Below is a table of correspondence between the letters of the Russian alphabet and the letters of the Latin alphabet.
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Table of correspondence between Russian letters and Latin letters |
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| Russian | Latin | Russian | Latin |
| A | A | P | P |
| B | B | R | R |
| IN | V,W | WITH | S |
| G | G | T | T |
| D | D | U | U, OU |
| E | E | F | F, PH |
| Yo | YO | X | KH, H |
| AND | ZH | C | T.S. |
| Z | Z | H | CH, TCH |
| AND | I | Sh | SH |
| Y | Y | SCH | SCH |
| TO | K | Y | Y |
| L | L | E | E |
| M | M | YU | YU, IU |
| N | N | I | YA, JA |
| ABOUT | O | ||
A table of correspondence between Russian letters and Latin letters can be useful when selecting a domain name if the domain name must be read in Russian. The table is useful when creating file names that are intended to be published on the Internet. The correct Latin spelling of file names will undoubtedly tell the user what he is going to download from a particular link.
It wouldn’t hurt to remember the abbreviation “CNC” (human-readable URL) or foreign expression“Friendly URL” (URL - Uniform Resource Locator, a unique address of a page on the Internet). These concepts talk about the same thing, about readable and understandable addresses on WEB pages on the Internet. A clear URL gives the user more confidence when deciding whether to click on a given link or not.
It should also be noted that search engines are good at reading and translating site page names and use them when answering questions. search query. If the page name contains a word from the user's request, then it stands out in bold in search engine results. Little is known to what extent page names influence the relevance of a site when a search engine responds to a user’s query. One thing is for sure, CNCs are useful for visitors to your site, which means they should be used. The table of correspondence between Russian letters and Latin analogues will help you with this.
A couple of CNC examples:
http://avto.ru/prodazha/bu_avtomobili/bmw_x5_2007.html
After reading this URL, it becomes clear that the page it represents contains an advertisement for the sale of a 2007 BMW X5.
http://lib.ru/arhiv/statya-kak-kormit-sobaku.html
Looking at this URL, you can tell that the link is an article that talks about how to feed a dog.
From the examples you can see that the words in the page titles are separated by a dash and an underscore. Folder names tell the user which group the page located at a particular address can be assigned to. Domain names make it clear what can be located on the sites that are linked to them.
Before as create a website page with a readable address, you can try typing the page name in Latin in Yandex or Google search. If the search engine tries to tell you how to correctly write a query in Russian, it means that the name of your page does not contain errors. Do not forget, before making a request in a search engine, remove all underscores and dashes from the page name.
It is a widely held opinion, shared even by some scholars, that the Latin alphabet is derived from the Greek in the form used by Greek colonists in Italy, probably from the Chalcidian version of the Greek alphabet used in Cumae Campania. This theory attempts to prove that the Latin alphabet, with the exception of the letters g and p, is exactly the same as the Chalcidian alphabet. IN Lately However, it has been proven that this theory is generally incorrect and that Etruscan alphabet was link between the Greek and Latin alphabets.
We have already mentioned that on the Prenestine fibula the sound f is conveyed, as in the early Etruscan inscriptions, combination wh . Later, for example in the Duenos Inscription, the h was omitted - also under Etruscan influence. Thus, the Greek ϝ (digamma), that is, w, came to denote the Latin sound f, although Latin also had the sound w, and if the Romans had taken the alphabet directly from the Greeks, they would have had to use the Greek digamma to convey this sound, in at the same time, both for the sound w and for and in Latin the Greek letter υ (upsilon) was used,
The third letter of the Greek alphabet, gamma, received the form in the Etruscan alphabet ϶ (or WITH) and sound value k ; it retained this sound meaning in the Latin alphabet, where it served to express the sounds k and g (as stated above, the Etruscans did not distinguish between the sounds k and g); WITH and subsequently retained the meaning of the sound g in constant abbreviations of proper names WITH(instead of Gaius) and CN(instead of Gnaeus). At the same time, Greek had two other signs for the sound k - TO And Q, therefore we find in the South Etruscan alphabet the sign C(with k value) just before e and i, K before a and Q only before u (the Etruscan language, as we have seen, did not know the sound o). The Latin alphabet took all these three letters with the same phonetic meanings, but over time lost the letter K, which, however, continued to be used as the initial letter in frequently used words or formal terms, such as Kalendae or Kaeso, and began to use the letter C for both the sound g and k. However, the letter Q retained the meaning of the sound k before u. Later, in the 3rd century. BC., ringing sound g was given special notation by adding a stroke to the bottom end of the letter WITH, which thus turned into G.
