Greek vs. Cyrillic Alphabet
The Cyrillic alphabet — used today for Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Mongolian, and dozens of other languages — descends directly from the Greek alphabet. Many Cyrillic letters look identical to their Greek counterparts; many others derive from Greek shapes with modifications; a few were invented from scratch to represent Slavic sounds Greek didn't have. This guide explains the relationship between the two scripts, with side-by-side comparisons.
How Cyrillic Came From Greek
In 863 CE, the Byzantine emperor Michael III sent two brothers — Saints Cyril and Methodius — to Great Moravia (modern Czech Republic and Slovakia) to spread Christianity among the Slavs. To translate the Bible and liturgy into Slavic, Cyril designed a new alphabet now called Glagolitic, with elaborate, distinctive shapes unrelated to Greek letters.
Within a generation, Cyril's students in Bulgaria developed a simpler script based directly on Greek uncial (capital) letters, with new letters added for Slavic sounds Greek didn't have. This second script, named Cyrillic in Cyril's honor, became standard across the Slavic Orthodox world from the 10th century onward. Cyrillic later spread north (into Russia), east (into Central Asia under the Soviet Union), and is now used by roughly 250 million people.
So while Cyril and Methodius didn't directly create Cyrillic, the alphabet bears Cyril's name because his earlier work to evangelize the Slavs created the conditions for it. The actual Cyrillic alphabet is the work of their students, especially Clement of Ohrid.
Letters That Look (and Sound) the Same in Both
About a dozen Greek letters carried over to Cyrillic with no change in form and only minor changes in sound:
| Greek | Cyrillic | Sound | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Α α | А а | [a] | Identical shape and sound |
| Ε ε | Е е | [e] or [ye] | Russian Е sounds [ye] at the start; [e] after consonants |
| Ζ ζ | З з | [z] | Cyrillic З is shaped like the Greek lunate version of zeta |
| Ι ι | І і | [i] | Survives in Ukrainian; modern Russian uses И instead |
| Κ κ | К к | [k] | Identical shape and sound |
| Μ μ | М м | [m] | Capital identical; lowercase differs |
| Ν ν | Н н | [n] | Capital identical to Greek N — but Cyrillic Н is the "n" sound, NOT "h" |
| Ο ο | О о | [o] | Identical |
| Τ τ | Т т | [t] | Identical |
Letters That Look the Same but Sound Different
This is where things get tricky for readers of both alphabets — letters with identical Greek and Cyrillic shapes but completely different sounds. If you've learned the Greek alphabet first, these will trip you up.
| Shape | Greek meaning | Cyrillic meaning |
|---|---|---|
| В в | (not used) | The letter "ve" — sounds [v] |
| Н н | (not used as such) | The letter "en" — sounds [n], NOT "h" |
| Р р | Rho — [r] | The letter "er" — also [r]; same sound |
| С с | (not used) | The letter "es" — sounds [s] |
| У у | (not used) | The letter "u" — sounds [u] |
| Х х | Chi — [x] or [kʰ] | The letter "kha" — sounds [x], same as Greek chi |
| Ь ь | (not used) | Soft sign — modifies the preceding consonant, has no sound itself |
The classic "fake friend" pairs:
- Cyrillic В = Latin V. A Greek learner reads it as "B" — wrong.
- Cyrillic Н = Latin N. A Greek learner reads it as "H" or "Eta" — wrong; it's just N.
- Cyrillic Р = Latin R (rolled). Same sound as Greek rho; same trap as in Greek (looks like Latin P).
- Cyrillic С = Latin S. Looks like a lunate sigma; sounds the same as Greek σ.
- Cyrillic У = Latin U. Looks like upsilon (Υ); sound is the same as Greek υ.
- Cyrillic Х = the same [x] sound as Greek chi. Looks identical.
The famous Russian word "РЕСТОРАН" (restaurant) is read "restoran" — but to someone trained on Greek, it might at first read as something like "pectopah".
Greek Letters Modified for Slavic Sounds
Several Cyrillic letters are clearly Greek-derived but were modified to represent sounds Greek didn't have:
| Cyrillic | Derived from | Sound | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Б б | Greek beta (Β) | [b] | Modified shape to distinguish from В (which kept the original beta form) |
| Г г | Greek gamma (Γ) | [g] (or [h] in Ukrainian) | Same shape; same sound originally |
| Д д | Greek delta (Δ) | [d] | Slightly modified shape |
| Л л | Greek lambda (Λ) | [l] | Capital sometimes looks like a Latin Λ; lowercase rounded |
| П п | Greek pi (Π) | [p] | Same shape; Greek π sound; Cyrillic gives it the [p] sound |
| Ф ф | Greek phi (Φ) | [f] | Same shape; Greek modern sound |
| И и | Greek eta (Η) | [i] | Eta merged with iota in late Greek; Cyrillic preserves this merger; the shape rotated 90° |
| Й й | Greek iota (Ι) with breve | [j] (short i / y-glide) | Cyrillic version of iota subscript / approximant |
Letters Invented Just for Cyrillic
Several sounds in Slavic languages have no Greek counterpart, so Cyrillic invented new letters. Most of these come from the Glagolitic script Cyril originally designed:
| Letter | Sound | Why it was needed |
|---|---|---|
| Ж ж | [ʒ] like "s" in "measure" | Slavic has this sound; Greek doesn't |
| Ц ц | [ts] | Combined-sound letter for the Slavic affricate |
| Ч ч | [tʃ] like "ch" in "church" | Slavic has this; Greek χ is different |
| Ш ш | [ʃ] like "sh" | Slavic has this; Greek doesn't |
| Щ щ | [ʃtʃ] or [ɕː] | Sound varies by language; Russian has it |
| Ъ ъ | Hard sign — no sound, marks lack of palatalization | For grammatical clarity in Russian |
| Ы ы | [ɨ] back unrounded vowel | A vowel position Greek doesn't use |
| Ь ь | Soft sign — no sound, marks palatalization | Russian morphological marker |
| Э э | [e] hard e | For loanwords and Russian-specific contexts |
| Ю ю | [yu] | Combined letter for yu sound |
| Я я | [ya] | Combined letter for ya sound |
Full Side-by-Side Comparison
The complete Greek alphabet alongside the modern Russian Cyrillic alphabet. Greek is 24 letters; modern Russian Cyrillic is 33.
