Cyrillic alphabets

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Countries with widespread use of the Cyrillic script:
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Sole official script
Co-official with another script (either because the official language is biscriptal, or the state is bilingual)
Being replaced with Latin, but is still in official use
Legacy script for the official language, or large minority use
Cyrillic is not widely used Cyrillic alphabet world distribution.svg
Countries with widespread use of the Cyrillic script:
  Sole official script
  Co-official with another script (either because the official language is biscriptal, or the state is bilingual)
  Being replaced with Latin, but is still in official use
  Legacy script for the official language, or large minority use
  Cyrillic is not widely used

Numerous Cyrillic alphabets are based on the Cyrillic script. The early Cyrillic alphabet was developed in the 9th century AD and replaced the earlier Glagolitic script developed by the theologians Cyril and Methodius. It is the basis of alphabets used in various languages, past and present, Slavic origin, and non-Slavic languages influenced by Russian. As of 2011, around 252 million people in Eurasia use it as the official alphabet for their national languages. About half of them are in Russia. Cyrillic is one of the most-used writing systems in the world. The creator is Saint Clement of Ohrid from the Preslav literary school in the First Bulgarian Empire.

Contents

Some of these are illustrated below; for others, and for more detail, see the links. Sounds are transcribed in the IPA. While these languages largely have phonemic orthographies, there are occasional exceptions—for example, Russian г is pronounced /v/ in a number of words, an orthographic relic from when they were pronounced /ɡ/ (e.g. его yego 'him/his', is pronounced [jɪˈvo] rather than [jɪˈɡo]).

Spellings of names transliterated into the Roman alphabet may vary, especially й (y/j/i), but also г (gh/g/h) and ж (zh/j).

Unlike the Latin script, which is usually adapted to different languages by adding diacritical marks/supplementary glyphs (such as acutes and carons) to standard Roman letters, by assigning new phonetic values to existing letters (e.g.q, whose original value in Latin was /k/, represents /g/ in Azerbaijani, /t͡ɕʰ/ in Mandarin Chinese Pinyin, /q/ in a lot of other languages and /ǃ/ in some Bantu languages), or by the use of digraphs (such as sh), the Cyrillic script is usually adapted by the creation of entirely new letter shapes. However, in some alphabets invented in the 19th century, such as Chuvash, umlauts and breves also were used.

Bulgarian and Bosnian Sephardim without Hebrew typefaces occasionally printed Judeo-Spanish in Cyrillic. [1]

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The Cyrillic script
Slavic letters
А А́ А̀ А̂ А̄ Ӓ Б В
Г Ґ Д Ђ Ѓ Е Е́ Ѐ
Е̄ Е̂ Ё Є Ж З З́ Ѕ
И І Ї И́ Ѝ И̂ Ӣ
Й Ј К Л Љ М Н Њ
О О́ О̀ О̂ Ō Ӧ П Р
С С́ Т Ћ Ќ У У́ У̀
У̂ Ӯ Ў Ӱ Ф Х Ц Ч
Џ Ш Щ Ъ Ъ̀ Ы Ы́
Ь Ѣ Э Э́ Ю Ю́ Ю̀ Я
Я́ Я̀
Non-Slavic letters
Ӑ А̊ А̃ Ӓ̄ Ӕ Ә Ә́ Ә̃
Ӛ В̌ Ԝ Г̑ Г̇ Г̣ Г̌ Г̂
Г̆ Г̈ г̊ Ҕ Ғ Cyrillic capital letter Ghe with stroke and descender.svg Ӻ Ғ̌
ғ̊ Ӷ Cyrillic capital letter Ghe with hook.svg Д́ Д̌ Д̈ Д̣ Д̆
Ӗ Е̃ Ё̄ Є̈ Ԑ Ԑ̈ Җ Ӝ
Ӂ Ж̣ Ҙ Ӟ З̌ З̣ З̆ Ӡ
И̃ Ӥ Ҋ Қ Ӄ Ҡ Ҟ Ҝ
К̣ к̊ қ̊ Ԛ Л́ Ӆ Ԯ
Ԓ Л̈ Ӎ Н́ Ӊ Ң Ԩ
Ӈ Ҥ О̆ О̃ Ӧ̄ Ө Ө̄ Ө́
Ө̆ Ӫ Ԥ П̈ Ҏ Р̌ С̌ Ҫ
С̣ С̱ Т́ Т̈ Т̌ Т̇ Т̣ Ҭ
У̃ Ӳ У̊ Ӱ̄ Ұ Ү Ү́
Х̣ Х̱ Х̮ Х̑ Х̌ Ҳ Ӽ х̊
Ӿ ӿ̊ Һ Һ̈ Ԧ Ц̌ Ц̈ Ҵ
Ҷ Ҷ̣ Ӵ Ӌ Cyrillic capital letter Che with hook.svg Ҹ Ч̇ Ч̣
Ҽ Ҿ Ш̣ Ы̆ Ы̄ Ӹ
Ҍ Ҩ Э̆ Э̄ Э̇ Ӭ Ӭ́ Ӭ̄
Ю̆ Ю̈ Ю̄ Я̆ Я̄ Я̈ Ӏ ʼ
ˮ
Archaic or unused letters
Cyrillic capital letter script A.svg А̨ Б̀ Б̣ Б̱ В̀ Г̀ Г̧
Г̄ Г̓ Г̆ Ҕ̀ Ҕ̆ Cyrillic capital letter split by middle ring Ghe.svg Ԁ Д̓
Д̀ Д̨ Cyrillic capital letter archaic Dje.svg Ԃ Е̇ Е̨
Ж̀ Ж̑ Cyrillic small letter Zhe with stroke.svg Cyrillic capital letter Je with inverted belt.svg Cyrillic small letter Dje with high right breve serif.svg Џ̆
Ꚅ̆ З̀ З̑ Ԅ Ԇ
Ԫ Cyrillic capital letter Shha with Cil top.svg Cyrillic capital letter Shha with high right breve serif.svg І̂ І̣ І̨
Cyrillic capital letter byelorussian-ukrainian I with curve at bottom.svg Ј̵ Ј̃ К̓ К̀ К̆ Ӄ̆
К̑ К̇ К̈ К̄ Ԟ К̂ Cyrillic capital letter Ka with loop.svg Cyrillic small letter ka with ascender.svg
Л̀ Ԡ Ԉ Л̑ Л̇ Ԕ Cyrillic small letter El with retroflex hook.svg
Cyrillic small letter El Er.svg Cyrillic small letter Te El with retroflex hook.svg М̀ М̃ Н̀ Н̄ Н̧
Н̃ Ԋ Ԣ Н̡ Ѻ
Cyrillic small letter O with notch at top.svg Cyrillic capital letter O with notch at bottom.svg Cyrillic capital letter O with left notch.svg П̓ П̀
П́ Ҧ П̧ П̑ Ҁ Ԛ̆ Cyrillic capital letter Shha with hook.svg Р́
Р̀ Р̃ Cyrillic small letter split at right Er.svg Ԗ С̀ С̈ Ԍ Ҫ̓
Cyrillic capital letter long Es.svg Т̓ Т̀ Ԏ Т̑ Т̧
Ꚍ̆ Cyrillic small letter Te El.svg Cyrillic small letter voiceless L.svg Cyrillic small letter voiceless L with comma above.svg Ѹ Cyrillic capital letter script U.svg У̇
У̨ ꙋ́ Ф̑ Ф̓ Х́ Х̀ Х̆ Х̇
Х̧ Х̾ Х̓ Cyrillic capital letter bashkir Ha.svg һ̱ Ѡ Ѽ
Ѿ Ц̀ Ц́ Ц̓ Cyrillic capital letter Tse with long left leg.svg Ꚏ̆
Cyrillic capital letter Cil.svg Cyrillic capital letter Cil with bar.svg Ч́ Ч̀ Ч̆ Ч̑ Ч̓
Cyrillic capital letter Char.svg Cyrillic small letter Char with high right breve serif.svg Ԭ Ꚇ̆ Ҽ̆ Ш̀
Ш̆ Ш̑ Щ̆ Ꚗ̆ Cyrillic capital letter Che Sha.svg Ъ̄ Ъ̈
Ъ̈̄ Ы̂ Ы̃ Cyrillic small letter Yeru with connecting stroke.svg Ѣ́ Ѣ̈ Ѣ̆
Э̨ Э̂ Ю̂ Cyrillic capital letter iotified monograph uk.svg Cyrillic capital letter iotified monograph uk with breve.svg
Я̈ Я̂ Я̨ Ԙ Ѥ Ѧ Ѫ
Ѩ Ѭ Ѯ Ѱ Ѳ Ѵ
Ѷ