Absence from the early Latin alphabet special sign for the combination x (ks), which existed in the Greek alphabet, including in its Chalcidian version, but which was not in the Etruscan, serves as further evidence that the Latin alphabet originates from the Etruscan.
Substantial part Latin names letters inherited by English and most modern alphabets, also borrowed from the Etruscans, and only a few names were invented by the Romans. , borrowed by the Greeks, were completely different. About Etruscan origin the names of the letters are best evidenced by the names ce, ka and qu (explained by the above-mentioned use of these three letters). Another fact speaks to this: in Etruscan there were sonants, or syllabic-forming smooth (ḷ, ṛ), and nasal (ṃ, ṇ), therefore modern names the letters l, m, n, r are vocalized as closed syllables(el, em, en, er), and the names of the rest agree to represent open syllables(be, de, etc.).
The creation of the Latin alphabet can be dated back to the 7th century. BC.
Evolution of the Latin alphabet
The original Etruscan alphabet consisted of 26 letters; the Romans borrowed only twenty-one of them. They abandoned the three Greek aspirates: theta, phi and hee, since in Latin there were no sounds corresponding to these letters, but they retained these signs to denote numbers. ☉, Ͼ, C came to mean 100, and later this sign was identified with initial letter words centum "one hundred"; ⏀, ⊂|⊃, Ϻ came to stand for 1000, and this sign was identified with the initial letter of the word mille "thousand", D, half of the sign ⊂|⊃, became the symbol for 500; φ - ↓ - ┴ - └ began to mean 50.
Of the three Etruscan letters that conveyed the sound s, the Romans retained the Greek sigma. The presence in the Latin alphabet of the letters d and o, which were not used in the Etruscan language, is explained by the already mentioned circumstance that the Latin alphabet was created even before the Etruscans abandoned these letters. Use of letters S, K, Q And F already explained. The sign, which, as in the Etruscan alphabet, denoted aspiration, later received the form N. The sign I served for both the vowel and the consonant i. Sign X was added later to convey the combination of ks sounds and was placed at the end of the Latin alphabet.
Thus, the Latin alphabet had next view: A, B, C(With sound meaning k), D, E, F, Z(Greek zeta), H, I, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, P(this was the original form R), S, T, V, X. Roughly speaking, it was a Semitic-Greek-Etruscan alphabet; the shape of some letters has been changed minor change; Semitic Greek Δ became D; Greek Σ became S; R is a variant of the sign P, modified by adding a dash under the semicircle; the remaining letters remained unchanged. Later the seventh letter, that is, the Greek zeta (Ζ) , was omitted because the Latin language did not need it, and new letter G took her place.
After the conquest of Greece in the era of Cicero (1st century BC), the Latin language began to widely borrow Greek words; signs were adopted from the Greek alphabet of that time Y And Z respectively for the sounds y and z (but only for transliteration of Greek words); these signs were placed at the end of the alphabet. Thus, the Latin alphabet began to have twenty-three characters; the signs themselves became more regular, slender, proportionate and graceful.
Although even in Roman times, attempts were made to add new letters - for example, a variant of the letter M, introduced by Verrius Flaccus in the era of Augustus, and in particular the signs introduced by the emperor Claudius (10 BC - 54 AD), digamma inversum for the sound w/υ, to distinguish it in writing from u; antisigma, which is an inverted WITH(Ͽ), for the combination ps; half sign N(┠) for a sound intermediate between u and i - in general it can be said that the alphabet of 23 letters described above was used without changes with the same order of letters not only in the monumental writing of the Roman period, but also in medieval writing (as capital letters), and then in book printing up to the present day.
The only stable additions of the Middle Ages were signs U, W And J; more precisely, these were not additions, but variants of existing letters; sign U(for the vowel and, to distinguish it from the consonant υ) and consonant W were minor modifications V, a J(consonant i) - result small change sign I. In the era early Middle Ages two of these letters U And J(but not W, which appeared only in the 11th century) were used undifferentiated for both consonant and vowel sounds.
