Yi (Cyrillic)
| Yi | |
|---|---|
| Ї ї | |
 | |
| Usage | |
| Writing system | Cyrillic |
| Type | Alphabetic |
| Sound values | [ji] |
| History | |
| Development | |
| Sisters | Ï ï |
| Other | |
| Associated numbers | 10 (Cyrillic numerals) |
Yi or Ji (Ї ї; italics: Ї ї) is a letter of the Cyrillic script. Yi is derived from the Greek letter iota with two dots.
It was the initial variant of the Cyrillic letter І/і, which saw change from two dots to one in the 18th century, possibly inspired by similar Latin letter i. Later two variants of the letter separated to become distinct letters in the Ukrainian alphabet.
It is used in the Ukrainian alphabet, the Pannonian Rusyn alphabet, and the Prešov Rusyn alphabet of Slovakia, where it represents the iotated vowel sound /ji/, like the pronunciation of ⟨yea⟩ in "yeast". As the historical variant of the Cyrillic Іі, it represented either /i/ (as i in pizza) or /j/ (as y in yen).
In various romanization systems of Ukrainian, ї is represented by Latin letters i or yi (word-initially),[1][2] yi,[3] ji, or even simply ï.[4]
It was formerly also used in the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet in the late 18th and early 19th century, where it represented the sound /j/; in this capacity, it was introduced by Dositej Obradović but was eventually replaced with the modern letter ј by Vuk Stefanović Karadžić.[5][6]
In Ukrainian, the letter was introduced as part of the Zhelekhivka orthography, in Yevhen Zhelekhivsky's Ukrainian–German dictionary (2 volumes, 1885–86).
Russo-Ukrainian war
[edit]As the letter Ї appears in Ukrainian but not Russian Cyrillic, it has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance in Russian-occupied Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian war. Residents of occupied cities and regions such as Mariupol, Melitopol, Sevastopol, and Kherson (before its liberation) have written the letter in chalk in public places or displayed it on paper.[7][8][9][10]
Related letters and other similar characters
[edit]- Ӥ ӥ : Cyrillic letter I with diaeresis
- Ï ï : Latin letter I with diaeresis
- Ι ι : Greek letter Ι
- Ј ј : Cyrillic letter J
Computing codes
[edit]| Preview | Ї | ї | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unicode name | CYRILLIC CAPITAL LETTER YI | CYRILLIC SMALL LETTER YI | ||
| Encodings | decimal | hex | dec | hex |
| Unicode | 1031 | U+0407 | 1111 | U+0457 |
| UTF-8 | 208 135 | D0 87 | 209 151 | D1 97 |
| Numeric character reference | Ї | Ї | ї | ї |
| Named character reference | Ї | ї | ||
| KOI8-U | 183 | B7 | 167 | A7 |
| Code page 855 | 141 | 8D | 140 | 8C |
| Code page 866 | 244 | F4 | 245 | F5 |
| Windows-1251 | 175 | AF | 191 | BF |
| ISO-8859-5 | 167 | A7 | 247 | F7 |
| Macintosh Cyrillic | 186 | BA | 187 | BB |
References
[edit]- ↑ Romanization System In Ukraine
- ↑ Romanization Of Ukrainian. BGN/PCGN 2019 Agreement
- ↑ BGN/PCGN 1965
- ↑ Ukrainian romanization table, The Library of Congress
- ↑ Maretić, Tomislav. Gramatika i stilistika hrvatskoga ili srpskoga književnog jezika. 1899.
- ↑ Karadžić, Vuk Stefanović. Pismenica serbskoga iezika, po govoru prostoga narod’a, 1814.
- ↑ Kuznetsov, Sergei (8 September 2022). "In occupied Ukraine, a letter in chalk symbolizes resistance". POLITICO. Retrieved 9 August 2026.
- ↑ Shvets, Viktoriia (27 October 2025). "Ukraine's resistance movement marks Ukrainian Writing and Language Day in occupied territories – photos". Ukrainska Pravda. Retrieved 9 August 2026.
- ↑ ""Ї" symbolises Ukraine's independence: resistance paints Ukrainian letter in temporarily Russia-occupied Mariupol. Espreso". Espreso TV. 5 September 2022. Retrieved 9 August 2026.
- ↑ "Ukrainians in occupied territories hold "Ї" campaign for Day of Ukrainian Language". Ukrinform. 28 October 2025. Retrieved 9 August 2026.
External links
[edit]
The dictionary definition of Ї at Wiktionary- The dictionary definition of ї at Wiktionary
- Ager, Simon. "Ruthenian (Rusyn/Русин)". Omniglot: the online encyclopedia of writing systems & languages. Retrieved 11 Apr 2012.
- Ager, Simon. "Ukrainian (Українська)". Omniglot: the online encyclopedia of writing systems & languages. Retrieved 11 Apr 2012.
