Romanian Cyrillic alphabet

1500s–1860s alphabet used to write Romanian From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Romanian Cyrillic alphabet is the Cyrillic alphabet that was used to write the Romanian language and Church Slavonic as early as the 14th century, and used until the early 1860s, when it began to be gradually replaced by a Latin-based Romanian alphabet. Cyrillic remained in occasional use until the 1920s, mostly in Russian-ruled Bessarabia.[1]

Script type
Period
14th–19th centuries[a]
LanguagesRomanian
Parent systems
Quick facts Romanian Cyrillic, Script type ...
Romanian Cyrillic
Script type
Period
14th–19th centuries[a]
LanguagesRomanian
Related scripts
Parent systems
Sister systems
Early Cyrillic alphabet
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
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From the 1860s until the full adoption of the Latin alphabet, the Romanian transitional alphabet was in place, combining Cyrillic and Latin letters, and including some of the Latin letters with diacritics that remain in the modern Romanian alphabet.[2] The Romanian Orthodox Church continued using the alphabet in its publications until 1881.[3]

The Romanian Cyrillic alphabet is not the same as the Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet (which is based on the modern Russian alphabet) that was used in the Moldavian SSR for most of the Soviet era and that is still used in Transnistria.

Orthography

The orthographic rules for the Romanian Cyrillic script were relatively inconsistent, especially differing from region to region.

Some of the more common (especially in the late 18th century) standards include:[4]

  1. 'ь' is placed at the end of words ending in a consonant. It represents the archaic Romanian "short asyllabic final u sound", which was denoted with 'ꙋ' or 'ꙋ꙼' in some older texts.[5] 'ь' was eventually dropped to reduce printing cost.
  2. The breve mark is used to mark a vowel as short, such as with 'й' and 'Ꙋ꙼' which are not considered separate from 'и' and 'ꙋ' respectively.
  3. Є, Ѻ, Оу and Ꙗ are the initial variants of Е, О, Ꙋ, Ѧ respectively.
  4. І is the equivalent of И before a vowel. It is also used in Greek loanwords and proper names.
  5. Ꙟ serves as the word initial equivalent of ѫ. It can represent the sounds /ɨn/ and /ɨm/ as well.
  6. Ѯ Ѱ Ѳ Ѵ are only used in Greek loanwords.
  7. Ѵ usually represents the sounds /i/ when proceeding a consonant and /v/ when proceeding a vowel. Although educated speakers likely pronounced it as /y/.
  8. 'іꙋ' or iotated ꙋ may be used in place of 'ю' in proper names.
  1. 'ꙍ' can be used as a variation of 'ѻ' as well as replacing 'o' when stressed. It also appears in the endings of words in the genitive and dative. It rarely represents the diphthong /o̯a/ more often representing the diphthong /ŭə/.

Table of correspondence

The Romanian Cyrillic alphabet was close to the contemporary version of the Early Cyrillic alphabet of the Church Slavonic liturgical language.

More information Letter, Numericalvalue ...
Letter Numerical
value		 Romanian
Latin
equivalent		 Transitional
alphabet		 Moldovan
Cyrillic
equivalent		 Phoneme Romanian
name[6]		 Slavonic
equiv.
name
А а1aA aа/a/azазъ (azŭ)
Б бbБ бб/b/bucheбꙋкꙑ (buky)
В в2vВ вв/v/vedeвѣдѣ (vĕdĕ)
Г г3gh (before e, i)
g (elsewhere)		 G gг/ɡ/glagolглаголи (glagoli)
Д д4dD dд/d/dobruдобро (dobro)
Є є, Е е[b]5eE eе/e/estєстъ (estŭ)
Ж жjЖ жж/ʒ/juveteживѣтє (živěte)
Ѕ ѕ6dzḐ ḑдз/d͡z/zaluꙃѣло (dzělo)
З з7zZ zз/z/zemleзємл҄ꙗ (zemlja)
И и8iI iи/i/ijeижє (iže)
Й й[c]iĬ ĭй/j/, /ʲ/
І і[d][e]10iI iи/i/iи (i)
К к20ch (before e, i)
c (elsewhere)		 К к
or
K k		к/k/kakuкако (kako)
Л л30lЛ лл/l/liudeлюдиѥ (ljudije)
М м40mM mм/m/misleteмꙑслитє (myslite)
Н н50nN nн/n/nașнашь (našĭ)
Ѻ ѻ, О о[b]70oO oо/o̯/onонъ (onŭ)
П п80pП пп/p/pocoiпокои (pokoi)
Р р100rР рр/r/râțăрьци (rĭci)
С с200sS sс/s/slovăслово (slovo)
Т т300tT tт/t/tferduтврьдо (tvrĭdo)
ОУ оу[b]400uꙊ ꙋ[7] (Ȣ, ȣ, ɣ)у/u/upsilonꙋкъ (ukŭ)
Оу Ȣ, У Ȣ[b]ucu
Ф ф500fF fф/f/fârtaфрьтъ (frĭtŭ)
Х х600hХ хх/h/heruхѣръ (xěrŭ)
Ѡ ѡ[f]800oO oо/o/omegaотъ (otŭ)
Щ щștЩ щшт/ʃt/șteaща (šta)
Ц ц900țЦ цц/t͡s/țiци
Ч ч90c (before e, i)
ci (elsewhere)		 Ч чч/t͡ʃ/cervuчрьвь (črĭvĭ)
Ш шșШ шш/ʃ/șaша (ša)
Ъ ъă, ŭ[g]Ъ ъэ/ə/ierѥръ (jerŭ)
Ы ы, Ꙑ ꙑâ, îÎ îы/ɨ/ierîѥрꙑ (jery)
Ь ьă, ŭ, ĭ[g]Ꙋ̆ ꙋ̆ь—ieriѥрь (jerĭ)
Ѣ ѣeaEa eaя/e̯a/eati(u)ѣть (ětĭ)
Ю юiuĬꙋ ĭꙋю/ju/io / iuю (ju)
Ꙗ ꙗ[b]iaĬa ĭaя/ja/iaꙗ (ja)
Ѥ ѥ[b]ieĬe ĭeие/je/ѥ (je)
Ѧ ѧĭa, ea[g]Ĭa ĭa, Ea eaя/ja/iaѧсъ (ęsŭ)
Ѫ ѫîÎ îы/ɨ/iusѫсъ (ǫsŭ)
Ѯ ѯ[h]60xKs ksкс/ks/csiѯи (ksi)
Ѱ ѱ[h]700psПs пsпс/ps/psiѱи (psi)
Ѳ ѳ[h]9th, ftT t, Ft ftт, фт/t/ and approx. /θ/ or /f/thitaфита (fita)
Ѵ ѵ[h]400i, uI i; Ꙋ ꙋи, у/i/, /y/, /v/ijițaижица (ižica)
Ꙟ ꙟ, ↑ ↑în îmÎn în Îm îmын, ым/ɨn/, /ɨm/în
Џ џg (before e, i)
gi (elsewhere)		 Џ џӂ/d͡ʒ/gea
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Unregulated transitional alphabets

