View source for Ring (diacritic)

{{short description|Diacritic sign}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox diacritic|char=◌̊{{NNBSP}}◌̥
|name=Ring
|unicode=}}

A '''ring''' [[diacritic]] may appear above or below letters. It may be combined with some [[Letter (alphabet)|letters]] of the extended [[Latin alphabet]]s in various contexts.

==Rings==

===Distinct letter===
The character [[Å]] (å) is derived from an [[A]] with a ring. It is a distinct [[letter (alphabet)|letter]] in the [[Danish alphabet|Danish]], [[Norwegian alphabet|Norwegian]], [[Swedish alphabet|Swedish]], [[Finnish alphabet|Finnish]], [[Walloon alphabet|Walloon]], and [[Chamorro language|Chamorro]] alphabets. For example, the 29-letter Swedish alphabet begins with the [[ISO basic Latin alphabet|basic 26 Latin letters]] and ends with the three letters [[Å]], [[Ä]], and [[Ö]].

===Overring===
[[File:UULU 2022-07-20 145004.jpg|thumb|Street name ''U Úlů'' ("At the beehives") in [[Roudnice nad Labem]] in the Czech Republic]]
The character Ů (ů) a Latin [[U]] with overring, or [[wikt:kroužek|kroužek]] is a [[grapheme]] in [[Czech language|Czech]] preserved for historic reasons, and represented a [[vowel shift]]. For example, the word for "horse" used to be written ''kóň'', which evolved, along with pronunciation, into ''kuoň''. Ultimately, the vowel {{IPA|[o]}} disappeared completely, and the ''uo'' evolved into ''ů'', modern form ''kůň''. The letter ''ů'' now has the same pronunciation as the letter ''[[ú]]'' (long {{IPA|[uː]}}), but changes to a short ''o'' when a word is morphed (e.g. nom. ''[[:wikt:kůň|kůň]]'' → gen. ''koně'', nom. ''dům'' → gen. ''domu''), thus showing the historical evolution of the language. ''Ů'' can only occur in medial position, while ''ú'' occurs almost exclusively in initial position or at the beginning of a word [[Root (linguistics)|root]] in a compound. These characters are used also in [[Silesian language|Steuer's Silesian alphabet]]. The {{IPA|[uo]}} pronunciation has prevailed in some [[Moravian language|Moravian]] dialects, as well as in [[Slovak language|Slovak]], which uses the letter [[ô]] instead of ů.

The ring is used in some dialects of [[Emilian dialects|Emilian]] and [[Romagnol]] to distinguish the sound {{IPA|/ʌ/}} (å) from {{IPA|/a/}} (a).

ů was used in Old [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] in [[Lithuania Minor]] from the 16th till the beginning of the 20th century and for a shorter time in 16th-century [[Lithuania proper|Lithuania Major]] for diphthong {{IPA|[uo]}}.

The ring was used in the Lithuanian [[Cyrillic]] alphabet promoted by Russian authorities in the last quarter of the 19th century with the letter [[U with ring above (Cyrillic)|У̊ / у̊ ]] used to represent the {{IPA|/wɔ/}} diphthong (now written ''uo'' in Lithuanian orthography).

ẘ and ẙ are used in the [[ISO 233]] romanization of the [[Arabic alphabet]]. A fatḥah followed by the letter ⟨{{lang|ar|ﻭ}}⟩ (wāw) with a sukūn ({{lang|ar|ـَوْ}}) is romanized as aẘ. A fatḥah followed by the letter ⟨{{lang|ar|ﻱ}}⟩ (yā’) with a sukūn over it ({{lang|ar|ـَيْ}}) is romanized as aẙ.

Ring upon e (e̊) is used by certain [[dialectologist]]s of [[Walloon language|Walloon]] (especially [[:wa:Jean-Jacques Gaziaux|Jean-Jacques Gaziaux]]) to note the {{IPA|/ə/}} vowel typically replacing {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/y/}} in the [[Walloon Brabant|Brabant province]] central Walloon dialects. The difficulty of type-writing it has led some writers to prefer ''ë'' for the same sound.

