Lithuanian Pronunciation Guide

By Dick Oakes

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