Sounds and spelling 31 sign (in the 1870s one hopeful reformer of the Ukrainian spelling system, M. Drahomanov, even suggested replacing them after a consonant with ь + e, i, y, a). It is worth stressing that the soft sign itself is not a sound, in spite of the crude approximation given above; it tells us something about the preceding sound. In other words, the noun українець 'Ukrainian (man)' is a consonant-final noun, and the final consonant is soft. It is written after soft д, т, з, с, ц, н, л at the end of a word or word- internally before a hard consonant: в'язень prisoner відповідь answer, reply мить sudden moment переписуватись to correspond (with) олівець pencil паморозь hoarfrost молотьба threshing сильний strong вчитель teacher Note that it frequently occurs in word-formational suffixes: -ськ-, -цьк-, -зьк-, -еньк-, -оньк-, -есеньк-, -ісіньк-, -юсіньк-, for example: панський lord's, splendid козацький cossack вузький narrow гладенький very smooth/sleek голівонька pretty little head малісінький extremely small малюсінький very small It is not written: (i) After consonants which occur hard only: б, п, в, м, ф, ж, ч, ш, щ, and word-final p. But: Горький 'Gorky' (the author), as a Russian name, retains the soft sign as it is in Russian; compare the related Ukrainian adjective гіркий 'bitter'. (ii) Between soft consonants (except for л), including lengthened consonants: волосся hair (iii) After н before ж, ч, пі, щ, -ськ-, -ств-: кінчик end (dim.) менший smaller інший other кінський horse (adj.) панство distinction, nobility 1.1.8 THE APOSTROPHE The apostrophe is inserted to separate a hard consonant from a following є, Ї, ю, я. In other words, it serves to convey the sound [j] after hard consonants and before the vowels of letters я, ю, с, Ї: п'ятниця Friday Лук'янов Lukjanov (surname) м'якота soft flesh
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