Russian city set to commemorate peculiar letter of alphabet

[Presenter] At the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin, in Ulyanovsk, where monuments to the leader of the world proletariat are still to be found in abundance, soon a new monument will be erected - to the letter "ye" [Russian letter "e" with two dots on top, pronounced "yaw"]. When he came to power in 1917, Lenin had this letter removed from the alphabet. However, he failed to eliminate it from colloquial language. The Russians are accustomed to expressing their most strong feelings with the help of this very letter. The Ulyanovsk authorities promised not to interfere with the plans for the unusual monument. It may appear in the city by the end of this year.

[Correspondent Vyacheslav Prunov] The Ulyanovsk residents are proud of this letter, as it was invented by Nikolay Karamzin, a native of this city. Two hundred years ago, he wrote a poem in which he represented the peculiar sound by just one letter, namely an "e" with two dots on top.

[Sergey Petrov, captioned as student of local lore and philosopher] The word tears used to be written with two vowels - "sliozy". He thought: why should two letters be used? Naturally, it resulted in big savings when printing.

[Correspondent] The great historian did not imagine this letter would become so popular. However, it immediately became the most liked letter in Russia. It may be explained by the fact that it reflects accumulated emotions better than others.

[Tatyana Klink, captioned as Ulyanovsk chief artist] Everyone loves this letter, the sound and the letter respectively. We all express the most joyful, overwhelming emotions with the help of this letter.

[Correspondent] The fans of the "yaw" sound have organized an international competition for the best monument to a letter which means so much to Russian culture. The organizing committee have already received 18 projects. It is quite obvious that it is not going to be an ordinary monument.

[Klink] I like most of all a project sent via Internet by a young man from Riga, [Latvia]. He sees the letter "ye" as a fountain which recognizes pretty girls. When a pretty girl passes by, the fountain makes the sound "yaw".

[Correspondent] Famous sculptors and artists have joined the movement. Nikos Safronov, Mikhail Shemyakin and even Zurab Tsereteli have decided to pay tribute to the letter. The world's first alphabet sculpture will be in place by the end of this year.

[Video shows the Karamzin monument and his works, submissions for the competition, and city views]