Non-Slavic alphabets are generally modelled after Russian, but often bear striking differences, particularly when adapted for Caucasian languages. The first few of these alphabets were developed by Orthodox missionaries for the Finnic and Turkic peoples of Idel-Ural (Mari, Udmurt, Mordva, Chuvash, and Kerashen Tatars) in the 1870s. Later, such alphabets were created for some of the Siberian and Caucasus peoples who had recently converted to Christianity. In the 1930s, some of those languages were switched to the Uniform Turkic Alphabet. All of the peoples of the former Soviet Union who had been using an Arabic or a different Asian script also adopted Cyrillic alphabets, and during the Great Purge in the late 1930s, all of the Latin alphabets of the peoples of the Soviet Union were switched to Cyrillic as well (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, and were not affected by this change). The Abkhazian and Ossetian languages were switched to Georgian script, but after the death of Joseph Stalin, both also adopted Cyrillic. The last language to adopt Cyrillic was the Gagauz language, which had used Greek script before.

In Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, the use of Cyrillic to write local languages has often been a politically controversial issue since the collapse of the Soviet Union, as it evokes the era of Soviet rule and Russification. Some of Russia's peoples such as the Tatars have also tried to drop Cyrillic, but the move was halted under Russian law. A number of languages have switched from Cyrillic to either a Roman-based orthography or a return to a former script.

Cyrillic alphabets continue to be used in several Slavic (Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Belarusian) and non-Slavic (Kazakh, Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Gagauz, Mongolian) languages.

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.

Common Cyrillic letters
UprightItalicName(s) IPA
А аА а A /a/
Б бБ б Be /b/
В вВ в Ve /v/
Г гГ г Ge /g/
Д дД д De /d/
Е еЕ е
Ж жЖ ж/ʒ/
З зЗ з Ze /z/
И иИ и I
  • /i/
  • /ʲi/
Й йЙ й Short I [lower-alpha 1] /j/
К кК к Ka /k/
Л лЛ л El /l/
М мМ м Em /m/
Н нН н
/n/
О оО о O /o/
П пП п Pe /p/
Р рР р
/r/
С сС с
/s/
Т тТ т Te /t/
У уУ у U /u/
Ф фФ ф
/f/
Х хХ х/x/
Ц цЦ ц
  • /ts/
  • (t͡s)
Ч чЧ ч
Ш шШ ш/ʃ/
Ь ьЬ ь/ʲ/ [lower-alpha 4]
Ю юЮ ю
  • /ju/
  • /ʲu/
Я яЯ я
  • /ja/
  • /ʲa/
  1. Russian: и краткое, i kratkoye; Bulgarian: и кратко, i kratko. Both mean "short i".
  2. Russian: мягкий знак, myagkiy znak
  3. Bulgarian: ер малък, er malâk
  4. The soft sign ь usually does not represent a sound, but modifies the sound of the preceding letter, indicating palatalization ("softening"), also separates the consonant and the following vowel. Sometimes it does not have phonetic meaning, just orthographic; e.g. Russian туш, tush[tuʂ] 'flourish after a toast'; тушь, tushʹ[tuʂ] 'India ink'. In some languages, a hard sign ъ or apostrophe just separates the consonant and the following vowel (бя [bʲa], бья [bʲja], бъя = б’я [bja]).

Slavic languages

Cyrillic alphabets used by Slavic languages can be divided into two categories:

South Slavic

Bulgarian

First Bulgarian Empire, 9th century (850) Balkans850.png
First Bulgarian Empire, 9th century (850)
The Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet
А а Б б В в Г г Д д Е е Ж ж З з И и Й й
К к Л л М м Н н О о П п Р р С с Т т У у
Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш Щ щ Ъ ъ Ь ь Ю ю Я я

The Bulgarian alphabet features:

  • The Bulgarian names for the consonants are [bɤ], [kɤ], [ɫɤ] (bǔ, kǔ, lǔ) etc. instead of [bɛ], [ka], [ɛl] (be, ka, el) etc.
  • Е represents /ɛ/ and is called "е" [ɛ]. Unlike in other Slavic languages, the sound [jɛ] does not exist in native words, being replaced with Е in most cases.
  • The sounds /dʒ/ (/d͡ʒ/) and /dz/ (/d͡z/) are represented by the digraphs дж and дз respectively, as in Ukrainian.
  • Short I (Й, й) represents /j/, as in Russian.
  • Щ represents /ʃt/ (/ʃ͡t/) and is called "щъ" [ʃtɤ] ([ʃ͡tɤ]).
  • Ъ represents the vowel /ɤ/, and is called "ер голям" (IPA: [ˈɛrɡoˈʎam]) ('big er'). Despite the official name being "big er", the letter is only referred to as that in the context of the alphabet, and is usually called /ɤ/ in common speech. The vowel Ъ /ɤ/ is sometimes approximated to the /ə/ (schwa) sound found in many languages for easier comprehension of its Bulgarian pronunciation for foreigners, but it is actually a back vowel, not a central vowel.[ citation needed ]
  • Ь is used on rare occasions (only after a consonant [and] before the vowel "о"), such as in the words 'каньон' (canyon), 'шофьор' (driver), etc. It represents the sound [j], unless after Г, К and Л, in which case it palatalizes them to [ɟ],[c]and[ʎ]. It is called "ер малък" [ˈɛrˈmalɐk] ('small er').
  • Before 1945, the letter Ѣ (yat) was used. In eastern dialects, the letter would be pronounced as [ɛ] or [ja] depending on the context, while in western dialects, it would be pronounced almost exclusively as [ɛ]. This led to cases in which words such as млѣко (Modern Bulgarian: мляко) would be pronounced as "mlyako" in the east, but as "mleko" in the west. In 1945, the letter was abolished and replaced by Я or Е, depending on its use in the eastern dialects. The letter is also referred to as "е двойно" (double e).
  • Before 1945, the letter Ѫ (big yus) was used. In early Bulgarian, the letter represented the nasal vowel [ɔ̃]. By the late 18th century however, the sound had shifted to /ɤ/, the same sound as Ъ, and was mostly used in its etymological locations. There are no differences between the two, apart from the fact that Ѫ can be used at the end of words. In 1945, the letter was abolished along with Ѣ (yat) and was replaced by А or Ъ. It is sometimes referred to as "голяма носовка" (big nasal sign) and "ъ широко" (wide ъ).
  • For a brief period, the letter Ѭ (iotated big yus) was used, during the use of the Drinov Orthography, and represented the sound [jɐ]or/jɤ/ in words verb conjugations, for example in търпѭ (IPA: /tɐrˈpjɤ/). The letter Ѫ was also used for the same purpose alongside its normal usage. In 1899, both letters replaced in verb conjugations by Я and А in all cases as part of the new Ivanchov Orthography.

The Cyrillic alphabet was originally developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 9th – 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School. [2] [3]

It has been used in Bulgaria (with modifications and exclusion of certain archaic letters via spelling reforms) continuously since then, superseding the previously used Glagolitic alphabet, which was also invented and used there before the Cyrillic script overtook its use as a written script for the Bulgarian language. The Cyrillic alphabet was used in the then much bigger territory of Bulgaria (including most of today's Serbia), North Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Northern Greece (Macedonia region), Romania and Moldova, officially from 893. It was also transferred from Bulgaria and adopted by the East Slavic languages in Kievan Rus' and evolved into the Russian alphabet and the alphabets of many other Slavic (and later non-Slavic) languages. Later, some Slavs modified it and added/excluded letters from it to better suit the needs of their own language varieties.

