B (letter)

B is the second letter of the Latin alphabet, written in lowercase as 'b'. It typically represents a voiced bilabial stop, a sound produced by the contact of both lips with voicing from the vocal cords.

This letter is used in many languages written in the Latin script, including Somali. In the Somali orthography adopted in 1972, 'b' is a common letter, appearing in words such as 'baabuur' (vehicle), 'buug' (book), and 'beer' (well).

History of the form

The origin of B traces back to the Phoenician letter 'bet', which meant 'house'. The Greeks formed 'beta' from it, and the Romans adopted a form close to what is known today. In earlier stages, the symbol had a pictographic character, later evolving into a simplified form with two bumps on a vertical stem.

Sound

The sound of B varies across languages. In English and Somali, it represents /b/. In Spanish, when it appears between vowels, it becomes a fricative sound approaching /β/. In some languages, such as Arabic, it corresponds to the letter 'ب' when Latin orthography is used.

Technical uses

B is used in various technical notations. In European music, 'B' is the name of a note. In mathematics and science, b commonly denotes a second variable after a. In hexadecimal numbering, B represents the number 11. In computing, B is sometimes used as an abbreviation for 'byte'.