| Position | Greek | Name | Cyrillic equivalent | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Α α | Alpha | А а | Same shape, same sound [a] |
| 2 | Β β | Beta | В в | В kept the beta shape; sounds [v] |
| 3 | Γ γ | Gamma | Г г | Same shape; Cyrillic sounds [g] |
| 4 | Δ δ | Delta | Д д | Modified delta; sounds [d] |
| 5 | Ε ε | Epsilon | Е е, Э э | Е and Э both descend from epsilon |
| 6 | Ζ ζ | Zeta | З з | From Greek lunate ζ; sounds [z] |
| 7 | Η η | Eta | И и | Eta merged with iota; Cyrillic И rotates the H shape |
| 8 | Θ θ | Theta | (none in modern Russian) | Old Cyrillic had Ѳ ѳ ("fita"); dropped in 1918 Russian reform |
| 9 | Ι ι | Iota | І і, Й й | І survives in Ukrainian/Belarusian; Й is the short-form |
| 10 | Κ κ | Kappa | К к | Identical shape, [k] |
| 11 | Λ λ | Lambda | Л л | Same source; modified shape |
| 12 | Μ μ | Mu | М м | Identical capital; lowercase differs |
| 13 | Ν ν | Nu | Н н | Same shape; Cyrillic sounds [n] |
| 14 | Ξ ξ | Xi | (none in modern Russian) | Old Cyrillic had Ѯ ѯ ("ksi"); dropped in 1708 Petrine reform |
| 15 | Ο ο | Omicron | О о | Identical |
| 16 | Π π | Pi | П п | Same shape; Cyrillic sounds [p] |
| 17 | Ρ ρ | Rho | Р р | Same shape; both sound [r] |
| 18 | Σ σ ς | Sigma | С с | Cyrillic С comes from Greek lunate sigma (Ϲ) |
| 19 | Τ τ | Tau | Т т | Same shape, same sound [t] |
| 20 | Υ υ | Upsilon | У у | Same shape; Cyrillic sounds [u] |
| 21 | Φ φ | Phi | Ф ф | Same shape, same sound [f] |
| 22 | Χ χ | Chi | Х х | Same shape, same sound [x] |
| 23 | Ψ ψ | Psi | (none in modern Russian) | Old Cyrillic had Ѱ ѱ; dropped in 1708 |
| 24 | Ω ω | Omega | (none in modern Russian) | Old Cyrillic had Ѡ ѡ; dropped in 1708 |
Tips for Reading Both Alphabets
If you're learning one and already know the other, watch out for these traps:
- В is not B. In Cyrillic, В is the "v" sound. (In Greek, β is also a [v] sound in modern pronunciation, so they actually match — but in Erasmian/biblical Greek, β is [b].)
- Н is not H. Cyrillic Н is just N. Greek H (eta) is "ay" or "ee."
- Р is not P. Both Greek ρ and Cyrillic Р sound [r]. Latin P doesn't appear in either.
- У is not Y. Cyrillic У is just U. Greek Υ (upsilon) is "ee" in modern Greek.
- С is not C. Cyrillic С is the "s" sound, derived from lunate sigma. There's no Cyrillic letter that sounds like English "k" except К.
- Х is the "kh" sound in both Cyrillic and Greek — one of the few perfect cross-alphabet matches.
- Italics surprise: Cyrillic italics differ noticeably from upright forms — italic т looks like Latin m; italic д looks like Latin g. This catches new readers off guard.
When Cyrillic Lost Greek Letters
Russian Cyrillic has been simplified twice:
- 1708 — Petrine reform: Peter the Great ordered the alphabet to be redesigned in a more "European" style. He dropped letters that duplicated existing sounds: ψ (psi), ξ (xi), ω (omega), and ѫ (big yus). The remaining letters were redrawn to match the proportions of contemporary Latin type.
- 1918 — Bolshevik reform: The new Soviet government dropped four more letters: і (decimal i, replaced by и), ѣ (yat, merged with е), ѳ (fita, merged with ф), and ѵ (izhitsa). This left the 33-letter modern Russian alphabet.
Other Cyrillic-using languages — Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian — have made their own choices about which letters to keep and which to add. Serbian Cyrillic, for example, includes letters specific to Serbian sounds (Ј, Љ, Њ, Ћ, Џ).
Related Pages
- Greek vs. Latin alphabet — the other major comparison.
- History of the Greek alphabet — the story behind both descendants.
- Greek letters that look like English letters