Serbian

Alternate variants of lowercase Cyrillic letters: B/b, D/d, G/g, I/i, P/p, T/t, Sh/sh.
Default Russian (Eastern) forms on the left.
Alternate Bulgarian (Western) upright forms in the middle.
Alternate Serbian/Macedonian (Southern) italic forms on the right.

See also: Cyrillic alternates.svg
Alternate variants of lowercase Cyrillic letters: Б/б, Д/д, Г/г, И/и, П/п, Т/т, Ш/ш.
  Default Russian (Eastern) forms on the left.
  Alternate Bulgarian (Western) upright forms in the middle.
  Alternate Serbian/Macedonian (Southern) italic forms on the right.

See also:
Cyrillic cursive.svg
Special Cyrillics BGDPT.svg

South Slavic Cyrillic alphabets (with the exception of Bulgarian) are generally derived from Serbian Cyrillic. It, and by extension its descendants, differs from the East Slavic ones in that the alphabet has generally been simplified: Letters such as Я, Ю, Ё, and Ь representing /ja/, /ju/, /jo/, and palatalization in Russian, respectively, have been removed. Instead, these are represented by the digraphs ја, ју, јо, and unmarked palatization, respectively. Additionally, the letter Е, representing /je/ in Russian, is instead pronounced /e/ or /ɛ/, with /je/ being represented by је. Alphabets based on the Serbian that add new letters often do so by adding an acute accent ´ over an existing letter.

The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД д Ђ ђ Е еЖ жЗ зИ и
Ј ј К кЛ л Љ љ М мН н Њ њ О оП пР р
С сТ т Ћ ћ У уФ фХ хЦ цЧ ч Џ џ Ш ш

The Serbian alphabet shows the following features:

  • E represents /ɛ/.
  • Between Д and E is the letter Dje (Ђ, ђ), which represents /dʑ/, and looks like Tshe, except that the loop of the h curls farther and dips downwards.
  • Between И and К is the letter Je (Ј, ј), represents /j/, which looks like the Latin letter J.
  • Between Л and М is the letter Lje (Љ, љ), representing /ʎ/, which looks like a ligature of Л and the Soft Sign.
  • Between Н and О is the letter Nje (Њ, њ), representing /ɲ/, which looks like a ligature of Н and the Soft Sign.
  • Between Т and У is the letter Tshe (Ћ, ћ), representing /tɕ/ and looks like a lowercase Latin letter h with a bar. On the uppercase letter, the bar appears at the top; on the lowercase letter, the bar crosses the top at half of the vertical line.
  • Between Ч and Ш is the letter Dzhe (Џ, џ), representing /dʒ/, which looks like Tse but with the descender moved from the right side of the bottom bar to the middle of the bottom bar.
  • Ш is the last letter.
  • Certain letters are handwritten differently, [4] as seen in the adjacent image.

Montenegrin

The Montenegrin Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД дЂ ђЕ еЖ жЗ з З́ з́ И и
Ј јК кЛ лЉ љМ мН нЊ њО оП пР рС с
С́ с́ Т тЋ ћУ уФ фХ хЦ цЧ чЏ џШ ш

The Montenegrin alphabet differs from Serbian in the following ways:

  • Between Ze (З з) and I (И и) is the letter З́, which represents /ʑ/ (voiced alveolo-palatal fricative). It is written Ź ź in the corresponding Montenegrin Latin alphabet, previously written Zj zj or Žj žj.
  • Between Es (С с) and Te (Т т) is the letter С́, which represents /ɕ/ (voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative). It is written Ś ś in the corresponding Montenegrin Latin alphabet, previously written Sj sj or Šj šj.
  • The letter Dze (Ѕ ѕ), from Macedonian, is used in scientific literature when representing the /d͡z/ phoneme, although it is not officially part of the alphabet. A Latin equivalent was proposed that looks identical to Ze (З з).

Macedonian

Macedonian cursive Macedonian cursive script.svg
Macedonian cursive
The Macedonian Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД д Ѓ ѓ Е еЖ жЗ з Ѕ ѕ И и
Ј јК кЛ лЉ љМ мН нЊ њО оП пР рС с
Т т Ќ ќ У уФ фХ хЦ цЧ чЏ џШ ш

The Macedonian alphabet differs from Serbian in the following ways:

  • Between Ze (З з) and I (И и) is the letter Dze (Ѕ ѕ), which looks like the Latin letter S and represents /d͡z/.
  • Dje (Ђ ђ) is replaced by Gje (Ѓ ѓ), which represents /ɟ/ (voiced palatal stop). In some dialects, it represents /d͡ʑ/ instead, like Dje. It is written Ǵ ǵ in the corresponding Macedonian Latin alphabet.
  • Tshe (Ћ ћ) is replaced by Kje (Ќ ќ), which represents /c/ (voiceless palatal stop). In some dialects, it represents /t͡ɕ/ instead, like Tshe. It is written Ḱ ḱ in the corresponding Macedonian Latin alphabet.
  • Lje (Љ љ) often represents the consonant cluster /lj/ instead of /ʎ/.
  • Certain letters are handwritten differently, as seen in the adjacent image. [5]

Bosnian

Croatian

Historically, the Croatian language briefly used the Cyrillic script in areas with large Croatian or Bosnian speaking populations. [6]

East Slavic

Russian

The Russian Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД д (∂)Е е Ё ё Ж жЗ зИ иЙ й
К кЛ лМ мН нО оП пР рС сТ тУ уФ ф
Х хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щ(Ъ) ъ Ы ы (Ь) ь Э э Ю юЯ я
  • Yo (Ё ё) indicates /jo/.
  • The Hard Sign¹ (Ъ ъ) indicates no palatalization².
  • Yery (Ы ы) indicates [ɨ] (an allophone of /i/).
  • The letter Ф is most often found in loanwords or other foreign words and only occurs in a few native words.
  • E (Э э) indicates /e/.
  • Ж and Ш indicate sounds that are retroflex.

Notes:

  1. In the pre-reform Russian orthography, in Old East Slavic and in Old Church Slavonic the letter is called yer. Historically, the "hard sign" takes the place of a now-absent vowel, which is still preserved as a distinct vowel in Bulgarian (which represents it with ъ) and Slovene (which is written in the Latin alphabet and writes it as e), but only in some places in the word.
  2. When an iotated vowel (vowel whose sound begins with [j]) follows a consonant, the consonant is palatalized. The Hard Sign indicates that this does not happen, and the [j] sound will appear only in front of the vowel. The Soft Sign indicates that the consonant should be palatalized in addition to a [j] preceding the vowel. The Soft Sign also indicates that a consonant before another consonant or at the end of a word is palatalized. Examples: та ([ta]); тя ([tʲa]); тья ([tʲja]); тъя ([tja]); т (/t/); ть ([tʲ]).

Before 1918, there were four extra letters in use: Іі (replaced by Ии), Ѳѳ (Фита "Fita", replaced by Фф), Ѣѣ (Ять "Yat", replaced by Ее), and Ѵѵ (ижица "Izhitsa", replaced by Ии); these were eliminated by reforms of Russian orthography.

