The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet represents Ukrainian language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-uk}} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.
Ukrainian contrasts palatalized "soft" and unpalatalized "hard" consonants. Palatalized consonants, denoted by a superscript ⟨j⟩, are pronounced with the body of the tongue raised toward the hard palate, like in the [j] sound in yes.
See Ukrainian phonology for more details on 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] | dew | |
| 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 | , | least | |
| m | мир | moot | — | ||||
| n | не́бо | noon | nʲ | ні́жний, день | , | new | |
| 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] | suit | |
| ʃ | шпари́на, ви́ще | , | shop | — | |||
| t | тин | star | tʲ | тінь, мить | , | stew | |
| ts | цибу́ля | cats | tsʲ | ціна́, віне́ць | , | cat's young | |
| tʃ | очере́т, вище | , | choose | — | |||
| u̯ | вчи́тель, став | , [stɑu̯] | tow | ||||
| v | Афганіста́н[1] | [ɐvɦɐn⁽ʲ⁾iˈstɑn] | vine | ||||
| w | віл | between wine and vine | |||||
| x | ховра́х | [xou̯ˈrɑx] | Bach, loch | ||||
| z | зуб[1] | zoo | zʲ | зі́ллю, рі́зьблення[1] | [ˈz⁽ʲ⁾ilʲːʊ], | presume | |
| ʒ | жи́то[1] | measure, garage | — | ||||
| 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[2] | 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)[3] | ||||||
| ◌⁽ʲ⁾ | optional nature of consonant palatalization before /i/ | ||||||
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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]