Wu (kana)

It is presumed that 𛄟 would have represented [wɯ]. Along with 𛀆 and 𛀁 (yi and ye respectively), the syllable wu has no officially recognized kana, as these syllables do not occur in native Japanese words; however, during the Meiji period, linguists almost unanimously agreed on the kana for yi, ye, and wu. 𛀆 and wu are thought to have never occurred as syllables in Japanese, and 𛀁 was merged with え and エ.

In the Edo period and the Meiji period, some Japanese linguists tried to separate kana u and kana wu. The shapes of characters differed with each linguist. 𛄟 and 𛄢 were just two of many shapes.

They were phonetic symbols to fill in the blanks of the gojuon table. Japanese people didn't separate them in nomal writing.

• u
  • Traditional kana
    • う[2] (Hiragana)
    • 𛀋[3] (Hentaigana of う. Hiragana.)
    • 𛀍[4] (Hentaigana of う. Hiragana.)
    • ウ[5] (Katakana)
  • Constructed kana
    • [6] (A part of 傴. Katakana.)

• wu
  • Traditional kana
    • う[7] (Hiragana)
    • 𛀋[8] (Hentaigana of う. Hiragana.)
    • ウ[9] (Katakana)
    • 𛄢[10][11] (An old variant form of ウ. Katakana.)
  • Constructed kana
    • う^〻[12](う with dots. Hiragana.)
    • 𛄟[13] (A cursive script style of 汙.[1] Hiragana.)
    • [14] (A cursive script style of 紆. Hiragana.)
    • [15] (A cursive script style of 迂. Hiragana,)
    • [16] (A cursive script style of 卯. Hiragana.)
    • ウ^〻[17](ウ with dots. Katakana.)

These suggestions weren't accepted.

This kana has been encoded into Unicode 14.0 since September 14, 2021 as HIRAGANA LETTER ARCHAIC WU (U+1B11F), and KATAKANA LETTER ARCHAIC WU (U+1B122).

• Yi (kana)
• Ye (kana)