Nje facts for kids

Cyrillic letter Nyeh
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

The Cyrillic letter Nyeh (Њ, њ) is a special letter that looks like a combination of the letters Н and Ь. It is used in the Macedonian and Serbian languages. This letter makes a sound similar to the "ñ" in the Spanish word "señor." Think of it like the "ny" sound in "canyon" or "onion."

Understanding the Nyeh Letter

The Nyeh letter is a unique part of the Cyrillic alphabet. It helps speakers of Serbian and Macedonian make specific sounds. These sounds are important for pronouncing words correctly in their languages.

How Nyeh Sounds

The sound of Nyeh (њ) is a palatal nasal consonant. This means you make the sound by touching the middle of your tongue to the roof of your mouth (your palate) while air comes out through your nose. It's the same sound you hear in the Polish letter "ń" or the Czech and Slovak letter "ň."

Where Nyeh is Used

You will find the Nyeh letter mainly in:

• Serbian language: It is a key letter in the Serbian alphabet.
• Macedonian language: It is also an important part of the Macedonian alphabet.

The History of Nyeh

The letter Nyeh, along with another letter called Lje (Љ), was created by a very important person named Vuk Karadžić.

Who Was Vuk Karadžić?

Vuk Karadžić (1787–1864) was a Serbian linguist and reformer. He is famous for reforming the Serbian language and its alphabet. He wanted to make the Serbian language easier to write and read. His rule was "Write as you speak, and read as it is written."

Why Nyeh Was Created

Before Karadžić's reforms, the Serbian language used a more complex version of the Cyrillic alphabet. He simplified it by creating new letters like Nyeh and Lje. These new letters helped represent specific sounds that were common in Serbian speech. This made the alphabet more phonetic, meaning each letter usually stands for one sound.

Nyeh in Other Alphabets

While Nyeh is specific to Serbian and Macedonian Cyrillic, the sound it represents exists in many other languages. For example:

• In Spanish, it's written as "ñ" (as in "piñata").
• In Portuguese, it's often "nh" (as in "vinho").
• In French and Italian, it can be "gn" (as in "champagne" or "lasagna").
• In English, this sound sometimes appears as "ny" (as in "canyon").

This shows how different languages find ways to write the same sounds.