Ukrainian makes contrasts 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, in a manner similar to the ‹y› sound in yes. All Ukrainian consonants except /j/ have a soft and hard variant, however this distinction is phonemic for only nine pairs—for the others the distinction can be ignored.
See Ukrainian phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Ukrainian.
^Сучасна українська мова: Підручник / О.Д. Пономарів, В.В.Різун, Л.Ю.Шевченко та ін.; За ред. О.Д.пономарева. — 2-ге вид., перероб. —К.: Либідь, 2001. — с. 14
^The "soft" vowel letters ‹є, ї, ю, я› represent a /j/ plus a vowel when initial or following other vowels. Ukrainian may also possess allophones before or between palatalized consonants: /e/, /ʉ/, /æ/ respectively.
^In Ukrainian, geminates are found between vowels: багаття /bɑ'ɦɑtʲːɑ/bonfire, подружжя /pɔdruʒːɑ/married couple, обличчя face. Geminates also occur at the start of a few words: лляний /lʲːænɪj/flaxen, forms of the verb лити to pour (ллю /lʲːʉ/, ллєш /lʲːeʃ/ etc.), ссати /sːɑtɪ/to suck and derivatives.[citation needed]