptian 𓉐, representing the plan of a house.

Pronunciation[edit]

(letter name): IPA^(key): /beː/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/
Audio (file)
Rhymes: -eː
Hyphenation: B
Homophones: B, be

Letter[edit]

b (upper case B)

The second letter of the Norwegian Bokmål alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun[edit]

b m (definite singular b-en, indefinite plural b-er, definite plural b-ene)

the letter b, the second letter of the Norwegian alphabet
(music) the tone h lowered by half a step
- 1944, Børre Qvamme, Musikk, page 35–36:
  enhver tone er mangetydig, fiss er også gess, diss er ess, b er aiss og så videre
  every tone is ambiguous, fiss is also gess, diss is ace, b is aiss and so on
- 2000, Bjørnar Pedersen og Egil Birkeland, Hillman Hunter:
  skotske sekkepiper stemmes i B
  Scottish bagpipes are tuned in B
(music) a B-flat (sign indicating that the following note is to be lowered by half a step)
- 1974, Jens Bjørneboe, Haiene, page 98:
  ingen vil påstå at notebladet med nøkler, kryss og b’er er selve musikken
  no one will claim that the sheet music with keys, crosses and bs is the music itself
(physics) symbol for bar (“bar”)

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(letter name): IPA^(key): /beː/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/
Audio (file)
Homophone: be

Letter[edit]

b m (upper case B, definite singular b-en, indefinite plural b-ar, definite plural b-ane)

The second letter of the Norwegian alphabet, written in the Latin script.
(music) B-flat

Nupe[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Polish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

IPA^(key): /bɛ/

Letter[edit]

b (upper case B, lower case)

The third letter of the Polish alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.

Portuguese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Audio (BR) (file)

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Portuguese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Romani[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

IPA^(key): /b/

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Romanian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

IPA^(key): /b/

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The fourth letter of the Romanian alphabet, called be or bî and written in the Latin script.

Serbo-Croatian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /b/

Letter[edit]

b (Cyrillic spelling б)

The second letter of the Serbo-Croatian alphabet (gajica), written in the Latin script.

Skolt Sami[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /b/

Letter[edit]

b (upper case B)

The third letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Slovene[edit]

Slovene Wikipedia has an article on:

b

Wikipedia ^sl

Etymology[edit]

From Gay's Latin alphabet b, from Czech alphabet b, from Latin b, modification of capital letter B by dropping its upper loop, which is derived from the Etruscan letter 𐌁 (b, “be”), from the Ancient Greek letter Β (B, “beta”), derived from the Phoenician letter 𐤁‎ (b, “bet”), from the Egyptian hieroglyph 𓉐. Pronunciation as IPA^(key): /bə/ is initial Slovene (phoneme plus a fill vowel) and the second pronunciation is probably taken from German B.

Pronunciation[edit]

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/, [p], [b̪]
(letter name): IPA^(key): /bə́/, /bèː/, /béː/
Audio (letter name, non-tonal) (file)
Rhymes: -ə, -eː

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Slovene alphabet, written in the Latin script.
The third letter of the Resian alphabet, written in the Latin script.
The second letter of the Natisone Valley dialect alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Symbol[edit]

b

(SNPT) Phonetic transcription of sound [b].

Noun[edit]

b m inan

The name of the Latin script letter B / b.
(linguistics) The name of the phoneme /b/.

Inflection[edit]

Overall more common

Masculine inan., soft o-stem
nom. sing.	b
gen. sing.	b-ja
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	b	b-ja	b-ji
genitive (rodȋlnik)	b-ja	b-jev	b-jev
dative (dajȃlnik)	b-ju	b-jema	b-jem
accusative (tožȋlnik)	b	b-ja	b-je
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	b-ju	b-jih	b-jih
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	b-jem	b-jema	b-ji

More common when with a definite adjective

Masculine inan., no endings
nom. sing.	b
gen. sing.	b
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	b	b	b
accusative	b	b	b
genitive	b	b	b
dative	b	b	b
locative	b	b	b
instrumental	b	b	b

Derived terms[edit]

Spanish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

IPA^(key): (phoneme) /b/ [β̞]
IPA^(key): (letter name) /ˈbe/ [ˈbe]
- Audio (Spain) (file)
- Rhymes: -e
- IPA^(key): (common in some countries) /ˌbe ˈlaɾɡa/ [ˌbe ˈlaɾ.ɣ̞a] (be larga)

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Spanish alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.

