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 () 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 the pronunciation of
Hebrew letter Zayin combined with the Hebrew letter
Shin letter, to eventually form the Modern Hebrew letter of
Zhayin , with a
geresh on top for distinction. Zhe may also be derived from the
Coptic letter ⟨⟩, supported by the phonetic value ( represents the sound /
d͡ʒ/ in Coptic) and shape of the letter, which the Glagolitic counterpart Zhivete resembles even more closely. The form of the letter also may be derived from an
Egyptian hieroglyph depicting a drill: U29\ Some Ukrainian scholars argue that it represents the shape of a beetle, since Zhe is the first phoneme in the Slavic word (
žuk), meaning "beetle". In the
Early Cyrillic alphabet the name of Zhe was (
živěte), meaning "live" (imperative). Zhe was not used in the
Cyrillic numeral system. ==Usage==