Cyrillic alphabets

Numerous Cyrillic alphabets are based on the Cyrillic script. The early Cyrillic alphabet was developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 9th century AD at the Preslav Literary School by Saint Clement of Ohrid and Saint Naum and replaced the earlier Glagolitic script developed by the Byzantine theologians Cyril and Methodius. It is the basis of alphabets used in various languages, past and present, in parts of Southeastern Europe and Northern Eurasia, especially those of 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.

Distribution of the Cyrillic script worldwide as of 2008. The dark green shows the countries that use Cyrillic as the one main script; the lighter green those that use Cyrillic alongside another official script. The lightest green formerly did so.

Some of these are illustrated below; for others, and for more detail, see the links. Sounds are transcribed in the IPA. While these languages by and large 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).

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 other Asian script (Mongolian script etc.) 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 (the Baltic Republics were annexed later, 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 other orthographies—either Roman‐based or returning to a former script.

Unlike the Latin script, which is usually adapted to different languages by adding diacritical marks/supplementary glyphs (such as accents, umlauts, fadas, tildes and cedillas) to standard Roman letters, by assigning new phonetic values to existing letters (e.g. <c>, whose original value in Latin was /k/, represents /ts/ in West Slavic languages, /ʕ/ in Somali, /t͡ʃ/ in many African languages and /d͡ʒ/ in Turkish), or by the use of digraphs (such as <sh>, <ch>, <ng> and <ny>), 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 Mari, Udmurt and Chuvash, umlauts and breves also were used.

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

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
Upright Italic/Cursive Name Sound (in IPA)
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 E /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[lower-alpha 1] /j/
К к К к Ka /k/
Л л Л л El /l/
М м М м Em /m/
Н н Н н En/Ne /n/
О о О о O /o/
П п П п Pe /p/
Р р Р р Er/Re /r/
С с С с Es /s/
Т т Т т Te /t/
У у У у U /u/
Ф ф Ф ф Ef/Fe /f/
Х х Х х Kha /x/
Ц ц Ц ц Tse /ts/ (t͡s)
Ч ч Ч ч Che /tʃ/ (t͡ʃ)
Ш ш Ш ш Sha /ʃ/
Щ щ Щ щ Shcha, Shta /ʃtʃ/, /ɕː/, /ʃt/[lower-alpha 2]
Ь ь Ь ь Soft sign[lower-alpha 3] or
Small yer[lower-alpha 4]		 /ʲ/[lower-alpha 5]
Ю ю Ю ю Yu /ju/, /ʲu/
Я я Я я Ya /ja/, /ʲa/
  1. Russian: и краткое, i kratkoye; Bulgarian: и кратко, i kratko. Both mean "Short i".
  2. See the notes for each language for details
  3. Russian: мягкий знак, myagkiy znak
  4. Bulgarian: ер малък, er malâk
  5. 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:

East Slavic

Russian
Main article: Russian alphabet
The Russian alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ зИ иЙ й
К кЛ лМ мН нО оП пР рС сТ тУ уФ ф
Х хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ я
  • Yo (Ё ё) /jo/
  • The Hard Sign¹ (Ъ ъ) indicates no palatalization²
  • Yery (Ы ы) indicates [ɨ] (an allophone of /i/)
  • E (Э э) /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
Main article: Belarusian alphabet


The Belarusian alphabet

А аБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ зІ іЙ й
К кЛ лМ мН нО оП пР рС сТ тУ уЎ ў
Ф фХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЫ ыЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ я’

The Belarusian alphabet displays the following features:

  • Ge (Г г) represents a voiced velar fricative /ɣ/.
  • Yo (Ё ё) /jo/
  • 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 щ).
  • Yery (Ы ы) /ɨ/
  • E (Э э) /ɛ/
  • An apostrophe (’) is used to indicate depalatalization of the preceding consonant. This orthographical symbol 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 д) in the Belarusian alphabet in some publications. These digraphs represent consonant clusters Дж /dʒ/ and Дз /dz/ correspondingly.
  • Before 1933, the letter Ґ ґ was used.

