<P> 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 / n /, from the Egyptian word for "water", nt; the adoption as the Semitic letter for / m / was presumably also on acrophonic grounds, from the Semitic word for "water", * mā (y) - . </P> <P> The letter ⟨ m ⟩ represents the bilabial nasal consonant sound (m) in the orthography of Latin as well as in that of many modern languages, and also in the International Phonetic Alphabet . In English, the Oxford English Dictionary (first edition) says that ⟨ m ⟩ is sometimes a vowel in words like spasm and in the suffix - ism . In modern terminology, this is described as a syllabic consonant (IPA (m̩)). </P> <P> 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 by the Romans . </P> <Ul> <Li> M with diacritics: Ḿ ḿ Ṁ ṁ Ṃ ṃ M̃ m̃ ᵯ </Li> <Li> IPA - specific symbols related to M: ɱ ɰ </Li> <Li> Ɱ: Capital M with hook </Li> <Li> Uralic Phonetic Alphabet - specific symbols related to M: <Ul> <Li> U + 1D0D ᴍ LATIN LETTER SMALL CAPITAL M </Li> <Li> U + 1D1F ᴟ LATIN SMALL LETTER SIDEWAYS TURNED M </Li> <Li> U + 1D39 M MODIFIER LETTER CAPITAL M </Li> <Li> U + 1D50 m MODIFIER LETTER SMALL M </Li> <Li> U + 1D5A ɯ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL TURNED M </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> Some symbols related to M were used by the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet prior to its formal standardization in 1902: <Ul> <Li> U + 2098 m LATIN SUBSCRIPT SMALL LETTER M </Li> <Li> U + A7FA ꟺ LATIN LETTER SMALL CAPITAL TURNED M </Li> </Ul> </Li> <Li> The Teuthonista phonetic transcription system uses U + AB3A ꬺ LATIN SMALL LETTER M WITH CROSSED - TAIL </Li> <Li> Other variations used for phonetic transcription: ᶆ ɱ ɰ </Li> <Li> Ɯ ɯ: Turned M </Li> <Li> ꟽ: Inverted M was used in ancient Roman texts to stand for mulier (woman) </Li> <Li> ꟿ: Archaic M was used in ancient Roman texts to abbreviate the personal name' Manius' (A regular capital M was used for the more common personal name' Marcus') </Li> </Ul>

What is the letter m in roman numerals