==Unicode <span class="anchor" id="Combining ring above"></span>==
Many more characters can be created in [[Unicode]] using the [[combining character]] {{unichar|030A|COMBINING RING ABOVE|cwith=◌}}, including the above-mentioned у̊ (Cyrillic у with overring) or ń̊ (n with acute and overring).

The standalone (spacing) symbol is {{unichar|02DA|RING ABOVE}}.
The unrelated, but nearly identical degree symbol is {{unichar|00B0|DEGREE SIGN}}.

Although similar in appearance, it is not to be confused with the Japanese ''[[handakuten]]'' ({{unichar|309A|COMBINING KATAKANA-HIRAGANA SEMI-VOICED SOUND MARK|cwith=◌}}), a diacritic used with the ''kana'' for syllables starting with ''h'' to indicate that they should instead be pronounced with {{IPA|[p]}}. In Japanese dialectology, handakuten is used with ''kana'' for syllables starting with ''k'' to indicate their consonant is {{IPA|[ŋ]}}, with syllables starting with ''r'' to indicate their consonant is ''l'' though this does not change the pronunciation, with ''kana'' ''u'' to indicate its morph into ''kana'' ''n'', and with ''kana'' ''i'' to indicate the vowel is to be said as {{IPA|[ɨ]}}.

In [[Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics]], there are two ring characters: ᐤ ([[Cree language|Cree]] and [[Ojibwe language|Ojibwe]] final ''w'', or [[Sayisi language|Sayisi]] ''o'') and ᣞ (Cree and Ojibwe final ''w'' or final ''y'').  This second smaller ring can combine as a diacritic ring above in [[Moose Cree]] and Moose-Cree influenced Ojibwe as a final ''y'';  in [[Inuktitut]], the ring above the /_i/ character turns it into a /_aai/ character.  In Western Cree, /_w_w/ sequence is represented as ᐝ.

In addition to the combining character option, Unicode has some [[precomposed character]]s:
{{col-begin-fixed}}
{{col-break}}
*{{unichar|00C5|LATIN CAPITAL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE}}
*{{unichar|00E5|LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RING ABOVE}}
*{{unichar|016E|LATIN CAPITAL LETTER U WITH RING ABOVE}}
*{{unichar|016F|LATIN SMALL LETTER U WITH RING ABOVE}}
*{{Unichar|01fa}}
*{{Unichar|01fb}}
*{{unichar|1E98|LATIN SMALL LETTER W WITH RING ABOVE}}
*{{unichar|1E99|LATIN SMALL LETTER Y WITH RING ABOVE}}
*{{unichar|212B|ANGSTROM SIGN}}
{{col-break}}
*{{unichar|1402|CANADIAN SYLLABICS AAI}}
*{{unichar|1430|CANADIAN SYLLABICS PAAI}}
*{{unichar|144D|CANADIAN SYLLABICS TAAI}}
*{{unichar|146C|CANADIAN SYLLABICS KAAI}}
*{{unichar|148A|CANADIAN SYLLABICS CAAI}}
*{{unichar|14A4|CANADIAN SYLLABICS MAAI}}
*{{unichar|14C1|CANADIAN SYLLABICS NAAI}}
*{{unichar|14D4|CANADIAN SYLLABICS LAAI}}
*{{unichar|14EE|CANADIAN SYLLABICS SAAI}}
*{{unichar|1527|CANADIAN SYLLABICS YAAI}}
*{{unichar|1545|CANADIAN SYLLABICS RAAI}}
*{{unichar|1554|CANADIAN SYLLABICS FAAI}}
*{{unichar|157E|CANADIAN SYLLABICS QAAI}}
*{{unichar|158E|CANADIAN SYLLABICS NGAAI}}
*{{unichar|18B0|CANADIAN SYLLABICS OY}}
*{{unichar|18B1|CANADIAN SYLLABICS AY}}
*{{unichar|18B2|CANADIAN SYLLABICS AAY}}
*{{unichar|18B3|CANADIAN SYLLABICS WAY}}
*{{unichar|18B4|CANADIAN SYLLABICS POY}}
*{{unichar|18B5|CANADIAN SYLLABICS PAY}}
*{{unichar|18B6|CANADIAN SYLLABICS PWOY}}
{{col-break}}
*{{unichar|18B7|CANADIAN SYLLABICS TAY}}
*{{unichar|18B8|CANADIAN SYLLABICS KAY}}
*{{unichar|18B9|CANADIAN SYLLABICS KWAY}}
*{{unichar|18BA|CANADIAN SYLLABICS MAY}}
*{{unichar|18BB|CANADIAN SYLLABICS NOY}}
*{{unichar|18BC|CANADIAN SYLLABICS NAY}}
*{{unichar|18BD|CANADIAN SYLLABICS LAY}}
*{{unichar|18BE|CANADIAN SYLLABICS SOY}}
*{{unichar|18BF|CANADIAN SYLLABICS SAY}}
*{{unichar|18C0|CANADIAN SYLLABICS SHOY}}
*{{unichar|18C1|CANADIAN SYLLABICS SHAY}}
*{{unichar|18C2|CANADIAN SYLLABICS SHWOY}}
*{{unichar|18C3|CANADIAN SYLLABICS YOY}}
*{{unichar|18C4|CANADIAN SYLLABICS YAY}}
*{{unichar|18C5|CANADIAN SYLLABICS RAY}}
{{col-end}}

