Cyrillic alphabets

Distribution of the Cyrillic script worldwide. 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.

Numerous Cyrillic alphabets are based on the Cyrillic script. The Early Cyrillic script was developed during the First Bulgarian Empire in the 9th century AD at the Preslav Literary School. 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.

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⟩ represents /v/ in a number of words, a relic from when they were pronounced /ɡ/ (e.g. его yego 'him/his', is pronounced [jɪˈvo] rather than [jɪˈɡo]).

Note that transliterated spellings of names may vary, especially y/j/i, but also gh/g/h and 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 them were generated by Orthodox missionaries for the Finnic and Turkic peoples of Idel-Ural (Mari, Udmurt, Mordva, Chuvash, 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 alphabets 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 over to Cyrillic as well (the Baltic Republics were annexed later, and were not affected by this change). The Abkhazian and Ossetian alphabets 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 represent 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.

While English mainly uses the Latin Alphabet, there is a small minority who use the Cyrillic, mainly Russian and other Slavic immigrants to English Speaking Countries. This system of Cyrillic English is commonly called Renglish.[1]


Unlike the Latin script, which is usually adapted to different languages by using additions to existing letters such as accents, umlauts, tildes and cedillas, the Cyrillic script is usually adapted by the creation of entirely new letter shapes. In some alphabets invented in the nineteenth century, such as Mari, Udmurt and Chuvash, umlauts and breves also were used.

Bulgarian and Bosnian Sephardim lacking Hebrew typefaces occasionally printed Judeo-Spanish in Cyrillic.[2]

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 /ɡ/
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 Ye /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 /n/
О о О о O /o/
П п П п Pe /p/
Р р Р р Er /r/
С с С с Es /s/
Т т Т т Te /t/
У у У у U /u/
Ф ф Ф ф Ef /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
  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 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 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 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 Ы ы Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я

Notes:

  1. In the pre-reform Russian orthography, in Old Russian 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
А а Б б В в Г г Д д Е е Ё ё Ж ж З з І і Й й
К к Л л М м Н н О о П п Р р С с Т т У у Ў ў
Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш Ы ы Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я ’

The Belarusian alphabet displays the following features:

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 і Ї ї 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 Ь ь Ю ю Я я

The Ukrainian alphabet displays the following features:

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 а Б б В в Г г Ґ ґ Д д Е е Є є Ё ё* Ж ж З з
И и І і* Ы ы* Ї ї 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 Ѣ ѣ*
Ю ю Я я Ь ь Ъ ъ*

*Letters absent from Pannonian Rusyn alphabet.

South Slavic

The Western section of the South Slavic language alphabets are generally derived from the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet. 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.

Bulgarian

Further information: Bulgarian language
The Bulgarian 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

Although a South Slavic language, the Bulgarian alphabet is closer to the East Slavic language alphabets. It displays following features:

The Cyrillic alphabet was developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century AD at the Preslav Literary School.[3][4] The Cyrillic script was originally developed in Bulgaria and has been used there (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 alphabet overtook its use as a written script for Bulgarian. The Cyrillic alphabet was then borrowed by neighboring countries (e.g. Serbia and later Romania) and their peoples by the spread of Orthodox Christianity, who later modified it and added/excluded letters from it to better suit the needs of their own language. It was later adapted to write Russian and evolved into the Russian alphabet and the alphabets of many other Slavic (and later non-Slavic) languages.

Serbian

Common non-italic (left), Russian italic (middle) and Serbian/Macedonian italic (right) glyphs of letters б (b), п (p), г (g), д (d), т (t) and ш (sh); note that all but Serbian italic 'g' are quite acceptable in handwritten Russian cursive. This practice varies among Cyrillic-based languages and is sometimes further complicated due to the widespread use of incorrectly designed but commonly used fonts with Cyrillic alphabet support and the existence of several glyph variants for some of the Cyrillic letters (especially in their italic/cursive versions).
The Serbian alphabet
А а Б б В в Г г Д д Ђ ђ Е е Ж ж З з И и
Ј ј К к Л л Љ љ М м Н н Њ њ О о П п Р р
С с Т т Ћ ћ У у Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Џ џ Ш ш

