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Folk Dance Federation of California, South, Inc.
Lithuanian |
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 |
| dž | - 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 |