Language/Russian/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation

🅰 Russian Alphabet & Pronunciation

Привет! Russian lovers 😎! Welcome to today's lesson on the Cyrillic Russian Alphabet!

Russian is a Slavic language written with the Cyrillic alphabet. Russian has 33 letters in its alphabet with 10 vowels, 21 consonants, and 2 symbols (ь, ъ). It is similar to Ukrainian and Belorussian, and over 277 million people in Russia and 30 other countries speak the language.

In the table below, we'll explore the unique sounds of Cyrillic letters, and provide audio recordings to help improve your pronunciation. Listening carefully and practicing these sounds will help you master Cyrillic letter pronunciation. At the end of this lesson, you'll learn how to use a Cyrillic keyboard and have access to an online virtual keyboard as well.

Russian Alphabet and Pronunciation

Caps	Minisculs	Name	Prononciation IPA	Transcription	English Equivalent	English Equivalent (sample word)	Letter Name in Russian	Sample Word	Sample Word (audio)
А	а	а	/a/	a	А а	Like "a" in car	"ah"	а́том
Б	б	бэ	/b/, /bʲ/	b	B b	Like "b" in bat	"beh"	бато́н
В	в	вэ	/v/, /vʲ/	v	V v	Like "v" in van	"veh"	ва́режки
Г	г	гэ	/ɡ/, /gʲ/	g	G g	Like "g" in go	"geh"	гру́ша
Д	д	дэ	/d/, /dʲ/	d	D d	Like "d" in dog	"deh"	ды́ня
Е	е	е	/je/, / ʲe/, /e/	e	YE ye	Like "ye" in yet	"yeh"	ежеви́ка
Ё	ё	ё	/jo/, / ʲɵ/	ë	YO yo	Like "yo" in yonder	"yo"	ёж
Ж	ж	жэ	/ʐ/	ž	Zh zh	Like "s" in measure or pleasure or like "g" in beige (the colour)	"zheh"	жук
З	з	зэ	/z/, /zʲ/	z	Z z	Like "z" in zoo	"zeh"	замо́к
И	и	и	/i/, / ʲi/,, /ɨ/	i	EE ee	Like "ee" in see	"ee"	икра́
Й	й	и краткое	/j/	j	I i or Y y	like "y" in boy or toy	"ee kratkoyeh"	йо́гурт
К	к	ка	/k/, /kʲ/	k	K k	Like "k" in kitten, "c" in cat.	"kah"	клубни́ка
Л	л	эл, эль	/l/, /lʲ/	l	L l	Like "l" in light	"ehl"	лимо́н
М	м	эм	/m/, /mʲ/	m	M m	Like "m" in mat	"ehm"	мали́на
Н	н	эн	/n/, /ɲ/	n	N n	Like "n" in no	"ehn"	носки́
О	о	о	/o/, /ɐ/	o	Stressed: O o Unstressed: A a	Like "o" in bore Like "a" in car	"oh"	о́вощи
П	п	пэ	/p/, /pʲ/	p	P p	Like "p" in pot	"peh"	пе́рец
Р	р	эр	/r/, /rʲ/	r	R r	Like "r" in run (rolled)	"ehr"	ры́ба
С	с	эс	/s/, /sʲ/	s	S s	Like "s" in sam	"ehs"	стул
Т	т	тэ	/t/, /tʲ/	t	T t	Like "t" in tap	"teh"	торт
У	у	у	/u/	u	U u	Like "oo" in boot	"oo"	у́дочка
Ф	ф	эф	/f/, /fʲ/	f	F f	Like "f" in fat	"ehf"	фру́кты
Х	х	ха	/x/, /xʲ/	x	H h, KH kh	Like "h" in hello or like the "ch" in Scottish 'loch' or German 'Bach'	"khah"	хво́я
Ц	ц	цэ	/t͡s/	c	TS ts	Like "ts" in bits	"tseh"	ци́фры
Ч	ч	че	/t͡ɕ/	č	CH ch	Like "ch" in chip	"cheh"	ча́шка
Ш	ш	ша	/ʂ/	š	SH sh (hard)	Like "sh" in shut	"shah"	ша́пка
Щ	щ	ща	/ɕɕ/	šč	SH sh (soft)	Like "sh" in sheep	"schyah"	щётка
Ъ	ъ	твёрдый знак		''	Hard Sign	Letter before is hard	"tvyordiy znahk"	съесть
Ы	ы	ы	/ɨ/	y	I i	Like "i" in ill	"i"	ты
Ь	ь	мягкий знак	/ ʲ/	'	Soft Sign	Letter before is soft	"myagkeey znahk"	есть
Э	э	э	/e/	è	E e	Like "e" in pet	"eh"	экра́н
Ю	ю	ю	/ju/, / ʲu/	ju	YU yu	Like "u" in use or university	"yoo"	ю́бка
Я	я	я	/ja/, / ʲa/	ja	YA ya	Like "ya" in yard.	"yah"	блоко

Notes

The Russian "l" is usually pronounced as a "dark L," which is produced with the back of the tongue raised toward the velum (soft palate). It is similar to the "L" sound in English words like "call" or "fall." This pronunciation can differ slightly depending on the specific dialect or accent of Russian being spoken.

