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{{short description|15th letter of the Latin alphabet}}{{pp-semi|small=yes}}{{About|the letter of the alphabet|the number zero|0|other uses}}{{Technical reasons|:O|the keyboard symbol|List of emoticons}}{{refimprove|date=November 2022}}{{pp-pc1|small=yes}}

factoids

][{{IPAlinkÉ”}}]{{IPAc-enuː}}][{{IPAlinkÉ’}}][{{IPAlinka}}][{{IPAlinkw}}][{{IPAlink◌ʷ}}][{{IPAlinkÉ™}}] [{{IPAlink|ɐ}}]|unicode=U+004F, U+006F|n the word O|alphanumber=15|number=|fam1=D420px|Proto-sinaitic Ê¿ayin)20px)20px|Phoenician Ayin)Omicron>Ο ο|fam6=𐌏|usageperiod=~-700 to presentÖ{{bull}}ⱺ{{bull}}Ø{{bull}}Å’{{bull}}Ɔ{{bull}}Æ {{bull}}Ỏ{{bull}}Ꝋ{{bull}}∅{{bull}}º{{bull}}{{not a typo>â„…}}ᴥƸʿОЮӨAyin>עعܥࠏዐࡘჺ(wikt:ÕˆÕ¸)(wikt:Õ•Ö…)ᱳᱜᱣ|equivalents=List of Latin-script digraphs#O>o(x)|direction=Left-to-Right|image=File:Latin_letter_O.svg}}{{Latin letter info|o}}O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is o (pronounced {{IPAc-en|’|oÊŠ}}), plural oes.“O” Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition (1989);Chambers-Happap, “oes” op. cit. Oes is the plural of the name of the letter. The plural of the letter itself is rendered Os, O’s, os, o’s.

Name

In English, the name of the letter is the “long O” sound, pronounced {{IPAc-en|’|oÊŠ}}. In most other languages, its name matches the letter’s pronunciation in open syllables.(File:Pronunciation of the name of the letter ⟨o⟩ in European languages.png|thumb|Pronunciation of the name of the letter {{angbr|o}} in European languages|305x305px|center)

History{| class“wikitable”

bgcolor=“#EEEEEE“! Egyptian! PhoenicianAyin! Western GreekOmicron! EtruscanO! LatinO-- align=centeralt=Egyptian Hieroglyph describing an eye|45px)30px)30px)25px)x30px|Latin O)File:Newes ABC Buchlein MET DP855603.jpg|thumb|180px|left|Late Renaissance or early BaroqueBaroqueIts graphic form has remained fairly constant from Phoenician times until today. The name of the Phoenician letter wasÊ¿eyn, meaning “eye”, and indeed its shape originates simply as a drawing of a human eye (possibly inspired by the corresponding Egyptian hieroglyph, cf. Proto-Sinaitic script).Its original sound value was that of a consonant, probably {{IPAblink|Ê•}}, the sound represented by the cognate Arabic letter ع Ê¿ayn.WEB, Evolution of Alphabets,webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/evolalpha.html, 2024-01-03, webspace.ship.edu, The use of this Phoenician letter for a vowel sound is due to the early Greek alphabets, which adopted the letter of O “omicron” to represent the vowel {{IPA|/o/}}. The letter was adopted with the value in the Old Italic alphabets, including the early Latin alphabet. In Greek, a variation of the form later came to differentiate this long sound (Omega, meaning “large O“) from the short o (Omicron, meaning “small o“). Greek omicron gave rise to the corresponding Cyrillic letter O.WEB, Cyrillic script,www.omniglot.com/writing/cyrillic.htm, 2024-01-03, www.omniglot.com, o}} by language“>

Use in writing systems{| class“wikitable mw-collapsible”o}} by language

! Orthography! Phonemes! {{nwr|Standard Chinese}} (Pinyin)ə}}, {{IPAslink|u}}! Englishɒ}}, {{IPAə}}, {{IPAslink/aɪə/}}! Frencho}}, {{IPAslink|ɔ}}! Germanɔ}}, {{IPAslinko}}! Malagasyu}}! Occitanu}}! Portuguese o}}, {{IPAslinku}}, {{IPAslink|w}}! Spanisho}}! Turkisho}}