Ukrainian
Main article: Ukrainian alphabet
The Ukrainian alphabet
А а Б б В в Г г Ґ ґ Д д Е е Є є Ж ж З з И и
І іЇ їЙ 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/).
  • 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 not officially used 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, represents /jɛ/.
  • E, И (И, и) represent /ɪ/ if unstressed.
  • I (І, і) appears after Y, represents /i/.
  • Yi (Ї, ї) appears after I, represents /ji/.
  • Yy (Й, й) represents /j/.
  • Shchy (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).
  • Like in Belarusian Cyrillic, the sounds /dʒ/, /dz/ are represented by digraphs Дж and Дз respectively.
  • Until reforms in 1990, soft sign (Ь, ь) appeared at the end of the alphabet, after Yu (Ю, ю) and Ya (Я, я), rather than before them, as in Russian.

Rusyn
Further information: Rusyn language

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

The Rusyn alphabet
А аБ бВ вà 㥠ґД дЕ еЄ єЁ ё*Ж жЗ з
И иІ і*Ы ы*Ї їЙ йК кЛ лМ мН нО оП п
Р рС сТ тУ уФ фХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щѢ ѣ*
Ю юЯ яЬ ьЪ ъ*

*Letters absent from Pannonian Rusyn alphabet.

South Slavic

Bulgarian
Further information: Bulgarian alphabet
First Bulgarian Empire, late 9th century (894)
The Bulgarian alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЖ жЗ зИ иЙ й
К кЛ лМ мН нО оП пР рС сТ тУ у
Ф фХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЬ ьЮ юЯ я

The Bulgarian alphabet features:

  • The Bulgarian names for the consonants are [bɤ], [kɤ], [ɫɤ] etc. instead of [bɛ], [ka], [ɛl] etc.
  • Е represents /ɛ/ and is called "е" [ɛ].
  • The sounds /dʒ/ (/d͡ʒ/) and /dz/ (/d͡z/) are represented by дж and дз respectively.
  • Yot (Й, й) represents /j/.
  • Щ represents /ʃt/ (/ʃ͡t/) and is called "щъ" [ʃtɤ] ([ʃ͡tɤ]).
  • Ъ represents the vowel /ɤ/, and is called "ер голям" [ˈɛr ɡoˈljam] ('big er'). In spelling however, Ъ is referred to as /ɤ/ where its official label "ер голям" (used only to refer to Ъ in the alphabet) may cause some confusion. 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.
  • 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 is called "ер малък" ('small er').

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
Allowed italic variants of some letters in different languages.

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, and Ё, representing /ja/, /ju/, and /jo/ in Russian, respectively, have been removed. Instead, these are represented by the digraphs ⟨ја⟩, ⟨ју⟩, and ⟨јо⟩, respectively. Additionally, the letter Е, representing /je/ in Russian, is instead pronounced /e/ or /ɛ/, with /je/ being represented by ⟨јe⟩. Alphabets based on the Serbian that add new letters often do so by adding an acute accent ⟨´⟩ over an existing letter.

Main article: Serbian Cyrillic alphabet
The Serbian alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД дЂ ђЕ еЖ жЗ зИ и
Ј јК кЛ лЉ љМ мН нЊ њО оП пР р
С сТ тЋ ћУ уФ фХ хЦ цЧ чЏ џШ 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.

Macedonian
Macedonian cursive
Main article: Macedonian alphabet
The Macedonian alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД дЃ ѓ Е еЖ жЗ зЅ ѕИ и
Ј јК кЛ лЉ љМ мН нЊ њО оП пР рС с
Т тЌ ќУ 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]

Montenegrin
Main article: Montenegrin alphabet
The Montenegrin alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД дЂ ђЕ еЖ жЗ зЗ́ з́И и
Ј јК кЛ лЉ љМ мН нЊ њО оП пР рС с
С́ с́Т 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).

Bosnian
Further information: Bosnian language

The Bosnian language uses Latin and Cyrillic alphabets exactly the same as Serbian. Latin is slightly more common.[6] A Bosnian Cyrillic script (Bosančica) was used in the Middle Ages, along with other scripts, but has no connection to the modern Bosnian language.

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
Main article: Karelian alphabet

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
Main article: Kildin Sami orthography

Over the last century, the alphabet used to write Kildin Sami 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.

