Capital Cyrillic Yu

It writes “yu” or marks softness before /u/. In Russian, Ю at a word’s start or after another vowel represents /yu/; after a consonant, it usually marks a softened consonant plus /u/. So the Russian yu letter changes its job with its position.

Ukrainian spelling also uses ю for the [ju] sequence, including in foreign names and loanwords. Bulgarian uses Ю too, but each language has its own spelling rules; Russian examples are not a universal pronunciation guide.

Where did Ю come from?

Ю developed among the early Cyrillic iotated vowels. An iotated vowel is a vowel letter used for a sound sequence beginning with a y-like glide. Early Cyrillic manuscripts show Ю as a compact spelling of that kind. Its exact ancestry is unsettled.

The earliest surviving Cyrillic inscriptions cited for the script are dated to 921 and 931, in northeastern Bulgaria. These dates mark evidence for the writing tradition, not a proven first appearance of Ю. In East Slavic history, the older iotated big yus Ѭ merged into Ю.

In the 19th century, Serbian reformers replaced iotated vowel letters with sequences using Ј, so Serbian spelling may use Ју where East Slavic or Bulgarian spelling uses Ю. They are different spelling traditions for a related sound sequence.

How do I type Ю?

Choose a Cyrillic keyboard layout; the key depends on the layout. On Windows 10 standard Russian and Ukrainian layouts, lowercase ю is on the period key; hold Shift for Ю. Phonetic and custom layouts may put it elsewhere.