The most significant facts of the subsequent history of the Latin alphabet are as follows: 1) adaptation of the Latin alphabet to different languages, and 2) external change individual letters in a “cursive” or “fluent” style.
| Modern version of the Latin alphabet | |||
| Letter | Name | Letter | Name |
| A | A | N | En |
| B | Bae | O | ABOUT |
| C | Tse | P | Pe |
| D | Dae | Q | Ku |
| E | E | R | Er |
| F | Eph | S | Es |
| G | Ge | T | Tae |
| H | Ha | U | U |
| I | AND | V | Ve |
| J | Yot | W | Double Ve |
| K | Ka | X | X |
| L | El | Y | Upsilon |
| M | Em | Z | Zeta/Zeta |
Let me remind you that the Latin language belongs to the Latin-Falian subgroup of Italic languages (the languages of the tribes that, from the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, lived on the territory of the Apennine Peninsula, except for the Etruscans, Ligurians, Celts and Greeks). The Italian languages, in turn, are part of the family Indo-European languages. Initially, Latin was the language of a small tribe - the Latins, living in the center of the Apennine Peninsula. This information may be of interest when taking a closer look at the Latin alphabet.
Origins of the Latin alphabet
Influence of the Etruscan alphabet
The Etruscan culture was well known to the Latins. In the 9-8 centuries BC, the relatively small territory of Latium bordered on the north with the then significant territory of the Etruscan tribe (they are also Tusks or Tosks, now the Italian province of Tuscany). At a time when the culture of the Latins was just emerging, the culture of the Etruscans was already experiencing its heyday.
The Latins borrowed quite a lot from the Etruscans. The Etruscan writing had a right-to-left direction, so for convenience, the reverse (compared to the usual Latin) spelling of letters was used (naturally, this was the original spelling; we use the reverse version).
Influence of the Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet also made a significant contribution to the formation of modern Latin. It is worth mentioning that the Etruscan alphabet was partially borrowed from Western Greek. But direct borrowing from Greek into Latin began later, when the Romans, in their characteristic style, began a thorough acquaintance with Greek culture. Greek names and names contained sounds that were not characteristic of Roman phonetics; there were no letters in the Latin language to write them, so Greek letters were also transferred to the Latin alphabet. This is the origin of the letters "x", "y", "z".
Ancient Greek inscriptions were also written not only from left to right, but also from right to left and boustrophedon (the Greeks gave the name to this type of writing), therefore in Ancient Greek at the same time there were both direct and reverse options writing letters.
Influence of Phoenician consonantal writing
The Phoenicians are considered the creators of the first phonetic writing. The Phoenician alphabet was a syllabary alphabet in which one symbol denoted the combination of one consonant sound with any vowel (It is often said that the Phoenicians wrote down only consonants, but this assumption is formally incorrect). The Phoenicians traveled a lot, settled in more and more new places... and their writing traveled and took root with them. Gradually, spreading in different directions, the symbols of the Phoenician alphabet were transformed, on the one hand, into the letters of the Greek and then the Latin alphabet, and on the other, into the letters of Hebrew (and other northern Semitic dialects).
Comparative table of symbols of related languages (Commentary see below in the text)
The conclusions drawn from the results of comparing all these languages are different. The issue of continuity has not been completely resolved, however, the similarity of independent ancient languages suggests that there may have been one progenitor language. Many researchers tend to look for it in Canaan, a semi-mythical state that the Phoenicians considered their homeland.
History of the Latin alphabet
First available modern researchers the Latin inscriptions date back to the 7th century BC. Since that time, it has been customary to talk about archaic Latin. The archaic alphabet consists of 21 letters. The Greek letters theta, phi and psi were used to write the numbers 100, 1000, 50.
Having become a censor in 312 BC, Appius Claudius Caecus introduced differences in the writing of the letters “r” and “s” and abolished the letter “z”, and the sound denoted by this letter was replaced by [p]. Closely related to this event is one of the basic laws of phonetics of the Latin language - the law of rhotacism.
After the abolition of the letter "z" in the Latin alphabet classical period contains 20 letters.
In the 1st century BC, the letter "z" was borrowed again, and with it the letter "y". In addition, the letter “g” was finally recognized (before this, both sounds: voiced - [g] and voiceless - [k] were designated by one letter - “c”). Of course, there were some disputes, but it is generally accepted that Spurius Carvilius Ruga was the first to use it in 235 BC, however, at that time it was not included in the alphabet.
