Adobe PS: ring
Unicode: 02DA
Languages: Czech, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Skolt Sámi, Swedish, Walloon
Ring
History and examples of use
In Czech, the ring (kroužek) lengthens the pronunciation of ů.
In Scandinavian languages, Walloon, and Finnish, å is regarded as a distinct letter. It has developed from aa. In these languages å is pronounced with an /o/ or /ɔ/ sound.
With å, the ring is also used in Bolognese, a dialect of Emilian.
Å denotes ångström, the unit of length in physics (10⁻¹⁰ m).
Notes
In Czech, the ring may be perfectly circular or, according to the typeface style, may be open on the right side and connect to the right stem of the U (see some designs by Oldrich Menhart, for example).
For Scandinavian languages and Finnish, the ring has traditionally been perfectly circular, but lately some type designers have expressed a wish to add some stroke contrast similar to the lower case o, as they consider it appropriate to the typeface. Letters with this diacritic mark are not generally considered accented letters per se, but typically consitute distinct letters in alphabets in which they occur. The ring is sometimes merged with upper case Å, but Scandinavian users have complained about this practice.