# P

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Sixteenth letter of the Latin alphabet

This article is about the letter of the Latin alphabet. For other uses, see [P (disambiguation)](/source/P_(disambiguation)).

For [technical reasons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Naming_conventions_(technical_restrictions)), ":P" redirects here. For the keyboard symbol, see [List of emoticons](/source/List_of_emoticons).

P P p Usage Writing system Latin script Type Alphabetic and logographic Language of origin Latin language Sound values [p] [pʰ] [(p)f] [pʼ] [b] In Unicode U+0050, U+0070 Alphabetical position 16 History Development 𐌐 P p Time period c. 700 BCE to present Descendants • Ᵽ • ₱ • ℘ • ⅌ • ℗ • ♇ • ꟼ • ¶ Sisters Π π Ⲡ П ף פ פּ ف ܦ ࠐ 𐎔 በ ጰ ፐ Պ պ प 𐍀 པ Other Associated graphs p(x), ph Writing direction Left-to-right This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

ISO basic Latin alphabet AaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJjKkLlMmNnOoPpQqRrSsTtUuVvWwXxYyZz v t e

**P** ([minuscule](/source/Letter_case): **p**) is the sixteenth [letter](/source/Letter_(alphabet)) of the [Latin alphabet](/source/Latin_alphabet), used in the [modern English alphabet](/source/English_alphabet), the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is [*pee*](/source/English_alphabet#Letter_names) (pronounced [/ˈpiː/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English) [ⓘ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-P.wav)), plural *pees*.[1]

## History

The [Semitic](/source/Semitic_languages) Pê (mouth), as well as the [Greek](/source/Greek_language) Π or π ([Pi](/source/Pi_(letter))), and the [Etruscan](/source/Etruscan_language) and [Latin](/source/Latin) letters that developed from the former alphabet all symbolized /p/, a [voiceless bilabial plosive](/source/Voiceless_bilabial_plosive).

Egyptian Proto-Sinaitic Proto-Canaanite pʿit Phoenician Pe Western Greek Pi Etruscan P Latin P

Late [Renaissance](/source/Renaissance) or early [Baroque](/source/Baroque) design of a P, from 1627

## Use in writing systems

Pronunciation of ⟨p⟩ by language Orthography Phonemes Catalan /p/ Standard Chinese (Pinyin) /pʰ/ English /p/, silent French /p/, silent German /p/ Portuguese /p/ Spanish /p/ Turkish /p/

### English

In [English orthography](/source/English_orthography), ⟨p⟩ represents the sound /[p](/source/Voiceless_bilabial_plosive)/.

A common [digraph](/source/Digraph_(orthography)) in English is ⟨ph⟩, which represents the sound [/f/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English), and can be used to transliterate ⟨φ⟩ *[phi](/source/Phi)* in loanwords from [Greek](/source/Greek_language). In German, the digraph ⟨pf⟩ is common, representing a labial [affricate](/source/Affricate) /pf/.

Most English words beginning with ⟨p⟩ are of foreign origin, primarily French, Latin and Greek; these languages preserve the [Proto-Indo-European](/source/Proto-Indo-European_phonology#Consonants) initial *p. Native English cognates of such words often start with ⟨f⟩, since English is a [Germanic language](/source/Germanic_language) and thus has undergone [Grimm's law](/source/Grimm's_law); a native English word with an initial /p/ would reflect Proto-Indo-European initial *b, which is so [rare](/source/Proto-Indo-European_phonology#Labials) that its existence as a [phoneme](/source/Phoneme) is disputed. However, native English words with non-initial ⟨p⟩ are quite common; such words can come from either [Kluge's law](/source/Kluge's_law) or the consonant cluster /sp/ (PIE: *p has been preserved after s).

P is the [eighth least frequently used letter](/source/Letter_frequency) in the English language.

### Other languages

In most European languages, ⟨p⟩ represents the sound /[p](/source/Voiceless_bilabial_plosive)/.

### Other systems

In the [International Phonetic Alphabet](/source/International_Phonetic_Alphabet), ⟨p⟩ is used to represent the [voiceless bilabial plosive](/source/Voiceless_bilabial_plosive).

## Other uses

Main article: [P (disambiguation)](/source/P_(disambiguation))

- A bold italic letter ***p*** is used in [musical notation](/source/Musical_notation) as a [dynamic indicator](/source/Dynamics_(music)) for "quiet". It stands for the [Italian](/source/Italian_language) word *piano*.[2][3]

## Related characters

### Ancestors, descendants and siblings

The Latin letter P represents the same sound as the Greek letter [Pi](/source/Pi_(letter)), but it looks like the Greek letter [Rho](/source/Rho_(letter)).

