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
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