Lje facts for kids
The Cyrillic letter Lyeh (Љ, љ) is a special letter used in the Cyrillic alphabet. It looks like a combination of two other Cyrillic letters: Л (which sounds like 'L') and Ь (which makes sounds softer).
| Cyrillic letter Lyeh | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Cyrillic alphabet | ||||||
| А | Б | В | Г | Ґ | Д | Ђ |
| Ѓ | Е | Ѐ | Ё | Є | Ж | З |
| Ѕ | И | Ѝ | І | Ї | Й | Ј |
| К | Л | Љ | М | Н | Њ | О |
| П | Р | С | Т | Ћ | Ќ | У |
| Ў | Ф | Х | Ц | Ч | Џ | Ш |
| Щ | Ъ | Ы | Ь | Э | Ю | Я |
| Non-Slavic letters | ||||||
| Ӑ | Ӓ | Ә | Ӛ | Ӕ | Ғ | Ҕ |
| Ӻ | Ӷ | Ԁ | Ԃ | Ӗ | Ӂ | Җ |
| Ӝ | Ԅ | Ҙ | Ӟ | Ԑ | Ӡ | Ԇ |
| Ӣ | Ҋ | Ӥ | Қ | Ӄ | Ҡ | Ҟ |
| Ҝ | Ԟ | Ԛ | Ӆ | Ԓ | Ԡ | Ԉ |
| Ԕ | Ӎ | Ӊ | Ң | Ӈ | Ҥ | Ԣ |
| Ԋ | Ӧ | Ө | Ӫ | Ҩ | Ҧ | Ҏ |
| Ԗ | Ҫ | Ԍ | Ҭ | Ԏ | Ӯ | Ӱ |
| Ӳ | Ү | Ұ | Ҳ | Ӽ | Ӿ | Һ |
| Ҵ | Ҷ | Ӵ | Ӌ | Ҹ | Ҽ | Ҿ |
| Ӹ | Ҍ | Ӭ | Ԙ | Ԝ | Ӏ | |
| Old letters | ||||||
| Ҁ | Ѻ | ОУ | Ѡ | Ѿ | Ѣ | Ꙗ |
| Ѥ | Ѧ | Ѫ | Ѩ | Ѭ | Ѯ | Ѱ |
| Ѳ | Ѵ | Ꙟ | ||||
| List of Cyrillic letters | ||||||
| Cyrillic digraphs | ||||||
Contents
What is the Lyeh letter?
The Lyeh letter is a unique character in the Cyrillic alphabet. It was created to represent a specific sound. This sound is often described as a soft 'L' sound. Think of the 'li' in the English word "million," but it's not exactly the same. It's a bit softer and made with the middle of your tongue touching the roof of your mouth.
Where is Lyeh used?
You will find the Lyeh letter mainly in the Serbian and Macedonian alphabets. These languages use it to write words that have this particular soft 'L' sound.
How does Lyeh sound?
The sound of Lyeh is called a "palatal lateral approximant." This is a fancy way of saying it's an 'L' sound made by touching the middle of your tongue to the hard part of the roof of your mouth (the palate). Air then flows around the sides of your tongue. It's similar to the 'ly' sound in some English words, but it's a distinct sound in Serbian and Macedonian.
How is Lyeh written in other alphabets?
When words with Lyeh are written using the Latin alphabet (like the one English uses), it's called "romanization." The Lyeh letter (Љ, љ) is often written as the Latin digraph "Lj" (like in "Belgrade" which is "Beograd" in Serbian, but if it had an Lyeh, it would be "Beoljgrad"). Sometimes, it's also written as an 'L' with a special mark called a caron, like this: "Ľ" or "ľ".
Who created the Lyeh letter?
The Lyeh letter was created by a very important person named Vuk Karadžić. He was a Serbian linguist and reformer. In the 19th century, he worked to simplify and standardize the Serbian language and its alphabet. He wanted the alphabet to be easy to use, with one letter for each sound. So, he designed Lyeh to represent this specific soft 'L' sound. His work made reading and writing Serbian much easier for everyone.
See also