The alphabet began to consist of 23 letters.
Another an important event in the history of the Latin alphabet falls on the 1st century AD. Using the practice of replacing the most common combinations of letters with one symbol, which was widespread in Greece, future emperor Claudius (since 41 AD, being a censor) introduces three new letters, later called “Claudian”: reverse digamma, antisigma and half ha.
The reverse digamma was to be used to indicate the sound [in:].
Antisigma - to denote combinations of bs and ps, similar to the Greek letter psi.
Half ha - to indicate the sound between [i] and [u].
They never made it into the alphabet.
Nevertheless:
- The codes for these characters are included in Unicode: u+2132, u+214e - reverse digamma, u+2183, u+2184 - antisigma, u+2c75, u+2c76 - half ha.
- The letters “y” and “v”, which were completely defined in the alphabet somewhat later, became analogues of two of the three Claudian letters, which indicates the validity of the proposal of the future emperor.
Much later, the issue with pairs of letters “i” - “j”, “v” - “u” was resolved. Both pairs were used in writing before, and denoted two pairs of sounds ([i] - [th], [v] - [y]), but it was not clearly defined which spelling denotes which sound. The separation of the first couple supposedly occurred in the 16th century AD, and the second in the 18th century (although some researchers suggest that this happened simultaneously for both couples).
The modern version of the Latin alphabet, consisting of 25 letters, was formalized during the Renaissance (hence the assumption of the separation of "v" and "u" in the 16th century, since they are both contained in this variant). This event is closely connected with the name of Petrus Ramus.
The digraph "vv", especially common in Northern Europe, turned into the letter "w". The sound denoted by this letter came from Germanic languages already after the fall of the Roman Empire, so many experts do not include the letter “w” in the Latin alphabet or include it conditionally.
Many people wonder: “ Letters- which ones?" In fact, everything is extremely simple. In fact, the Latin alphabet is the alphabetic characters of modern English. The only difference is the pronunciation.
Where are Latin letters and numbers currently used?
Today, more than 40% of the total population writes in Latin. globe. And in fact, Latin letters are generally accepted international alphabetic characters. You don’t have to look far for an example; just take out your foreign passport and look at it. Under the surname written in Russian, you will definitely see its Latin version.
Numbers are also widely used in all countries. In Russia they are used in contracts, laws, and for numbering clauses. In order to understand how to write in Latin letters, it is enough to select consonant letters and take into account complex combinations, the table with which is given below. Typically, transliteration tables can be found at the information desk of any foreign consulate.
The history of the emergence of Latin writing
It is believed that the roots of the Latin letter go back to the Etruscan and Greek alphabets. There is also an opinion that the Phoenician letter also had its influence. Some are inclined to think that there were also Egyptian alphabetic signs.
The first reliable studies relate to 7th century BC. The archaic Latin alphabet consisted of 21 letters.
In 312 BC, Appius Claudius Russ abolished the letter Z, after which only 20 letters remained. In the 1st century, Z returned again, and with it appeared new symbol Y, and the alphabet took on its now familiar form. Over the following years, some letters disappeared and reappeared, some of them eventually united and gave birth to new symbols. Most often, controversy surrounds the letter symbol W.
Influence of the Greek language
Speaking about the Latin alphabet, it is difficult not to mention the influence of the Greek language, since it made a huge contribution to the formation of the modern Latin spelling. If you are confused about the question: “What are Latin letters?”, then you can search or remember the Greek alphabet.
By the way, the letters x, y and z were borrowed from the Greeks. Interesting fact: they wrote in Greece not only from left to right, but also vice versa, which is why they had so many inscriptions that read the same way, regardless of which end to start from. In fact, this phenomenon is often given a certain mystical character. There is even a magical "SATOR Square". All words written in it are read not only from right to left and vice versa, but, what is most interesting, the characters can also be read diagonally. There is a belief that by writing all these symbols, you can make a wish that will definitely come true.
How to write your first or last name in Latin
Very often, when submitting documents such as visas, you are required to indicate your personal data using exclusively the Latin alphabet, the letters of which must correspond as closely as possible to Russian. Let's look at the most common names and their spellings.
Pronunciation of Latin letters
If you are asking the question: “What are Latin letters?”, then, most likely, you will also be interested in learning how to pronounce them correctly. There are no difficulties here either, since, most likely, you heard this alphabet back in school.
