Two silent marks that change everything
The Belarusian Alphabet
Two silent marks that change everything
Ь doesn't have a sound — it makes the previous consonant 'soft' (palatalized). Imagine adding a tiny 'y' glide: 'd' → 'dy', 'n' → 'ny'. The apostrophe (') does the opposite job: it separates a consonant from a following iotated vowel so they DON'T merge.
| Belarusian | English | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| Ь ь | мяккі знак (soft sign) — no sound — softens preceding consonant | — |
| пяць | five | — |
| дзень | day | — |
| конь | horse | — |
| ' | апостраф (apostrophe) — separator | — |
| сям'я | family | — |
| п'еса | play (theatre) | — |
| аб'ява | announcement | — |
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