Komi-Permyak

The Komi-Permyak alphabet:

А а Б б В в Г г Д д Е е Ё ё
Ж ж З з И и I i Й й К к Л л
М м Н н О о Ӧ ӧ П п Р р С с
Т т У у Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш
Щ щ Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я

Mari alphabets
Main article: Mari alphabet

Meadow Mari alphabet:

А а Б б В в Г г Д д Е е Ё ё Ж ж З з И и
Й й К к Л л М м Н н Ҥ ҥ О о Ö ö П п Р р
С с Т т У у Ӱ ӱ Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш Щ щ
Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я

Hill Mari alphabet

А а Ä ä Б б В в Г г Д д Е е Ё ё Ж ж З з
И и Й й К к Л л М м Н н О о Ö ö П п Р р
С с Т т У у Ӱ ӱ Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш Щ щ
Ъ ъ Ы ы Ӹ ӹ Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я

Non-Slavic Indo-European languages

Iranian languages

Kurdish
Main article: Kurdish alphabets

Kurds in the former Soviet Union use a Cyrillic alphabet:

Kurdish Cyrillic script
А аБ бВ вГ гГ' г'Д дЕ еӘ ә
Ә' ә'Ж жЗ зИ иЙ йК кК' к'Л л
М мН нО оÖ öП пП' п'Р рР' р'
С сТ тТ' т'У уФ фХ хҺ һҺ' һ'
Ч чЧ' ч'Ш шЩ щЬ ьЭ эԚ ԛԜ ԝ

Ossetian

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

Ossetian Cyrillic script
А аӔ ӕБ 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
Main article: Tajik alphabet

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

Tajik Cyrillic script
А аБ бВ вГ гҒ ғД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ зИ и
Ӣ ӣЙ йК кҚ қЛ лМ мН нО оП пР рС с
Т тУ уӮ ӯФ фХ хҲ ҳЦ цЧ чҶ ҷШ шЪ ъ
Э эЮ юЯ я

Other

Romance languages
  • Romanian (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 in occasional Bulgarian Sephardic publications.

Indo-Aryan

Romani

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

Mongolian

The Mongolic languages include Khalkha (in Mongolia), Buryat (around Lake Baikal) and Kalmyk (northwest of the Caspian Sea). Khalkha Mongolian is also written with the Mongol vertical alphabet.

Overview

This table contains all the characters used.

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

Khalkha АаБбВвГгДдЕеЁёЖжЗзИиЙйКкЛлМмНнОо
Buryat АаБбВвГгДдЕеЁёЖжЗзИиЙйЛлМмНнОо
Kalmyk АаӘәБбВвГгҺһДдЕеЖжҖҗЗзИиЙйКкЛлМмНнҢңОо
Khalkha ӨөПпРрСсТтУуҮүФфХхЦцЧчШшЩщЪъЫыЬьЭэЮюЯя
Buryat ӨөПпРрСсТтУуҮүХхҺһЦцЧчШшЫыЬьЭэЮюЯя
Kalmyk ӨөПпРрСсТтУуҮүХхЦцЧчШшЬьЭэЮюЯя

Khalkha
The Khalkha Mongolian alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ зИ иЙ й
К кЛ лМ мН нО оӨ өП пР рС сТ тУ у
Ү үФ фХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьЭ э
Ю юЯ я
  • В в = /w/
  • Е е = /jɛ/, /jœ/
  • Ё ё = /jo/
  • Ж ж = /dʒ/
  • З з = /dz/
  • Н н = /n-/, /-ŋ/
  • Ө ө = /œ/
  • Ү ү = /y/
  • Ы ы = /iː/ (after a hard consonant)
  • Ь ь = /ĭ/ (extra short)
  • Ю ю = /ju/, /jy/
  • D d = /ji/

The Cyrillic letters Кк, Пп, Фф and Щщ are not used in native Mongolian words, but only for Russian loans.

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, Фф, Цц, Чч, Щщ or Ъъ in its native words.

The Buryat Mongolian alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ зИ иЙ й
Л лМ мН нО оӨ өП пР рС сТ тУ уҮ ү
Х хҺ һЦ цЧ чШ шЫ ыЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ я
  • Е е = /jɛ/, /jœ/
  • Ё ё = /jo/
  • Ж ж = /dʒ/
  • Н н = /n-/, /-ŋ/
  • Ө ө = /œ/
  • Ү ү = /y/
  • Һ һ = /h/
  • Ы ы = /ei/, /iː/
  • Ю ю = /ju/, /jy/

Kalmyk

The Kalmyk (хальмг) Cyrillic script is similar to the Khalkha, but the letters Ээ, Юю and Яя appear only word-initially. In Kalmyk, 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/).

