B (letter): Difference between revisions
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Or should that be Myanmar and Mumbai (new names for the first pair), Byelorussia and Peking (old names of the latter)? | Or should that be Myanmar and Mumbai (new names for the first pair), Byelorussia and Peking (old names of the latter)? | ||
Unsurprisingly, none of the new names has yet attained a single established pronunciation. Bürma has become Myánmar, or perhaps Mêeanmar or even Mŷ-, though Burmese is still Burmese. Bombây is now Mumbài, or Mùmbài or even Múmbài. Byelorússia, better known as White Rússia, is Belarùs or Belarûs (Bélla Roôse?) and occasionally Bélarus, while Belarussian is Belarûsian, rhyming with confusion. And | Unsurprisingly, none of the new names has yet attained a single established pronunciation. '''Pekíng''' is now either '''Beijíng''' or *Bèi-zhíng. '''Bürma''' has become '''Myánmar''', or perhaps Mêeanmar or even '''Mŷ'''-, though '''Burmese''' is still '''Burmese'''. '''Bombây''' is now '''Mumbài''', or '''Mùmbài''' or even '''Múmbài'''. '''Byelorússia''', better known as '''White Rússia''', is '''Belarùs''' or '''Belarûs''' (*Bélla Roôse?) and occasionally '''Bélarus''', while Belarussian is Belarûsian, rhyming with confusion. And | ||
==Scientific uses== | ==Scientific uses== | ||
Revision as of 16:28, 26 May 2016
B, b is a letter of the Latin alphabet. It is the second letter of most variants, being placed after A and before C, as is the case for instance in the English alphabet. Its English name is pronounced [ˈbiː], like bee and be.
Use in English
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use in English | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alphabetical word list | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retroalphabetical list | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common misspellings |
b is usually a voiced bilabial stop, the unvoiced equivalent of p: bíg, bág, bát, bún, beaûty, bôth, Albânia, câble, tâble, Bâbel, Róbert, bòunce, ábstract, hërb, distürb, abhŏr, sâbre, câber, bít, túb, bábble.
- The accents show stress and pronunciation (see English spellings): A: sát, mâde, pàrk, cāst (cást/càst), åll, ãir; E: ére, êar, vèin, fërn; I: sít, mîne, skì, bïrd; O: sóng, môde, lòve, wörd, ŏr; OO: moôn, foòt; U: sún, mûse, fùll, pürr; W: neŵ, ẁant; Y: gým, mŷ, keỳ, mÿrrh.
It is doubled after short vowels: ébb, fíbber, rábble, góbble, rúbble, clúbber, Débbie, clúbbed, drúbbing - but not when written as a double vowel: doúble, troúble.
It begins consonant clusters: bréad, ábdicate, abhŏr, abjûre, óblong, ábnegate, breâk, absürd, abscónd, abstâin, ábstract.
b is silent in two positions: final, after m: lámb, cômb, thúmb, límb, clîmb, dúmb, thúmb and tomb (which rhymes with doôm) and occasionally before t: dòubt, súbtle, débt.
Burma and Bombay, Belarus and Beijing
Or should that be Myanmar and Mumbai (new names for the first pair), Byelorussia and Peking (old names of the latter)?
Unsurprisingly, none of the new names has yet attained a single established pronunciation. Pekíng is now either Beijíng or *Bèi-zhíng. Bürma has become Myánmar, or perhaps Mêeanmar or even Mŷ-, though Burmese is still Burmese. Bombây is now Mumbài, or Mùmbài or even Múmbài. Byelorússia, better known as White Rússia, is Belarùs or Belarûs (*Bélla Roôse?) and occasionally Bélarus, while Belarussian is Belarûsian, rhyming with confusion. And
Scientific uses
- B is the symbol for the chemical element boron.
- B: magnetic field vector