The Serbian alphabet shows the following features:

Macedonian

Macedonian cursive
Main article: Macedonian alphabet
The Macedonian alphabet
А а Б б В в Г г Д д Ѓ ѓ Е е Ж ж З з Ѕ ѕ И и
Ј ј К к Л л Љ љ М м Н н Њ њ О о П п Р р С с
Т т Ќ ќ У у Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Џ џ Ш ш

The Macedonian alphabet differs from Serbian in the following ways:

Montenegrin

Main article: Montenegrin alphabet
The Montenegrin alphabet
А а Б б В в Г г Д д Ђ ђ Е е Ж ж З з З́ з́ И и
Ј ј К к Л л Љ љ М м Н н Њ њ О о П п Р р С с
С́ с́ Т т Ћ ћ У у Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Џ џ Ш ш

The Montenegrin alphabet differs from Serbian in the following ways:

Bosnian

Further information: Bosnian language

The Bosnian language uses Latin and Cyrillic alphabets, although the Latin is more common.[5] A Bosnian Cyrillic script (Bosančica) was used in the Middle Ages, along with other scripts, but has no connection to the modern Bosnian language.

Croatian

In the history there was also use of Cyrillic alphabet present in Croatia. In Croatian schools the Cyrillic alphabet was thought during the ex Yugoslavia.

West Slavic

Polish (Constructed)

Several people have attempted to adopt the Cyrillic script for the Polish language. They usually base the writing method on other Cyrillic scripts, particularly Russian, Ukrainian and Serbian. Jan van Steenbergen has proposed a Russian-based variant, introducing new letters such as ѧ and ѫ (two of the yus characters) and their iotified versions for the Polish nasal vowels, while eliminating letters which represent the same sound.[6] As of late 2015, 938 people[7] have liked the Facebook page 'Cyrylica jedynym sposobem zapisu języka polskiego'. (Cyrillic as the only method of writing the Polish language)

Szymon Pawlas has designed a variant of Cyrillic for Polish, based on the Serbian model, although it uses the Soft sign and the Hard sign which are not present in the modern Serbian alphabet. Out of many proposed variants in the Facebook group, the Russian model presented is the most common one, although ó is generally used.

Russian (Jan van Steenbergen) variant
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 О о П п Р р С с Т т У у Ф ф Х х Ц ц
Ч ч Ш ш Щ щ Ы ы Ъ ъ Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я Ѧ ѧ Ѩ ѩ Ѫ ѫ Ѭ ѭ
Russian (Michał Szewczuk) variant
А а Я я Ѫ ѫ Ѭ ѭ Б б В в Г г Д д Э э Е е Ѧ ѧ Ѩ ѩ
Ё ё Ж ж З з И и І і Й й Ї ї К к Л л М м Н н О о
Ó ó П п Р р С с Т т У у Ю ю Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ш ш Щ щ
Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь

Szewczuk has also created a keyboard for writing Polish using the Cyrillic alphabet, shown on the right.[8]

The keyboard layout for Polish Cyrillic, developed by Michał Szewczuk.
The keyboard layout for Polish Cyrillic, developed by Michał Szewczuk.

Latin:

Język polski, polszczyzna – język naturalny należący do grupy języków zachodniosłowiańskich (do której należą również czeski, słowacki, kaszubski, dolnołużycki, górnołużycki i wymarły połabski), stanowiącej część rodziny języków indoeuropejskiej. Jest jednym z oficjalnych języków Unii Europejskiej.

Cyrillic (Szewczuk):

Ѩзык польски, польщизна - ѩзык натуральны належѫцы до групы ѩзыкóв заходнёсловяньских (до ктóрэй належѫ рóвнеж чески, словацки, кашубски, дольнолужицки, гóрнолужицки и вымарлы полабски), становѭцэй чѧсть родины ѩзыкóв индоэуропэйскей. Ест едным з офицяльных ѩзыкóв Унї Эуропэйскей.