- 𐤐 : [Semitic](/source/Phoenician_alphabet) letter [Pe](/source/Pe_(Semitic_letter)), from which the following symbols originally derive: - Π π : [Greek](/source/Greek_alphabet) letter [Pi](/source/Pi_(letter)) - 𐌐 : [Old Italic](/source/Old_Italic_script) and [Old Latin](/source/Old_Latin) P, which derives from Greek Pi, and is the ancestor of modern Latin P. The Roman P had this form (𐌐) on coins and inscriptions until the reign of [Claudius](/source/Claudius), c. 50 AD. - 𐍀 : [Gothic](/source/Gothic_alphabet) letter pertra/pairþa, which derives from Greek Pi - П п : [Cyrillic](/source/Cyrillic) letter [Pe](/source/Pe_(Cyrillic)), which derives from Greek Pi - Ⲡ ⲡ : [Coptic](/source/Coptic_alphabet) letter Pi - Պ պ: [Armenian letter](/source/Armenian_alphabet) [Pe](/source/Pe_(Armenian))

- P with [diacritics](/source/Diacritic): [Ṕ ṕ](/source/Acute_accent) [Ṗ ṗ](/source/Dot_(diacritic)) [Ᵽ ᵽ](/source/P_with_stroke) [Ƥ ƥ](/source/%C6%A4) [ᵱ](/source/Tilde)[4] [ᶈ](/source/%E1%B6%88)[5]

- [Turned P](/source/Turned_P): P d, an additional letter of the [Latin script](/source/Latin_script) not encoded in [Unicode](/source/Unicode)

- [Uralic Phonetic Alphabet](/source/Uralic_Phonetic_Alphabet)-specific symbols related to P:[6] - U+1D18 ᴘ LATIN LETTER SMALL CAPITAL P - U+1D3E ᴾ MODIFIER LETTER CAPITAL P - U+1D56 ᵖ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL P

- p : Subscript small p was used in the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet prior to its formal standardization in 1902[7]

### Derived ligatures, abbreviations, signs and symbols

- ₱ : [Philippine peso sign](/source/Philippine_peso_sign)

- 𝒫, 𝓅 : [script letter](/source/Mathematical_Alphanumeric_Symbols) P (uppercase and lowercase, respectively), used in mathematics. (In other contexts, a [script typeface](/source/Script_typeface) (or [computer font](/source/Computer_font)) should be used.)

- ℘ [Weierstrass p](/source/Weierstrass_p)

- ℗ : [sound recording copyright symbol](/source/%E2%84%97)

- [♇](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E2%99%87) : [Pluto](/source/Pluto#Name_and_symbol) symbol, a [monogram](/source/Monogram) of the letters "PL", and also the initials of [Percival Lowell](/source/Percival_Lowell), heralding his [role in its discovery](/source/Percival_Lowell#Pluto)

- ꟼ : Reversed P was used in ancient Roman texts to stand for *puella* (girl)[8]

- Ꝑ ꝑ, Ꝓ ꝓ, Ꝕ, ꝕ : Various forms of P were used for medieval [scribal abbreviations](/source/Scribal_abbreviation)[9]

## Other representations

### Computing

- U+0050 P LATIN CAPITAL LETTER P

- U+0070 p LATIN SMALL LETTER P

- U+FF30 Ｐ [FULLWIDTH LATIN CAPITAL LETTER P](/source/Half-width_and_full-width_forms)

- U+FF50 ｐ FULLWIDTH LATIN SMALL LETTER P

### Other

NATO phonetic Morse code Papa ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ⓘ

Signal flag Flag semaphore American manual alphabet (ASL fingerspelling) British manual alphabet (BSL fingerspelling) Unified English Braille

## See also

- [Mind your Ps and Qs](/source/Mind_your_Ps_and_Qs)

