m
{{short description|13th letter of the Latin alphabet}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}{{About|the letter of the Roman alphabet|the letter of the Cyrillic script (М, м)|Em (Cyrillic)|the letter of the Greek script (Μ, μ) |Mu (letter)|other uses}}
{{distinguish|ញ|ᛖ|₥|ℳ|ෆ|ʍ}}
{{pp-semi|small=yes}}
{{pp-move|small=yes}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2016}}
{{Infobox grapheme
|name=M
|letter=M m
|script=Latin script
|type=Alphabet
|typedesc=ic and Logographic
|language=Latin language
|phonemes={{flex list|[{{IPAlink|m}}]|[{{IPAlink|ɱ}}]|[{{IPAlink|n}}]|[{{IPAlink|n̼}}]|{{IPAc-en|ɛ|m}}}}
|unicode=U+004D, U+006D
|alphanumber=13
|number=1000
|fam1=
|fam2=File:Proto-semiticM-01.svg
|fam3=File:Phoenician_mem.svg
|fam4=File:PhoenicianM-01.svg
|fam5=File:Greek_Mu_04.svg
|fam6=Μ μ
|fam7=File:EtruscanM-01.svg
|fam8=𐌌
|usageperiod= {{circa}} 700 BCE to present
|children={{flex list|₥|{{not a typo|™|℠}}|ᴟ|ꬺ|ꟽ ɯ ɰ|ꟿ|ᛗ}}
|sisters={{flex list|М|Ӎ|מ|ם|م|ܡ|מּ|ﬦ|File:Mem.svg|Ⰿ|ࠌ|𐌼}}
|equivalents=
|associates=m(x)
|direction=Left-to-right
|image=File:Latin_letter_M.svg
|imageclass=skin-invert-image
}}
{{Latin letter info|m}}
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 {{IPAc-en|'|ɛ|m|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-M.wav}}), plural ems."M" Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition (1989); Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (1993); "em," op. cit.
History
| class="wikitable"
! Egyptian hieroglyph ! Phoenician ! Western Greek ! Etruscan ! Latin |
| -- align=center
| |
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 {{IPA|/n/}}, from the Egyptian word for "water", nt; the adoption as the Semitic letter for {{IPA|/m/}} was presumably also on acrophonic grounds, from the Semitic word for "water", *mā(y)-.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" ([https://www.apocalypse2008-2015.com/images/Proto-Sinaitic_Table.gif fig. 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703163923/http://apocalypse2008-2015.com/images/Proto-Sinaitic_Table.gif |date=2016-07-03 }}).
Use in writing systems
| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|+ Pronunciation of {{angbr|m}} by language ! Orthography ! Phonemes |
| {{nwr|Standard Chinese}} (Pinyin)
| {{IPAslink|m}} |
|---|
| English
| {{IPAslink|m}}, silent |
| French
| {{IPAslink|m}} |
| German
| {{IPAslink|m}} |
| Portuguese
| {{IPAslink|m}}, silent |
| Spanish
| {{IPAslink|m}} |
| Turkish
| {{IPAslink|m}} |
=English=
In English, {{angbr|m}} represents the voiced bilabial nasal {{IPA|/m/}}.
The Oxford English Dictionary (first edition) says that {{angbr|m}} 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: {{IPA|/m̩/}}).
M is the fourteenth most frequently used letter in the English language.
=Other languages=
The letter {{angbr|m}} represents the voiced bilabial nasal {{IPA|/m/}} in the orthography of Latin as well as in those of many modern languages.
In Washo, lower-case {{angbr|m}} represents a voiced bilabial nasal {{IPA|/m/}}, while upper-case {{angbr|M}} represents a voiceless bilabial nasal {{IPA|/m̥/}}.
=Other systems=
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, {{angbr|m}} represents the voiced bilabial nasal {{IPA|/m/}}.
Other uses
{{main article|M (disambiguation)}}
- 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.{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedintro0000gord | url-access=registration | quote=roman numerals. | title=Illustrated Introduction to Latin Epigraphy | publisher=University of California Press | date=1983 | access-date=3 October 2015 | author=Gordon, Arthur E. | pages=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedintro0000gord/page/45 45]| isbn=9780520038981 }}
- Unit prefix M (mega), meaning one million times, and m (milli) meaning one-thousandth.{{cite web |url=https://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/m |title=What does M stand for? |author= |date= |website=The Free Dictionary |publisher= |access-date=9 February 2021 |quote= |archive-date=25 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125054852/https://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/M |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/m_1 |title=M definition and meaning |author= |date= |website=Collins English Dictionary |publisher= |access-date=9 February 2021 |quote= |archive-date=27 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227212738/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/m_1 |url-status=live }}
- m is the standard abbreviation for metre (or meter) in the International System of Units (SI). However, m is also used as an abbreviation for mile.
- M is used as the unit abbreviation for molarity.
- With money amounts, m or M is ambiguous. In the finance industry,{{cite web |title=MM (Millions) |url=https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/fixed-income/mm-millions/ |website=corporatefinanceinstitute.com |publisher=corporate finance institute. |access-date=5 August 2024 |archive-date=August 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240805214551/https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/fixed-income/mm-millions/ |url-status=live }} 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.
- M often represents male or masculine, especially in conjunction with F for female or feminine.
- 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
=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
- {{Script|Copt|Ⲙ ⲙ}} : 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
- {{Script|Runr|ᛗ}} : Runic letter Mannaz, which derives from old Italic M
- {{Script|Goth|𐌼}} : Gothic letter manna, which derives from Greek Mu
=Ligatures and abbreviations=
- ₥ : Mill (currency)
- {{not a typo|™}} : Trademark symbol
- {{not a typo|℠}} : Service mark symbol
Other representations
=Computing <span class="anchor" id="Computing codes"></span>=
{{charmap
| 004D | 006D | FF2D | FF4D | name1 = Latin Capital Letter M | name2 = Latin Small Letter M | name3 = FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER M | name4 = FULLWIDTH LATIN SMALL LETTER M
| map1 = EBCDIC family | map1char1 = D4 | map1char2 = 94
| map2 = ASCII{{efn|Also for encodings based on ASCII, including the DOS, Windows, ISO-8859 and Macintosh families of encodings.}} | map2char1 = 4D | map2char2 = 6D
}}
=Other=
{{Letter other reps
|NATO=Mike
|Morse=––
|Character=M
|Braille=⠍
|fingerspelling=M
}}
{{clear}}
Notes
{{Notelist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons-inline|M}}
- {{Wiktionary-inline|M}}
- {{Wiktionary-inline|m}}
{{Latin alphabet|M|}}