Cyrilic (Steenbergen):

Ѩзык польски, польщизна – ѩзык натуральны належѫцы до групы ѩзыкув заходнёсловяньских (до ктурэй належѫ рувнеж чески, словацки, кашубски, дольнолужицки, гурнолужицки и вымарлы полабски), становѭцэй чѧсть родины ѩзыкув индоэуропэйскей. Ест едным з офицяльных ѩзыкув Унии Эуропэйскей.

Furthemore, Michał Szewczuk offers a Lingojam-based Polish Latin to Polish Cyrillic transliterator, available here.

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

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
І і 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

Iranian languages

Kurdish

Main article: Kurdish alphabets

Kurds in the former Soviet Union use a Cyrillic alphabet:

Kurdish Cyrillic script
А а Б б В в Г г Г' г' Д д Е е Ә ә
Ә' ә' Ж ж З з И и Й й К к К' к' Л л
М м Н н О о Ö ö П п П' п' Р р Р' р'
С с Т т Т' т' У у Ф ф Х х Һ һ Һ' һ'
Ч ч Ч' ч' Ш ш Щ щ Ь ь Э э Ԛ ԛ Ԝ ԝ

Ossetian

Further information: Ossetic language

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

Ossetian Cyrillic script
А а Ӕ ӕ Б б В в Г г Гъ гъ Д д Дж дж
Дз дз Е е Ё ё Ж ж З з И и Й й К к
Къ къ Л л М м Н н О о П п Пъ пъ Р р
С с Т т Тъ тъ У у Ф ф Х х Хъ хъ Ц ц
Цъ цъ Ч ч Чъ чъ Ш ш Щ щ Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь
Э э Ю ю Я я

Tajik

Main article: Tajik alphabet

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

Tajik Cyrillic script
А а Б б В в Г г Ғ ғ Д д Е е Ё ё Ж ж З з И и
Ӣ ӣ Й й К к Қ қ Л л М м Н н О о П п Р р С с
Т т У у Ӯ ӯ Ф ф Х х Ҳ ҳ Ч ч Ҷ ҷ Ш ш Ъ ъ Э э
Ю ю Я я

Other

Romance languages

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 location in Buryat and Kalmyk

Khalkha Аа Бб Вв Гг Дд Ее Ёё Жж Зз Ии Йй Кк Лл Мм Нн Оо
Buryat Аа Бб Вв Гг Дд Ее Ёё Жж Зз Ии Йй Лл Мм Нн Оо
Kalmyk Аа Әә Бб Вв Гг Һһ Дд Ее Жж Җҗ Зз Ии Йй Кк Лл Мм Нн Ңң Оо
Khalkha Өө Пп Рр Сс Тт Уу Үү Фф Хх Цц Чч Шш Щщ Ъъ Ыы Ьь Ээ Юю Яя
Buryat Өө Пп Рр Сс Тт Уу Үү Хх Һһ Цц Чч Шш Ыы Ьь Ээ Юю Яя
Kalmyk Өө Пп Рр Сс Тт Уу Үү Хх Цц Чч Шш Ьь Ээ Юю Яя

Khalkha

The Khalkha Mongolian 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 О о Ө ө П п Р р С с Т т У у
Ү ү Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш Щ щ Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь Э э
Ю ю Я я

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 а Б б В в Г г Д д Е е Ё ё Ж ж З з И и Й й
Л л М м Н н О о Ө ө П п Р р С с Т т У у Ү ү
Х х Һ һ Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш Ы ы Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я

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 а Ә ә Б б В в Г г Һ һ Д д Е е Ж ж Җ җ З з
И и Й й К к Л л М м Н н Ң ң О о Ө ө П п Р р
С с Т т У у Ү ү Х х Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш Ь ь Э э Ю ю
Я я