The Kalmyk Mongolian alphabet
А аӘ әБ бВ вГ гҺ һД дЕ еЖ жҖ җЗ з
И иЙ йК кЛ лМ мН нҢ ңО оӨ өП пР р
С сТ тУ уҮ үХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЬ ьЭ эЮ ю
Я я
  • Ә ә = /æ/
  • В в = /w/
  • Һ һ = /ɣ/
  • Е е = /ɛ/, /jɛ-/
  • Җ җ = /dʒ/
  • Ң ң = /ŋ/
  • Ө ө = /œ/
  • Ү ү = /y/

Caucasian languages

Northwest Caucasian languages

Living Northwest Caucasian languages are generally written using Cyrillic alphabets.

Abkhaz
Main article: Abkhaz alphabet

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

The Abkhaz alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гГь гьӶ ӷӶь ӶьД дДә дәЕ е
Ж жЖь жьЖә жәЗ зӠ ӡӠә ӡәИ иЙ йК кКь кь
Қ қҚь қьҞ ҟҞь ҟьЛ лМ мН нО оП пҦ ҧ
Р рС сТ тТә тәҬ ҭҬә ҭәУ уФ фХ хХь хь
Ҳ ҳҲә ҳәЦ цЦә цәҴ ҵҴә ҵәЧ чҶ ҷҼ ҽҾ ҿ
Ш шШь шьШә шәЩ щЫ ыҨ ҩЏ џЏь џьЬ ьӘ ә

Other

Northeast Caucasian languages

Northeast Caucasian languages are generally written using Cyrillic alphabets.

Avar
Main article: Avar language

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 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 я
  • 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

Turkic languages

Azerbaijani
Main article: Azerbaijani alphabet
Cyrillic alphabet (first version 1939–1958)
Аа, Бб, Вв, Гг, Ғғ, Дд, Ее, Әә, Жж, Зз, Ии, Йй, Кк, Ҝҝ, Лл, Мм, Нн, Оо, Өө, Пп, Рр, Сс, Тт, Уу, Үү, Фф, Хх, Һһ, Цц, Чч, Ҹҹ, Шш, Ыы, Ээ, Юю, Яя, ʼ
Cyrillic alphabet (second version 1958–1991)
Аа, Бб, Вв, Гг, Ғғ, Дд, Ее, Әә, Жж, Зз, Ии, Ыы, Јј, Кк, Ҝҝ, Лл, Мм, Нн, Оо, Өө, Пп, Рр, Сс, Тт, Уу, Үү, Фф, Хх, Һһ, Чч, Ҹҹ, Шш, ʼ
Latin Alphabet
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 alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гҒ ғД дҘ ҙЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ з
И иЙ йК кҠ ҡЛ лМ мН нҢ ңО оӨ өП п
Р рС сҪ ҫТ 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 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

Kazakh

Kazakh can be alternatively written in the Latin alphabet. Latin is going to be the only used alphabet in 2022, alongside the modified Arabic alphabet (in the People's Republic of China, Iran and Afghanistan).

The Kazakh alphabet
А аӘ әБ бВ вГ гҒ ғД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ з
И иЙ йК кҚ қЛ лМ мН нҢ ңО оӨ өП п
Р рС сТ тУ уҰ ұҮ үФ фХ хҺ һЦ цЧ ч
Ш шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыІ іЬ ьЭ эЮ юЯ я
  • Ә ә = /æ/
  • Ғ ғ = /ʁ/ (voiced uvular fricative)
  • Е е = /jɪ/
  • И и = /ɪj~ɯj/
  • Қ қ = /q/ (voiceless uvular plosive)
  • Ң ң = /ŋ~ɴ/
  • О о = /wʊ/
  • Ө ө = /wʏ/
  • У у = /ʊw/, /ʏw/, /w/
  • Ұ ұ = /ʊ/
  • Ү ү = /ʏ/
  • Һ һ = /h/
  • Ы ы = /ɯ/
  • І і = /ɪ/

The Cyrillic letters Вв, Ёё, Цц, Чч, Щщ, 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 alphabet
А аБ бГ гД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жЗ зИ иЙ йК к
Л лМ мН нҢ ңО оӨ өП пР рС сТ тУ у
Ү үХ хЧ чШ шЫ ыЭ эЮ юЯ я

Tatar
Main article: Tatar alphabet

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
  • Ә ә = /æ/
  • Ң ң = /ŋ/
  • Ө ө = /œ/
  • У у = /uw/, /yw/, /w/
  • Ү ү = /y/
  • Һ һ = /h/
  • Җ җ = /ʑ/

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.