===Underring===
{{Orthography notation}}

The underring is used in [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] to indicate [[Voice (phonetics)|voicelessness]], and in [[Indo-European studies]] or in [[Sanskrit]] transliteration ([[IAST]]) to indicate [[syllabic consonant|syllabicity]] of [[sonorant]]s. 

[[Unicode]] encodes the underring as a combining character at {{unichar|0325|cwith=◌}}. Unicode also has precomposed characters for the letters {{angbr|A}} and {{angbr|a}} with undering ({{unichar|1E00}} and {{unichar|1E01}}). Precomposed character encodings for 'R with ring below', 'L with ring below', 'R with ring below and macron', and 'L with ring below and macron' were proposed, because of their use in Sanskrit transliteration and the [[CSX+ Indic character set]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2013/13204-latin-indic-vocalic-letters.pdf |title=Proposal to Encode Latin Letters for the Transliteration of Indic Vocalic Letters |website=unicode.org |date=2013-10-28}}</ref> This proposal was rejected, because they are already encoded as combining character sequences.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2013/13200.htm |title=Draft Minutes of UTC Meeting 137 |website=unicode.org |date=2013-11-25}}</ref>

==== Pashto ====
In [[Pashto alphabet|Pashto]] romanization, {{angbr|ḁ}} is used to represent {{IPA|/ə/}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/grammarptorlang01trumgoog/page/n44/mode/2up|title=Grammar of the Pḁṣ̌tō or Language of the Afghāns: Compared with the Īrānian|year=1873|publisher=J.J. Heckenhauer}}</ref>

====Emilian====
In [[Emilian dialect|Emilian]], {{angbr|e̥}} can be used to represent unstressed {{IPA|/ə/}} in very accurate transcriptions.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

==== Romagnol ====
In [[Romagnol dialect|Romagnol]], {{angbr|e̥}} is used to represent {{IPA|/ə/}} in diphthongs, e.g. [[Santarcangelo di Romagna|Santarcangelo]] dialect ''ame̥ig'' {{IPA|[aˈməiɡ]}} 'friend', ''ne̥ud'' {{IPA|[ˈnəud]}} 'naked'.{{cn|date=June 2024}}

===Half rings===
{{see also|Modifier letter left half ring|Modifier letter right half ring}}

Half rings also exist as diacritic marks; these are characters {{unichar|0351|combining left half ring above|cwith=◌}} and {{unichar|0357|combining right half ring above|cwith=◌}}. These characters are used in the [[Uralic Phonetic Alphabet]], respectively for mediopalatal pronunciation and strong-onset vowels. These characters may be used in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]], denoting less and more [[roundedness]], as alternatives to half rings below {{unichar|031C|combining left half ring below|cwith=◌}} and {{unichar|0339|combining right half ring below|cwith=◌}}. They are here given with the lowercase a: a͑ and a͗, a̜ and a̹.

{{unichar|1E9A|LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH RIGHT HALF RING}} is similar in appearance but differs from a͗ because its [[Unicode equivalence|compatibility decomposition]] uses {{unichar|02BE|MODIFIER LETTER RIGHT HALF RING}} instead of {{unichar|0357|combining right half ring above|cwith=◌}}.

