The Khmer alphabet has the largest number of letters in the Guinness Book of Records. It has 72 letters. This language is spoken in Cambodia.
However greatest number letters contains the Ubykh alphabet - 91 letters. Ubykh language (the language of one of the Caucasian peoples) is considered one of the record holders for sound diversity: according to experts, there are up to 80 consonant phonemes.
Under Soviet rule, serious changes were made to the alphabets of all peoples living on the territory of the USSR: in the Russian language towards reducing the number of letters, and in other languages, mainly towards increasing them. After perestroika, the number of letters in the alphabets of many peoples living on the territory of the former Soviet republics decreased.
In modern Russian there are 33 letters. By official sources, before the reform of Cyril and Methodius, the Russian language had 43 letters, and according to unofficial ones - 49.
The first 5 letters were thrown out by Cyril and Methodius, because there were no corresponding sounds in the Greek language, and for four they were given Greek names. Yaroslav the Wise removed one more letter, leaving 43. Peter I reduced it to 38. Nicholas II to 35. As part of Lunacharsky’s reform, the letters “yat”, “fita” and “and decimal” were excluded from the alphabet (E, F should be used instead , И), and also the hard sign (Ъ) at the end of words and parts would be excluded difficult words, but was preserved as separator(rise, adjutant).
In addition, Lunacharsky removed images from the Initial Letter, leaving only phonemes, i.e. the language has become unimaginative = ugly. So instead of the Primer, the Alphabet appeared.
Until 1942, it was officially believed that there were 32 letters in the Russian alphabet, since E and E were considered to be variants of the same letter.
The Ukrainian alphabet includes 33 letters: compared to Russian, Ёё, Ъъ, ыы, Ее are not used, but Ґґ, Єє, Іі and Її are present.
The Belarusian alphabet currently has 32 letters. Compared with Russian alphabet i, ь, ъ are not used, but the letters i and ў are added, and the digraphs j and d are also sometimes considered to have the status of letters.
The Yakut language uses an alphabet based on Cyrillic, which contains the entire Russian alphabet, plus five additional letters and two combinations. 4 diphthongs are also used.
The Kazakh and Bashkir Cyrillic alphabet contains 42 letters.
The current Chechen alphabet contains 49 letters (compiled on a graphical basis Russian alphabet in 1938). In 1992, the Chechen leadership decided to introduce an alphabet based on the Latin script of 41 letters. This alphabet was used to a limited extent in parallel with the Cyrillic alphabet in the period from 1992 to 2000.
The Armenian alphabet contains 38 letters, however, after the reform in 1940, the ligature "
և “undeservedly received the status of a letter that does not have a capital letter - thus the number of letters became, as it were, “thirty-eight and a half.”The Tatar alphabet after the translation of Tatar writing in 1939 from Latinized alphabet on alphabet based on Russian graphics contained 38 letters, and after 1999 an alphabet based on the Latin script of 34 letters was widely used.
The Kyrgyz Cyrillic alphabet, adopted in 1940, contains 36 letters.
The modern Mongolian alphabet contains 35 letters and differs from Russian by two additional letters: Ө and Ү.
In 1940, the Uzbek alphabet, like the alphabets of other peoples of the USSR, was translated into Cyrillic and contained 35 letters. In the 90s of the last century, the Uzbek authorities decided to translate the Uzbek language into the Latin alphabet and the alphabet became 28 letters.
The modern Georgian alphabet consists of 33 letters.
There are 31 letters in the Macedonian and Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet. The Finnish alphabet also consists of 31 letters.
The Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet includes 30 letters - compared to Russian, it lacks the letters Y, E and E.
The Tibetan alphabet consists of 30 letter-syllables, which are considered consonants. Each of them, constituting the initial letter of a syllable and not having another vowel sign, is accompanied by the sound “a” when pronounced.
The Swedish and Norwegian alphabet has 29 letters.
The Arabic alphabet contains 28 letters. The Spanish alphabet has 27 letters.
There are 26 letters in the Latin, English, German and French alphabet.
The Italian alphabet “officially” consists of 21 letters, but in reality it has 26 letters.
The Greek alphabet has 24 letters, and the standard Portuguese alphabet has 23 letters.
There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet; there is no difference between uppercase and lowercase letters.
The least number of letters in the alphabet is the Rotokas tribe from the island of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. There are only eleven of them (a, b, e, g, i, k, o, p, t, u) - 6 of them are consonants.
Considering how many letters there are in the language of one of the Papuan tribes, it is interesting that in all alphabets the number of letters gradually changes, usually downward.
A change in the number of letters in the alphabet in all countries of the world, as a rule, occurs with the advent of a new government so that the younger generation finds itself cut off from the language, literature, culture and traditions of their ancestors, and after some time speaks a completely different language.
