This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Belarusian on Wikipedia.
It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Belarusian in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing consensus on the talk page first.
^Belarusian has a contrast between palatalized ("soft") and unpalatalized ("hard") consonants. Palatalized consonants, denoted by a superscript j, ⟨ʲ⟩,are pronounced with the body of the tongue raised toward the hard palate, like the articulation of the y sound in yes. /j/ is always soft, but /d,t,d͡ʐ,t͡ʂ,r,ʂ,andʐ/ are always hard.
^ abc/v/ and /l/ merge into /w/⟨ў⟩ before consonants and at the end of words.
^ abcUnstressed /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ are reduced to [a]. Unlike Russian, this is reflected in writing.