English

The letter {{angbr|o}} is the fourth most common letter in the English alphabet.WEB,pi.math.cornell.edu/~mec/2003-2004/cryptography/subs/frequencies.html, Frequency Table, www.math.cornell.edu, Like the other English vowel letters, it has associated “long” and “short” pronunciations. The “long” {{angbr|o}} as in boat is actually most often a diphthong {{IPAc-en|oÊŠ}} (realized dialectically anywhere from {{IPA|[o]}} to {{IPA|[əʊ]}}). In English there is also a “short” {{angbr|o}} as in fox, {{IPAc-en|É’}}, which sounds slightly different in different dialects. In most dialects of British English, it is either an open-mid back rounded vowel {{IPA|[É”]}} or an open back rounded vowel {{IPA|[É’]}}; in American English, it is most commonly an unrounded back {{IPA|[É‘]}} to a central vowel {{IPA|[a]}}.WEB, International Phonetic Alphabet for American English - IPA Chart,easypronunciation.com/en/american-english-pronunciation-ipa-chart, 2024-01-03, easypronunciation.com, Common digraphs include {{angbr|oo}}, which represents either {{IPAc-en|uː}} or {{IPAc-en|ÊŠ}}; {{angbr|oi}} or {{angbr|oy}}, which typically represents the diphthong {{IPAc-en|ɔɪ}}, and {{angbr|ao}}, {{angbr|oe}}, and {{angbr|ou}} which represent a variety of pronunciations depending on context and etymology.In other contexts, especially before a letter with a minim, {{angbr|o}} may represent the sound {{IPAc-en|ÊŒ}}, as in ‘son’ or ‘love’. It can also represent the semivowel {{IPAc-en|w}} as in choir or quinoa.{{fact|date=November 2022}}“O” in isolation is a word, also spelled “oh” and pronounced {{IPA|/oÊŠ/}}. Before a noun, usually capitalized, it indicates direct address (the vocative case), as in the titles to O Canada or O Captain! My Captain! or in certain verses of the Bible.WEB,www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=%22o+lord%22&qs_version=KJV, Quick search: “o lord”, 2013-12-05,

Other languages

{{angbr|o}} is commonly associated with the open-mid back rounded vowel {{IPA|[ɔ]}}, mid back rounded vowel {{IPA|[o̞]}} or close-mid back rounded vowel {{IPA|[o]}} in many languages. Other languages use {{angbr|o}} for various values, usually back vowels which are at least partly open. Derived letters such as {{angbr|ö}} and {{angbr|ø}} have been created for the alphabets of some languages to distinguish values that were not present in Latin and Greek, particularly rounded front vowels.{{fact|date=November 2022}}

Other systems

In the International Phonetic Alphabet, {{angbr IPA|o}} represents the close-mid back rounded vowel.WEB, IPA Chart with Sounds – International Phonetic Alphabet Sounds,www.internationalphoneticalphabet.org/ipa-sounds/ipa-chart-with-sounds/, 2023-10-22, www.internationalphoneticalphabet.org,