Other, similar signs are in use in [[Armenian alphabet|Armenian]]: the {{unichar|0559|ARMENIAN MODIFIER LETTER LEFT HALF RING|cwith=◌}} and the {{unichar|055A|ARMENIAN APOSTROPHE|cwith=◌}}.

[[Breve]] and [[inverted breve]] are also shaped like half rings, respectively, the bottom and top half of a circle.

===Other uses===
The ring is used in the transliteration of [[Abkhaz language|Abkhaz]] to represent the letter ҩ. It may also be used in place of the abbreviation symbol ''॰'' when transliterating the [[Devanagari]] alphabet.

== Letters with ring ==
{{Letters with diacritic/header}}<!--
-->{{hlist|{{Letters with diacritic/diacritic|format=char|d=ring}}<!--
-->[[Å|Å{{NNBSP}}å]]
| [[Ǻ|Ǻ{{NNBSP}}ǻ]]
| [[Å̂|Å̂{{NNBSP}}å̂]]
| [[Å̃|Å̃{{NNBSP}}å̃]]
| [[Å̄|Å̄{{NNBSP}}å̄]]
| [[Å̆|Å̆{{NNBSP}}å̆]]
| [[Ā̊|Ā̊{{NNBSP}}ā̊]]
| [[Ą̊|Ą̊{{NNBSP}}ą̊]]
| [[Å̱|Å̱{{NNBSP}}å̱]]
| [[Ḁ|Ḁ{{NNBSP}}ḁ]]
| [[Ḁ̂|Ḁ̂{{NNBSP}}ḁ̂]]
| [[D̊|D̊{{NNBSP}}d̊]]
| [[E̊|E̊{{NNBSP}}e̊]]
| [[E̊̄|E̊̄{{NNBSP}}e̊̄]]
| [[G̊|G̊{{NNBSP}}g̊]]
| [[I̊|I̊{{NNBSP}}i̊]]
| [[J̊|J̊{{NNBSP}}j̊]]
| [[L̥|L̥{{NNBSP}}l̥]]
| [[L̥̄|L̥̄{{NNBSP}}l̥̄]]
| [[O̊|O̊{{NNBSP}}o̊]]
| [[Ō̊|Ō̊{{NNBSP}}ō̊]]
| [[Q̊|Q̊{{NNBSP}}q̊]]
| [[R̥|R̥{{NNBSP}}r̥]]
| [[R̥̄|R̥̄{{NNBSP}}r̥̄]]
| [[S̊|S̊{{NNBSP}}s̊]]
| [[S̥|S̥{{NNBSP}}s̥]]
| [[Ů|Ů{{NNBSP}}ů]]
| [[Ů́|Ů́{{NNBSP}}ů́]]
| [[Ů̃|Ů̃{{NNBSP}}ů̃]]
| [[Ũ̊|Ũ̊{{NNBSP}}ũ̊]]
| [[Ū̊|Ū̊{{NNBSP}}ū̊]]
| [[V̊|V̊{{NNBSP}}v̊]]
| [[W̊|W̊{{NNBSP}}ẘ]]
| [[X̊|X̊{{NNBSP}}x̊]]
| [[Y̊|Y̊{{NNBSP}}ẙ]]<!-- 
-->{{Letters with diacritic/scriptname|1=Cyrillic}}[[А̊|А̊{{NNBSP}}а̊]]
| [[U with ring above (Cyrillic)|У̊{{NNBSP}}у̊]]}}{{Letters with diacritic/footer}}

==Similar marks==
The ring as a diacritic mark should not be confused with the [[Dot (diacritic)|dot]] or {{unichar|0366|COMBINING LATIN SMALL LETTER O|cwith=◌}} diacritic marks, or with the degree sign °.

The half ring as a diacritic mark should not be confused with the [[Comma (diacritic)|comma]] or [[ogonek]] diacritic marks.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://diacritics.typo.cz Diacritics Project — All you need to design a font with correct accents]

{{Navbox diacritical marks}}
{{Latin script||ring}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ring (Diacritic)}}
[[Category:Latin-script diacritics]]