Esperanto alphabet: letters, diacritics, and orthography

Letters and diacritics

There are 28 letters: a b c ĉ d e f g ĝ h ĥ i j ĵ k l m n o p r s ŝ t u ŭ v z. Six of these carry marks: ĉ, ĝ, ĥ, ĵ, ŝ (all with a circumflex) and ŭ (with a breve). These are distinct letters, not modified forms: for example, ĉ follows c in the alphabetical order and represents a single consonant sound similar to English ch. The alphabet intentionally omits q, w, x and y, which do not occur as separate letters in Esperanto.

• Circumflex letters: ĉ (ch), ĝ (as in judge), ĥ (a guttural h, now rare in everyday speech), ĵ (as in measure), ŝ (sh).
• Breve letter: ŭ acts as a semivowel similar to English w and appears mainly in diphthongs (e.g., au, eu).

Orthographic features and pronunciation

Esperanto spelling is largely one-to-one with pronunciation: each letter has a consistent sound and stress is regular, usually on the penultimate syllable of a word. Letters are pronounced without silent letters or complex spelling rules typical of some national languages. Capitalization follows the Latin tradition, and diacritics are retained on uppercase letters (e.g., Ĉ, Ŭ).

History, influences and rationale

Zamenhof based the alphabet on the Latin script and drew diacritic usage partly from Slavic and Romance examples in order to represent sounds that lacked a single Latin letter. The result was compact and phonetic, aiding literacy and international learning. The status of letters such as ĥ diminished as speakers preferred easier pronunciations or loanword adaptations.

Writing alternatives and practical use

Because early typewriters and some electronic systems lacked diacritics, two practical ASCII-based alternatives emerged. The "h-system" writes Ĉ as Ch (e.g., "ch" for ĉ) and other circumflexes as gh, jh, sh, etc., while the widespread "x-system" uses an x after the base letter (cx for ĉ, gx for ĝ, etc.). The x-system preserves uniqueness: English alphabet users often employ it in plain text. Both alternatives are common online, in email, and in programming contexts.

Notable distinctions and facts

Unlike digraph-based alphabets, Esperanto treats each accented letter as an independent element for sorting and word-building. The alphabet's design reflects a goal of regularity and ease for speakers of diverse backgrounds. For a short explanation of the marking used on special letters see diacritic. Many resources and keyboards now support the proper characters, but the ASCII conventions remain widely recognized in international use.