Belarusian

The Belarusian Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ з І і Й йК к
Л лМ мН нО оП пР рС сТ тУ у Ў ў Ф фХ х
Ц цЧ чШ шЫ ыЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ я'

The Belarusian alphabet displays the following features:

  • He or Ge (Г г) represents a voiced velar fricative or voiced velar plosive of /ɣ/ or /ɡ/
  • Yo (Ё ё) represents /jo/, just like in Russian.
  • I (І і), also known as the dotted I or decimal I, resembles the Latin letter I. Unlike Russian and Ukrainian, "И" is not used.
    • Short I (Й й), however, uses the base И glyph.
  • Short U (Ў ў) is the letter У with a breve and represents /w/, or like the u part of the diphthong in loud. The use of the breve to indicate a semivowel is analogous to the Short I (Й).
  • A combination of Sh and Ch (ШЧ шч) is used where those familiar only with Russian and or Ukrainian would expect Shcha  щ).
  • Yery (Ы ы) represents /ɨ/.
  • E (Э э) represents /ɛ/, just like in Russian.
  • An apostrophe (’) is used to indicate depalatalization[ clarification needed ] of the preceding consonant. This orthographical symbol is used instead of the traditional Cyrillic letter Yer  (Ъ), also known as the hard sign.
  • The letter combinations Dzh (Дж дж) and Dz (Дз дз) appear after D  д) in the Belarusian alphabet in some publications. These digraphs represent the affricates Дж /d͡ʒ/ and Дз /d͡z/ correspondingly.
  • Before 1933, the letter Ґ ґ (Ge) was used, although its use was optional.

Ukrainian

The Ukrainian Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вà 㥠ґД дЕ е Є є Ж жЗ зИ и
І і Ї ї Й йК кЛ лМ мН нО оП пР рС с
Т тУ уФ фХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЬ ьЮ юЯ я

The Ukrainian alphabet displays the following features:

  • Ve (В) represents /ʋ/ (which may be pronounced [w] in a word final position and before consonants).
  • He (Г, г) represents a voiced glottal fricative, (/ɦ/), similar to the respective sound in Belarusian.
  • Ge (Ґ, ґ) appears after He, represents /ɡ/. It looks like He with an "upturn" pointing up from the right side of the top bar. (This letter was removed in Soviet Ukraine in 1933–1990, so it may be missing from older Cyrillic fonts.)
  • E (Е, е) represents /ɛ/.
  • Ye (Є, є) appears after E and represents the sound /jɛ/.
  • E and И (И, и) both represent the sound /ɪ/ if unstressed.
    • И when stressed represents the sound /ɨ/, the same as the traditional Cyrillic letter Yery (Ы).
  • I (І, і) appears after И and represents the sound /i/.
  • Yi (Ї, ї) appears after I and represents the sound /ji/.
  • Jot (Й, й) represents /j/.
  • Shcha (Щ, щ) represents /ʃtʃ/.
  • An apostrophe (’) is used to mark nonpalatalization of the preceding consonant before Ya (Я, я), Yu (Ю, ю), Ye (Є, є), Yi (Ї, ї), the same as how it’s used in Belarusian.
  • As in Belarusian Cyrillic, the sounds /dʒ/, /dz/ are represented by digraphs Дж and Дз respectively.

Rusyn

The Rusyn language is spoken by the Carpatho-Rusyns in Carpathian Ruthenia, Slovakia, and Poland, and the Pannonian Rusyns in Croatia and Serbia.

The Rusyn Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вà 㥠ґД дЕ еЄ єЁ ё*Ж жЗ зІ і
Ї їИ иЫ ыЙ йК кЛ лМ мН нО оП пР рС с
Т тУ уФ фХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЮ юЯ яЬ ьЪ ъ

The Rusyn alphabet differs from Ukrainian in that the letters Ё, Ы, and the hard sign (Ъ), from Russian, are also used.

The Pannonian Rusyn alphabet
А аБ бВ вà 㥠ґД дЕ еЄ єЖ жЗ зИ и
Ї їЙ йК кЛ лМ мН нО оП пР рС сТ т
У уФ фХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЮ юЯ яЬ ь

Note that Pannonian Rusyn is a West Slavic language despite its name.

Non-Slavic Indo-European languages

Romance languages

Romanian Cyrillic alphabet Romanian Cyrillic alphabet chart.svg
Romanian Cyrillic alphabet

Romanian and Moldovan

The Romanian language used the cyrillic script up to the 19th century (see Romanian Cyrillic alphabet).

The Moldovan language (an alternative name of the Romanian language in Bessarabia, Moldavian ASSR, Moldavian SSR and Moldova) used varieties of the Romanian Cyrillic alphabet in 1812–1918, and the Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet (derived from the Russian alphabet and standardised in the Soviet Union) in 1924–1932 and 1938–1989. Nowadays, this alphabet is still official in the unrecognized republic of Transnistria (see Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet).

Ladino

Ladino uses the cyrillic script in occasional Bulgarian Sephardic publications.

Indo-Aryan

Romani

Romani is written in Cyrillic in Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and the former USSR.

Iranian

Kurdish

Kurds in the former Soviet Union use a Cyrillic alphabet:

Kurdish Cyrillic Orthography
А аБ бВ вГ гГ' г'Д дЕ е
Ә ә Ә' ә'Ж жЗ зИ иЙ йК к
К' к'Л лМ мН нО о Ӧ ö П п
П' п'Р рР' р'С сТ тТ' т'У у
Ф фХ х Һ һ Һ' һ'Ч чЧ' ч'Ш ш
Щ щЬ ьЭ э Ԛ ԛ Ԝ ԝ

Ossetic

The Ossetic language has officially used the Cyrillic script since 1937.

Ossetian Cyrillic script
А а Ӕ ӕ Б бВ вГ гГъ гъД дДж дж
Дз дзЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ зИ иЙ йК к
Къ къЛ лМ мН нО оП пПъ пъР р
С сТ тТъ тъУ уФ фХ хХъ хъЦ ц
Цъ цъЧ чЧъ чъШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ь
Э эЮ юЯ я

Tajik

The Tajik alphabet is written using a Cyrillic-based alphabet.

Tajik-Persian Cyrillic Alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ г Ғ ғ Д дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ зИ и
Ӣ ӣ Й йК к Қ қ Л лМ мН нО оП пР рС с
Т тУ у Ӯ ӯ Ф фХ х Ҳ ҳ Ч ч Ҷ ҷ Ш шЪ ъЭ э
Ю юЯ я

Other

Uralic languages

Uralic languages using the Cyrillic script (currently or in the past) include:

Karelian

The first lines of the Book of Matthew in Karelian using the Cyrillic script, 1820 Matthew Karelian 1820.jpg
The first lines of the Book of Matthew in Karelian using the Cyrillic script, 1820

The Karelian language was written in the Cyrillic script in various forms until 1940 when publication in Karelian ceased in favor of Finnish, except for Tver Karelian, written in a Latin alphabet. In 1989 publication began again in the other Karelian dialects and Latin alphabets were used, in some cases with the addition of Cyrillic letters such as ь.

Kildin Sámi

Over the last century, the alphabet used to write Kildin Sámi has changed three times: from Cyrillic to Latin and back again to Cyrillic. Work on the latest version of the official orthography commenced in 1979. It was officially approved in 1982 and started to be widely used by 1987. [7]

Komi-Permyak

The Komi-Permyak Cyrillic alphabet:

А аБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ё
Ж жЗ зИ и І і Й йК кЛ л
М мН нО о Ӧ ӧ П пР рС с
Т тУ уФ фХ хЦ цЧ чШ ш
Щ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ я

Mari alphabets

Meadow Mari Cyrillic alphabet:

А аБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ з
И иЙ йК кЛ лМ мН нҤ ҥО оӦ ӧ
П пР рС сТ тУ уӰ ӱФ фХ хЦ ц
Ч чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ я

Hill Mari Cyrillic alphabet

А аӒ ӓБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ з
И иЙ йК кЛ лМ мН нО оӦ ӧП пР р
С сТ тУ уӰ ӱФ фХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щ
Ъ ъЫ ыӸ ӹЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ я

Turkic languages

Azerbaijani

The Azerbaijani Cyrillic alphabet
First version (1939–1958):АаБбВвГгҒғДдЕеӘәЖжЗзИиЙйКкҜҝЛлМмНнОо
ӨөПпРрСсТтУуҮүФфХхҺһЦцЧчҸҹШшЫыЭэЮюЯяʼ
Second version (1958–1991):
still used today by Dagestan
АаБбВвГгҒғДдЕеӘәЖжЗзИиЫыЈјКкҜҝЛлМмНн
ОоӨөПпРрСсТтУуҮүФфХхҺһЧчҸҹШшʼ
Latin Alphabet (as of 1992)
Aa, Bb, Cc, Çç, Dd, Ee, Əə, Ff, Gg, Ğğ, Hh, Xx, Iı, İi, Jj, Kk, Qq, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Üü, Vv, Yy, Zz

Bashkir

The Cyrillic script was used for the Bashkir language after the winter of 1938.