To record spoken speech, letters are required. In Russian modern language 33 letters that make up the Russian alphabet. All necessary information about the alphabet is presented in our article.
Short story
Who created the Russian alphabet? The question is not so obvious. After all, over the course of ancient times, many changes have been made to it, many reforms have been carried out.
In Rus', the alphabet - Cyrillic - appeared in connection with the adoption of Christianity, and it was required primarily in the church. Each letter had a name (for example, a - az, b - beeches, c - lead, etc.) Numbers were also designated by letters. They wrote without spaces or punctuation marks. Long and well-known words were written abbreviated, putting a special sign over them - a title. To make it easier for monks learning to read to remember the alphabet in order, they were offered a special prayer to memorize (“alphabet”), where each line began with the letter b alphabetical order(the first - on az, the second - on beeches, etc.).
There is no doubt that the creators of the first Slavic alphabet- Saints Cyril and Methodius. But what is the first alphabet? There is an opinion that Kirill created the Glagolitic alphabet, and the Cyrillic alphabet, which is the basis modern alphabet, - the creation of a disciple of St. Cyril, Kliment Ohridski.
Many reforms to the Russian alphabet were intended to bring it closer to what sounds are actually still used in speech. Therefore, the letters Ѯ, Ѱ, Ѳ, Ѵ and several others disappeared.
Oral speech is primary, so the alphabet is designed to reflect its phonetic composition.
Letters of the Russian alphabet
The Russian, as well as the Latin, alphabet is based on Greek. Many letters are very similar even now. For example, β - in, π - n, etc. However, the sound composition Greek language different from Slavic. Therefore, Cyril and Methodius slightly increased the number of letters, trying to ensure that the alphabet had signs for all vowels and consonants. We don't have to resort to using special symbols or writing 2-3 letters to convey one sound.
Learning the alphabet
Letters in Russian, as in any other alphabet, are arranged in in a certain order. Naturally, it is random. So is it necessary to memorize the Russian alphabet in order? Of course you need it! After all, it is in this sequence that words are located in the dictionary and the names of children in the school magazine, books in the library and articles in the encyclopedia - any elements of any list. Of course, at the beginning of the dictionary the alphabet is usually given for those who could not remember it, but it is always better to know it yourself than to rely on a hint.
Learning the alphabet is not difficult. The Russian language alphabet for children in the form of a poster with colorful pictures can be bought at any store for schoolchildren. There are many poems and songs for learning the alphabet in order. For foreigners learning the Russian language, a table of transcription of the Russian alphabet may be useful, which suggests not only the style of letters, but also their pronunciation.
What have we learned?
From the article we learned that the basis of the Russian alphabet is its Greek counterpart. We found out who and when the alphabet was invented. Answered the question why Everyday life know the order of letters in the alphabet.
(alphabet) - a set of graphic signs - letters in a prescribed sequence, which create the written and printed form of the national Russian language. Includes 33 letters: a, b, c, d, d, f, e, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u, f, x, ts, ch, sh, sch, ъ, s, ь, e, yu, i. Most letters in writing graphically different from printed ones. Except ъ, ы, ь, all letters are used in two versions: uppercase and lowercase. In printed form, the variants of most letters are graphically identical (they differ only in size; cf., however, B and b); in written form, in many cases, the spelling of uppercase and lowercase letters differs from each other (A and a, T, etc.).
The Russian alphabet conveys the phonemic and sound composition of Russian speech: 20 letters convey consonant sounds (b, p, v, f, d, t, z, s, zh, sh, ch, ts, shch, g, k, x, m, n, l, p), 10 letters - vowels, of which a, e, o, s, i, u - only vowels, i, e, e, yu - softness of the preceding consonant + a, e, o, u or combinations j + vowel (“five”, “forest”, “ice”, “hatch”; “pit”, “ride”, “tree”, “young”); the letter "y" conveys "and non-syllabic" ("fight") and in some cases the consonant j ("yog"). Two letters: “ъ” ( solid sign) and “ь” (soft sign) do not denote separate independent sounds. The letter “b” serves to indicate the softness of the preceding consonants, paired in hardness - softness (“mol” - “mol”), after the hissing letters “b” it is an indicator in writing of some grammatical forms (3rd declension nouns - “daughter”, but “brick”, imperative mood - “cut”, etc.). The letters “ь” and “ъ” also act as a dividing sign (“rise”, “beat”).
