B (letter): Difference between revisions
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==Burma and Bombay, Belarus and Beijing== | ==Burma and Bombay, Belarus and Beijing== | ||
Or should that be Myanmar and Mumbai (new names for the first pair), Byelorussia and Peking (old names | Or should that be [[Myanmar]] and [[Mumbai]] (new names for the first pair), [[Byelorussia]] and [[Peking]] (old names for the latter)? | ||
Unsurprisingly, none of the new names has yet attained a single established pronunciation. '''Pekíng''' (*P-Kíng) is now either *Bèi-zhíng or, as written, '''Beijíng'''. '''Bürma''' has become '''Myánmar''', or perhaps *Mêeanmar or even '''Mŷanmar''', though '''Burmêse''' is still '''Burmêse'''. '''Bombây''' is now '''Mumbài''', or '''Mùmbài''' or even '''Múmbài'''. '''Byelorússia''', among other spellings, was better known as '''Whîte Rússia''', and is now '''Belarùs''' or '''Belarûs''' (*Bélla Roôse?) and occasionally, and more regularly, '''Bélarus''', while '''Belarussian''' is '''Belarûsian''', rhyming with '''confusion'''. | Unsurprisingly, none of the new names has yet attained a single established pronunciation. '''Pekíng''' (*P-Kíng) is now either *Bèi-zhíng or, as written, '''Beijíng'''. '''Bürma''' has become '''Myánmar''', or perhaps *Mêeanmar or even '''Mŷanmar''', though '''Burmêse''' is still '''Burmêse'''. '''Bombây''' is now '''Mumbài''', or '''Mùmbài''' or even '''Múmbài'''. '''Byelorússia''', among other spellings, was better known as '''Whîte Rússia''', and is now '''Belarùs''' or '''Belarûs''' (*Bélla Roôse?) and occasionally, and more regularly, '''Bélarus''', while '''Belarussian''' is '''Belarûsian''', rhyming with '''confusion'''. | ||
Revision as of 15:44, 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 for the latter)?
Unsurprisingly, none of the new names has yet attained a single established pronunciation. Pekíng (*P-Kíng) is now either *Bèi-zhíng or, as written, Beijíng. Bürma has become Myánmar, or perhaps *Mêeanmar or even Mŷanmar, though Burmêse is still Burmêse. Bombây is now Mumbài, or Mùmbài or even Múmbài. Byelorússia, among other spellings, was better known as Whîte Rússia, and is now Belarùs or Belarûs (*Bélla Roôse?) and occasionally, and more regularly, Bélarus, while Belarussian is Belarûsian, rhyming with confusion.
Scientific uses
- B is the symbol for the chemical element boron.
- B: magnetic field vector