Common Letters
The following table lists the Cyrillic letters which are used in the alphabets of most of the national languages which use a Cyrillic alphabet. Exceptions and additions for particular languages are noted below.
| Upright | Italic/Cursive | Name | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| А а | А а | A | /a/ |
| Б б | Б б | Be | /b/ |
| В в | В в | Ve | /v/ |
| Г г | Г г | Ge | /ɡ/ |
| Д д | Д д | De | /d/ |
| Е е | Е е | Ye | /je/, /ʲe/ |
| Ж ж | Ж ж | Zhe | /ʒ/ |
| З з | З з | Ze | /z/ |
| И и | И и | I | /i/, /ʲi/ |
| Й й | Й й | Short I (Russian: I kratkoye) | /j/ |
| К к | К к | Ka | /k/ |
| Л л | Л л | El | /l/ |
| М м | М м | Em | /m/ |
| Н н | Н н | En | /n/ |
| О о | О о | O | /o/ |
| П п | П п | Pe | /p/ |
| Р р | Р р | Er | /r/ |
| С с | С с | Es | /s/ |
| Т т | Т т | Te | /t/ |
| У у | У у | U | /u/ |
| Ф ф | Ф ф | Ef | /f/ |
| Х х | Х х | Kha | /x/ |
| Ц ц | Ц ц | Tse | /ts/ |
| Ч ч | Ч ч | Che | /tʃ/ |
| Ш ш | Ш ш | Sha | /ʃ/ |
| Щ щ | Щ щ | Shcha, Shta | /ʃtʃ/, /ɕː/, /ʃt/ |
| Ь ь | Ь ь | Soft sign (Russian: myagkiy znak) or Small yer (Bulgarian: er malak) |
/ʲ/ |
| Ю ю | Ю ю | Yu | /ju/, /ʲu/ |
| Я я | Я я | Ya | /ja/, /ʲa/ |
The soft sign ⟨ь⟩ is not a letter representing a sound, but modifies the sound of the preceding letter, indicating palatalisation ("softening"), also separates the consonant and the following vowel. Sometimes it does not have phonetic meaning, just orthographic; e.g. Russian туш, tush 'flourish after a toast'; тушь, tushʹ 'India ink'. In some languages, a hard sign ⟨ъ⟩ or apostrophe ⟨’⟩ just separates consonant and the following vowel (бя, бья, бъя = б’я ).
Read more about this topic: Cyrillic Alphabets
Famous quotes containing the words common and/or letters:
“Though a thousand miles apart, two lovers destined to meet are joined by a common thread.”
—Chinese proverb.
“Denotation by means of sounds and markings is a remarkable abstraction. Three letters designate God for me; several lines a million things. How easy becomes the manipulation of the universe here, how evident the concentration of the intellectual world! Language is the dynamics of the spiritual realm. One word of command moves armies; the word liberty entire nations.”
—Novalis [Friedrich Von Hardenberg] (1772–1801)