Apostrophe (') and Separating Soft Sign (ь)

In Belarusian (Taraškievica), the apostrophe separates a consonant from a following iotated vowel (е, ё, ю, я). It shows that the consonant stays hard and the vowel keeps its full [j] sound.

сям'я — family (syam-YA, not syamya)

аб'ём — volume (ab-YOM)

з'ява — phenomenon (z-YA-va)

п'еса — play (theatrical) (p-YE-sa)

The soft sign 'ь' softens the preceding consonant. When placed before iotated vowels (е, ё, і, ю, я), it separates and also softens.

сьлёзы — tears (s'LO-zy — soft с)

зьява — phenomenon (z'YA-va — soft з)

пісьмо — letter/writing (pis'-MO)

дзьверы — door (dz'VE-ry)

• Apostrophe (') → consonant stays HARD, vowel has [j] • Soft sign (ь) → consonant becomes SOFT Compare: сям'я (hard м + ya) vs. сьмех (soft с + мех)

Vocabulary

Practice

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