Despite the identity English letters, do not confuse them. Latin has no complex or unpronounceable sounds, so everything is extremely simple. For comparison: in English language There is a whole list of sounds that are very difficult for a Russian-speaking person to pronounce.
Finally
We reviewed the topic: “What are Latin letters?”, and now you can easily fill out an application for a visa or for any other documents that you are going to send abroad. Convenience also lies in the fact that sometimes, when you need to dictate an email address or a link on the Internet over the phone, you can use the Latin alphabet - and the interlocutor will definitely understand you. Therefore, you don’t have to explain anything according to the principle “es is like a dollar,” etc.
Centuries have passed, but we still use this amazing language, developed by non-scientists based on opinion polls and other research, but by people who did not know what electricity was, where the ozone holes were located, and much more. Still a legacy ancient civilizations still makes itself felt, captivating and astonishing with its amazing solutions not only in art, but also in other areas.
Latin alphabet (table), diphthongs, word stress, letter combinations, pronunciation in Latin.
The Latin alphabet has changed its composition throughout the history of the development of the Latin language. The very first alphabet consisted of 21 letters, then different eras new letters have begun to be added. Some of them have fallen out of use, others remain. The result was the classical Latin alphabet, consisting of 23 letters (some of which were given by the Greek language).
After the disappearance of the Roman Empire as a state, the Latin alphabet remained the basis for almost all languages of Europe, but in each of the variants there were some changes (the closest to the classical version of the Latin alphabet were Romance languages: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, French).
The modern Latin alphabet consists of 25 letters (if with the letter W, then 26). The letters of the Latin alphabet can be found in the table below:
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Uppercase |
Lowercase |
Name |
Pronunciation |
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[G]* |
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[l]** |
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[To]*** |
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In Latin with capital letters are written:
- proper names;
- names of nationalities and months of the year;
- adjectives formed from proper names, as well as adverbs: Graecia Antiqua - Ancient Greece, Craece scribere - write in Greek
Diphthongs, letter combinations and pronunciation in Latin
The following diphthongs exist in Latin:
ae – pronunciation is similar to the Russian sound [e]
oe – pronounced like the German ö umlaut or the French diphthong, as in peur
au – similar to a combination of Russian sounds [ау]
ei – reads like [hey]
eu – similar to the sound of Russian sounds [eu]
It is worth noting that if one of the letters in a combination of diphthongs has two dots or a quantity sign, then the sounds in this combination will be pronounced separately: po ë ta, poēta
The letter “c” in Latin is read as [k]: crocodilus, cultura, colonia (knees)
The letter “c” + e, i, y, ae, eu, oe is read as the sound [ts]: Cicero, Cyprus, caelum (tselum)
* The letter h is similar in pronunciation to the Ukrainian sound [g]: humus (humus)
“J” - read as [th]: major. If a word begins with this letter, it is usually merged with the following vowel and pronounced as one sound: Januarius, Juppiter.
** The letter “l” is similar in pronunciation to [la, l]: Latinus (latinus), luna (lune).
l + i gives the sound [li], for example: liber (liber).
*** The letter “q” is always found in the combination qu + consonant and is read as [kv]: quadratus (quadratus). The exception is the word quum (godfather). In many publications you can find this word written as cum.
The letter “s” in Latin is read as: universitas (universitas), if the letter “s” is between two vowels, then it is pronounced as [z]: Asia (Asia).
Please note that the combination of letters ti + vowel is read as [qi]: constitution (constitution). Exceptions are: the word totius (totius), as well as s, x, t + ti, for example: ostium (ostium), Bruttium (bruttium), in Greek words, for example: Boeotia (boeotia).
Pronunciation of letter combinations: ngu and su:
ngu + vowel is read as [ngv]: lingua (lingua)
su + vowel is read as [sv], for example: suadeo (swadeo)
Accent in Latin
In words that consist of two syllables, the stress falls on the second syllable from the end: r osa. In words that have more than two syllables, the stress falls on the second syllable from the end if it is long: nat u ra. If it is short - on the third from the end: f a brica.
Word + particles que, ve, ne shift the emphasis to last syllable of this word, for example: r osa, but ros a que. If que is part of a word, then the emphasis is placed on general rule:it a que.
In the next article we will look at pronouns in Latin.