The Bashkir Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гҒ ғД д Ҙ ҙ Е еЁ ёЖ жЗ з
И иЙ йК к Ҡ ҡ Л лМ мН нҢ ңО оӨ өП п
Р рС с Ҫ ҫ Т тУ уҮ үФ фХ хҺ һЦ цЧ ч
Ш шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьЭ эӘ әЮ юЯ я

Chuvash

The Cyrillic alphabet is used for the Chuvash language since the late 19th century, with some changes in 1938.

The Chuvash Cyrillic alphabet
А аӐ ӑБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёӖ ӗЖ жЗ з
И иЙ йК кЛ лМ мН нО оП пР рС сҪ ҫ
Т тУ уӲ ӳФ фХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ы
Ь ьЭ эЮ юЯ я

The Cyrillic letters Бб, Гг, Дд, Ёё, Жж, Зз, Оо, Фф, Цц, Щщ and Ъъ are not used in native Chuvash words, but only for Russian loans.

Kazakh

Kazakh can be alternatively written in the Latin alphabet. Latin is expected to entirely replace Cyrillic by 2031, alongside the modified Arabic alphabet (in the People's Republic of China, Iran and Afghanistan).

The Kazakh Cyrillic alphabet
А а Ә ә Б бВ вГ г Ғ ғ Д дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ з
И иЙ йК к Қ қ Л лМ мН н Ң ң О о Ө ө П п
Р рС сТ тУ у Ұ ұ Ү ү Ф фХ х Һ һ Ц цЧ ч
Ш шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыІ іЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ я

The Cyrillic letters Вв, Ёё, Цц, Чч, Ъъ, Ьь and Ээ are not used in native Kazakh words, but only for Russian loans.

Kyrgyz

Kyrgyz has also been written in Latin and in Arabic.

The Kyrgyz Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ зИ иЙ йК к
Л лМ мН нҢ ңО оӨ өП пР рС сТ тУ уҮ ү
Ф фХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ я

Bold letters are used only in loanwords.

Tatar

Tatar has used Cyrillic since 1939, but the Russian Orthodox Tatar community has used Cyrillic since the 19th century. In 2000 a new Latin alphabet was adopted for Tatar, but it is used generally on the Internet.

The Tatar Cyrillic alphabet
А аӘ әБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жҖ җ
З зИ иЙ йК кЛ лМ мН нҢ ңО оӨ ө
П пР рС сТ тУ уҮ үФ фХ хҺ һЦ ц
Ч чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ я

The Cyrillic letters Ёё, Цц, Щщ are not used in native Tatar words, but only for Russian loans.

Turkmen

Turkmen, written 1940–1994 exclusively in Cyrillic, since 1994 officially in Roman, but in everyday communication Cyrillic is still used along with Roman script.

The Turkmen Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жҖ җЗ зИ иЙ й
К кЛ лМ мН нҢ ңО оӨ өП пР рС сТ тУ у
Ү үФ фХ х(Ц ц)Ч чШ ш(Щ щ)(Ъ ъ)Ы ы(Ь ь)Э эӘ ә
Ю юЯ я

Uzbek

From 1941 the Cyrillic script was used exclusively. In 1998 the government has adopted a Latin alphabet to replace it. The deadline for making this transition has however been repeatedly changed, and Cyrillic is still more common. It is not clear that the transition will be made at all.

The Uzbek Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ зИ иЙ йК к
Л лМ мН нО оП пР рС сТ тУ уФ фХ хЦ ц
Ч чШ шЪ ъЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ яЎ ўҚ қҒ ғҲ ҳ

In addition to the letters from the Russian alphabet, А–Я, except for Щ and Ы, the Uzbek Cyrillic alphabet includes Ў, Қ, Ғ and Ҳ at the end. They are distinct letters in the Uzbek Cyrillic alphabet and are sorted after Я as shown above.

Yakut

Several Cyrillic alphabets have been used to write Yakut, but the current alphabet was adopted in 1939.

The Yakut Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гҔ ҕД дДь дьЕ еЁ ё
Ж жЗ зИ иЙ йК кЛ лМ мН нҤ ҥ
Нь ньО оӨ өП пР рС сҺ һТ тУ у
Ү үФ фХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ы
Ь ьЭ эЮ юЯ я

Letters in Bold are only used in Russian Loanwords.

Other

Caucasian languages

Northwest Caucasian languages

Living Northwest Caucasian languages are generally written using Cyrillic alphabets.

Abaza

Abaza is a Caucasian language, spoken by Abazins in the Karachay-Cherkessia Republic, Russia.

The Abaza Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гГв гвГъ гъГъв гъвГъь гъьГь гь
Гӏ гӏГӏв гӏвД дДж джДжв джвДжь джьДз дзЕ еЁ ё
Ж жЖв жвЖь жьЗ зИ иЙ йК кКв квКъ къ
Къв къвКъь къьКь кьКӏ кӏКӏв кӏвКӏь кӏьЛ лЛь ль(Лӏ лӏ)
М мН нО оП пПӏ пӏР рС сТ тТл тл
Тш тшТӏ тӏУ уФ ф(Фӏ фӏ)Х хХв хвХъ хъХъв хъв
Хь хьХӏ хӏХӏв хӏвЦ цЦӏ цӏЧ чЧв чвЧӏ чӏЧӏв чӏв
Ш шШв швШӏ шӏЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЭ эЮ юЯ я
  • Digraphs in parentheses are dialectal, and are therefore absent from the literary language and the official alphabet.

Abkhaz

Abkhaz is a Caucasian language, spoken in the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, Georgia.

The Abkhaz Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гГь гьГә гәӶ ӷӶь ӷьӶә ӷә
Д дДә дәЕ еЖ жЖь жьЖә жәЗ зӠ ӡӠә ӡә
И иК кКь кьКә кәҚ қҚь қьҚә қәҞ ҟҞь ҟь
Ҟә ҟәЛ лМ мН нО оП пԤ ԥР рС с
Т тТә тәҬ ҭҬә ҭәУ уФ фХ хХь хьХә хә
Ҳ ҳҲә ҳәЦ цЦә цәҴ ҵҴә ҵәЧ чҶ ҷҼ ҽ
Ҿ ҿШ шШь шьШә шәЫ ыҨ ҩЏ џЏь џь

Adyghe

Adyghe is a Caucasian language, spoken in the Republic of Adygea, Russia.

The Adyghe Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гГу гуГъ гъГъу гъуД дДж джДз дзДзу дзу
Е еЁ ёЖ жЖъ жъЖъу жъуЖь жьЗ зИ иЙ йК кКу ку
Къ къКъу къуКӏ кӏКӏу кӏуЛ лЛъ лъЛӏ лӏМ мН нО оП п
Пӏ пӏПӏу пӏуР рС сТ тТӏ тӏТӏу тӏуУ уФ фХ хХъ хъ
Хъу хъуХь хьЦ цЦу цуЦӏ цӏЧ чЧъ чъЧӏ чӏШ шШъ шъШъу шъу
Шӏ шӏШӏу шӏуЩ щ(Ъ ъ)Ы ы(Ь ь)Э эЮ юЯ яӀ ӏӀу ӏу
  • Letters in parentheses are only used in digraphs.

Kabardian

Kabardian is a Caucasian language, spoken in the Republics of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia.

The Kabardian Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гГу гуГъ гъГъу гъуД дДж джДз дз
Е еЁ ёЖ жЖь жьЗ зИ иЙ йК кКу куКӏ кӏ
Кӏу кӏуКъ къКъу къуКхъ кхъКхъу кхъуЛ лЛъ лъЛӏ лӏМ мН н
О оП пПӏ пӏР рС сТ тТӏ тӏУ уФ фФӏ фӏ
Х хХу хуХъ хъХъу хъуХь хьЦ цЦӏ цӏЧ чШ шЩ щ
Щӏ щӏЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ яӀ ӏӀу ӏу

Northeast Caucasian languages

Northeast Caucasian languages are generally written using Cyrillic alphabets.

