|Unicode name||CYRILLIC SMALL LETTER HARD SIGN|
Modification of Glagolitic letter yer’ (Ⱏ).
- (italics) Ъ, ъ
ъ (lower case, upper case Ъ)
- A letter of the Cyrillic script.
- Wikipedia article on the Cyrillic alphabet
- Search the English Wiktionary for articles beginning with Ъ
- Search the English Wiktionary for articles beginning with ъ
- The letter твёрдый знак (tvjórdyj znak, “hard sign”), the twenty-eighth letter of the Russian alphabet
In Russian, this letter has no sound of its own, but modifies that of the preceding consonant, causing it to be pronounced hard (i.e., unpalatalized). Some writers use ' (apostrophe) instead of ъ, e.g. съезд — с'езд, which is considered non-standard. After the 1918 spelling reform when the usage of "ъ" was heavily reduced, some typewriters did not have the letter at all, forcing people to use ' (apostrophe).