Cyrillic Alphabet and Sounds

Russian Pronunciation Fundamentals

⚡Key Points

33 letters→10 vowels, 21 consonants, 2 signs

Familiar letters→А, Е, К, М, О, Т look like Latin

False friends→В = V, Р = R, Н = N, С = S

Unique sounds→Ы, Ж, Ц, Щ, Х

Word stress→Mobile, not written, changes pronunciation

О = « o » or « a »→Depends on stress - akanye

The Cyrillic Alphabet

The Russian alphabet has 33 letters - compared to 26 in English. It was created in the 9th century by brothers Cyril and Methodius. Many letters look like Latin ones, but watch out for false friends!

The Russian Alphabet Illustrated

🍉

Арбу́з

🍌

Бана́н

🐺

Волк

🍄

Гриб

🏠

Дом

🌲

Ель

🦔

Ёжик

🪲

Жук

⭐

Звезда́

🪡

Игла́

🥛

Йо́гу́рт

🐱

Кот

🦁

Лев

👩

Ма́ма

👃

Нос

☁️

О́блако

🐧

Пингви́н

🐟

Ры́ба

☀️

Со́лнце

🐯

Тигр

🦆

У́тка

🚩

Флаг

🍞

Хлеб

🌸

Цвето́к

⏰

Часы́

🧢

Ша́пка

🐶

Щено́к

📦

Объе́кт

🐟

Ры́ба

👩‍👧

Мать

🔊

Э́хо

🪀

Юла

🍎

Я́блоко

Click on a letter to hear its pronunciation

Vowels and Consonants

Vowels - 10	А, Е, Ё, И, О, У, Ы, Э, Ю, Я
Consonants - 21	Б, В, Г, Д, Ж, З, Й, К, Л, М, Н, П, Р, С, Т, Ф, Х, Ц, Ч, Ш, Щ
Signs - 2	Ъ, Ь

Hard Vowels - твёрдые гласные

А а	like "a" in father	ма́ма - mom
О о	like "o" in more	кот - cat
У у	like "oo" in moon	ум - mind
Ы ы	⚠️ Unique sound! Between "i" and "u"	ты - you
Э э	like "e" in met	э́то - this

Soft Vowels - мя́гкие гласные

Я я	like "ya" in yard	я - I
Ё ё	like "yo" in yoga	ёжик - hedgehog
Ю ю	like "you"	юг - south
И и	like "ee" in see	мир - world/peace
Е е	"ye" at start, "e" after consonant	ель - fir tree

Vowel Pairs

А	↔	Я
О	↔	Ё
У	↔	Ю
Ы	↔	И
Э	↔	Е

💡Concrete Example

Compare: мат vs мят. The only difference is А vs Я, but the М is pronounced differently! In "мят", the М is palatalized.

💡📌 Stress in Russian

In Russian, each word has one stressed syllable - word stress that is pronounced louder and longer. Unlike French where stress is always on the last syllable, Russian stress can be on any syllable and sometimes changes depending on the word form.

⚠️ Important: Word stress is NOT written in normal Russian texts. In this course, we mark it with the symbol ́ to help you: мо́ре - sea, Москва́ - Moscow

за́мок - castle - stress on 1st syllable

замо́к - lock - stress on 2nd syllable → first О is pronounced « a »

💡⚠️ The letter О changes pronunciation

The letter О is pronounced differently depending on its position relative to the stress:
• Stressed О → « o »: мо́ре - sea, ко́шка - cat
• Unstressed О → « a »: Москва́ - Moscow, молоко́ - milk

This automatic rule is called акание - akanye and applies to all Russian speakers.

за́мок - castle 🏰

замо́к - lock 🔒

хорошо́ - well/good

молоко́ - milk

Tricky Consonants

These letters look like Latin but are pronounced differently!

Watch out for false friends!

В в → pronounced "V"

вода́ - water

вино́ - wine

Влади́мир

Р р → pronounced rolled "R"

ры́ба - fish

Росси́я - Russia

рабо́та - work

Н н → pronounced "N"

нет - no

не́бо - sky

нос - nose

С с → pronounced "S"

соба́ка - dog

стол - table

Москва́ - Moscow

Х х → guttural sound

хлеб - bread

хорошо́ - good

Чехов

Unique Russian Sounds

Special Consonants

Ж ж	like "s" in measure	жить - to live
Ц ц	like "ts" in cats	царь - tsar
Ч ч	like "ch" in church	час - hour
Ш ш	like "sh" in shop	шко́ла - school
Щ щ	long soft "sh"	борщ - borscht

Special Signs

These two signs are not pronounced alone, but modify the consonant before them:

Ь — makes the consonant softer/palatalized. Ex: мать - mother
Ъ — separates syllables, prevents softening. Ex: объе́кт - object

Spelling Your Name in Russian

А́ннаКак тебя́ зову́т?

МаркМеня́ зову́т Марк. М-А-Р-К.

А́ннаА меня́ зову́т А́нна. А-Н-Н-А.

— What's your name? — My name is Mark. M-A-R-K. — And my name is Anna. A-N-N-A.