The Ukrainian letter л is pronounced like the “l” sound in “little” or “like” (IPA: /l/). The uppercase form is Л.
The letter п is pronounced like the “p” sound in “pie” or “pepper” (IPA: /p/). The Ukrainian letter resembles the Greek letter pi that you probably remember from geometry. This is not a coincidence as the Cyrillic alphabet derives from the Greek alphabet and some letters are close to the same. The uppercase form is П.
The letter д is pronounced like the “d” sound in “dad” (IPA: /d/). The uppercase form is Д.
The letter з is pronounced like the “z” in “zoo” or “zebra” (IPA: /z/). The uppercase form is З.
PRACTICE
Try to read these Ukrainian words. The English translation is given next to each word. The correct pronunciations are given in the answers below.
1. літак (airplane)
2. стіл (table)
3. тіло (body)
4. хліб (bread)
5. птах (bird)
6. аеропорт (airport)
7. двері (door)
8. борода (beard)
9. лід (ice)
10. завтра (tomorrow)
11. озеро (lake)
12. понеділок (Monday)
ANSWERS
1. liták
2. stil
3. tílo
4. khlib
5. ptakh
6. aeropórt
7. dvéri
8. borodá
9. lid
10. závtra
11. ózero
12. ponedílok