Kalmyk Alphabet
This is the Todo Bichig (Clear Script) alphabet. Each letter has a Cyrillic sound and an English pronunciation. Todo is written top to bottom, so the popup and full list show the glyphs vertically. Modern Kalmyk is written in Cyrillic; that alphabet is listed below, including extra letters that are not separate Todo letters.
Kalmyk Phrases · Khal'mag uzgel primer · 1947 Kalmyk children's primer
Todo Bichig — click one for a popup
Yellow border = vowels Blue border = consonants
Extra Cyrillic letters used by Modern Kalmyks
White border = Cyrillic
a
Cyrillic: А а
Sounds like (English): ah, as in father
Phonetic sound (IPA): [a]
Kalmyk letter name: а
e
Cyrillic: Э э
Sounds like (English): e, as in bed
Phonetic sound (IPA): [e]
Kalmyk letter name: э
i
Cyrillic: И и
Sounds like (English): ee, as in see
Phonetic sound (IPA): [i]
Kalmyk letter name: и
o
Cyrillic: О о
Sounds like (English): o, as in pot, or aw as in law
Phonetic sound (IPA): [ɔ]
Kalmyk letter name: о
u
Cyrillic: У у
Sounds like (English): u, as in put, or oo as in book
Phonetic sound (IPA): [ʊ]
Kalmyk letter name: у
ö
Cyrillic: Ө ө
Sounds like (English): ö, as in German schön or French deux
Phonetic sound (IPA): [ø]
Kalmyk letter name: ө
ü
Cyrillic: Ү ү
Sounds like (English): ü, as in German über or French lune
Phonetic sound (IPA): [y]
Kalmyk letter name: ү
n
Cyrillic: Н н
Sounds like (English): n, as in no
Phonetic sound (IPA): [n]
Kalmyk letter name: эн
b
Cyrillic: Б б
Sounds like (English): b, as in boy
Phonetic sound (IPA): [b]
Kalmyk letter name: бэ
x
Cyrillic: Х х
Sounds like (English): kh, as in Bach or Scottish loch
Phonetic sound (IPA): [x]
Kalmyk letter name: ха
ğ
Cyrillic: Һ һ
Sounds like (English): a voiced h or gh, like the g in Spanish agua
Phonetic sound (IPA): [ɣ]
Kalmyk letter name: һа
g
Cyrillic: Г г
Sounds like (English): g, as in go
Phonetic sound (IPA): [ɡ]
Kalmyk letter name: гэ
k
Cyrillic: К к
Sounds like (English): k, as in kite
Phonetic sound (IPA): [k]
Kalmyk letter name: кэ
Todo Bichig has two related k shapes.
m
Cyrillic: М м
Sounds like (English): m, as in man
Phonetic sound (IPA): [m]
Kalmyk letter name: эм
l
Cyrillic: Л л
Sounds like (English): l, as in look
Phonetic sound (IPA): [l]
Kalmyk letter name: эль
r
Cyrillic: Р р
Sounds like (English): a rolled r
Phonetic sound (IPA): [r]
Kalmyk letter name: эр
d
Cyrillic: Д д
Sounds like (English): d, as in dog
Phonetic sound (IPA): [d]
Kalmyk letter name: дэ
t
Cyrillic: Т т
Sounds like (English): t, as in top
Phonetic sound (IPA): [t]
Kalmyk letter name: тэ
y
Cyrillic: Й й
Sounds like (English): y, as in yes
Phonetic sound (IPA): [j]
Kalmyk letter name: ахр и
z
Cyrillic: З з
Sounds like (English): z, as in zoo, often closer to dz
Phonetic sound (IPA): [z]
Kalmyk letter name: зэ
j
Cyrillic: Җ җ
Sounds like (English): j, as in judge
Phonetic sound (IPA): [dʒ]
Kalmyk letter name: җә
ts
Cyrillic: Ц ц
Sounds like (English): ts, as in cats
Phonetic sound (IPA): [ts]
Kalmyk letter name: цэ
ch
Cyrillic: Ч ч
Sounds like (English): ch, as in church
Phonetic sound (IPA): [tʃ]
Kalmyk letter name: чэ
s
Cyrillic: С с
Sounds like (English): s, as in sun
Phonetic sound (IPA): [s]
Kalmyk letter name: эс
sh
Cyrillic: Ш ш
Sounds like (English): sh, as in ship
Phonetic sound (IPA): [ʃ]
Kalmyk letter name: ша
ñ
Cyrillic: Ң ң
Sounds like (English): ng, as in sing, not the n-g in finger
Phonetic sound (IPA): [ŋ]
Kalmyk letter name: энг
v
Cyrillic: В в
Sounds like (English): v, or w in native Kalmyk words
Phonetic sound (IPA): [w, v]
Kalmyk letter name: вэ
Often [w] in Kalmyk words; [v] in Russian names and loanwords.
p
Cyrillic: П п
Sounds like (English): p, as in pen
Phonetic sound (IPA): [p]
Kalmyk letter name: пэ
f
Cyrillic: Ф ф
Sounds like (English): f, as in fun
Phonetic sound (IPA): [f]
Kalmyk letter name: фэ
Used mainly in Russian names and loanwords.
Galig letter used for foreign sounds, including Russian ф.
ä
Cyrillic: Ә ә
Sounds like (English): a, as in cat
Phonetic sound (IPA): [æ]
Kalmyk letter name: ә
Kalmyk-specific vowel. No dedicated Todo letter.
ye
Cyrillic: Е е
Sounds like (English): ye, as in yes, or e after a consonant
Phonetic sound (IPA): [je, e]
Kalmyk letter name: е
Usually ye at the start of a word. No dedicated Todo letter.
yo
Cyrillic: Ё ё
Sounds like (English): yo, as in yogurt
Phonetic sound (IPA): [jo]
Kalmyk letter name: ё
Used mainly in Russian names and loanwords.
Used mainly in Russian names and loanwords. No dedicated Todo letter.
zh
Cyrillic: Ж ж
Sounds like (English): zh, as in the s in measure
Phonetic sound (IPA): [ʐ]
Kalmyk letter name: жэ
Used mainly in Russian names and loanwords.
Used mainly in Russian names and loanwords. No dedicated Todo letter.
shch
Cyrillic: Щ щ
Sounds like (English): shch, as in borscht
Phonetic sound (IPA): [ɕː]
Kalmyk letter name: ща
Used mainly in Russian names and loanwords.
Used mainly in Russian names and loanwords. No dedicated Todo letter.
ʺ
Cyrillic: Ъ ъ
Sounds like (English): hard sign — no sound of its own
Kalmyk letter name: ъ
Used mainly in Russian names and loanwords.
Used mainly in Russian names and loanwords. No dedicated Todo letter.
yery
Cyrillic: Ы ы
Sounds like (English): i, like the Russian ы
Phonetic sound (IPA): [ɨ]
Kalmyk letter name: ы
Used mainly in Russian names and loanwords.
Used mainly in Russian names and loanwords. No dedicated Todo letter.
ʹ
Cyrillic: Ь ь
Sounds like (English): soft sign — makes the previous consonant palatal (softer)
Kalmyk letter name: ь
Does not make its own sound. No dedicated Todo letter.
yu
Cyrillic: Ю ю
Sounds like (English): yu, as in yule
Phonetic sound (IPA): [ju]
Kalmyk letter name: ю
Usually at the start of a word. No dedicated Todo letter.
ya
Cyrillic: Я я
Sounds like (English): ya, as in yard
Phonetic sound (IPA): [ja]
Kalmyk letter name: я
Usually at the start of a word. No dedicated Todo letter.