Help:IPA/Ukrainian
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 {{IPA-uk}} 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] |  [bɔɦ]
|
boot | — | |||
| d | дим[1] | [dɪm]
|
do | dʲ | дім, мідь[1] | [d⁽ʲ⁾im], [midʲ]
|
media |
| dz | дзе́ркало[1] | [ˈdzɛrkɐlo]
|
pads | dzʲ | ґедзь, дзьоб[1] | [ɡɛdzʲ], [dzʲɔb]
|
pad's yours |
| dʒ | джміль[1] | [dʒmilʲ]
|
jump, ridge | — | |||
| f | фа́рба | [ˈfɑrbɐ]
|
fool | ||||
| ɡ | ґа́нок[1] | [ˈɡɑnok]
|
good | ||||
| ɣ | чахохбі́лі[1] | [tʃɐxoɣˈbil⁽ʲ⁾i] | between good and hood | ||||
| ɦ | газе́та | [ɦɐˈzɛtɐ]
|
behind | ||||
| — | j | йти, гай, їда́льня | [jtɪ], [ɦɑj], [jiˈdɑlʲnʲɐ]
|
yes | |||
| k | ключ | [klʲutʃ]
|
scar | — | |||
| l | лось | [lɔsʲ]
|
bell | lʲ | лід, сіль | [l⁽ʲ⁾id], [s⁽ʲ⁾ilʲ]
|
million |
| m | мир | [mɪr]
|
moot | — | |||
| n | не́бо | [ˈnɛbo]
|
noon | nʲ | ні́жний, день | [ˈn⁽ʲ⁾iʒnɪj], [dɛnʲ]
|
canyon |
| p | пил | [pɪl]
|
spare | — | |||
| r | лі́кар | [ˈl⁽ʲ⁾ikɐr]
|
trilled r, like in Spanish riesgo | rʲ | рі́чка | [ˈr⁽ʲ⁾itʃkɐ]
|
trilled r, like in Spanish riesgo |
| s | суп | [sup]
|
soup | sʲ | сі́но, вісь | [ˈs⁽ʲ⁾ino], [wisʲ]
|
assume (RP) |
| ʃ | шпари́на, ви́ще | [ʃpɐˈrɪnɐ], [ˈwɪʃtʃe]
|
shop | — | |||
| t | тин | [tɪn]
|
star | tʲ | тінь, мить | [t⁽ʲ⁾inʲ], [mɪtʲ]
|
stew (RP) |
| ts | цибу́ля | [tsɪˈbulʲɐ]
|
cats | tsʲ | ціна́, віне́ць | [ts⁽ʲ⁾iˈnɑ], [wiˈnɛtsʲ]
|
cat's young |
| tʃ | очере́т, вище | [otʃeˈrɛt], [ˈwɪʃtʃe]
|
choose | — | |||
| u̯ | вчи́тель, став[2] | [ˈu̯tʃɪtelʲ], [stɑu̯]
|
tow | ||||
| v | Афганіста́н[1] | [ɐvɦɐn⁽ʲ⁾iˈstɑn] | vine | ||||
| w | віл[2] | [wil]
|
between wine and vine | ||||
| x | ховра́х | [xou̯ˈrɑx] | Bach, loch | ||||
| z | зуб[1] | [zub]
|
zoo | zʲ | зі́ллю, рі́зьблення[1] | [ˈz⁽ʲ⁾ilʲːʊ], [ˈr⁽ʲ⁾izʲblenʲːɐ]
|
presume (RP) |
| ʒ | жи́то[1] | [ˈʒɪto]
|
measure, garage | — | |||
| Vowels | |||||||
| Stressed | Unstressed | ||||||
| IPA | Examples | English approximation | IPA | Examples | English approximation | ||
| ɑ | гай | [ɦɑj]
|
father | ɐ | гарма́та | [ɦɐrˈmɑtɐ]
|
hug |
| ɛ | день, єсть | [dɛnʲ], [jɛsʲtʲ]
|
met | e | ефі́рний | [eˈfirnɪj]
|
rate |
| i | кіт, і́кла | [kit], [ˈiklɐ]
|
meet | i | біле́т | [biˈlɛt]
|
meet |
| ɪ | ми́ша | [ˈmɪʃɐ]
|
bit | ɪ | кра́сний[3] | [ˈkrɑsnɪj]
|
bit |
| ɔ | по́ле, льон | [ˈpɔle], [lʲɔn]
|
off | o | ору́дний | [oˈrudnɪj]
|
cold |
| u | дух, лють | [dux], [lʲutʲ]
|
fool | ʊ | туди́ | [tʊˈdɪ]
|
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
- ^ 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 [bɐˈɦɑtʲːɐ] 'bonfire', подру́жжя [poˈdruʒːɐ] 'married couple', обли́ччя [oˈblɪtʃːɐ] 'face'. Geminates also occur at the beginning of a few words: лля́ний [ˈlʲːɑnɪj] 'flaxen', forms of the verb ли́ти 'to pour' (ллючи́ [lʲːʊˈtʃɪ], ллю [lʲːu], ллєш [lʲːɛʃ] etc.), сса́ти [ˈsːɑtɪ] 'to suck' and derivatives.[citation needed]