History
It is not known how the character for Zhe was derived. No similar letter exists in Greek, Latin or any other alphabet of the time, though there is some graphic similarity with its Glagolitic counterpart Zhivete Ⰶ (Image: ) which represents the same sound. However, the origin of Zhivete, like that of most Glagolitic letters, is unclear. One possibility is that it was formed from two connecting Hebrew letters Shin ⟨ש⟩, the bottom one inverted. The letter Sha ⟨Ш⟩, which represents the unvoiced counterpart of Zhe, is one of several Cyrillic letters which were derived directly from Hebrew letters.
In the Early Cyrillic alphabet the name of Zhe was живѣтє (živěte), meaning "live" (imperative).
Zhe was not used in the Cyrillic numeral system.
In modern typefaces, zhe is displayed as two Kas, the first one reversed, with both sharing a common vertical stroke.
Read more about this topic: Zhe (Cyrillic)
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