The Lithuanian Alphabet

Level 1

Lithuanian has 32 letters. Nine of them carry a mark, ą, č, ę, ė, į, š, ų, ū and ž, and each one is a letter of its own, not a decoration.

How It Works

The Lithuanian alphabet in order is: a, ą, b, c, č, d, e, ę, ė, f, g, h, i, į, y, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, š, t, u, ų, ū, v, z, ž. That is 32 letters. Twelve of them are vowel letters (a, ą, e, ę, ė, i, į, y, o, u, ų, ū) and twenty are consonant letters.

A few things about the order surprise English speakers:

  • Y is not near the end. It comes right after į and before j, because it is a kind of i. Its name is i ilgoji, "long i".
  • Each letter with a mark follows its plain letter: č after c, š after s, ž after z, and ą, ę, ė, į, ų, ū after their plain vowels.
  • There is no q, w or x. When a foreign name keeps one of them, dictionaries file q between p and r, and w and x after v.

The marks are part of the spelling. Leaving one off gives a different word or no word at all: lūpa means lip, but lupa means a magnifying glass, and šienas (hay) is not sienas (walls, as an object). Learn to type the marked letters from the start. The letters with a hook underneath are covered in the nasal letters, the long y and ū in long y and ū, and the letters with a small v on top in č, š and ž.

Three sounds are written with two letters: dz, dž and ch. They are not counted as separate letters of the alphabet. See the digraphs dz, dž and ch. The letters f and h and the pair ch appear mainly in borrowed words, such as fotografija, humoras and choras.

Spelling does not show everything. It does not show which syllable is stressed (see free and moving stress), and a written i before a, o or u often only makes the consonant before it soft (see i as a softness marker).

Examples (5)

  1. Labas, aš esu Rūta.

    Hi, I'm Rūta.

    Word by Word: Hi, I am Rūta.

    Ū is its own letter, called u ilgoji, "long u".

  2. Mano šuo labai didelis.

    My dog is very big.

    Word by Word: My dog very big.

    Š is one letter. Without the mark, suo is not a word.

  3. Čia yra mūsų mokykla.

    Here is our school.

    Word by Word: Here is our school.

    Č, y and ų are all separate letters of the alphabet.

  4. Žiemą ežeras užšąla.

    In winter the lake freezes over.

    Word by Word: In-winter lake freezes-over.

    Ž and ą both appear in ordinary, everyday words.

  5. Mano draugas vardu Williamas.

    My friend's name is William.

    Word by Word: My friend by-name William.

    W is not a Lithuanian letter. It appears only because this foreign name keeps its own spelling, with the Lithuanian ending -as added.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving the marks off letters.

    Aš valgau suri.
    Aš valgau sūrį.

    Ū and į are different letters from u and i. Without the marks, the word for cheese is misspelled and the ending that shows the object is lost.

  • Writing w in a Lithuanian word.

    Aš gyvenu Wilniuje.
    Aš gyvenu Vilniuje.

    Lithuanian words are written with v. W appears only in foreign names that keep their original spelling.

How It Connects

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The Lithuanian AlphabetLevel 1

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