Names of the letters of the Latin alphabet in English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Polish, and Czech

by Jakub Marian

Tip: See my list of the Most Common Mistakes in English. It will teach you how to avoid mis­takes with com­mas, pre­pos­i­tions, ir­reg­u­lar verbs, and much more.

I learn and speak several languages, but the proper pronunciation of the names of the letters of the standard 26-letter Latin alphabet is usually one of the last things I learn (although as a mathematician, I need them to read mathematical expressions; it just seems there is very little need for any language other than English in mathematics nowadays).

For this reason, I have compiled a list of letter names in several languages, to help me memorize them. The names are written in the IPA. Sometimes, I could not find any reliable source and had to rely on YouTube tutorials or my own guesses based solely on orthography; this is especially true for Russian, so I would be grateful for any suggestions for possible corrections.

EnglishSpanishFrenchGermanRussianPolishCzech
Aɑaa
Bbiːbe̞bebeːbɛː
Csiːθe̞setseːtsɛtsɛtsɛː
Ddiːde̞dedeːdɛː
Eəɛɛɛː
Fɛfe̞fe̞ɛfɛfɛfɛfɛf
Gdʒiːxe̞ʒegeːgjegɛː
Heɪtʃˈatʃe̞ɦaːxaɦaː
Iiiɪi
Jdʒeɪˈxo̞taʒijɔtjotjɔtjɛː
Kkeɪkakaːkakakaː
Lɛle̞le̞ɛlɛlɛlɛlɛl
Mɛme̞me̞ɛmɛmɛmɛmɛm
Nɛne̞ne̞ɛnɛnɛnɛnɛn
Ooɔ
Ppiːpe̞pepeːpɛː
Qkjuːkukykuːkukukvɛː
Rɑː / ɑre̞re̞ɛʁɛʁɛrɛrɛr
Sɛse̞se̞ɛsɛsɛsɛsɛs
Ttiːte̞teteːtɛː
Ujuːuyuu
Vviːˈube̞ / uˈbe̞ / be̞vefaʊfaʊvɛː
Wˈdʌbəljuːˈube̞ˌdo̞ble̞/
ˌdo̞ble̞ˈube̞/
ˌdo̞ble̞ˈbe̞ː
dubləveveːdubljvudvojɪtɛːvɛː
Xɛksˈe̞kisiksɪksɪksɪksɪks
Ywaɪɟʝe / iˈgrje̞gaiɡʁɛk‘ʏpsilɔnɪgrɛkɪgrɛkɪpsɪlon
Zzɛd / ziːˈθe̞tazɛdtsɛtzjedzɛtzɛt

By the way, if you haven’t read my guide on how to avoid the most common mistakes in English, make sure to check it out; it deals with similar topics.

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