Phrase guide

soft sign

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌsɒftˈsaɪn/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˌsɔftˈsaɪn/
  • rhymes with -aɪn

1

noun

Meaning 1

The Cyrillic letter Ь/ь (transliterated in English with an apostrophe (’) or prime (′)), which in modern languages using the Cyrillic alphabet serves to denote a soft (palatized) consonant.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: front jer, front yer

Antonyms: hard sign

History

Etymology

Calque of Russian мя́гкий знак (mjáxkij znak), from мя́гкий (mjáxkij, “palatal, palatized, soft”) + знак (znak, “mark, sign”).

Across languages

Translations

51 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Southern Altai: јымжак темдек (ǰïmžak temdek) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Southern Altai: јымжак билди (ǰïmžak bildi) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Southern Altai: јымжак белги (ǰïmžak belgi) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Belarusian: мя́ккі знак (mjákki znak) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Bulgarian: ер ма́лък (er málǎk) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Carpathian Rusyn: мня́гкый знак (mnjáhkŷj znak) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Carpathian Rusyn: ірь (irʹ) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Chinese Mandarin: 軟音符號 /软音符号 (ruǎn yīn fúhào) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Chuvash: ҫемҫелӗх палли (śemś̬elĕh palli) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Czech: měkký znak — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Dutch: zacht teken — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Esperanto: mola signo — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Estonian: pehmendusmärk — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Finnish: pehmeä merkki — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Finnish: pehmennysmerkki — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • French: signe mou — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • German: weiches Zeichen — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • German: Weichheitszeichen — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Greek: μαλακό σημείο (malakó simeío) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Greek: «μιάχκιι ζνακ» — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Italian: segno tenue — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Kazakh: жіңішкелік белгі (jıñışkelık belgı) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Kyrgyz: ичкертүү белгиси (ickertüü belgisi) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Kyrgyz: жумшартуу белгиси (jumşartuu belgisi) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Macedonian: мек знак (mek znak) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Macedonian: мал ер (mal er) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Eastern Mari: пушкыдемдыше пале (puškydemdyše paĺe) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Eastern Mari: пушкыдо пале (puškydo paĺe) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Mongolian: зөөлний тэмдэг (zöölnii temdeg) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Norwegian Bokmål: bløtt tegn — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Church Slavic: ѥрь (jerĭ) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Pannonian Rusyn: мегки знак (mehki znak) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Polish: miękki znak — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Portuguese: sinal suave — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Romanian: semn moale — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Russian: мя́гкий знак (mjáxkij znak) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Russian: ерь (jerʹ) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Serbo-Croatian: meki znak — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Serbo-Croatian: jer — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Slovak: mäkký znak — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Slovene: mehki znak — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Spanish: signo suave — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Spanish: signo blando — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Swedish: mjuktecken — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Tatar: нечкәлек билгесе (neçkälek bilgese) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Turkish: inceltme işareti — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Tuvan: чымчак демдек (çımçak demdek) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Udmurt: небыт пус (ńebyt pus) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Ukrainian: м'яки́й знак (mʺjakýj znak) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Ukrainian: є́рик (jéryk) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь
  • Yakut: сымнатыы бэлиэтэ (sïmnatïï beliete) — Cyrillic letter Ь/ь