 | This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Ukrainian on Wikipedia. It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Ukrainian in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. |
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⟩, 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] | , | 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, буря́к | , | trilled r, like in Spanish riesgo | |
| s | суп | soup | sʲ | сі́но, вісь | , | 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 | вода́[2] | between wine and vine | wʲ | ві́тер, цвях[2] | , | between weak and veal | |
| x | ховра́х | [xou̯ˈrɑx] | Bach, loch | — | |||
| z | зуб[1] | zoo | zʲ | зі́ллю, рі́зьблення[1] | [ˈz⁽ʲ⁾ilʲːʊ], | presume | |
| ʒ | жи́то[1] | measure | — | ||||
| Vowels | |||||||
| Stressed | Unstressed | ||||||
| IPA | Examples | English approximation | IPA | Examples | English approximation | ||
| ɑ | гай | father | ɐ | гарма́та | hug | ||
| ɛ | день, є | , | 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 | story | |
| 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/ | ||||||
- ^ 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 c 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]