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 а Б б В в Г г Гь гь Ҕ ҕ Ҕь ҕь Д д Дә дә Е е
Ж ж Жь жь Жә жә З з Ӡ ӡ Ӡә ӡә И и Й й К к Кь кь
Қ қ Қь қь Ҟ ҟ Ҟь ҟь Л л М м Н н О о П п Ҧ ҧ
Р р С с Т т Тә тә Ҭ ҭ Ҭә ҭә У у Ф ф Х х Хь хь
Ҳ ҳ Ҳә ҳә Ц ц Цә цә Ҵ ҵ Ҵә ҵә Ч ч Ҷ ҷ Ҽ ҽ Ҿ ҿ
Ш ш Шь шь Шә шә Щ щ Ы ы Ҩ ҩ Џ џ Џь џь

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 а Б б В в Г г Гъ гъ Гь гь ГI гI Д д
Е е Ё ё Ж ж З з И и Й й К к Къ къ
Кь кь КI кI КIкI кIкI Кк кк Л л М м Н н О о
П п Р р С с Т т ТI тI У у Ф ф Х х
Хх хх Хъ хъ Хь хь ХI хI Ц ц Цц цц ЦI цI ЦIцI цIцI
Ч ч ЧI чI ЧIчI чIчI Ш ш Щ щ Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь
Э э Ю ю Я я

Lezgian

Main article: Lezgin alphabet

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

The Cyrillic script was used for the Azerbaijani language from 1939 to 1991.

Bashkir

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

The Bashkir alphabet
А а Б б В в Г г Ғ ғ Д д Ҙ ҙ Е е Ё ё Ж ж З з
И и Й й К к Ҡ ҡ Л л М м Н н Ң ң О о Ө ө П п
Р р С с Ҫ ҫ Т т У у Ү ү Ф ф Х х Һ һ Ц ц Ч ч
Ш ш Щ щ Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь Э э Ә ә Ю ю Я 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 а Ӑ ӑ Б б В в Г г Д д Е е Ё ё Ӗ ӗ Ж ж З з
И и Й й К к Л л М м Н н О о П п Р р С с Ҫ ҫ
Т т У у Ӳ ӳ Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш Щ щ Ъ ъ Ы ы
Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я

Kazakh

Kazakh is also written with the Latin alphabet (in Turkey, but not in Kazakhstan), and modified Arabic alphabet (in the People's Republic of China, Iran and Afghanistan).

The Kazakh alphabet
А а Ә ә Б б В в Г г Ғ ғ Д д Е е Ё ё Ж ж З з
И и Й й К к Қ қ Л л М м Н н Ң ң О о Ө ө П п
Р р С с Т т У у Ұ ұ Ү ү Ф ф Х х Һ һ Ц ц Ч ч
Ш ш Щ щ Ъ ъ Ы ы І і Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я

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 а Б б Г г Д д Е е Ё ё Ж ж З з И и Й й К к
Л л М м Н н Ң ң О о Ө ө П п Р р С с Т т У у
Ү ү Х х Ч ч Ш ш Ы ы Э э Ю ю Я 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 а Ә ә Б б В в Г г Д д Е е Ё ё Ж ж Җ җ
З з И и Й й К к Л л М м Н н Ң ң О о Ө ө
П п Р р С с Т т У у Ү ү Ф ф Х х Һ һ Ц ц
Ч ч Ш ш Щ щ Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь Э э Ю ю Я я

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

Turkmen

Turkmen, written 1940–94 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
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

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 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 О о П п Р р С с Т т У у Ф ф Х х Ч ч
Ш ш Ъ ъ Э э Ю ю Я я Ў ў Қ қ Ғ ғ Ҳ ҳ

Other

Chinese

Dungan language

Since 1953.

