The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Ukrainian pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.
Ukrainian distinguishes hard (unpalatalized or plain) and soft (palatalized) consonants (both phonetically and orthographically). Soft consonants, most of which are denoted by a superscript j, ⟨ʲ⟩, are pronounced with the body of the tongue raised toward the hard palate, like the articulation of the y sound in yes.
See Ukrainian phonology and Ukrainian alphabet for a more thorough look at the sounds of Ukrainian.
Consonants | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hard | Soft | ||||||
IPA | Examples | English approximations | IPA | Examples | English approximations | ||
b | бог[1] | boot | — | ||||
d | дим[1] | do | dʲ | дім, мідь[1] | , [midʲ] | media | |
dz | дзе́ркало[1] | pads | dzʲ | ґедзь, дзьоб[1] | , | pad's yours | |
dʒ | джміль[1] | jump, ridge | — | ||||
f | фа́рба | fool | |||||
ɡ | ґа́нок[1] | good | |||||
ɣ | чахохбі́лі[1] | [tʃɐxoɣˈbil⁽ʲ⁾i] | between good and hood | ||||
ɦ | газе́та | behind | |||||
— | j | йти, гай, їда́льня | , , | yes | |||
k | ключ | scar | — | ||||
l | лось | bell | lʲ | лід, сіль | , | million | |
m | мир | moot | — | ||||
n | не́бо | noon | nʲ | ні́жний, день | , | canyon | |
p | пил | spare | — | ||||
r | лі́кар | trilled r, like in Spanish riesgo | rʲ | рі́чка | trilled r, like in Spanish riesgo | ||
s | суп | soup | sʲ | сі́но, вісь | , [wisʲ] | assume (RP) | |
ʃ | шпари́на, ви́ще | , | shop | — | |||
t | тин | star | tʲ | тінь, мить | , | stew (RP) | |
ts | цибу́ля | cats | tsʲ | ціна́, віне́ць | , | cat's young | |
tʃ | очере́т, вище | , | choose | — | |||
u̯ | вчи́тель, став[2] | , [stɑu̯] | tow | ||||
v | Афганіста́н[1] | [ɐvɦɐn⁽ʲ⁾iˈstɑn] | vine | ||||
w | віл[2] | between wine and vine | |||||
x | ховра́х | [xou̯ˈrɑx] | Bach, loch | ||||
z | зуб[1] | zoo | zʲ | зі́ллю, рі́зьблення[1] | [ˈz⁽ʲ⁾ilʲːʊ], | presume (RP) | |
ʒ | жи́то[1] | measure | — | ||||
Vowels | |||||||
Stressed | Unstressed | ||||||
IPA | Examples | English approximation | IPA | Examples | English approximation | ||
ɑ | гай | father | ɐ | гарма́та | hug | ||
ɛ | день, єсть | , | met | e | ефі́рний | rate | |
i | кіт, і́кла | , [ˈiklɐ] | meet | i | біле́т | meet | |
ɪ | ми́ша | bit | ɪ | кра́сний[3] | bit | ||
ɔ | по́ле, льон | , [lʲɔn] | off | o | ору́дний | cold | |
u | дух, лють | , | fool | ʊ | туди́ | put | |
Other symbols | |||||||
IPA | Explanation | ||||||
ˈ◌ | stress (placed before the stressed syllable) | ||||||
ˌ◌ | secondary stress (placed before the stressed syllable) | ||||||
◌ː | gemination (the consonant is pronounced twice as long)[4] | ||||||
◌⁽ʲ⁾ | optional nature of consonant palatalization before /i/ |
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Voiceless obstruents /p t tʲ ts tsʲ tʃ k x f s sʲ ʃ/ are voiced [b d dʲ dz dzʲ dʒ ɡ ɣ v z zʲ ʒ] before other voiced obstruents. [ɣ] and [v] only ever occur in this case.
- ^ a b The phoneme /w/ (spelled ⟨в⟩ has variable pronunciation, but is generally labiodental [ʋ]; it is [w] before /ɔ/ or /u/ and is vocalized to [u̯] before a consonant at the beginning of a word, after a vowel before a consonant or after a vowel at the end of a word. For simplicity, we will use ⟨w⟩ for both [ʋ] and [w].
- ^ May also be realized as [e].
- ^ In Ukrainian, geminates are found between vowels: бага́ття 'bonfire', подру́жжя 'married couple', обли́ччя 'face'. Geminates also occur at the beginning of a few words: лля́ний [ˈlʲːɑnɪj] 'flaxen', forms of the verb ли́ти 'to pour' (ллючи́ , ллю [lʲːu], ллєш [lʲːɛʃ] etc.), сса́ти 'to suck' and derivatives.[citation needed]