Avar

Avar is a Caucasian language, spoken in the Republic of Dagestan, of the Russian Federation, where it is co-official together with other Caucasian languages like Dargwa, Lak, Lezgian and Tabassaran. All these alphabets, and other ones (Abaza, Adyghe, Chechen, Ingush, Kabardian) have an extra sign: palochka (Ӏ), which gives voiceless occlusive consonants its particular ejective sound.

The Avar Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гГъ гъГь гьГӏ гӏД д
Е еЁ ёЖ жЗ зИ иЙ йК кКъ къ
Кь кьКӏ кӏКӏкӏ кӏкӏКк ккЛ лМ мН нО о
П пР рС сТ тТӏ тӏУ уФ фХ х
Хх ххХъ хъХь хьХӏ хӏЦ цЦц ццЦӏ цӏЦӏцӏ цӏцӏ
Ч чЧӏ чӏЧӏчӏ чӏчӏШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ь
Э эЮ юЯ яӀ
  • В = /w/
  • гъ = /ʁ/
  • гь = /h/
  • гӀ = /ʕ/
  • къ = /qːʼ/
  • кӀ = /kʼ/
  • кь = /t͡ɬːʼ/
  • кӀкӀ = /t͡ɬː/, is also written ЛӀ лӀ.
  • кк = /ɬ/, is also written Лъ лъ.
  • тӀ = /tʼ/
  • х = /χ/
  • хъ = /qː/
  • хь = /x/
  • хӀ = /ħ/
  • цӀ = /t͡sʼ/
  • чӀ = /t͡ʃʼ/
  • Double consonants, called "fortis", are pronounced longer than single consonants (called "lenis").

Lezgian

Lezgian is spoken by the Lezgins, who live in southern Dagestan and northern Azerbaijan. Lezgian is a literary language and an official language of Dagestan.

Other

Mongolian

The Mongolic languages include Khalkha (in Mongolia; Cyrillic is official since 1941, in practice from 1946), Buryat (around Lake Baikal; Cyrillic is used since the 1930s) and Kalmyk (northwest of the Caspian Sea; Cyrillic is used in various forms since the 1920-30s). Khalkha Mongolian is also written with the Mongol vertical alphabet, which was the official script before 1941. [8] Since the beginning of the 1990s Mongolia has been making attempts to extend the rather limited use of Mongol script and the most recent National Plan for Mongol Script aims to bring its use to the same level as Cyrillic by 2025 and maintain a dual-script system (digraphia). [9]

Overview

This table contains all the characters used.

Һһ is shown twice as it appears at two different locations in Buryat and Kalmyk

Mongolian Cyrillic alphabets
Khalkha АаБбВвГгДдЕеЁёЖжЗзИиЙйКкЛлМмНнОо
Buryat АаБбВвГгДдЕеЁёЖжЗзИиЙйКкЛлМмНнОо
Kalmyk АаӘәБбВвГгҺһДдЕеЁёЖжҖҗЗзИиЙйКкЛлМмНнҢңОо
KhalkhaӨөПпРрСсТтУуҮүФфХхЦцЧчШшЩщЪъЫыЬьЭэЮюЯя
BuryatӨөПпРрСсТтУуҮүФфХхҺһЦцЧчШшЩщЪъЫыЬьЭэЮюЯя
KalmykӨөПпРрСсТтУуҮүФфХхЦцЧчШшЩщЪъЫЫЬьЭэЮюЯя

Khalkha

The Khalkha Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ зИ иЙ йК к
Л лМ мН нО о Ө ө П пР рС сТ тУ у Ү ү Ф ф
Х хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ я

Long vowels are indicated with double letters. The Cyrillic letters Кк, Пп, Фф and Щщ are not used in native Mongolian words, but only for Russian or other loans (Пп may occur in native onomatopoeic words).

Buryat

The Buryat (буряад) Cyrillic script is similar to the Khalkha above, but Ьь indicates palatalization as in Russian. Buryat does not use Вв, Кк, Пп, Фф, Цц, Чч, Щщ or Ъъ in its native words (Пп may occur in native onomatopoeic words).

The Buryat Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ зИ иЙ йК к
Л лМ мН нО оӨ өП пР рС сТ тУ уҮ үФ ф
Х хҺ һЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ я

Kalmyk

The Kalmyk (хальмг) Cyrillic script differs from Khalkha in some respects: there are additional letters (Әә, Җҗ, Ңң, Һһ), letters Ээ, Юю and Яя appear only word-initially, long vowels are written double in the first syllable (нөөрин), but single in syllables after the first. Short vowels are omitted altogether in syllables after the first syllable (хальмг = /xaʎmaɡ/). Жж and Пп are used in loanwords only (Russian, Tibetan, etc.), but Пп may occur in native onomatopoeic words.

The Kalmyk Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet
А аӘ әБ бВ вГ гҺ һД дЕ еЖ жҖ җЗ зИ и
Й йК кЛ лМ мН нҢ ңО оӨ өП пР рС сТ т
У уҮ үХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ я

Sino-Tibetan

Dungan language

Since 1953.

The modern Dungan Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёӘ әЖ жҖ җЗ зИ и
Й йК кЛ лМ мН нҢ ңО оП пР рС сТ тУ у
Ў ўҮ үФ фХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьЭ э
Ю юЯ я

Tungusic languages

Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages

Chukchi language

Since 1936.

The Chukchi Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ зИ иЙ йК к
Ӄ ӄЛ лԒ ԓМ мН нӇ ӈО оП пР рС сТ тУ у
Ф фХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ я
ʼ

Koryak language

Since 1936.

The Koryak Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вВʼ вʼГ гГʼ гʼД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ зИ и
Й йК кӃ ӄЛ лМ мН нӇ ӈО оП пР рС сТ т
У уФ фХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьЭ эЮ ю
Я я

Itelmen language

Since late 1980s.

The Itelmen Cyrillic alphabet
А аӐ ӑБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ зИ иЙ й
К кКʼ кʼӃ ӄӃʼ ӄʼЛ лЉ љԒ ԓМ мН нЊ њӇ ӈО о
О̆ о̆П пПʼ пʼР рС сТ тТʼ тʼУ уЎ ўФ фХ хӼ ӽ
Ц цЧ чЧʼ чʼШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьӘ әЭ эЮ юЯ я

Alyutor language

The Alyutor Cyrillic alphabet
А аБ бВ вВʼ вʼГ гГʼ гʼҒ ғД дЕ еӘ әЁ ёЖ ж
З зИ иЙ йК кӃ ӄЛ лМ мН нӇ ӈО оП пР р
С сТ тУ уФ фХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ь
Э эЮ юЯ я

Eskaleut languages

Aleut language

The Aleut Cyrillic alphabet (Bering dialect)
А аА̄ а̄Б бВ вГ гӶ ӷГў гўД д
Д̆ д̆ Е еЕ̄ е̄Ё ёЖ жЗ зИ иӢ ӣ
Й йʼЙ ʼйК к Ӄ ӄ Л лʼЛ ʼлМ мʼМ ʼм
Н нʼН ʼнӇ ӈʼӇ ʼӈО оО̄ о̄П пР р
С сТ тУ уӮ ӯЎ ўФ фХ хӼ ӽ
Ц цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЫ̄ ы̄Ь ь
Э эЭ̄ э̄Ю юЮ̄ ю̄Я яЯ̄ я̄ʼ’Ў ’ў

Central Siberian Yupik language

Chaplino dialect

The Central Siberian Yupik Cyrillic alphabet (Chaplino dialect)
А аБ бВ вГ гӶ ӷД дЕ еЁ ё
Ж жЗ зИ иЙ йК кӃ ӄЛ лЛъ лъ
М мН нНъ нъӇ ӈО оП пР рС с
Т тУ уЎ ўФ фХ хӼ ӽЦ цЧ ч
Ш шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ я

The letters Ӷ ӷ, Ӄ ӄ, Ӈ ӈ, Ӽ ӽ are sometines replaced by Гʼ гʼ, Кʼ кʼ, Нʼ нʼ, Хʼ хʼ or Ґ ґ, Қ қ, Ң ң, Ҳ ҳ.