Cyrillic alphabet
Аа, Бб, Вв, Гг, Дд, Ее, Ёё, Жж, Җҗ, Зз, Ии, Йй, Кк, Лл, Мм, Нн, Ңң, Оо, Өө, Пп, Рр, Сс, Тт, Уу, Үү, Фф, Хх, (Цц) ‚ Чч, Шш, (Щщ), (Ъъ), Ыы, (Ьь), Ээ, Әә, Юю, Яя
Latin alphabet version 2
Aa, Bb, , Çç, Dd, Ee, Ää, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Žž, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Ňň, Oo, Öö, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Üü, Ww, Yy, Ýý, Zz
Latin alphabet version 1
Aa, Bb, , Çç, Dd, Ee, Êê Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Žž, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Ññ, Oo, Ôô, Pp, Rr, Ss, Şş, Tt, Uu, Ûû, Ww, Yy, Ýý, Zz

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 хЧ ч
Ш шЪ ъЭ эЮ юЯ яЎ ўҚ қҒ ғҲ ҳ
  • В в = /w/
  • Ж ж = /dʒ/
  • Ф ф = /ɸ/
  • Х х = /χ/
  • Ъ ъ = /ʔ/
  • Ў ў = /o/
  • Қ қ = /q/
  • Ғ ғ = /ʁ/
  • Ҳ ҳ = /h/

Other

Sinitic

Dungan language

Since 1953.

The modern Dungan alphabet
А аБ бВ вГ гД дЕ еЁ ёЖ жҖ җЗ зИ иЙ й
К кЛ лМ мН нҢ ңӘ әО оП пР рС сТ тУ у
Ў ўҮ үФ фХ хЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЬ ьЭ э
Ю юЯ я
  • Letters in bold are used only in Russian loanwords.

Tungusic languages

Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages

Eskimo–Aleut languages
The modern Aleut alphabet
А аА̄ а̄Б бВ вГ гӶ ӷГў гўД дД̆ д̆Е еЕ̄ е̄Ё ёЖ жЗ зИ иӢ ӣ
Й йʼЙ ʼйК кӃ ӄЛ лʼЛ ʼлМ мʼМ ʼмН нʼН ʼнӇ ӈʼӇ ʼӈО оО̄ о̄П пР р
С сТ тУ уӮ ӯФ фХ хӼ ӽЦ цЧ чШ шЩ щЪ ъЫ ыЫ̄ ы̄Ь ьЭ э
Э̄ э̄Ю юЮ̄ ю̄Я яЯ̄ я̄ʼʼЎ ʼў

