Yery

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Cyrillic letter Yery
Image:Cyrillic letter Yery.png
The Cyrillic script
Slavic letters
АА̀А̂А̄ӒБВГ
ҐДЂЃЕЀЕ̄Е̂
ЁЄЖЗЗ́ЅИІ
ЇЍИ̂ӢЙЈК
ЛЉМНЊОО̀О̂
ŌӦПРСС́ТЋ
ЌУУ̀У̂ӮЎӰФ
ХЦЧЏШЩЪ
Ъ̀ЫЬѢЭЮЮ̀Я
Я̀
Non-Slavic letters
ӐА̊А̃Ӓ̄ӔӘӘ́Ә̃
ӚВ̌ԜГ̑Г̇Г̣Г̌Г̂
Г̆Г̈г̊ҔҒӺҒ̌
ғ̊ӶД́Д̌Д̈Д̣Д̆
ӖЕ̃Ё̄Є̈ԐԐ̈ҖӜ
ӁЖ̣ҘӞЗ̌З̣З̆Ӡ
И̃ӤҊҚӃҠҞҜ
К̣к̊қ̊ԚЛ́ӅԮ
ԒЛ̈ӍН́ӉҢԨ
ӇҤО̆О̃Ӧ̄ӨӨ̄Ө́
Ө̆ӪԤП̈ҎР̌С̌Ҫ
С̣С̱Т́Т̈Т̌Т̇Т̣Ҭ
У̃ӲУ̊Ӱ̄ҰҮҮ́
Х̣Х̱Х̮Х̑Х̌ҲӼх̊
Ӿӿ̊ҺҺ̈ԦЦ̌Ц̈Ҵ
ҶҶ̣ӴӋҸЧ̇Ч̣
ҼҾШ̣Ы̆Ы̄Ӹ
ҌҨЭ̆Э̄Э̇ӬӬ́Ӭ̄
Ю̆Ю̈Ю̄Я̆Я̄Я̈Ӏʼ
ˮ
Archaic or unused letters
А̨Б̀Б̣Б̱В̀Г̀Г̧
Г̄Г̓Г̆Ҕ̀Ҕ̆ԀД̓
Д̀Д̨ԂЕ̇Е̨
Ж̀Ж̑Џ̆
Ꚅ̆З̀З̑ԄԆ
ԪІ̂І̣І̨
Ј̵Ј̃К̓К̀К̆Ӄ̆
К̑К̇К̈К̄ԞК̂
Л̀ԠԈЛ̑Л̇Ԕ
М̀М̃Н̀Н̄Н̧
Н̃ԊԢН̡Ѻ
П̓П̀
П́ҦП̧П̑ҀԚ̆Р́
Р̀Р̃ԖС̀С̈ԌҪ̓
Т̓Т̀ԎТ̑Т̧
Ꚍ̆ОУУ̇
У̨ꙋ́Ф̑Ф̓Х́Х̀Х̆Х̇
Х̧Х̾Х̓һ̱ѠѼ
ѾЦ̀Ц́Ц̓Ꚏ̆
Ч́Ч̀Ч̆Ч̑Ч̓
ԬꚆ̆Ҽ̆Ш̀
Ш̆Ш̑Щ̆Ꚗ̆Ъ̄Ъ̈
Ъ̈̄Ы̂Ы̃Ѣ́Ѣ̈Ѣ̆
Э̨Э̂Ю̂
Я̈Я̂Я̨ԘѤѦѪ
ѨѬѮѰѲѴ
Ѷ

Yery or Yeru (Ы, ы) (in modern Russian normally called "ы" [ɨ]) is a letter in the Cyrillic alphabet. It represents the phoneme /i/ after non-palatalized (hard) consonants in the Belarusian, Rusyn and Russian alphabets. Because of phonological processes, the actual realization of /i/ after most consonants (д, з, л, н, р, с, т, or ц) is retracted to a close central unrounded vowel (IPA: [ɨ]), or after labials (б, в, м, п), IPA: [wi]. The letter cannot appear after any of the other consonants not already listed, or after vowels; in such cases, и replaces it in its grammatical functions.

Like many Cyrillic letters, originally the letter yery was formed from a ligature—between Yer ъ and I (then і, dotless or with two dots) (ЪІ) or Izhe (then н, now и). In ancient manuscripts, it is almost without exception found as ъі or ън. Once the letters ъ and ь subsequently lost their values as vowels from the Slavic languages, the current form ы evolved.

The letter Yery in several fonts

The letter is usually Romanized in English and most other West-European languages as y, e.g. Krylov (family name, Крылов), although it may be used for other purposes as well (in combinations), this spelling matches Polish where "y" represents the same sound, Russian "ы" is used to transliterate Polish words with "y" into Cyrillic (e.g. Maryla - Марыля).

There are several proper and common nouns of non-Russian origin (including some geographical names in Russia) with beginning with the letter: Ytyk-Kyuyol (Ытык-Кюёль), Ygyatta (Ыгыатта), a village and a river in Sakha (Yakutia) Republic respectively, and Eulji Mundeok (Ыльчи Мундок), a Korean military leader.

Yery is no longer found in the Ukrainian alphabet, however a similar sound exists, represented by the letter И.

Early Cyrillic Yery (ЪІ)

The Early Cyrillic alphabet used Ꙑ , ꙑ or somewhat a ligature of Ъ and a І (Minuscule: ъ and a ӏ back then instead of Ы, ы.

The Russian yery (ы) is a sound which is made by raising your tongue to a position in your mouth exactly between the positions of the sound of 'y' in myth and that of 'ou' in should. Practice it by first pronouncing the English sounds, one after another, until you are conscious of where your tongue is when you pronounce them. Your tongue should be rather high in your mouth in either case, but when you pronounce the 'y' in myth your tongue should be in the front of your mouth while it is in the back when you pronounce the 'ou' of should. When you become aware of these positions, force your tongue to a position exactly at the midpoint between these two positions and, without rounding your lips, make the sound.

References

General