At the end of the word, the sound consonants become deaf, as in German, they pronounce then:

• b > p
• v > f
• g > k
• d > t
• z > s 

The Russian has 5 vocalic phonemes noted by 10 graphemes: 

a	e	i	o	u
а	э	ы	о	у	After a hard consonant
я	е	и	ё	ю	After a soft consonant or yod

NOTE: If Russian word contains 'ё', the accent is always on this vowel. Therefore, the accent mark is not placed above 'ё'.

The use of the letter 'ё' is mandatory in texts with consistently placed accent marks, in books for young children (including textbooks for elementary school students), in textbooks for foreigners. In ordinary printed texts, it`s written in cases where a misreading of the word is possible, when it`s necessary to indicate the correct pronunciation of a rare word or to prevent a speech error. The letter 'ё' should also be written in proper names. In other cases, the use of 'ё' is optional.

Minimal Pairs in Russian

Hell

Poison

Soap

Nice

Onion

Hatch

The table shows examples of minimal pairs in Russian, where the only difference between words is the presence or absence of the "soft sign" (ь) after the consonant. English speakers may find these sounds challenging to differentiate, as they do not exist in English. However, it is important to learn to distinguish them in order to accurately understand and pronounce Russian words.

For instance, the name of the first president of Russia was Борис Ельцин in Russian, which is transliterated as "Boris Yeltsin" in English. The letter "e" in Yeltsin is pronounced like "ye" in "yes" and the "ь" in Ельцин is pronounced as a soft "y" sound.

Italic characters

It's worth noting that some cursive Cyrillic letters differ significantly from their printed counterparts, and we've highlighted these distinct forms in bold for your convenience.

These cursive letters are essential to learn because they are frequently used in everyday Russian handwriting and closely resemble the handwritten form of the language.

By mastering these distinct forms of Cyrillic script, you'll be better equipped to read and write in a variety of settings and contexts.

А а	Б б	В в	Г г	Д д	Е е	Ё ё	Ж ж	З з	И и	Й й	К к	Л л	М м	Н н	О о	П п	Р р	С с	Т т	У у	Ф ф	Х х	Ц ц	Ч ч	Ш ш	Щ щ	Ъ ъ	Ы ы	Ь ь	Э э	Ю ю	Я я
А а	Б б	В в	Г г	Д д	Е е	Ё ё	Ж ж	З з	И и	Й й	К к	Л л	М м	Н н	О о	П п	Р р	С с	Т т	У у	Ф ф	Х х	Ц ц	Ч ч	Ш ш	Щ щ	Ъ ъ	Ы ы	Ь ь	Э э	Ю ю	Я я

Cursive Letters (hand writing

Watch the video below to learn how to write the cursive language letters of the Russian alphabet:

Russian Keyboard

Typing on a Cyrillic keyboard can be an effective way to improve your Russian writing skills in several ways:

1. Familiarity with the keyboard: Regular practice on a Cyrillic keyboard can help you become more familiar with the layout and location of Cyrillic letters, allowing you to type faster and more accurately.
2. Developing muscle memory: Consistent use of a Cyrillic keyboard can help you develop muscle memory, which means you can type without looking at the keyboard, allowing you to focus more on the content you are writing.
3. Spelling accuracy: Typing on a Cyrillic keyboard can help you improve your spelling accuracy by providing visual feedback on the correct spelling of words in Russian.
4. Writing speed: As you become more proficient at typing in Russian, your writing speed is likely to increase, allowing you to express your thoughts and ideas more quickly and efficiently.
5. Consistency in writing style: Regular use of a Cyrillic keyboard can help you maintain consistency in your writing style by enabling you to use the correct letter forms and diacritical marks.

Real Russian Keyboard

A typical Russian keyboard has a similar layout to the standard QWERTY keyboard used in many countries, but with some additional keys specific to the Russian language. The letters of the Cyrillic alphabet, including both uppercase and lowercase characters, are printed on the keys.

Here is an example below:

Transform your keyboard to write Cyrillic

This video explains how you can write Russian/Cyrillic letter stickers on your native keyboard with the use of Russian letter sticker:

Russian Online Virtual Keyboard

Type directly without the need to change the settings of your device: