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Folk Dance Federation of California, South, Inc.

Lithuanian
By Dick Oakes


A a, Ą ą, B b, C c, Č č, D d, E e, Ę ę, Ė ė, F f, G g,
H h, I i, Į į, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p,
R r, S s, Š š, T t, U u, Ų ų, Ū ū, V v,
Y y, Z z, Ž ž


Lithuanian, the official language of Lithuania since 1918, has 32 letters, and belongs to the Baltic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. Lithuanian is spoken by approximately 3 million people in Lithuania and by an additional half-million in other parts of the world, mostly in the Western Hemisphere.

Letters and dipthongs not listed below are pronounced approximately as in English.


A, a   - a as in father or a as in car (ah, aw)
Ą, ą   - a as in above (uh)
E, e   - ya as in yak, or a as in apple, or ye as in yellow, or e as in bed
Ę, ę   - e as in ketchup - the alternate pronunciation (same as a in man)
Ė, ė   - e as in parquet (ey)
I, i   - i as in pin (ih)
Į, į   - i as in machine (ee)
O, o   - o as in note
U, u   - u as in put
Ų, ų   - u as in duke (oo)
Ū, ū   - u as in duke (oo)
 
C, c   - c as in dance (ts)
Č, č   - c as in cello (ch)
Y, y   - c as in cello (ch)
 
J, j   - y as in yes
R, r   - rr as in arroyo (but the Spanish trilled r)
Š, š   - s as in sugar (sh)
Y, y   - y as in city (ee)
Ž, ž   - z as in azure (zh)
 
DIGRAPHS:
 
ch   - ch as in loch (gutteral kh)
dz   - dz as in adze
  - dg as in edge (dzh)
 
DIPTHONGS:
 
ai   - ai as in kaiser
au   - au as in sauerkraut
ei   - ei as in seine (ay)
ie   - ea as in year
ou   - oa as in koala
ui   - ui as in ruin