-u-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "u"

English

Etymology

From the initial vowel of human.

Infix

-u-

1. (pharmacology) a monoclonal antibody derived from a human source.

Related terms

• -mab is the base suffix common to all monoclonal antibodies. (See that entry for full paradigm.)

Polish

Interfix

-u-

1. (rare, not productive) used in compound words

   pies + brat → psubrat

Derived terms

Polish terms interfixed with -u-

See also

• -i-, -o-, -y-

Further reading

• -u- in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• -u- in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Swahili

Infix

-u-

1. it, m class_(III)/u class_(XI) object concord

See also

Swahili verbal concords (third person)

Class	Subject concord		Object concord	Relative
	affirmative	negative
m(I)	a-, yu-	ha-, hayu-	-m-, -mw-, -mu-	-ye
wa(II)	wa-	hawa-	-wa-	-o
m(III)	u-	hau-	-u-	-o
mi(IV)	i-	hai-	-i-	-yo
ji(V)	li-	hali-	-li-	-lo
ma(VI)	ya-	haya-	-ya-	-yo
ki(VII)	ki-	haki-	-ki-	-cho
vi(VIII)	vi-	havi-	-vi-	-vyo
n(IX)	i-	hai-	-i-	-yo
n(X)	zi-	hazi-	-zi-	-zo
u(XI)	u-	hau-	-u-	-o
ku(XV/XVII)	ku-	haku-	-ku-	-ko
pa(XVI)	pa-	hapa-	-pa-	-po
mu(XVIII)	m-, mw-, mu-	ham-, hamw-, hamu-	-mu-	-mo
For a full table including first and second person, see Appendix:Swahili personal pronouns.

Swedish

Etymology

In almost all words from Old Swedish -u, -o, from the Old Swedish genitive form of Germanic feminine ōn-stems.

Alternates with -o- according to Old Swedish rules of syllable weight, where -o was used after heavy syllables and -u after light.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɵ/

Interfix

-u-

1. Genitival interfix used to link elements in some compounds.

Usage notes

• Used as interfix in compounds with some old weak feminines with a former light syllable ending in -a. Some common ones are gata (“street”), e.g. gatukontor (“highway department”); lada (“barn”), e.g. ladusvala (“barn swallow”), etc.
• Alternates with a zero interfix (vowel deletion) in some words, cf. gatukontor (“highway department”), but gatlykta (“street lamp”).
• The interfix was formerly mostly confined to the written literary language, whereas the spoken colloquial language preferred compounds with no -u- or with -e- in some dialects, cf. dated stugudörr with modern stugdörr, and the common pronunciation lagård for ladugård (“barn”). However, for some words, -u- is common in compounds even in the modern spoken language.

Derived terms

Swedish terms interfixed with -u-

See also

• -o-
• -s-
• -a-
• -e-

References

• Teleman, Ulf; Hellberg, Staffan; Andersson, Erik & Holm, Lisa (1999). Svenska akademiens grammatik 2 Ord. Stockholm: Svenska akad.
• Wessén, Elias (1958). Svensk språkhistoria. 2, Ordbildningslära. 3. ed. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell