Romanian Cyrillic alphabet

Not to be confused with Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet.

Romanian Cyrillic
Script type	Alphabet
Time 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

The Romanian Cyrillic alphabet is the Cyrillic alphabet that was used to write the Romanian language & Church Slavonic until the 1860s, when it was officially replaced by a Latin-based Romanian alphabet.^{[citation needed]} Cyrillic remained in occasional use until the 1920s, mostly in Russian-ruled Bessarabia.^[1]

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.

Table of correspondence

The Cyrillic script
Slavic letters
А А́ А̀ А̂ А̄ Ӑ Ӓ Б В Г Ґ Д Ђ Ѓ Е Е́ Ѐ Е̂ Е̄ Ё Є Є́ Ж З З́ Ѕ И І І́ Ї Ꙇ И́ Ѝ И̂ Ӣ Й Ӥ Ј К Л Љ М Н Њ О О́ О̀ О̂ О̄ Ӧ П Р С С́ Т Ћ Ќ У У́ У̀ У̂ Ӯ Ў Ӱ Ф Х Ц Ч Џ Ш Щ Ꙏ Ъ Ъ̀ Ы Ы́ Ь Ѣ Э Э́ Ю Ю́ Ю̀ Я Я́ Я̀ ʼ ˮ
Non-Slavic letters
А̊ А̃ Ӓ̄ Ӕ Ә Ә́ Ә̃ Ӛ В̌ Ԝ Г̑ Г̇ Г̣ Г̌ Г̂ Г̆ Г̈ Г̊ Ҕ Ғ Ӻ Ғ̌ Ғ̊ Ӷ Г̡ Д́ Д̌ Д̈ Д̣ Д̆ Ӗ Е̃ Ё̄ Є̈ Ԑ Ԑ̈ Җ Ӝ Ӂ Ж̣ Ҙ Ӟ З̌ З̣ З̆ Ӡ И̃ Ҋ Қ Ӄ Ҡ Ҟ Ҝ К̣ К̊ Қ̊ Ԛ ᴫ Л́ Ӆ Ԯ Ԓ Л̈ Ӎ ᵸ Н́ Ӊ Ң Ԩ Ӈ Ҥ О̆ О̃ Ӧ̄ Ө Ө̄ Ө́ Ө̆ Ӫ Ԥ П̈ Р̌ Ҏ С̌ Ҫ С̣ С̱ Т́ Т̈ Т̌ Т̇ Т̣ Ҭ Ᲊ У̃ Ӳ У̊ Ӱ̄ Ұ Ү Ү́ Х̣ Х̱ Х̮ Х̑ Х̌ Ҳ Ӽ Х̊ Ӿ Ӿ̊ Һ Һ̈ Ԧ Ц̌ Ц̈ Ҵ Ҷ Ҷ̣ Ӵ Ӌ Ҹ Ч̇ Ч̣ Ҽ Ҿ Ш̣ ꚜ Ы̆ Ы̄ Ӹ ꚝ Ҍ Ҩ Э̆ Э̄ Э̇ Ӭ Ӭ́ Ӭ̄ Ю̆ Ю̈ Ю̄ Я̆ Я̄ Я̈ Ӏ
Archaic or unused letters
А̨ Б̀ Б̣ Б̱ В̀ Г̀ Г̧ Г̄ Г̓ Г̆ Ҕ̀ Ҕ̆ Ԁ Д̓ Д̀ Д̨ Ԃ Ꚁ Ꙣ Е̇ Е̨ Ж̀ Ж̑ Ꙃ Ꙅ Џ̆ Ꚅ Ꚅ̆ Ꙁ З̀ З̑ Ԅ Ԇ Ꚉ Ԫ Ꚃ Ꚕ І̂ І̣ І̨ Ј̵ Ј̃ Ꙉ К̓ К̀ К̆ Ӄ̆ К̑ К̇ К̈ К̄ Ԟ К̂ Л̀ Ԡ Ꙥ Ԉ Л̑ Л̇ Ԕ М̀ М̃ Ꙧ Н̀ Н̄ Н̧ Н̃ Ԋ Ԣ Н̡ Ѻ Ꙩ Ꙫ Ꙭ ꙮ Ꚙ Ꚛ П̓ П̀ П́ Ҧ П̧ П̑ Ҁ Ԛ̆ Р́ Р̀ Р̃ Ԗ С̀ С̈ Ԍ Ҫ̓ Т̓ Т̀ Ԏ Т̑ Ꚋ Т̧ Ꚍ Ꚍ̆ Ѹ Ꙋ У̇ У̨ ꙋ́ Ф̑ Ф̓ Х́ Х̀ Х̆ Х̇ Х̧ Х̾ Х̓ һ̱ Ѡ Ꙍ Ѽ Ѿ Ꙡ Ц̀ Ц́ Ц̓ Ꚏ Ꚏ̆ Ꚑ Ч́ Ч̀ Ч̆ Ч̑ Ч̓ Ԭ Ꚓ Ꚇ Ꚇ̆ Ҽ̆ Ш̀ Ш̆ Ш̑ Щ̆ Ꚗ Ꚗ̆ Ъ̄ Ъ̈ Ъ̈̄ Ꙑ Ы̂ Ы̃ Ѣ́ Ѣ̈ Ѣ̆ Ꙓ Э̨ Э̂ Ꙕ Ю̂ Ꙗ Я̂ Я̨ Ԙ Ѥ Ѧ Ꙙ Ѫ Ꙛ Ѩ Ꙝ Ѭ Ѯ Ѱ Ѳ Ѵ Ѷ Ꙟ
List of Cyrillic letters List of Cyrillic multigraphs
v t e