The modern Dungan alphabet
А а Б б В в Г г Д д Е е Ё ё Ж ж Җ җ З з И и Й й
К к Л л М м Н н Ң ң Ә ә О о П п Р р С с Т т У у
Ў ў Ү ү Ф ф Х х Ц ц Ч ч Ш ш Щ щ Ъ ъ Ы ы Ь ь Э э
Ю ю Я я

Tungusic languages

Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages

Eskimo-Aleut languages

Other languages

Constructed languages

International auxiliary languages
Fictional languages

Summary table

Cyrillic alphabets comparison table
Most common shared letters
Common А   Б В Г   Д     Е     Ж   З   И       Й К   Л   М   Н     О   П   Р   С   Т   У     Ф Х   Ц   Ч   Ш Щ       Ь     Ю Я  
Slavic languages
Belarusian А   Б В Г   Д     Е   Ё Ж   З     I     Й К   Л   М   Н     О   П   Р   С   Т   У Ў   Ф Х   Ц   Ч   Ш     Ы   Ь Э   Ю Я ’  
Bulgarian А   Б В Г   Д Дж Дз Е     Ж   З   И       Й К   Л   М   Н     О   П   Р   С   Т   У     Ф Х   Ц   Ч   Ш Щ Ъ     Ь     Ю Я
Macedonian А   Б В Г   Д   Ѓ Е Ѕ   Ж   З   И   Ј     К   Л Љ М   Н Њ   О   П   Р   С   Т Ќ У     Ф Х   Ц   Ч Џ Ш
Montenegrin А   Б В Г   Д Ђ   Е     Ж   З З́ И   Ј     К   Л Љ М   Н Њ   О   П   Р   С С́ Т Ћ У     Ф Х   Ц   Ч Џ Ш
Russian А   Б В Г   Д     Е   Ё Ж   З   И       Й К   Л   М   Н     О   П   Р   С   Т   У     Ф Х   Ц   Ч   Ш Щ Ъ Ы   Ь Э   Ю Я
Rusyn А   Б В Г Ґ Д     Е Є Ё Ж   З   И І Ы Ї Й К   Л   М   Н     О   П   Р   С   Т   У     Ф Х   Ц   Ч   Ш Щ     Ѣ       Ю Я Ь Ъ
Serbian А   Б В Г   Д Ђ   Е     Ж   З   И   Ј     К   Л Љ М   Н Њ   О   П   Р   С   Т Ћ У     Ф Х   Ц   Ч Џ Ш
Ukrainian А   Б В Г Ґ Д     Е Є   Ж   З   И І   Ї Й К   Л   М   Н     О   П   Р   С   Т   У     Ф Х   Ц   Ч   Ш Щ       Ь     Ю Я
Turkic languages
Bashkir А   Б В Г Ғ Д   Ҙ Е   Ё Ж   З   И       Й К Ҡ Л   М   Н Ң   О Ө П   Р   С Ҫ Т   У   Ү Ф Х Һ Ц   Ч   Ш Щ Ъ Ы   Ь Э Ә Ю Я
Chuvash А Ӑ Б В Г   Д     Е Ё Ӗ Ж   З   И       Й К   Л   М   Н     О   П   Р   С Ҫ Т   У Ӳ   Ф Х   Ц   Ч   Ш Щ Ъ Ы   Ь Э   Ю Я
Kazakh А Ә Б В Г Ғ Д     Е   Ё Ж   З   И І     Й К Қ Л   М   Н Ң   О Ө П   Р   С   Т   У Ұ Ү Ф Х Һ Ц   Ч   Ш Щ Ъ Ы   Ь Э   Ю Я
Kyrgyz А   Б   Г   Д     Е   Ё Ж   З   И       Й К   Л   М   Н Ң   О Ө П   Р   С   Т   У   Ү   Х       Ч   Ш     Ы     Э   Ю Я
Tatar А Ә Б В Г   Д     Е   Ё Ж Җ З   И       Й К   Л   М   Н Ң   О Ө П   Р   С   Т   У   Ү Ф Х Һ Ц   Ч   Ш Щ Ъ Ы   Ь Э   Ю Я
Uzbek А   Б В Г Ғ Д     Е   Ё Ж   З   И       Й К Қ Л   М   Н     О   П   Р   С   Т   У Ў   Ф Х Ҳ     Ч   Ш   Ъ       Э   Ю Я
Uralic languages
