The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
U, letter of the alphabet
21st letter of the alphabet, corresponding to the Greek upsilon [Gr.,=u without the aspirate]. Until the late Middle Ages the capital was V, the minuscule u, no distinction being made between the consonantal and vocalic uses of the letter. The fixing of modern orthography, however, has restricted u to the vowel, v to the consonant. In phonetics usually represents a high back rounded vowel, rather like in foot; English is a triphthong of y,, and w as in utensil; the Continental , or , is a diphthong of and w, as in glue. In chemistry, U is the symbol of the element uranium.
usually represents a high back rounded vowel, rather like 
in foot; English 
is a triphthong of y, 
, is a diphthong of 
