Postby Oleksij » 2005-08-13, 16:43
Hello again.
I still haven't finished the pronounciation/alphabet introduction.
6. "ї" is a special letter in Ukrainian. It can only appear at the beginning of word or after apostrophe. It is pronounced "ji" as in "yield".
7. The apostrophe in Ukrainian is used before the letters "я", "є", "ї", "ю" to show those are pronounced seperately and are not softening the previous consonant. For example: "м'ясо", [mjáso]- "meat" and "праця", [prátsia]- labour, work. The letter "я" in the first example is pronounced [ja], as in Germanic "ja" (yes). In the second word, it is pronounced like [a], but softening the previous consonant.
The apostrophe can be used:
1. After "б", "п", "в", "м", "ф", if these letters are standing: a) at the beginning of a root. eg б'ю, [bju]- I hit, п'є, [pje]- he/she/it drinks, м'яч, [mjach]- ball.
b) after a vowel and "р". eg арф'яр, [arfjár]- harp player.
2. After "hard" "p". eg матір'ю, [mátirju]- mother (instr. case)
3. After prefixes ending in a consonant. eg з'явитися, [zjavýtysia]- to appear, під'їхати,[pidjíkhaty]- to drive in/closer.
Looks difficult? It certainly does. But all this is pretty easy in practice.
See you soon!