The modern Russian alphabet in its composition and basic letter styles goes back to the ancient Cyrillic alphabet, the alphabet of which dates back to the 11th century. changed in form and composition. Russian alphabet in modern form was introduced by the reforms of Peter I (1708-1710) and the Academy of Sciences (1735, 1738 and 1758), the result of which was to simplify the letterforms and exclude some outdated characters from the alphabet. Thus, the letters Ѡ (“omega”), Ꙋ (“uk”), Ꙗ, Ѥ (iotized a, e), Ѯ (“xi”), Ѱ (“psi”), digraphs Ѿ (“from”) were excluded , OU (“y”), accent and aspiration signs (strength), abbreviation signs (titles), etc. New letters were introduced: i (instead of Ꙗ and Ѧ), e, y. Later N.M. Karamzin introduced the letter “е” (1797). These changes served to transform the old Church Slavonic print for secular publications (hence the subsequent name of the printed font - “civil”). Some excluded letters were later restored and excluded, some of the extra letters continued to be used in Russian writing and printing until 1917, when the decree of the People's Commissariat of Education of December 23, 1917, confirmed by the decree of the Council People's Commissars dated October 10, 1918, the letters Ѣ, Ѳ, І (“yat”, “fita”, “і decimal”) were excluded from the alphabet. The use of the letter “е” in print is not strictly mandatory; it is used mainly in dictionaries and educational literature.
The Russian “civil” alphabet served as the basis for most of the writing systems of the peoples of the USSR, as well as for some other languages that have a written language based on the Cyrillic alphabet.
| Ahh | [A] | Kk | [ka] | Xx | [Ha] |
| BB | [bae] | Ll | [el] | Tsts | [tse] |
| Vv | [ve] | Mm | [Em] | Hh | [che] |
| GG | [ge] | Nn | [en] | Shh | [sha] |
| Dd | [de] | Ooh | [O] | Shch | [sha] |
| Her | [e] | pp | [pe] | Kommersant | [hard sign, old. er] |
| Her | [ё] | RR | [er] | Yyy | [s] |
| LJ | [zhe] | Ss | [es] | bb | [soft sign, old er] |
| Zz | [ze] | Tt | [te] | Uh | [er reverse] |
| Ii | [And] | Ooh | [y] | Yuyu | [Yu] |
| Yikes | [and short] | Ff | [ef] | Yaya | [I] |
- Bylinsky K.I., Kryuchkov S.E., Svetlaev M.V., Use of the letter e. Directory, M., 1943;
- Dieringer D., Alphabet, translation from English, M., 1963;
- Istrin V. A., The emergence and development of writing, M., 1965;
- Musaev K. M., Alphabets of the languages of the peoples of the USSR, M., 1965;
- Ivanova V.F., Modern Russian language. Graphics and spelling, 2nd ed., M., 1976;
- Moiseev A.I., Modern Russian alphabet and alphabets of other peoples of the USSR, RYASh, 1982, No. 6;
- see also the literature under the article
In writing we use letters in oral speech- sounds. We use letters to represent the sounds we pronounce. There is no simple and direct correspondence between letters and sounds: there are letters that do not denote sounds, there are cases when a letter means two sounds, and cases when several letters mean one sound. Modern Russian has 33 letters and 42 sounds.
Kinds
Letters are vowels and consonants. The letters soft sign and hard sign do not form sounds; there are no words in the Russian language that begin with these letters. The Russian language is “vocal”; Russian words have many vowels (o, e, i, a) and voiced consonants (n, l, v, m, r). There are significantly fewer noisy, deaf, hissing ones (zh, ch, sh, shch, c, f). The vowels yu, e, ё are also rarely used. On a letter, instead of the letter ё, the letter e is often written without losing the meaning.
Alphabet
The letters of the Russian language are listed below in alphabetical order. Uppercase and lowercase letters are shown and their names are indicated. Vowels are marked in red, consonants are in blue, letters ь, ъ are in grey.
A a B b C c D d E d e e e f f g h h i i j j K k L l M m N n O o P p R r S s T t U u F f X x C t H h Sh sh sch q y y b ee y y I
The letter L is called "el" or "el", the letter E is sometimes called "E reverse".
Numbering
Numbers of letters of the Russian alphabet in forward and reverse order:
| Letter | A | B | IN | G | D | E | Yo | AND | Z | AND | Y | TO | L | M | N | ABOUT | P | R | WITH | T | U | F | X | C | H | Sh | SCH | Kommersant | Y | b | E | YU | I |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | |
| 33 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
The alphabet of the Russian language contains centuries-old history. And although this is a well-known truth, few know who invented it and when.
Where did the Russian alphabet come from?
The history of the Russian alphabet goes back to ancient times, during the pagan times. Kievan Rus.
The order to create the Russian alphabet came from the Emperor of Byzantium, Michael III, who instructed the brother monks to develop the letters of the Russian alphabet, later called the Cyrillic alphabet. This happened in 863.
