Romanian Cyrillic alphabet

Not to be confused with Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet.

The Romanian Cyrillic alphabet is the Cyrillic alphabet that was used to write the Romanian language and Church Slavonic until the 1830s, 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]

Romanian Cyrillic
Script type	Alphabet
Period	14th–19th centuries[a]
Languages	Romanian
Related scripts
Parent systems	Phoenician alphabet Greek alphabet Glagolitic alphabet Cyrillic Romanian Cyrillic
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.

From the 1830s 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.

Rules

The orthographic rules for the Romanian Cyrilic 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. Ї 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. 'їꙋ' or iotated ꙋ may be used in place of 'ю' in proper names.

8. '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.

Letter	Numerical value	Romanian Latin equivalent	Transitional alphabet	Moldovan Cyrillic equivalent	Phoneme	Romanian name[6]	Slavonic equiv. name
А а	1	a	A a	а	/a/	az	азъ (azŭ)
Б Б		b	Б Б	б	/b/	buche	бꙋкꙑ (buky)
В в	2	v	В в	в	/v/	vede	вѣдѣ (vĕdĕ)
Г г	3	gh (before e, i) g (elsewhere)	G g	г	/ɡ/	glagol	глаголи (glagoli)
Д д	4	d	D d	д	/d/	dobru	добро (dobro)
Є є, Е е[b]	5	e	E e	е	/e/	est	єстъ (estŭ)
Ж ж		j	Ж ж	ж	/ʒ/	juvete	живѣтє (živěte)
Ѕ ѕ	6	dz	Ḑ ḑ	дз	/d͡z/	zalu	ꙃѣло (dzělo)
З з	7	z	Z z	з	/z/	zemle	зємл҄ꙗ (zemlja)
И и	8	i	I i	и	/i/	ije	ижє (iže)
Й й[c]		i	Ĭ ĭ	й	/j/, /ʲ/
І і[d][e]	10	i	I i	и	/i/	i	и (i)
К к	20	ch (before e, i) c (elsewhere)	К к or K k	к	/k/	kaku	како (kako)
Л л	30	l	Л л	л	/l/	liude	людиѥ (ljudije)
М м	40	m	M m	м	/m/	mislete	мꙑслитє (myslite)
Н н	50	n	N n	н	/n/	naș	нашь (našĭ)
Ѻ ѻ, О о[b]	70	o	O o	о	/o̯/	on	онъ (onŭ)
П п	80	p	П п	п	/p/	pocoi	покои (pokoi)
Р р	100	r	Р р	р	/r/	râță	рьци (rĭci)
С с	200	s	S s	с	/s/	slovă	слово (slovo)
Т т	300	t	T t	т	/t/	tferdu	тврьдо (tvrĭdo)
ОУ оу[b]	400	u	Ꙋ ꙋ[7] (Ȣ, ȣ, ɣ)	у	/u/	upsilon	ꙋкъ (ukŭ)
Оу Ȣ, У Ȣ[b]						ucu
Ф ф	500	f	F f	ф	/f/	fârta	фрьтъ (frĭtŭ)
Х х	600	h	Х х	х	/h/	heru	хѣръ (xěrŭ)
Ѡ ѡ[f]	800	o	O o	о	/o/	omega	отъ (otŭ)
Щ щ		șt	Щ щ	шт	/ʃt/	ștea	ща (šta)
Ц ц	900	ț	Ц ц	ц	/t͡s/	ți	ци
Ч ч	90	c (before e, i) ci (elsewhere)	Ч ч	ч	/t͡ʃ/	cervu	чрьвь (črĭvĭ)
Ш ш		ș	Ш ш	ш	/ʃ/	șa	ша (ša)
Ъ ъ		ă, ŭ[g]	Ъ ъ	э	/ə/	ier	ѥръ (jerŭ)
Ы ы, Ꙑ ꙑ		â, î	Î î	ы	/ɨ/	ierî	ѥрꙑ (jery)
Ь ь		ă, ŭ, ĭ[g]	Ꙋ̆ ꙋ̆	ь	—	ieri	ѥрь (jerĭ)
Ѣ ѣ		ea	Ea ea	я	/e̯a/	eati(u)	ѣть (ětĭ)
Ю ю		iu	Ĭꙋ ĭꙋ	ю	/ju/	io / iu	ю (ju)
Ꙗ ꙗ[b]		ia	Ĭa ĭa	я	/ja/	ia	ꙗ (ja)
Ѥ ѥ[b]		ie	Ĭe ĭe	ие	/je/		ѥ (je)
Ѧ ѧ		ĭa, ea[g]	Ĭa ĭa, Ea ea	я	/ja/	ia	ѧсъ (ęsŭ)
Ѫ ѫ		î	Î î	ы	/ɨ/	ius	ѫсъ (ǫsŭ)
Ѯ ѯ[h]	60	x	Ks ks	кс	/ks/	csi	ѯи (ksi)
Ѱ ѱ[h]	700	ps	Пs пs	пс	/ps/	psi	ѱи (psi)
Ѳ ѳ[h]	9	th, ft	T t, Ft ft	т, фт	/t/ and approx. /θ/ or /f/	thita	фита (fita)
Ѵ ѵ[h]	400	i, u	I i; Ꙋ ꙋ	и, у	/i/, /y/, /v/	ijița	ижица (ižica)
Ꙟ ꙟ, ↑ ↑		în îm	În în Îm îm	ын, ым	/ɨn/, /ɨm/	în
Џ џ		g (before e, i) gi (elsewhere)	Џ џ	ӂ	/d͡ʒ/	gea