Main article: Romanian transitional alphabet

Starting with the 1830s and ending with the official adoption of the Latin alphabet, there were no regulations for writing Romanian, and various alphabets using Cyrillic and Latin letters, besides the mid-transitional version in the table above, were used, sometimes two or more of them in a single book. The following table shows some of the many alphabets used in print.

More information Pre-1830, 1846 (1) ...
Pre-1830 1833[8] 1838[9] 1846 (1)[10] 1846 (2)[11] 1848[12] 1858[13] 1860[14]
А аА аА аА аА аА аA aA a
Б б Б б Б б Б б Б б Б б B b Б б
В вВ вВ вВ вВ вВ вV vВ в
Г гГ гГ гГ гГ гГ гG gГ г
Д дД дД дD dД дD dD dD d
Є є, Е eЄ єЄ єE eE ɛE eE eE e
Ж жЖ жЖ жЖ жЖ жЖ жJ jЖ ж
Ѕ ѕЅ ѕДз дзḐ ḑДз дзDz dzDz dzDz dz
З зЗ зЗ зZ zЗ зZ zZ zZ z
И иИ иI iI iІ іI iI iI i
І іЇ їI iI iІ іI iI iI i
К кК кК кK kК кК кK kK k
Л лЛ лЛ лЛ лЛ лЛ лL lL l
М мМ мМ мM mМ мM mM mM m
Н нН нН нN nN ɴN nN nN n
Ѻ ѻ, О oО оО оO oО оО оО оO о
П пП пП пП пП пП пП пП п
Р рР рР рР рР рР рR rР р
С сС сС сS sС сС сS sS s
Т тТ тТ тT tТ тТ тT tT t
Оу оу У у (initial)
Ꙋ ꙋ (mid and final)		 Ȣ ȣ Ȣ ȣ Ȣ ȣ Ȣ ȣ Ȣ ȣ Ȣ ȣ
Ꙋ, ȣ
Ф фФ фФ фФ фФ фФ фF fФ ф
Х хХ хХ хХ хХ хХ хХ хХ х
Ѡ ѡ Ѡ ѡ[i] О оO oО оO oО оО о
Щ щЩ щЩ щЩ щШт штЩ щШt шtШt шt
Ц цЦ цЦ цЦ цЦ цЦ цЦ цЦ ц
Ч чЧ чЧ чЧ чЧ чЧ чЧ чЧ ч
Ш шШ шШ шШ шШ шШ шШ шШ ш
Ъ ъЪ ъЪ ъЪ ъЪ ъЪ ъЪ ъЪ ъ
Ы ы Ꙟ ꙟ (initial)
Ѫ ѫ (mid and final)		 Ꙟ ꙟ (initial)
Ѫ ѫ (mid and final)		 Ꙟ ꙟꙞ ꙟ / Î î (transitional form) Ꙟ ꙟ (initial)
Ѫ ѫ (mid and final)		 Î îÎ î
Ѣ ѣ Ѣ ѣѢ ѣEa ea Eа εа (ligature, small letter only) Ea eaEa eaEa ea
Ю ю Ю ю IꙊ iꙋ (ligature) IȢ Iȣ iȣ (ligature) IȢ Iȣ іȣ (ligature, small letter only) IȢ iȣ IȢ iȣ (ligature) ĬȢ ĭȣ
Ꙗ ꙗ Ꙗ ꙗ (initial)
Ѧ ѧ (mid and final)		 Ꙗ ꙗ Ꙗ Iа (ligature) ꙗ IА Iа ꙗIa iaĬa ĭaĬa ĭa
Ѥ ѥЙє йєĬe ĭeĬe ĭeĬε ĭεIe ieĬe ĭeĬe ĭe
Ѧ ѧ Ꙗ ꙗ (initial)
Ѧ ѧ (mid and final)		 Ꙗ ꙗ Ꙗ Iа (ligature) ꙗ IА Iа ꙗIa iaĬa ĭaĬa ĭa
Ѫ ѫ Ꙟ ꙟ (initial)
Ѫ ѫ (mid and final)		 Ꙟ ꙟ (initial)
Ѫ ѫ (mid and final)		 Ꙟ ꙟꙞ ꙟ / Î î (transitional form) Ꙟ ꙟ (initial)
Ѫ ѫ (mid and final)		 Î îÎ î
Ѯ ѯКс ксКс ксKs ksКс ксКс ксKs ksKs ks
Ѱ ѱ[h]Пс псПс псПs пsПс псПс псПs пsПs пs
Ѳ ѳ[h]Т тТ тT tѲ ѳТ тT tT t
Ѵ ѵ[h]И, ꙊI, ꙊI, ȣІ, ȣІ, ȣI, ȣI, ȣ
Ꙟ ꙟꙞн ꙟн Ꙟм ꙟмꙞн ꙟн Ꙟм ꙟмꙞн ꙟн Ꙟм ꙟмꙞɴ ꙟɴ Ꙟм ꙟмꙞn ꙟn Ꙟm ꙟmÎn în Îm îmÎn în Îm îm
Џ џЏ џЏ џЏ џЏ џЏ џЏ џЏ џ
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Example of Romanian Cyrillic text