- [Pence](/source/Pence) or "penny", the English slang for which is *p* (e.g. "20p" = 20 pence)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** "P", *Oxford English Dictionary,* 2nd edition (1989); *Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged* (1993); "pee," op. cit.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-harvard_2-0)** [Randel, Don Michael](/source/Don_Michael_Randel) (2003). *The Harvard Dictionary of Music* (4th ed.). Cambridge, MA, US: Harvard University Press Reference Library.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-vtp_3-0)** ["Piano"](https://web.archive.org/web/20141022131734/http://www.music.vt.edu/MUSICDICTIONARY/textp/Piano.html). *Virginia Tech Multimedia Music Dictionary*. Archived from [the original](http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/textp/Piano.html) on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Constable, Peter (2003-09-30). ["L2/03-174R2: Proposal to Encode Phonetic Symbols with Middle Tilde in the UCS"](https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2003/03174r2-mid-tilde.pdf) (PDF). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20171011013938/http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2003/03174r2-mid-tilde.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2018-03-24.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Constable, Peter (2004-04-19). ["L2/04-132 Proposal to add additional phonetic characters to the UCS"](https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2004/04132-n2740-phonetic.pdf) (PDF). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20171011014355/http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2004/04132-n2740-phonetic.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2018-03-24.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Everson, Michael](/source/Michael_Everson); et al. (2002-03-20). ["L2/02-141: Uralic Phonetic Alphabet characters for the UCS"](https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2002/02141-n2419-uralic-phonetic.pdf) (PDF). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180219081033/http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2002/02141-n2419-uralic-phonetic.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 2018-02-19. Retrieved 2018-03-24.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Ruppel, Klaas; Aalto, Tero; Everson, Michael (2009-01-27). ["L2/09-028: Proposal to encode additional characters for the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet"](https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2009/09028-n3571-upa-additions.pdf) (PDF). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20171011014359/http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2009/09028-n3571-upa-additions.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2018-03-24.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Perry, David J. (2006-08-01). ["L2/06-269: Proposal to Add Additional Ancient Roman Characters to UCS"](https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06269-add-roman.pdf) (PDF). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190614231608/http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06269-add-roman.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 2019-06-14. Retrieved 2018-03-24.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Everson, Michael; Baker, Peter; Emiliano, António; Grammel, Florian; Haugen, Odd Einar; Luft, Diana; Pedro, Susana; Schumacher, Gerd; Stötzner, Andreas (2006-01-30). ["L2/06-027: Proposal to add Medievalist characters to the UCS"](https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06027-n3027-medieval.pdf) (PDF). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180919051622/https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2006/06027-n3027-medieval.pdf) (PDF) from the original on 2018-09-19. Retrieved 2018-03-24.

## External links

- Media related to [P](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/P) at Wikimedia Commons

- The dictionary definition of [*P*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/P) at Wiktionary

- The dictionary definition of [*p*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/p) at Wiktionary

v t e Latin script History Spread Romanization Roman numerals Ligatures Alphabets (list) Classical Latin alphabet ISO basic Latin alphabet Phonetic alphabets International Phonetic Alphabet X-SAMPA Spelling alphabet Letters (list) Letters of the ISO basic Latin alphabet Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Additional Latin letters Æ æ Ɑ ɑ Ʌ ʌ Ꞵ ꞵ Ð ð Ɛ ɛ Ə ə Ǝ ə Ɣ ɣ Ƣ ƣ Ɩ ɩ Ɥ ɥ Ꟛ ꟛ Ŋ ŋ Œ œ Ɔ ɔ Ɤ ɤ Kʼ ĸ Ʀ ʀ ẞ ß Ʃ ʃ Ɯ ɯ Ʊ ʊ Ꞷ ꞷ Ʋ ʋ Ƿ ƿ Ȝ ȝ ϴ θ Ʒ ʒ Ƹ ƹ Þ þ Ȣ ȣ Ꭓ ꭓ Ɂ ʔ ɂ ꟎ ʕ ꟏ ǀ ǁ ǂ ǃ ʘ ʻ ʼ Ꞌ ꞌ Ƨ ƨ Ꜫ ꜫ Ꜭ ꜭ Ƽ ƽ Ƅ ƅ 7 Letter P with diacritics Ṕṕ Ṗṗ Ᵽᵽ Ꝑꝑ Ƥƥ Ꝓꝓ Ꝕꝕ P̃p̃ ᵱ ᶈ Multigraphs Digraphs Ch Dz Dž Gh IJ Lj Ll Ly Nh Nj Ny Sh Sz Th Trigraphs dzs eau Tetragraphs ough Keyboard layouts (list) QWERTY QWERTZ AZERTY Dvorak Colemak BÉPO Neo Historical standards ISO/IEC 646 Western Latin character sets Current standards Unicode DIN 91379: Unicode subset for Europe Lists Precomposed Latin characters in Unicode Letters used in mathematics, science, and engineering List of typographical symbols and punctuation marks Diacritics Palaeography

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [P](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.