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:
“The poker player learns that sometimes both science and common sense are wrong; that the bumblebee can fly; that, perhaps, one should never trust an expert; that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of by those with an academic bent.”
—David Mamet (b. 1947)
“It is the highest and most legitimate pride of an Englishman to have the letters M.P. written after his name. No selection from the alphabet, no doctorship, no fellowship, be it of ever so learned or royal a society, no knightship,—not though it be of the Garter,—confers so fair an honour.”
—Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)