^Belarusian 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 articulation of the y sound in yes. /j/ is also considered soft. /d,t,d͡ʐ,t͡ʂ,r,ʂ,ʐ/ are always hard.
^Cite error: The named reference affricate was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference postalveolar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ab/v/ and /l/ merge into /w/ ‹ў› when in the syllable coda.
^ abCite error: The named reference reduced was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ab[i] and [ɨ] are in complementary distribution: [i] occurs word-initially and after soft consonants; [ɨ] occurs after hard consonants.
^The "soft" vowel letters ‹я, е, і, ё, ю› represent a /j/ plus a vowel when initial or following other vowels.
^Nine Belarusian consonants can be contrastively geminated: /d͡zʲː,lʲː,nʲː,sʲː,ʂː,t͡sʲː,t͡ʂː,zʲː,ʐː/.
