The Cyrillic alphabet is mainly made up of
Greek letters, however, there are also some letters that derive from the older
Glagolitic alphabet. It is named in honor of
Saint Cyril. Cyril and his brother
Methodius are credited with major influences or creation of the Glagolitic alphabet, which is an uncial cursive and is a precursor to Cyrillic.
The Cyrillic alphabet is used to write Russian, Ukrainian? and other [Slavic language]?s, as well as other languages of the former Soviet Union, such as Tatar? (a Turkic language) and Udmurt? (a Finno-Ugric language).
The Cyrillic alphabet:
Capital | Small | Name |
А | а | A |
Б | б | Be |
В | в | Ve |
Г | г | Ghe |
Д | д | De |
Е | е | Ie (or Ye) |
Ë | ë | Yo |
Ж | ж | Zhe |
З | з | Ze |
И | и | I |
Й | й | Short I |
К | к | Ka |
Л | л | El |
М | м | Em |
Н | н | En |
О | о | O |
П | п | Pe |
Р | р | Er |
С | с | Es |
Т | т | Te |
У | у | U |
Ф | ф | Ef |
Х | х | Ha |
Ц | ц | Tse |
Ч | ч | Che |
Ш | ш | Sha |
Щ | щ | Shcha (or shya) |
Ъ | ъ | Hard Sign |
Ы | ы | i (as in 'this') |
Ь | ь | Soft Sign |
Э | э | E |
Ю | ю | Yu |
Я | я | Ya |