According to a document from the 1850s,[15] this is how the Romanian Lord's Prayer looked in Cyrillic script. Transcriptional values correspond to the above table.

More information Та́тъль нѡ́стрꙋ, Tatăl nostru ...
Та́тъль нѡ́стрꙋ Tatăl nostru

Та́тъль но́стрꙋ ка́реле є҆́щй ꙟ҆ че́рюрй: сфн҃цѣ́скъсе нꙋ́меле тъ́ꙋ:
Ві́е ꙟ҆пъръці́ѧ та̀: Фі́е во́ѧ та̀, пре кꙋ́мь ꙟ҆ че́рю, шѝ пре пъмѫ́нть.
Пѫ́йнѣ ноа́стръ, чѣ̀ де то́ате зи́леле, дъ́неѡ но́аѡ а҆́стъзй.
Шѝ не ꙗ҆́ртъ но́аѡ даторі́йле ноа́стре,
пре кꙋ́мь шѝ но́й є҆ртъ́мь дато́рничилѡрь но́щрй.
Шѝ нꙋ́ не дꙋ́че пе но́й ꙟ҆ и҆спи́тъ. Чѝ не и҆збъвѣще де че́ль ръ́ꙋ.
Къ а҆та̀ ꙗ҆́сте ꙟ҆пъръці́ѧ, шѝ Пꙋтѣ́рѣ, шѝ мъри́рѣ ꙟ҆ вѣ́чй, а҆ми́нь.

Tatăl nostru, carele ești în ceriuri, sfințească-se numele tău:
Vie împărăția ta: Fie voia ta, pre cum în ceriu, și pre pământ.
Pâinea noastră, cea de toate zilele, dăneo noua astăzi.
Și ne iartă noua datoriile noastre,
pre cum și noi iertăm datornicilor noștri.
Și nu ne duce pe noi în ispită. Ci ne izbăveaște de cel rău.
Că ata iaste împărăția, și Putearea, și mărirea în veaci, amin.

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See also

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Notes

  1. [a]
    Earlist known usage dated back to 1521 Neacșu's letter.
  2. [b]
    Initial vs. non-initial shapes: Є/Е, Ѻ/О, Оу/Ꙋ, Ꙗ/Ѧ.
  3. [c]
    Й is hardly a separate letter of the alphabet; the letters І, Ю, Ȣ and Ѡ also accept a brevity sign.
  4. [d]
    In loanwords of Greek origin (or ones adopted through the Greek language), letters И and І correspond to eta and iota, respectively. In the words of Romanian origin and in Slavic loanwords, their usage follows Bulgarian alphabet, namely, І before vowels, otherwise И.
  5. [e]
    In earlier documents, Ї was preferred if no any other diacritic accepted.
  6. [f]
    The distinction of Ѡ and О is present not only in loanwords, but in Romanian words as well.
  7. [g]
    Letters ĭ and ŭ represent a barely spoken/heard i or u.
  8. [h]
    Letters Ѯ, Ѱ, Ѳ and Ѵ are used for copying Greek spelling of loanwords (especially for names and toponyms).
  9. [i]
    -лѡр only

References

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