Sirenik language

The Sirenik Cyrillic alphabet
А аА̄ а̄Б бВ вԜ ԝГ гӶ ӷД д
Е еЁ ёЖ жЗ зИ иӢ ӣЙ йЙь йь
К кӃ ӄЛ лЛъ лъМ мН нНъ нъӇ ӈ
О оП пР рС сТ тУ уӮ ӯФ ф
Х хӼ ӽЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ы
Ь ьЭ эЮ юЮ̄ ю̄Я яЯ̄ я̄

Other

Other languages

Constructed languages

International auxiliary languages

Fictional languages

Summary table

Cyrillic Letters:

Cyrillic alphabets comparison table
Early scripts
Church SlavonicАБВГД(Ѕ)ЕЖЅ/ЗИІКЛМНОП(Ҁ)РСТОуФХ(Ѡ)ЦЧШЩЪЫЬѢЮѤѦѨѪѬѮѰѲѴҀ
Most common shared letters
CommonА БВГ Д  Е  Ж З И   ЙК Л М Н  О П Р С Т У  ФХ Ц Ч ШЩ  Ь   ЮЯ
South Slavic languages
BulgarianА БВГ ДДжДзЕ  Ж З И   ЙК Л М Н  О П Р С Т У  ФХ Ц Ч ШЩЪ Ь   ЮЯ
SerbianА БВГ ДЂ Е  Ж З И Ј  К ЛЉМ НЊ О П Р С ТЋУ  ФХ Ц ЧЏШ
MontenegrinА БВГ ДЂ Е  Ж ЗЗ́ И Ј  К ЛЉМ НЊ О П Р СС́ТЋУ  ФХ Ц ЧЏШ
MacedonianА БВГ ДЃ Е  Ж ЗЅИ Ј  К ЛЉМ НЊ О П Р С ТЌУ  ФХ Ц ЧЏШ
East Slavic languages
RussianА БВГ Д  Е ЁЖ З И   ЙК Л М Н  О П Р С Т У  ФХ Ц Ч ШЩЪЫЬ Э ЮЯ
BelarusianА БВГҐД  Е ЁЖ З  І  ЙК Л М Н  О П Р С Т УЎ ФХ Ц Ч Ш ЫЬ Э ЮЯ
UkrainianА БВГҐД  ЕЄ Ж З ИІ ЇЙК Л М Н  О П Р С Т У  ФХ Ц Ч ШЩ Ь   ЮЯ
RusynА БВГҐД  ЕЄЁЖ ЗІЇИ Ы ЙК Л М Н  О П Р С Т У  ФХ Ц Ч ШЩЪ ЬѢ  ЮЯ
Iranian languages
KurdishА БВГГ'Д  ЕӘӘ'Ж З И   ЙКК'Л М Н  ОÖПП'РР'С ТТ'У  ФХҺҺ' ЧЧ'ШЩ  Ь ЭԚԜ
OssetianАӔБВГГъДДжДзЕ ЁЖ З И   ЙККъЛ М Н  О ППъР С ТТъУ  ФХХъЦЦъЧЧъШЩЪЫЬ Э ЮЯ
TajikА БВГҒД  Е ЁЖ З И Ӣ ЙКҚЛ М Н  О П Р С Т УӮ ФХҲ  ЧҶШ Ъ   Э ЮЯ
Romance languages
MoldovanА БВГ Д  Е  ЖӁЗ И   ЙК Л М Н  О П Р С Т У  ФХ Ц Ч Ш  ЫЬ Э ЮЯ
Uralic languages
Komi-PermyakА БВГ Д  Е ЁЖ З ИІ  ЙК Л М Н  ОӦП Р С Т У  ФХ Ц Ч ШЩЪЫЬ Э ЮЯ
Meadow MariА БВГ Д  Е ЁЖ З И   ЙК Л М НҤ ОӦП Р С Т УӰ ФХ Ц Ч ШЩЪЫЬ Э ЮЯ
Hill MariАӒБВГ Д  Е ЁЖ З И   ЙК Л М Н  ОӦП Р С Т УӰ ФХ Ц Ч ШЩЪЫЬӸЭ ЮЯ
Kildin SamiАӒБВГ Д  Е ЁЖ З И ЙҊЈК ЛӅМӍНӉӇО П РҎС Т У  ФХҺЦ Ч ШЩЪЫҌЬЭӬЮЯ
Turkic languages
AzerbaijaniА БВГҒД  ЕӘЁЖ ЗЫИЈ  ЙКҜЛ М Н  ОӨП Р С Т У ҮФХҺЦ ЧҸШЩЪЫЬ Э ЮЯ
BashkirАӘБВГҒД ҘЕ ЁЖ З И   ЙКҠЛ М НҢ ОӨП Р СҪТ У ҮФХҺЦ Ч ШЩЪЫЬ ЭӘЮЯ
ChuvashАӐБВГ Д  ЕЁӖЖ З И   ЙК Л М Н  О П Р СҪТ УӲ ФХ Ц Ч ШЩЪЫЬ Э ЮЯ
KazakhАӘБВГҒД  Е ЁЖ З ИІ  ЙКҚЛ М НҢ ОӨП Р С Т УҰҮФХҺЦ Ч ШЩЪЫЬ Э ЮЯ
KyrgyzА БВГ Д  Е ЁЖ З И   ЙК Л М НҢ ОӨП Р С Т У ҮФХ Ц Ч ШЩЪЫЬ Э ЮЯ
TatarАӘБВГ Д  Е ЁЖҖЗ И   ЙК Л М НҢ ОӨП Р С Т У ҮФХҺЦ Ч ШЩЪЫЬ Э ЮЯ
UzbekА БВГҒД  Е ЁЖ З И   ЙКҚЛ М Н  О П Р С Т УЎ ФХҲ  Ч Ш Ъ   Э ЮЯ
Caucasian languages
AbkhazА БВГ ӶьӶәӶ(Ҕ) Ӷь(Ҕь)Ӷә(Ҕә)ДДәЕ  Ж ЖьЖә ЗӠ ӠәИ    К КьКәҚ(Ӄ) Қь(Ӄь)Қә(Ӄә)Ҟ ҞьҞәЛ М Н  ОПԤ(Ҧ)Р С Т ТәҬ ҬәУ  ФХ ХьХәҲ ҲәЦ ЦәҴ ҴәЧҶҼҾШ ШьШәЫ    ҨЏ Џь
Mongolian languages
KhalkhaА БВГ Д  Е ЁЖ З И   ЙК Л М Н  ОӨП Р С Т У ҮФХ Ц Ч ШЩЪЫЬ Э ЮЯ
BuryatА БВГ Д  Е ЁЖ З И   ЙК Л М Н  ОӨП Р С Т У ҮФХҺЦ Ч ШЩЪЫЬ Э ЮЯ
KalmykАӘБВГҺД  Е  ЖҖЗ И   ЙК Л М НҢ ОӨП Р С Т У ҮФХ Ц Ч Ш   Ь Э ЮЯ
Sino-Tibetan languages
DunganА БВГ Д  Е ЁЖҖЗ И   ЙК Л М НҢӘО П Р С Т УЎҮФХ Ц Ч ШЩЪЫЬ Э ЮЯ
Total Use2982929291229632928

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian alphabet</span> Alphabet that uses letters from the Cyrillic script

The Russian alphabet is the script used to write the Russian language. It is derived from the Cyrillic script, which was modified in the 9th century to capture accurately the phonology of the first Slavic literary language, Old Slavonic. Initially an old variant of the Bulgarian alphabet, it was used in Kievan Rus' from the 10th century onward to write what would become the modern Russian language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bashkir language</span> Kipchak Turkic language

Bashkir or Bashkort is a Turkic language belonging to the Kipchak branch. It is co-official with Russian in Bashkortostan. It is spoken by around 750,000 native speakers in Russia, as well as in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other neighboring post-Soviet states, and among the Bashkir diaspora. It has three dialect groups: Southern, Eastern and Northwestern.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalmyk Oirat</span> Oirat dialects spoken in Kalmykia, Russia

Kalmyk Oirat, commonly known as the Kalmyk language, is a variety of the Oirat language, natively spoken by the Kalmyk people of Kalmykia, a federal subject of Russia. In Russia, it is the standard form of the Oirat language, which belongs to the Mongolic language family. The Kalmyk people of the Northwest Caspian Sea of Russia claim descent from the Oirats from Eurasia, who have also historically settled in Mongolia and Northwest China. According to UNESCO, the language is "definitely endangered". According to the Russian census of 2021, there are 110,000 speakers out of an ethnic population consisting of 178,000 people.