Unregulated transitional alphabets

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.

Pre-1830	1833[8]	1838[9]	1846 (1)[10]	1846 (2)[11]	1848[12]	1858[13]	1860[14]
А а	А а	А а	А а	А а	А а	A a	A a
Б Б	Б Б	Б Б	Б Б	Б Б	Б Б	B b	Б Б
В в	В в	В в	В в	В в	В в	V v	В в
Г г	Г г	Г г	Г г	Г г	Г г	G g	Г г
Д д	Д д	Д д	D d	Д д	D d	D d	D d
Є є, Е e	Є є	Є є	E e	E ɛ	E e	E e	E e
Ж ж	Ж ж	Ж ж	Ж ж	Ж ж	Ж ж	J j	Ж ж
Ѕ ѕ	Ѕ ѕ	Дз дз	Ḑ ḑ	Дз дз	Dz dz	Dz dz	Dz dz
З з	З з	З з	Z z	З з	Z z	Z z	Z z
И и	И и	I i	I i	І і	I i	I i	I i
І і	Ї ї	I i	I i	І і	I i	I i	I i
К к	К к	К к	K k	К к	К к	K k	K k
Л л	Л л	Л л	Л л	Л л	Л л	L l	L l
М м	М м	М м	M m	М м	M m	M m	M m
Н н	Н н	Н н	N n	N ɴ	N n	N n	N n
Ѻ ѻ, О o	О о	О о	O o	О о	О о	О о	O о
П п	П п	П п	П п	П п	П п	П п	П п
Р р	Р р	Р р	Р р	Р р	Р р	R r	Р р
С с	С с	С с	S s	С с	С с	S s	S s
Т т	Т т	Т т	T t	Т т	Т т	T t	T t
Оу оу	У у (initial) Ꙋ ꙋ (mid and final)	Ꙋ ꙋ	Ꙋ ꙋ	Ꙋ ꙋ	Ꙋ ꙋ	Ꙋ ꙋ	Ꙋ ꙋ
Ꙋ, ȣ
Ф ф	Ф ф	Ф ф	Ф ф	Ф ф	Ф ф	F f	Ф ф
Х х	Х х	Х х	Х х	Х х	Х х	Х х	Х х
Ѡ ѡ	Ѡ ѡ[i]	О о	O o	О о	O o	О о	О о
Щ щ	Щ щ	Щ щ	Щ щ	Шт шт	Щ щ	Шt шt	Шt шt
Ц ц	Ц ц	Ц ц	Ц ц	Ц ц	Ц ц	Ц ц	Ц ц
Ч ч	Ч ч	Ч ч	Ч ч	Ч ч	Ч ч	Ч ч	Ч ч
Ш ш	Ш ш	Ш ш	Ш ш	Ш ш	Ш ш	Ш ш	Ш ш
Ъ ъ	Ъ ъ	Ъ ъ	Ъ ъ	Ъ ъ	Ъ ъ	Ъ ъ	Ъ ъ
Ы ы	Ꙟ ꙟ (initial) Ѫ ѫ (mid and final)	Ꙟ ꙟ (initial) Ѫ ѫ (mid and final)	Ꙟ ꙟ	Ꙟ ꙟ / Î î (transitional form)	Ꙟ ꙟ (initial) Ѫ ѫ (mid and final)	Î î	Î î
Ѣ ѣ	Ѣ ѣ	Ѣ ѣ	Ea ea	Eа εа (ligature, small letter only)	Ea ea	Ea ea	Ea ea
Ю ю	Ю ю	IꙊ iꙋ (ligature)	IꙊ Iꙋ iꙋ (ligature)	IꙊ Iꙋ іꙋ (ligature, small letter only)	Iꙋ iꙋ	IꙊ iꙋ (ligature)	Ĭꙋ ĭꙋ
Ꙗ ꙗ	Ꙗ ꙗ (initial) Ѧ ѧ (mid and final)	Ꙗ ꙗ	Ꙗ Iа (ligature) ꙗ	IА Iа ꙗ	Ia ia	Ĭa ĭa	Ĭa ĭa
Ѥ ѥ	Йє йє	Ĭe ĭe	Ĭe ĭe	Ĭε ĭε	Ie ie	Ĭe ĭe	Ĭe ĭe
Ѧ ѧ	Ꙗ ꙗ (initial) Ѧ ѧ (mid and final)	Ꙗ ꙗ	Ꙗ Iа (ligature) ꙗ	IА Iа ꙗ	Ia ia	Ĭa ĭa	Ĭa ĭa
Ѫ ѫ	Ꙟ ꙟ (initial) Ѫ ѫ (mid and final)	Ꙟ ꙟ (initial) Ѫ ѫ (mid and final)	Ꙟ ꙟ	Ꙟ ꙟ / Î î (transitional form)	Ꙟ ꙟ (initial) Ѫ ѫ (mid and final)	Î î	Î î
Ѯ ѯ	Кс кс	Кс кс	Ks ks	Кс кс	Кс кс	Ks ks	Ks ks
Ѱ ѱ[h]	Пс пс	Пс пс	Пs пs	Пс пс	Пс пс	Пs пs	Пs пs
Ѳ ѳ[h]	Т т	Т т	T t	Ѳ ѳ	Т т	T t	T t
Ѵ ѵ[h]	И, Ꙋ	I, Ꙋ	I, Ꙋ	І, Ꙋ	І, Ꙋ	I, Ꙋ	I, Ꙋ
Ꙟ ꙟ	Ꙟн ꙟн Ꙟм ꙟм	Ꙟн ꙟн Ꙟм ꙟм	Ꙟн ꙟн Ꙟм ꙟм	Ꙟɴ ꙟɴ Ꙟм ꙟм	Ꙟn ꙟn Ꙟm ꙟm	În în Îm îm	În în Îm îm
Џ џ	Џ џ	Џ џ	Џ џ	Џ џ	Џ џ	Џ џ	Џ џ