Other languages

Constructed languages
International auxiliary languages
Fictional languages

Summary table
Cyrillic alphabets comparison table
Early scripts
Church Slavonic А Б В Г Д (Ѕ) Е Ж Ѕ/З И І К Л М Н О П Р С Т Оу (Ѡ) Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ы Ѣ Ь Ю Ꙗ Ѥ Ѧ Ѩ Ѫ Ѭ Ѯ Ѱ Ѳ Ѵ Ҁ
Most common shared letters
Common А БВГ Д  Е  Ж З  И   Й К Л М Н  О П  Р С Т У  ФХ  Ц Ч ШЩ   Ь  ЮЯ 
South Slavic languages
Bulgarian А БВГ ДДжДзЕ  Ж З  И   Й К Л М Н  О П  Р С Т У  ФХ  Ц Ч ШЩЪ  Ь  ЮЯ
Macedonian А БВГ Д ЃЕЅ Ж З  И Ј   К ЛЉМ НЊ О П  Р С ТЌУ  ФХ  Ц ЧЏШ
Serbian А БВГ ДЂ Е  Ж З  И Ј   К ЛЉМ НЊ О П  Р С ТЋУ  ФХ  Ц ЧЏШ
Montenegrin А БВГ ДЂ Е  Ж З З́И Ј   К ЛЉМ НЊ О П  Р СС́ТЋУ  ФХ  Ц ЧЏШ
East Slavic languages
Russian А БВГ Д  Е ЁЖ З  И   Й К Л М Н  О П  Р С Т У  ФХ  Ц Ч ШЩЪЫ ЬЭ ЮЯ
Belarusian А БВГ Д  Е ЁЖ З   І  Й К Л М Н  О П  Р С Т УЎ ФХ  Ц Ч Ш ’Ы ЬЭ ЮЯ
Ukrainian А БВГҐД  ЕЄ Ж З  ИІ ЇЙ К Л М Н  О П  Р С Т У  ФХ  Ц Ч ШЩ’  Ь  ЮЯ
Rusyn А БВГҐД  ЕЄЁЖ З  ИІЫЇЙ К Л М Н  О П  Р С Т У  ФХ  Ц Ч ШЩЪ ѢЬ  ЮЯ
Iranian languages
Kurdish А БВГГ'Д  ЕӘӘ'Ж З  И   Й КК'Л М Н  ОÖПП' РР'С ТТ'У  ФХҺ Һ' ЧЧ'ШЩ   ЬЭ   ԚԜ
Ossetian АӔБВГГъДДжДзЕ ЁЖ З  И   Й ККъЛ М Н  О ППъ Р С ТТъУ  ФХХъ ЦЦъЧЧъШЩЪЫ ЬЭ ЮЯ
Tajik А БВГҒД  Е ЁЖ З  И Ӣ Й КҚЛ М Н  О П  Р С Т УӮ ФХҲ   ЧҶШ Ъ   Э ЮЯ
Romance languages
Moldovan А БВГ Д  Е  ЖӁЗ  И   Й К Л М Н  О П  Р С Т У  ФХ  Ц Ч Ш  Ы ЬЭ ЮЯ
Uralic languages
Komi-Permyak А БВГ Д  Е ЁЖ З  ИІ  Й К Л М Н  ОӦП  Р С Т У  ФХ  Ц Ч ШЩЪЫ ЬЭ ЮЯ
Meadow Mari А БВГ Д  Е ЁЖ З  И   Й К Л М НҤ ОӦП  Р С Т УӰ ФХ  Ц Ч ШЩЪЫ ЬЭ ЮЯ
Hill Mari АӒБВГ Д  Е ЁЖ З  И   Й К Л М Н  ОӦП  Р С Т УӰ ФХ  Ц Ч ШЩЪЫӸЬЭ ЮЯ
Kildin Sami АӒБВГ Д  Е ЁЖ З ҺИ ЙҊЈ К ЛӅМӍНӉӇО П  РҎС Т У  ФХ  Ц Ч ШЩЪЫЬҌЭӬЮЯ
Turkic languages
Bashkir АӘБВГҒД ҘЕ ЁЖ З  И   Й КҠЛ М НҢ ОӨП  Р СҪТ У ҮФХҺ Ц Ч ШЩЪЫ ЬЭӘЮЯ
Chuvash АӐБВГ Д  ЕЁӖЖ З  И   Й К Л М Н  О П  Р СҪТ УӲ ФХ  Ц Ч ШЩЪЫ ЬЭ ЮЯ
Kazakh АӘБВГҒД  Е ЁЖ З  ИІ  Й КҚЛ М НҢ ОӨП  Р С Т УҰҮФХҺ Ц Ч ШЩЪЫ ЬЭ ЮЯ
Kyrgyz А Б Г Д  Е ЁЖ З  И   Й К Л М НҢ ОӨП  Р С Т У Ү Х    Ч Ш  Ы  Э ЮЯ
Tatar АӘБВГ Д  Е ЁЖҖЗ  И   Й К Л М НҢ ОӨП  Р С Т У ҮФХҺ Ц Ч ШЩЪЫ ЬЭ ЮЯ
Uzbek А БВГҒД  Е ЁЖ З  И   Й КҚЛ М Н  О П  Р С Т УЎ ФХҲ   Ч Ш Ъ   Э ЮЯ
Mongolian languages
Buryat А БВГ Д  Е ЁЖ З  И   Й   Л М Н  ОӨП  Р С Т У Ү ХҺ Ц Ч Ш  Ы ЬЭ ЮЯ
Khalkha А БВГ Д  Е ЁЖ З  И   Й К Л М Н  ОӨП  Р С Т У ҮФХ  Ц Ч ШЩЪЫ ЬЭ ЮЯ
Kalmyk АӘБВГҺД  Е  ЖҖЗ  И   Й К Л М НҢ ОӨП  Р С Т У Ү Х  Ц Ч Ш    ЬЭ ЮЯ
Sino-Tibetan languages
Dungan А БВГ Д  Е ЁЖҖЗ  И   Й К Л М НҢӘО П  Р С Т УЎҮФХ  Ц Ч ШЩЪЫ ЬЭ ЮЯ
gollark: ... yay?
gollark: Clearly such a coincidence must be a conspiracy, but of whom?
gollark: You're just jealous of S I M U L T A N E O U S E Q U A T I O N S.
gollark: silence, you of different opinion.
gollark: You have not actually resolved the disagreement by shutting people up.

See also

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. Senahid Halilović, Pravopis bosanskog jezika

Further reading
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