Three scripts are currently used for the Tatar language: Arabic, Cyrillic and Latin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yery</span> Cyrillic letter ⟨ы⟩

Yeru or Eru, usually called Y in modern Russian or Yery or Ery historically and in modern Church Slavonic, is a letter in the Cyrillic script. It represents the close central unrounded vowel after non-palatalised (hard) consonants in the Belarusian and Russian alphabets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ukrainian alphabet</span> Alphabet that uses letters from the Cyrillic script

The Ukrainian alphabet is the set of letters used to write Ukrainian, which is the official language of Ukraine. It is one of several national variations of the Cyrillic script. It comes from the Cyrillic script, which was devised in the 9th century for the first Slavic literary language, called Old Slavonic. In the 10th century, Cyrillic script became used in Kievan Rus' to write Old East Slavic, from which the Belarusian, Russian, Rusyn, and Ukrainian alphabets later evolved. The modern Ukrainian alphabet has 33 letters in total: 21 consonants, 1 semivowel, 10 vowels and 1 palatalization sign. Sometimes the apostrophe (') is also included, which has a phonetic meaning and is a mandatory sign in writing, but is not considered as a letter and is not included in the alphabet.

Shor, or Kuznets Tatar, is a critically endangered Turkic language spoken by about 2,800 people in a region called Mountain Shoriya, in Kemerovo Oblast in Southwest Siberia, although the entire Shor population in this area is over 12,000 people. Presently, not all ethnic Shors speak Shor and the language suffered a decline from the late 1930s to the early 1980s. During this period the Shor language was neither written nor taught in schools. However, since the 1980s and 1990s there has been a Shor language revival. The language is now taught at the Novokuznetsk branch of the Kemerovo State University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyrgyz alphabets</span> Alphabets used to write the Kyrgyz language

The Kyrgyz alphabets are the alphabets used to write the Kyrgyz language. Kyrgyz uses the following alphabets:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kazakh alphabets</span> Alphabets used to write the Kazakh language

Three alphabets are used to write Kazakh: the Cyrillic, Latin and Arabic scripts. The Cyrillic script is used in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Mongolia. An October 2017 Presidential Decree in Kazakhstan ordered that the transition from Cyrillic to a Latin script be completed by 2031. The Arabic script is used in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, and parts of China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tajik alphabet</span> Alphabet used to write the Tajik language

The Tajik language has been written in three alphabets over the course of its history: an adaptation of the Perso-Arabic script, an adaptation of the Latin script and an adaptation of the Cyrillic script. Any script used specifically for Tajik may be referred to as the Tajik alphabet, which is written as алифбои тоҷикӣ in Cyrillic characters, الفبای تاجیکی with Perso-Arabic script and alifboji toçikī in Latin script.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yakut scripts</span> Scripts used to write the Yakut language

There are 4 stages in the history of Yakut writing systems:

The Cyrillic script family contains many specially treated two-letter combinations, or digraphs, but few of these are used in Slavic languages. In a few alphabets, trigraphs and even the occasional tetragraph or pentagraph are used.

JCUKEN is the main Cyrillic keyboard layout for the Russian language in computers and typewriters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian Braille</span> Braille equivalent of the Cyrillic script

Russian Braille is the braille alphabet of the Russian language. With suitable extensions, it is used for languages of neighboring countries that are written in Cyrillic in print, such as Ukrainian and Mongolian. It is based on the Latin transliteration of Cyrillic, with additional letters assigned idiosyncratically. In Russian, it is known as the Braille Script.

The Bashkir alphabet is a writing system used for the Bashkir language. Until the mid-19th century, Bashkir speakers wrote in the Volga Türki literary language using the Arabic script. In 1869, Russian linguist Mirsalikh Bekchurin published the first guide to Bashkir grammar, and the first Cyrillic Bashkir introductory book was published by Vasily Katarinsky in Orenburg in 1892. Latinisation was first discussed in June 1924, when the first draft of the Bashkir alphabet using the Latin script was created. More reforms followed, culminating in the final version in 1938.

The Komi language, a Uralic language spoken in the north-eastern part of European Russia, has been written in several different alphabets. Currently, Komi writing uses letters from the Cyrillic script. There have been five distinct stages in the history of Komi writing:

Since its inception in the 18th century and up to the present, it is based on the Cyrillic alphabet to write the Udmurt language. Attempts were also made to use the Latin alphabet to write the Udmurt language. In its modern form, the Udmurt alphabet was approved in 1937.

Khakass alphabets are the alphabets used to write the Khakas language.

Even alphabets are the alphabets used to write the Even language. During its existence, it functioned on different graphic bases and was repeatedly reformed. At present, Even writing functions in Cyrillic. There are three stages in the history of Even writing:

Udege alphabets are the alphabets used to write the Udege language. During its existence, it functioned on different graphic bases and was repeatedly reformed. Currently, the Udege script functions on two versions of the Cyrillic alphabet for two emerging literary languages, but does not have a generally accepted norm. There are 2 stages in the history of Udege writing:

References

  1. Šmid (2002), pp. 113–24: "Es interesante el hecho que en Bulgaria se imprimieron unas pocas publicaciones en alfabeto cirílico búlgaro y en Grecia en alfabeto griego... Nezirović (1992: 128) anota que también en Bosnia se ha encontrado un documento en que la lengua sefardí está escrita en alfabeto cirilico." Translation: "It is an interesting fact that in Bulgaria a few [Sephardic] publications are printed in the Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet and in Greece in the Greek alphabet... Nezirović (1992:128) writes that in Bosnia a document has also been found in which the Sephardic language is written in the Cyrillic alphabet."
  2. Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250, Cambridge Medieval Textbooks, Florin Curta, Cambridge University Press, 2006, ISBN   0521815398, pp. 221–222.
  3. The Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire, Oxford History of the Christian Church, J. M. Hussey, Andrew Louth, Oxford University Press, 2010, ISBN   0191614882, p. 100.
  4. Peshikan, Mitar; Jerković, Jovan; Pižurica, Mato (1994). Pravopis srpskoga jezika. Beograd: Matica Srpska. p. 42. ISBN   86-363-0296-X.
  5. Pravopis na makedonskiot jazik (PDF). Skopje: Institut za makedonski jazik Krste Misirkov. 2017. p. 3. ISBN   978-608-220-042-2.
  6. "Croats Revive Forgotten Cyrillic Through Stone". January 8, 2013.
  7. Rießler, Michael. Towards a digital infrastructure for Kildin Saami. In: Sustaining Indigenous Knowledge, ed. by Erich Kasten, Erich and Tjeerd de Graaf. Fürstenberg, 2013, 195–218.
  8. Veronika, Kapišovská (2005). "Language Planning in Mongolia I". Mongolica Pragensia. 2005: 55–83 via academia.edu.
  9. "Монгол бичгийн үндэсний хөтөлбөр III (National Plan for Mongol Script III)". Эрх Зүйн Мэдээллийн Нэгдсэн Систем. 2020. Archived from the original on May 8, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2021.

Further reading