Lithuanian Alphabet at a Glance
- 32 letters: 12 vowels (6 short and 6 long) and 20 consonants based on Latin script
- Spoken by approximately 3.2 million people worldwide, primarily in Lithuania [3]
- Official language of Lithuania and one of official languages of European Union
- Most archaic living Indo-European language preserving ancient linguistic features
- Distinctive diacritical marks: ogonek (ą, ę, į, ų), macron (ū), dot above (ė), and caron (č, š, ž)
- Vowel length distinction crucial for pronunciation and meaning
- Language standards maintained by State Commission of Lithuanian Language [1]
Lithuanian Vowel Letters
The Lithuanian alphabet includes 12 vowels: 6 short vowels and 6 long vowels that distinguish meaning and grammatical forms in Lithuanian.
Lithuanian Vowels (Uppercase)
Lithuanian Vowels (Lowercase)
Lithuanian Consonant Letters
The Lithuanian alphabet contains 20 consonants, many of which can be palatalized to create soft sounds that are crucial for proper pronunciation.
For example:
In the word "širdis" (heart), the vowels I and I combine with the consonants Š, R, D, and S to form a complete Lithuanian word with distinctive consonant sounds.
Lithuanian Consonants (Uppercase)
Lithuanian Consonants (Lowercase)
Complete Lithuanian Alphabet
Long Vowels (Ilgieji balsiai)
Long vowels in Lithuanian are marked with various diacritics and are essential for proper pronunciation and meaning.
Long Vowels (Ilgieji balsiai)
Letters with Ogonek (Nosinis)
The ogonek (˛) creates nasal vowel sounds that are distinctive features of Lithuanian.
Letters with Ogonek (Nosinės raidės)
Letters with Macron (Ilgumas)
The macron (¯) indicates long vowel sounds in Lithuanian.
Letter with Macron (Ilgoji raidė)
Letters with Dot Above (Taškas)
The dot above modifies certain vowel sounds in Lithuanian.
Letter with Dot Above (Taškas viršuje)
Letters with Caron (Paukščiukas)
The caron (ˇ) modifies consonant pronunciation in Lithuanian.
Letters with Caron (Paukščiukas)
Vowel Length Variants
Lithuanian distinguishes between short and long vowels, affecting both pronunciation and meaning.
Vowel Length Variants
Complete Lithuanian Alphabet Pronunciation Guide
Comprehensive pronunciation guide for all Lithuanian letters including numbers.
Complete Lithuanian Alphabet Pronunciation Guide
Special Characters and Punctuation
Lithuanian-Specific Letters
Letters with diacritics unique to Lithuanian, including both lowercase and uppercase forms.
Lithuanian-Specific Letters (Lowercase)
Lithuanian-Specific Letters (Uppercase)
All Lithuanian Diacritical Letters
Complete collection of all 9 Lithuanian letters with diacritical marks.
All Lithuanian Diacritical Letters
Nasal Vowels (Nosiniai balsiai)
Lithuanian vowels with nasalization, marked with ogonek diacritic.
Nasal Vowels (Nosiniai balsiai)
E-Type Vowel Variants
Different forms of the vowel E in Lithuanian, each with distinct pronunciation.
E-Type Vowel Variants
I-Type Vowel Variants
Different forms of the vowel I in Lithuanian, including nasal and long variants.
I-Type Vowel Variants
U-Type Vowel Variants
Different forms of the vowel U in Lithuanian, including nasal and long variants.
U-Type Vowel Variants
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
References:
- [1] State Commission of the Lithuanian Language. "Lithuanian Language Orthography". Retrieved from Lithuanian Language Commission
- [2] Unicode Consortium. "Latin Extended-B Block". Retrieved from Unicode Latin Extended-B
- [3] Statistics Lithuania. "Lithuania in Figures". Retrieved from Lithuania Statistics
Sambhu Raj Singh ·