The Cyrillic alphabet had its roots in the Greek script, but since Cyril and Methodius came from Bulgaria, this land became a center for the spread of literacy and writing. Church Greek and Latin books began to be translated into Old Church Slavonic. After several centuries it became exclusively the language of the church, but played important role in the development of the modern Russian language. Many consonants and vowels have not survived to this day, since this Russian alphabet has undergone many changes. The main transformations affected the alphabet during the time of Peter and during the October Revolution.
How many letters are in the alphabet?
However, it is interesting not only who invented the Russian alphabet, but also how many letters it contains. Most people, even as adults, doubt how many there are: 32 or 33. And what can we say about children! There is every reason for this. Let's dive into history.
The Old Church Slavonic alphabet (as it came down to us in written sources) had 43 letters. Subsequently, 4 more letters were added, and 14 were removed, since the sounds they denoted ceased to be pronounced or merged with similar sounds. In the 19th century, Russian historian and writer N. Karamzin introduced the letter “ё” into the alphabet.
For a long time, “E” and “E” were considered one letter, so it was common to think that there are 32 letters in the alphabet.
Only after 1942 they were separated, and the alphabet became 33 letters.
The alphabet of the Russian language in its current form is divided into vowels and consonants.
We pronounce vowels freely: the sound passes through without obstacles. vocal cords.
Consonant sounds require an obstacle in the way to be created. In modern Russian, these letters and sounds are in the following relationship, while the number of sounds and letters will be different:
- - sounds: vowels – 6, consonants – 37;
- - letters: vowels - 10, consonants - 21.
If we don’t go into details and say briefly, this is explained by the fact that some vowel letters (e, ё, yu, ya) can denote two sounds, and consonants have pairs of hardness and softness.
By spelling, letters are distinguished between uppercase and lowercase letters:
Their writing is associated with the need to highlight proper and common nouns in the text (capitals are used for the latter, as well as for writing words in general).
Learning the order of letters
Even if your baby knows what the letters are called, closer to school age The problem arises in that you need to remember the letters in order in the alphabet. Most children for a long time confuses letters and cannot arrange them in order in the right order. Although it is very easy to help a child. There are several ways to do this.
Photos and pictures for kids
Pictures and photos with letters can help you learn the alphabet. You can download them on our website, print them, stick them on thick cardboard and practice with your child.
How can pictures and photos attached to letter symbols be useful?
Beautiful design, bright colors will definitely attract the attention of kids. Children are interested in everything unusual, colorful - and learning goes faster and more exciting. The Russian alphabet and pictures will become best friends in lessons for kids.
Russian alphabet in pictures for children. 
Table with cards of the Russian alphabet. Another option is a table of letters with numbers, numbers
You can also easily download and print it on the website. A numbered letter list for children can make learning the alphabet order much easier for those who can count. This is how the children firmly remember how many letters are in the alphabet, and the accompanying photos and pictures that the table includes help build an associative series. So someone came up with a great idea - to teach the alphabet with pictures and photos.
Russian alphabet with numbering of letters. Educational cartoons
No one will argue with the fact that all children love cartoons. But this love can be put to good use and you can learn the alphabet with the help of specially created educational cartoons. They include excerpts from Soviet cartoons, bright letter symbols, pictures, and songs. Musical accompaniment forces children to hum and rhyme the alphabet, and this way they remember it much faster.
— “The alphabet in cartoons”
This cartoon can be viewed here:
This is an excellent video tutorial for children. There is not only writing and reading letters, but also excerpts from cartoons, images of what words with a particular letter mean, etc. The baby will have no choice but to remember the song and the order of the letters.
— “Learning letters: the alphabet in verse”
You can watch this cartoon here:
In addition to colorful cartoons and melodic music, the cartoon “Learning Letters: The ABC in Poems” offers simple verses that are easy to remember and tell the child which letter is next in the alphabet.
— “ABC for Kids” by Berg Sound Studio
This is a great cartoon for those children who are already familiar with the alphabet and are trying to read. Here we learn the alphabet and rules for writing words with the Computer and its assistant File. Using words as an example, they tell kids how to read, and what place the letters occupy in the alphabet, as well as how many letters there are in the Russian alphabet. This fascinating cartoon lasts 30-40 minutes, so you will have to be patient. But for children it will not be needed: the material is presented in game form, and the guys don’t get bored.
You can view the cartoon here
— “Learning letters with the cat Busya”
You can download the cartoon here
The main character is the cat Busya, who emerged from an illustrated primer to show children how letters look and are read. The cartoon has not only colorful drawings, but also musical accompaniment. Busya the cat reads short poems dedicated to a specific letter.
— “Learning the Russian alphabet”
It’s easy to watch this cartoon here
It consists of viewing an illustrated primer, and a male voice pleasantly and leisurely reads short poems dedicated to letters.
Thus, learning the alphabet should be interesting for children, then they will quickly and easily master the material. We teach in a fun and unobtrusive way