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[4]	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[5] (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[6]	1838[7]	1846 (1)[8]	1846 (2)[9]	1848[10]	1858[11]	1860[12]
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,^[13] 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 cumi în ceriu, și pre pământi. Pâinea noastră, cea de toate zilele, dăneo noua astăzi. Și ne iartă noua datoriile noastre, pre cumi și noi iertămi datornicilori noștri. Și nu ne duce pe noi în ispită. Ci ne izbăveaște de celi rău. Că ata iaste împrăția, și Putearea, și mărirea în veaci, amini.

• 
  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

References

1. Ileana-Stanca Desa, Dulciu Morărescu, Ioana Patriche, Adriana Raliade, Iliana Sulică, Publicațiile periodice românești (ziare, gazete, reviste). Vol. III: Catalog alfabetic 1919–1924, pp. 235–236, 264, 368, 374, 575, 708, 1024. Bucharest: Editura Academiei, 1987
2. George Baiculescu, Georgeta Răduică, Neonila Onofrei, Publicațiile periodice românești (ziare, gazete, reviste). Vol. II: Catalog alfabetic 1907–1918. Supliment 1790–1906, pp. 763, 801, 810, 813, 832, 867. Bucharest: Editura Academiei, 1969
3. Grigore Chiriță, Societatea din Principatele Unite Române în perioada constituirii statului național (1856-1866), p. 134. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Române, 2004, ISBN 978-973-270-984-9
4. According to Costache Negruzzi, "Cum am învățat românește", first published in Curier de Ambe Sexe, I, nr. 22, p.337–343
5. Book written in the transitional alphabet showing various letter forms
6. Грамматикъ практїкъ романо-францозѧскъ [modernised: Grammatică practică romano-franțozească compusă dupre autorii clasici cei mai noi ... - George Vida]. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
7. Filosofice și politice prin falule învățaturĭ morale - Dimitrie Țichindeal, Dositej Obradović. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
8. Magazinu istoriku pentru Dacia - Treboniu A. Laurian, Nicolae Bălcescu. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
9. Noul Testament al Domnuluī shī Mîntuītoruluī nostru Īīsus Khrīstos. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
10. Biografia lui Viliam G. Shecspri dupe Le Fourneur: Urmată de Romeo cu ... - William Shakespeare. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
11. Istoria Moldo-Romănieĭ: arătîndŭ neamurile de ċare s'aŭ loċuitŭ aceste ... - George Ioanid. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
12. Cîntece naționale: Tipărite cu fondul d-lor librarĭ Pusu i Petriu. A treia ... - O. Dumitrescu. Retrieved 2012-10-22.
13. File:Romanian-kirilitza-tatal-nostru.jpg