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.

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, sfințeascăse 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 împrăția, și Putearea, și mărirea în veaci, amin.

• 
  Early 19th century Romanian Cyrillic alphabet (Alecsandri, 1863)
• 
  The oldest surviving document in Romanian: Neacșu's Letter, a trader from Câmpulung, sent to the mayor of Brașov (1521)
• 
  Title page of Carte Romănească de Învățătură (Varlaam Moțoc, 1643)
• 
  A page of the Gospel Book printed in Bucharest (1723)
• 
  The Lord's Prayer, in a 1786 religious document
• 
  Title page of Legiuirea lui Caragea, a legal code of Wallachia (1818)
• 
  First edition of Gazeta de Transilvania (1838)
• 
  Title page of The Theoretical and Practical Basis of Church music or the Melodic Grammar (Anton Pann, 1845)
• 
  Transitional alphabet (fragment of Dimitrie Bolintineanu's Călătorii pe Dunăre și în Bulgaria, 1858)

See also

• Early Cyrillic alphabet
• Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet
• Romanian alphabet

Notes

1. Earlist known usage dated back to 1521 Neacșu's letter.
2. Initial vs. non-initial shapes: Є/Е, Ѻ/О, Оу/Ꙋ, Ꙗ/Ѧ.
3. Й is hardly a separate letter of the alphabet; the letters І, Ю, Ȣ and Ѡ also accept a brevity sign.
4. 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. In earlier documents, Ї was preferred if no any other diacritic accepted.
6. The distinction of Ѡ and О is present not only in loanwords, but in Romanian words as well.
7. Letters ĭ and ŭ represent a barely spoken/heard i or u.
8. Letters Ѯ, Ѱ, Ѳ and Ѵ are used for copying Greek spelling of loanwords (especially for names and toponyms).
9. -лѡр only