Other uses

• Oxygen, symbol O, a chemical element

Related characters

{{see also|Circle symbol (disambiguation){{!}}circle symbol}}

Descendants and related characters in the Latin alphabet

{{Flowlist|

• Å’ Å“ : Latin OE ligature
• O with diacritics: Ø ø Ǿ Ç¿ Ö ö Ȫ È« Ó ó Ã’ ò Ô ô Ố ố á»’ ồ á»” ổ á»– á»— Ộ á»™ Ç‘ Ç’ Ő Å‘ ÅŽ ŏ ÈŽ ȏ È® ȯ È° ȱ Ọ ọ ÆŸ ɵ ᶱWEB,www.unicode.org/L2/L2004/04132-n2740-phonetic.pdf, L2/04-132 Proposal to add additional phonetic characters to the UCS, 2004-04-19, Peter, Constable, Æ  Æ¡ Ớ á»› Ờ ờ á»  ỡ Ợ ợ Ở ở Ỏ ỏ ÅŒ ō á¹’ ṓ Ṑ ṑ Õ õ Ȭ È­ Ṍ ṍ Ṏ ṏ Ǫ Ç« ÈŒ ȍ OÌ© oÌ© Ó̩ ó̩ Ã’Ì© ò̩ Ǭ Ç­ O͍ o͍
• Ꝍ ꝍ : O with loop was used in some medieval Nordic orthographiesWEB,www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06027-n3027-medieval.pdf, L2/06-027: Proposal to add Medievalist characters to the UCS, 2006-01-30, Michael, Everson, Peter, Baker, António, Emiliano, Florian, Grammel, Odd Einar, Haugen, Diana, Luft, Susana, Pedro, Gerd, Schumacher, Andreas, Stötzner,
• Ꟁ ꟁ : Old Polish OWEB, L2/21-039: Proposal to include the letter ‘Old Polish O’,www.unicode.org/L2/L2021/21039-old-polish-o.pdf, 2021-01-12, Daniel, Bunčić,
• ⱺ : Small o with low ring inside is used in the Swedish Dialect AlphabetWEB,www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06036-lma-proposal.pdf, L2/06-036: Proposal to encode characters for Ordbok över Finlands svenska folkmÃ¥l in the UCS, 2006-01-26, Therese, Lemonen, Klaas, Ruppel, Erkki I., Kolehmainen, Caroline, Sandström,
• IPA-specific symbols related to O: {{IPA link|É”}}
• IPA superscript letters:WEB, L2/20-252R: Unicode request for IPA modifier-letters (a), pulmonic,www.unicode.org/L2/L2020/20252r-mod-ipa-a.pdf, 2020-11-08, Kirk, Miller, Michael, Ashby, 𐞢 𐞣
• Uralic Phonetic Alphabet-specific symbols related to O:WEB,www.unicode.org/L2/L2002/02141-n2419-uralic-phonetic.pdf, L2/02-141: Uralic Phonetic Alphabet characters for the UCS, 2002-03-20, Michael, Everson, Michael Everson, etal,
  • {{Unichar|1D0F|LATIN LETTER SMALL CAPITAL O}}
  • {{Unichar|1D3C|MODIFIER LETTER CAPITAL O}}
  • {{Unichar|1D52|MODIFIER LETTER SMALL O}}
  • {{Unichar|1D11|LATIN SMALL LETTER SIDEWAYS O}}
  • {{Unichar|1D13|LATIN SMALL LETTER SIDEWAYS O WITH STROKE}}
  • {{Unichar|1D16|LATIN SMALL LETTER TOP HALF O}}
  • {{Unichar|1D17|LATIN SMALL LETTER BOTTOM HALF O}}
  • {{Unichar|1D54|MODIFIER LETTER SMALL TOP HALF O}}
  • {{Unichar|1D55|MODIFIER LETTER SMALL BOTTOM HALF O}}
• Teuthonista phonetic transcription-specific symbols related to O:WEB,www.unicode.org/L2/L2011/11202-n4081-teuthonista.pdf, L2/11-202: Revised proposal to encode “Teuthonista” phonetic characters in the UCS, 2011-06-02, Michael, Everson, Alois, Dicklberger, Karl, Pentzlin, Eveline, Wandl-Vogt,
  • {{Unichar|AB3D|LATIN SMALL LETTER BLACKLETTER O}}
  • {{Unichar|AB3E|LATIN SMALL LETTER BLACKLETTER O WITH STROKE}}
  • {{Unichar|AB3F|LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O WITH STROKE}}
  • {{Unichar|AB43|LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED O OPEN-O}}
  • {{Unichar|AB44|LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED O OPEN-O WITH STROKE}}
• o : Subscript small o is used in Indo-European studiesWEB,www.unicode.org/L2/L2004/04191-n2788-laryngeals.pdf, L2/04-191: Proposal to encode six Indo-Europeanist phonetic characters in the UCS, 2004-06-07, Deborah, Anderson, Michael, Everson,
• 𝼛 : Latin small letter o with retroflex hook is used in phonetic transcriptionWEB, L2/20-125R: Unicode request for expected IPA retroflex letters and similar letters with hooks,www.unicode.org/L2/L2020/20125r-ipa-retroflex.pdf, 2020-07-11, Kirk, Miller, WEB, L2/21-021: Reference doc numbers for L2/20-266R “Consolidated code chart of proposed phonetic characters” and IPA etc. code point and name changes,www.unicode.org/L2/L2021/21021-consolidated-ipa.pdf, 2020-12-07, Deborah, Anderson,

}}

Derived signs, symbols and abbreviations

• Ꝋ ꝋ : Forms of O were used for medieval scribal abbreviations
• ∅ : empty set symbolWEB,jeff560.tripod.com/set.html, Earliest Uses of Symbols of Set Theory and Logic, jeff560.tripod.com,
• º : Masculine ordinal indicator
• Calligraphic O (𝒪, 𝓸): Mathematical Alphanumeric SymbolsWEB, Script (or Calligraphic),www.w3.org/TR/xml-entity-names/script.html, 2024-01-03, www.w3.org,

Ancestors and siblings in other alphabets

• 𐤏 : Semitic letter Ayin, from which the following symbols originally derive
  • Ω ω : Greek letter Omega
  • Ο ο : Greek letter Omicron
    • {{Script|Copt|Ⲟ ⲟ}} : Coptic letter O, which derives from Greek omicron
    • О о : Cyrillic letter O, which also derives from Omicron
    • 𐌏 : Old Italic O, which derives from Greek Omicron, and is the ancestor of modern Latin O
    • Õ• Ö… : Armenian letter O{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

{{anchor|Codes for computing}}

Other representations

Computing

{{charmap name1 = LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O name2 = LATIN SMALL LETTER O name3 = FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O name4 = FULLWIDTH LATIN SMALL LETTER O map1 = EBCDIC family map1char2 = 96ASCII g1 > map2char1 = 4F | map2char2 = 6F}}

Other

{{Letter other reps|NATO=Oscar|Morse=–––|Character=O|Braille=⠕|fingerspelling=O}}{{clear}}

See also

• O mark
• Open O (Ɔ É”)
• 0 (zero). The capital letter O may be mistaken or misused for the number 0, as they appear quite identical in some typefaces. Early typewriters did not have a ‘zero’ key: users were actually expected to use capital O.

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Wiktionary|O|o}}

• {{Commons category-inline|O}}

{{Latin alphabet|O|}}