Shcha (Щ щ; italics: Щ щ) is a letter of the Cyrillic script. In Russian, it represents the voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative /ɕ(ː)/, like the pronunciation of ⟨sh⟩ in sheep (but longer). In Ukrainian and Rusyn, it represents the consonant cluster /ʃt͡ʃ/. In Bulgarian, it represents the consonant cluster /ʃt/. In Kurdish, it represents the consonant /d͡ʒ/.
Contents
In English, Shcha is romanized as ⟨shch⟩ or ⟨šč⟩ (with hačeks), both reflecting the historical Russian pronunciation of the letter. That can lead to some confusion, as the ⟨ch⟩ in the transcription may seem to indicate that Щ is a combination of Ш and a strong Ч, which is true in Ukrainian but not Russian, where this sound always more softened. The letter Щ in Russian and Ukrainian corresponds to ШЧ in related words in Belarusian.
History
The Cyrillic letter Shcha was derived from the Glagolitic letter Shta Ⱋ ().
The name in the Early Cyrillic alphabet was шта (šta) and is preserved in modern Bulgarian; it is pronounced "штъ".
Form
The form of the letter Shcha is the letter Cyrillic Sha (Ш ш) with a descender (cf. the Cyrillic letters De (Д д), Tse (Ц ц), Ka with descender (Қ қ), and En with descender (Ң ң).