M
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M, or m, is the thirteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of several western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is em (pronounced Template:IPAc-en), plural ems.[1]
History
| Egyptian hieroglyph "n" |
Phoenician Mem |
Western Greek Mu |
Etruscan M |
Latin M |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| <hiero>n</hiero> | File:PhoenicianM-01.svg | File:Greek Mu 04.svg | File:EtruscanM-01.svg | Latin M |
The letter M is derived from the Phoenician Mem via the Greek Mu (Μ, μ). Semitic Mem is most likely derived from a "Proto-Sinaitic" (Bronze Age) adoption of the "water" ideogram in Egyptian writing. The Egyptian sign had the acrophonic value Script error: No such module "IPA"., from the Egyptian word for "water", nt; the adoption as the Semitic letter for Script error: No such module "IPA". was presumably also on acrophonic grounds, from the Semitic word for "water", *mā(y)-.[2]
Use in writing systems
| Orthography | Phonemes |
|---|---|
| Template:Nwr (Pinyin) | Template:IPAslink |
| English | Template:IPAslink, silent |
| French | Template:IPAslink |
| German | Template:IPAslink |
| Portuguese | Template:IPAslink, silent |
| Spanish | Template:IPAslink |
| Turkish | Template:IPAslink |
English
In English, Template:Angbr represents the voiced bilabial nasal Script error: No such module "IPA"..
The Oxford English Dictionary (first edition) says that Template:Angbr is sometimes a vowel, such as in words like spasm and in the suffix -ism. In modern terminology, this is described as a syllabic consonant (IPA: Script error: No such module "IPA".).
The digraph, "mn," when used in the beginning of words, such as mnemonic, is pronounced as /n/. This digraph is the only instance where the letter Template:Angbr is silent.
M is the fourteenth most frequently used letter in the English language.
Other languages
The letter Template:Angbr represents the voiced bilabial nasal Script error: No such module "IPA". in the orthography of Latin as well as in those of many modern languages.
In Washo, lower-case Template:Angbr represents a voiced bilabial nasal Script error: No such module "IPA"., while upper-case Template:Angbr represents a voiceless bilabial nasal Script error: No such module "IPA"..
Other systems
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, Template:Angbr represents the voiced bilabial nasal Script error: No such module "IPA"..
Other uses
- The Roman numeral M represents the number 1000, though it was not used in Roman times. There is, however, scant evidence that the letter was later introduced in the early centuries A.D. by the Romans.[3]
- Unit prefix M (mega), meaning one million times, and m (milli) meaning one-thousandth.[4][5]
- m is the standard abbreviation for metre (or meter) in the International System of Units (SI).[4] However, m is sometimes also used as an abbreviation for mile.[5]
- M is used as the unit abbreviation for molarity.[4]
- With money amounts, m or M is ambiguous. In the finance industry,[6] m or M means 1,000. In this context, five million dollars is written $5mm or $5MM. Outside of finance, some people use M like the metric system "mega-" to mean one million and write $5M.[4][5]
- M often represents male or masculine, especially in conjunction with F for female or feminine.[4][5]
- In typography, an em dash is a punctuation symbol whose width is similar to that of a capital letter M.
- M is used as a logo by many rapid transit systems, standing for "Metro" (or equivalents in other languages.)
Related characters
- M with diacritics: Ḿ ḿ Ṁ ṁ Ṃ ṃ M̃ m̃ ᵯ[7]
- IPA-specific symbols related to M: Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
- Ɱ : Capital M with hook
- Uralic Phonetic Alphabet-specific symbols related to M:[8]
- Some symbols related to M were used by the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet prior to its formal standardization in 1902:[9]
- The Teuthonista phonetic transcription system uses Template:Unichar[10]
- Other variations used for phonetic transcription:[11] ᶆ ᶬ ᶭ
- Ɯ ɯ : Turned M
- ꟽ : Inverted M was used in ancient Roman texts to stand for mulier (woman)[12]
- ꟿ : Archaic M was used in ancient Roman texts to abbreviate the personal name 'Manius' (A regular capital M was used for the more common personal name 'Marcus')[12]
- ℳ : currency symbol for Mark
Ancestors and siblings in other alphabets
- 𐤌 : Semitic letter Mem, from which the following symbols originally derive:
- Μ μ : Greek letter Mu, from which M derives
- Template:Script : Coptic letter Me, which derives from Greek Mu
- М м : Cyrillic letter Em, also derived from Mu
- 𐌌 : Old Italic M, which derives from Greek Mu, and is the ancestor of modern Latin M
- Template:Script : Runic letter Mannaz, which derives from old Italic M
- Template:Script : Gothic letter manna, which derives from Greek Mu
- Μ μ : Greek letter Mu, from which M derives
Ligatures and abbreviations
- ₥ : Mill (currency)
- Template:Not a typo : Trademark symbol
- Template:Not a typo : Service mark symbol
Other representations
Computing
Other
Notes
References
External links
- ↑ "M" Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition (1989); Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (1993); "em," op. cit.
- ↑ See F. Simons, "Proto-Sinaitic — Progenitor of the Alphabet" Rosetta 9 (2011): Figure Two: "Representative selection of proto-Sinaitic characters with comparison to Egyptian hieroglyphs", (p. 38) Figure Three: "Chart of all early proto-Canaanite letters with comparison to proto-Sinaitic signs" (p. 39), Figure Four: "Representative selection of later proto-Canaanite letters with comparison to early proto-Canaanite and proto-Sinaitic signs" (p. 40). See also: Goldwasser (2010), following Albright (1966), "Schematic Table of Proto-Sinaitic Characters" (fig. 1 Template:Webarchive).
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