Derived terms[edit]

Swedish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(letter name): IPA^(key): /beː/
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Swedish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun[edit]

b

(slang) Abbreviation of brunt (“hashish”).

References[edit]

Swedish Police Authority list of drug slang

Tagalog[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Spanish b. Each pronunciation has a different source:

Filipino alphabet pronunciation is influenced by English b.
Abecedario pronunciation is from Spanish b.
Abakada alphabet pronunciation is influenced by Baybayin character ᜊ (ba).

Pronunciation[edit]

Hyphenation: b
(letter name, Filipino alphabet): IPA^(key): /bi/, [bɪ]
(letter name, Abecedario): IPA^(key): /be/, [bɛ]
(letter name, Abakada alphabet): IPA^(key): /ˈba/, [ˈbɐ]
(phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/, [b]
Rhymes: -i, -e, -a

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B, Baybayin spelling ᜊᜒ)

The second letter of the Tagalog alphabet (Filipino alphabet), called bi and written in the Latin script.
(historical) The second letter of the Tagalog alphabet (Abecedario), called be and written in the Latin script.

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B, Baybayin spelling ᜊ)

The second letter of the Tagalog alphabet (Abakada alphabet), called ba and written in the Latin script.

Turkish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /b/
(letter name) IPA^(key): /beː/

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Turkish alphabet, called be and written in the Latin script.

Turkmen[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(phoneme) IPA^(key): /b/

Letter[edit]

b (upper case B)

The second letter of the Turkmen alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Vietnamese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɓe˧˧], [ʔɓe˧˧ ʔɓɔ˨˩], [ʔɓəː˨˩]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɓej˧˧], [ʔɓej˧˧ ʔɓɔ˦˩], [ʔɓəː˦˩]
(Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔɓej˧˧], [ʔɓej˧˧ ʔɓɔ˨˩], [ʔɓəː˨˩]
Phonetic: bê, bê bò, bờ

Letter[edit]

b (upper case B)

The fourth letter of the Vietnamese alphabet, called bê, bê bò, or bờ and written in the Latin script.

Welsh[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(standard) IPA^(key): /biː/
- (informal) IPA^(key): /bə/

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Welsh alphabet, called bi and written in the Latin script. It is preceded by a and followed by c.

Mutation[edit]

b at the beginning of words mutates to f in a soft mutation, to m in a nasal mutation and is unchanged by aspirate mutation, for example with the word bara (“bread”):

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
bara	fara	mara	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Yoruba[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(phoneme): IPA^(key): /b/
(letter name): IPA^(key): /bí/

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called bí and written in the Latin script.

Zulu[edit]

Letter[edit]

b (lower case, upper case B)

The second letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.

b

Translingual[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

Symbol[edit]

Usage notes[edit]

Gallery[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

Usage notes[edit]

See also[edit]

Number[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Adjective[edit]

Symbol[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

References[edit]

Afar[edit]

Letter[edit]

See also[edit]

Azerbaijani[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

See also[edit]

Basque[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

See also[edit]

Catalan[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

See also[edit]

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

See also[edit]

Esperanto[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

See also[edit]

Estonian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

See also[edit]

Noun[edit]

Declension[edit]

References[edit]

Faroese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

See also[edit]

Finnish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

Usage notes[edit]

See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Noun[edit]

Usage notes[edit]

Declension[edit]

French[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

Fula[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Letter[edit]

Usage notes[edit]

See also[edit]

Gothic[edit]

Romanization[edit]