Komi-Permyak А   Б В Г   Д     Е   Ё Ж   З   И І     Й К   Л   М   Н     О Ӧ П   Р   С   Т   У     Ф Х   Ц   Ч   Ш Щ Ъ Ы   Ь Э   Ю Я
Meadow Mari А   Б В Г   Д     Е   Ё Ж   З   И       Й К   Л   М   Н Ҥ   О Ӧ П   Р   С   Т   У Ӱ   Ф Х   Ц   Ч   Ш Щ Ъ Ы   Ь Э   Ю Я
Hill Mari А Ä Б В Г   Д     Е   Ё Ж   З   И       Й К   Л   М   Н     О Ӧ П   Р   С   Т   У Ӱ   Ф Х   Ц   Ч   Ш Щ Ъ Ы Ӹ Ь Э   Ю Я
Kildin Sami А Ӓ Б В Г   Д     Е   Ё Ж   З Һ И   Й Ҋ Ј К   Л Ӆ М Ӎ Н Ӊ Ӈ О   П   Р Ҏ С   Т   У     Ф Х   Ц   Ч   Ш Щ Ъ Ы Ь Ҍ Э Ӭ Ю Я
Mongolian languages
Buryat А   Б В Г   Д     Е   Ё Ж   З   И       Й     Л   М   Н     О Ө П   Р   С   Т   У   Ү   Х Һ Ц   Ч   Ш     Ы   Ь Э   Ю Я
Khalkha А   Б В Г   Д     Е   Ё Ж   З   И       Й К   Л   М   Н     О Ө П   Р   С   Т   У   Ү Ф Х   Ц   Ч   Ш Щ Ъ Ы   Ь Э   Ю Я
Kalmyk А Ә Б В Г Һ Д     Е     Ж Җ З   И       Й К   Л   М   Н Ң   О Ө П   Р   С   Т   У   Ү   Х   Ц   Ч   Ш         Ь Э   Ю Я
Iranian languages
Kurdish А   Б В Г Г' Д     Е Ә Ә' Ж   З   И       Й К К' Л   М   Н     О Ö П П' Р Р' С   Т Т' У     Ф Х Һ Һ'   Ч Ч' Ш Щ       Ь Э       Ԛ Ԝ
Ossetian А Ӕ Б В Г Гъ Д Дж Дз Е   Ё Ж   З   И       Й К Къ Л   М   Н     О   П Пъ Р   С   Т Тъ У     Ф Х Хъ Ц Цъ Ч Чъ Ш Щ Ъ Ы   Ь Э   Ю Я
Tajik А   Б   Г Ғ Д     Е   Ё Ж   З   И   Ӣ   Й К Қ Л   М   Н     О   П   Р   С   Т   У Ӯ   Ф Х Ҳ     Ч Ҷ Ш   Ъ       Э   Ю Я
Romance languages
Moldovan А   Б В Г   Д     Е     Ж Ӂ З   И       Й К   Л   М   Н     О   П   Р   С   Т   У     Ф Х   Ц   Ч   Ш     Ы   Ь Э   Ю Я
Sino-Tibetan languages
Dungan А   Б В Г   Д     Е   Ё Ж Җ З   И       Й К   Л   М   Н Ң Ә О   П   Р   С   Т   У Ў Ү Ф Х   Ц   Ч   Ш Щ Ъ Ы   Ь Э   Ю Я

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Renglish/Ренглиш". Omniglot. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  2. ↑ 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."
  3. ↑ Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500–1250, Cambridge Medieval Textbooks, Florin Curta, Cambridge University Press, 2006, ISBN 0521815398, pp. 221–222.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ Senahid Halilović, Pravopis bosanskog jezika
  6. ↑ http://steen.free.fr/cyrpol/
  7. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/Cyrylica-jedynym-s%C5%82usznym-sposobem-zapisu-j%C4%99zyka-polskiego-284861104936382/?fref=ts
  8. ↑ http://cyrpol.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/witam.html

Further reading

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