Difference between revisions of "Cyrillic alphabet"
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| Щ || щ || 'shch' as in 'rash choice', 'fresh cheese' | | Щ || щ || 'shch' as in 'rash choice', 'fresh cheese' | ||
|- | |- | ||
| − | | ъ || sign indicating that the preceding consonant is '[[Hard (consonant)|hard]]', i.e., not 'soft' (see under Ь below) | + | | ъ || || sign indicating that the preceding consonant is '[[Hard (consonant)|hard]]', i.e., not 'soft' (see under Ь below) |
|- | |- | ||
| − | | ы || no equivalent sound in English: rather like the 'i' in 'ill'' | + | | ы || || no equivalent sound in English: rather like the 'i' in 'ill'' |
|- | |- | ||
| Ь || ь || sign indicating that the preceding consonant is '[[Soft (consonant)|soft]]', i.e., is followed by a slight 'y' sound | | Ь || ь || sign indicating that the preceding consonant is '[[Soft (consonant)|soft]]', i.e., is followed by a slight 'y' sound | ||
Revision as of 19:23, 21 January 2022
The Cyrillic alphabet was developed in Bulgaria in the tenth century CE and is the alphabet used, with minor variations, for writing Russian, several other Slavonic languages such as Bulgarian, and a number of other non-Slavonic languages which have been influenced by Russian. It is sometimes called the Russian alphabet, though strictly speaking the Russian alphabet is only one form of the Cyrillic alphabet.
The Cyrillic alphabet is named after St. Cyril (?827-869), the Greek Christian theologian who, along with his elder brother St. Methodius (815-885), went as a missionary to the people of Moravia - the two brothers are sometimes referred to as the Apostles to the Slavs. The development of the Cyrillic alphabet was traditionally ascribed to St. Cyril himself but is now generally believed to have been the work of some of his disciples after his death.
The Cyrillic alphabet was based on the capital letters of the ancient Greek alphabet with the addition of a number of letters to represent sounds not found in Greek.
As an example of a Cyrillic alphabet here is the modern Russian alphabet:
| Upper case | Lower case | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| А | а | 'a' as in 'rather', but slightly shorter |
| Б | б | 'b' as in 'bat' |
| В | в | 'v' as in 'valet', 'very' |
| Г | г | 'g' as in 'gate', 'get' |
| Д | д | 'd' as in 'dog' |
| Е | е | 'ye' as in 'yell', 'yesterday', 'yet' |
| {{wip} | 'yo' as in 'yonder' | |
| Ж | ж | 's' as in 'treasure' |
| З | з | 'z' as in 'zoo' |
| И | и | 'ee' as in 'feet' |
| Й | й | 'y' as in 'toy', 'boy' |
| К | к | 'k' as in 'kill' |
| Л | л | 'l' as in 'bottle' |
| М | м | 'm' as in 'mobile' |
| Н | н | 'n' as in 'notice' |
| О | о | 'o' as in 'not' |
| П | п | 'p' as in 'petal' |
| Р | р | 'r' as in 'ram' |
| С | с | 's' as in 'sausage' |
| Т | т | 't' as in 'telephone' |
| У | у | 'oo' as in 'root' |
| Ф | ф | 'f' as in 'foot' |
| Х | х | 'ch' as in (Scottish) 'loch' |
| Ц | ц | 'ts' as in 'hits' |
| Ч | ч | 'ch' as in 'child' |
| Ш | ш | 'sh' as in 'sheep' |
| Щ | щ | 'shch' as in 'rash choice', 'fresh cheese' |
| ъ | sign indicating that the preceding consonant is 'hard', i.e., not 'soft' (see under Ь below) | |
| ы | no equivalent sound in English: rather like the 'i' in 'ill | |
| Ь | ь | sign indicating that the preceding consonant is 'soft', i.e., is followed by a slight 'y' sound |
| Э | э | 'e' as in 'pet' |
| Ю | ю | 'yu' as in 'yule', 'use' |
| Я | я | 'ya' as in 'yam', 'yard' |
