Letter Names and Pronunciation
| Upright | Italic | Translit. | Name | Pronunciation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| А а | А а | a | а /ɑ/ | /ɑ/ | |
| Б б | Б б | b | бе /bɛ/ | /b/ | |
| В в | В в | w | ве /wɛ/ | /w/a | |
| Г г | Г г | h | ге /ɦɛ/ | /ɦ/ | |
| Ґ ґ | Ґ ґ | g | ґе /ɡɛ/ | /ɡ/ | |
| Д д | Д д | d | де /dɛ/ | /d/, /dʲ/ | |
| Е е | Е е | e | е /ɛ/ | /ɛ/ | |
| Є є | Є є | ye | є /jɛ/ | /jɛ/ or /ʲɛ/ | |
| Ж ж | Ж ж | zh | же /ʒɛ/ | /ʒ/ | |
| З з | З з | z | зе /zɛ/ | /z/, /zʲ/ | |
| И и | И и | y | и /ɪ/ | /ɪ/ | |
| І і | І і | i | і /i/ | /i/, /ʲi/ | |
| Ї ї | Ї ї | yi | ї /ji/ | /ji/ | |
| Й й | Й й | j | йот /jɔt/, й /ɪj/ | /j/ | |
| К к | К к | k | ка /kɑ/ | /k/ | |
| Л л | Л л | l | ел /ɛl/ | /l/, /lʲ/ | |
| М м | М м | m | ем /ɛm/ | /m/ | |
| Н н | Н н | n | ен /ɛn/ | /n/, /nʲ/ | |
| О о | О о | o | о /ɔ/ | /ɔ/ | |
| П п | П п | p | пе /pɛ/ | /p/ | |
| Р р | Р р | r | ер /ɛr/ | /r/, /rʲ/ | |
| С с | С с | s | ес /ɛs/ | /s/, /sʲ/ | |
| Т т | Т т | t | те /tɛ/ | /t/, /tʲ/ | |
| У у | У у | u | у /u/ | /u/ | |
| Ф ф | Ф ф | f | еф /ɛf/ | /f/ | |
| Х х | Х х | kh | ха /xɑ/ | /x/ | |
| Ц ц | Ц ц | ts | це /t͡sɛ/ | /t͡s/, /t͡sʲ/ | |
| Ч ч | Ч ч | ch | че /t͡ʃɛ/ | /t͡ʃ/ | |
| Ш ш | Ш ш | sh | ша /ʃɑ/ | /ʃ/ | |
| Щ щ | Щ щ | shch | ща /ʃt͡ʃɑ/ | /ʃt͡ʃ/ | |
| Ь ь | Ь ь | ′ | м’який знак /mjɑˈkɪj ˈznɑk/ | /◌ʲ/ | soft sign |
| Ю ю | Ю ю | yu | ю /ju/ | /ju/ or /ʲu/ | |
| Я я | Я я | ya | я /jɑ/ | /jɑ/ or /ʲɑ/ | |
| ’ | апостроф /ɑˈpɔstrɔf/ | apostrophe |
- ^a The pronunciation of /w/ varies depending on context; it is labial before back vowels and labiodental before front vowels. It is also vocalized to in the syllable coda.
Transliteration is according to the scholarly transliteration system used in linguistics. For other systems, see romanization of Ukrainian..
Notes
- Ge (ґ) was officially banned in the Soviet Ukraine from 1933 to 1990; missing from some computer character encodings and fonts.
- Soft sign (ь):
- The soft sign is not considered a letter, but an orthographic symbol, indicating the softening (palatalization) of the preceding consonant letter.
- The soft sign was at the end of the alphabet before 1990, when the new official orthography changed its position.
- The apostrophe indicates that the consonant preceding a soft vowel is not palatalized, when it otherwise would be.
- There are also digraphs (дж) and (дз) that are pronounced as a single sound such as dg in knowledge for дж and dz. Examples: джмiль (a bumble bee), бджoлa (a bee), дзвоник (a bell).
Read more about this topic: Ukrainian Alphabet
Famous quotes containing the words letter and/or names:
“A letter is an unannounced visit, and the postman is the intermediary of impolite surprises. Every week we ought to have one hour for receiving letters, and then go and take a bath.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“The instincts of merry England lingered on here with exceptional vitality, and the symbolic customs which tradition has attached to each season of the year were yet a reality on Egdon. Indeed, the impulses of all such outlandish hamlets are pagan still: in these spots homage to nature, self-adoration, frantic gaieties, fragments of Teutonic rites to divinities whose names are forgotten, seem in some way or other to have survived mediaeval doctrine.”
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)