Pусский Aлфавит Flashcards
Pусский Aлфавит
(Russian)
Russian Alphabet
rússkij alfavít
А Б В Г Д Е Ё Ж З И Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ ъ ы ь Э Ю and Я
(Russian)
A a
(Russian)
Ah - Name of Letter
[a]
Pronounced like the “a” in the word “father” or “car”. It is not the ‘flat’ “a” sound you sometimes hear in words like “cat” or “flat”.
A is a “Hard Vowel”.
(Russian)
Б б
(Russian)
брат
Бэ - Beh - Name of Letter
[bɛ]
Pronounced like the “b” in “bat”. (Equivalent to the english letter “b”)
“brother”
В в
(Russian)
Вчера
вэ - Veh - Name of Letter
[vɛ]
V - Pronounced like the “v” in “vet”. (Equivalent to the english letter “v”).
“Yesterday”
Г г
(Russian)
Гэ - Geh- Name of Letter
[ɡɛ]
G - Pronounced like the “g” in “go”. (Equivalent to the english letter “g”).
Д д
(Russian)
Да
Дэ - Deh- Name of Letter
[dɛ]
D - Pronounced like the “d” in “dog”. (Equivalent to the english letter “d”).
“Yes”
Е е
(Russian)
Е - Yeh - Name of Letter
[je]
Pronounced like the “ye” in “yes”. –The E rule: at the beginning of a word, e is always pronounced as “ye,” regardless of stress. An unstressed e, unless preceded by a vowel is pronounced like a “schwa”, though any preceding consonant is still softened.
Е is a “Soft Vowel”.
(Russian)
Ё ё
(Russian)
Ё - Yoh - Name of Letter
[jo]
Pronounced like “yo” in “Yodel”.
Ё is a “Soft Vowel”.
(Russian)
Ж ж
(Russian)
Жэ - Zheh- Name of Letter
[ʐɛ]
Like “s” in “measure”, “pleasure” or “fusion” or like “g” in colour “beige”. (As there is no english symbol for this sound, it is usually represented as “zh”)
З з
(Russian)
Здравствуйте
Зэ - Zeh- Name of Letter
[zɛ]
Pronounced like the “z” in “zoo”. (Equivalent to the english letter “z”).
З is a “Hard Vowel”.
(Russian)
Hello (formal)
И и
(Russian)
И и - Ee - Name of Letter
[i]
Pronounced like the “i” in “taxi”. –The И Rule: an unstressed и before the point of stress is pronounced like the i in if, whereas a finial и is pronounced normally. (Sometimes equivalent to the english letter “i”, the short ‘ee’ sound.). (Note: The hand-written form for “и” looks a little like the english “u”).
И is a “Soft Vowel”.
(Russian)
Й й
(Russian)
и краткое - i kratkoye - Name of Letter
[i ˈkratkəɪ]
This letter is used to form diphthongs. So “oй” is like the “oy” sound in “boy” or “aй” is like the “igh” in “sigh”.
К к
(Russian)
Кофе
Ка - Kah - Name of Letter
[ka]
Pronounced like the “k” in “kitten” or “kangaroo”. This letter replaces the english “c” sound in words like “cat”.
“Coffee”
Л л
(Russian)
Эл - El - Name of Letter
[el] or [elʲ]
Pronounced like the “l” in “love”. (Equivalent to the english letter “l”).
М м
(Russian)
Эм - Em - Name of Letter
[ɛm]
Pronounced like the “m” in man. (Note: Unlike english, the hand-written “м” should always start from the bottom)
Н н
(Russian)
Нет
Эн - En - Name of Letter
[ɛn]
Pronounced like the “n” in “no”. (Equivalent to the english letter “n”).
“no”
О о
(Russian)
O - Oh - Name of Letter
[о]
When stressed, it is pronounced like the “o” in “bore”. –The O rule: an unstressed o, before the point of stress, is pronounced like an a, and after the point of stress, makes an “uh” sound, a schwa in linguistic terms.
O is a “Hard Vowel”.
(Russian)
П п
(Russian)
Пэ - Peh - Name of Letter
[pɛ]
Pronounced like the “p” in “pot”. (Equivalent to the english letter “p”).
Р р
(Russian)
Эрр - Err - Name of Letter
[ɛr]
Pronounced like the “r” in “run”, but it is rolled with trill. (Equivalent to the english letter “r”).
С с
(Russian)
Спасибо
Эс - Es - Name of Letter
[ɛs]
Pronounced like the “s” in “see”. (Equivalent to the english letter “s”).
“Thank you”
Т т
(Russian)
Тэ - Teh - Name of Letter
[tɛ]
Pronounced like the “t” in “tap”. (Note: The hand-written (and italic) form is “т”. It should always start from the top, as it looks quite similar to the letter “м”)
У у
(Russian)
у - Ooh - Name of Letter
[u]
Pronounced like the “oo” in “boot” or “root”.
У is a “Hard Vowel”.
(Russian)
Ф ф
(Russian)
Эф - Ef - Name of Letter
[ɛf]
Pronounced like the “f” in “fat”. (Equivalent to the english letter “f”).
Х х
(Russian)
Хлеб
Ха - Khah - Name of Letter
[xa]
Pronounced like the “h” in “hello”. However, this is often pronounced more like the “ch” in the Scottish “Loch” or German (Kh) “Bach”, or the spanish “x” in “Mexico”.
“bread”
Ц ц
(Russian)
Цэ - Tseh - Name of Letter
[tsɛ]
Similar to the “ts” sound in “sits” or “its”.
Ч ч
(Russian)
Че - Cheh - Name of Letter
[tɕe]
Pronounced like the “ch” in “chips” or “church” .
Ш ш
(Russian)
Шэ - Shah - Name of Letter
[ʂa]
Pronounced like the “sh” in shut.
Close to sharp.
Щ щ
(Russian)
Ща - Shchah - Name of Letter
[ɕɕa]
Pronounced like “sh” but with your tongue on the roof of your mouth. Try putting your tongue in the same position as you would to say “ch” but say “sh” instead. English speakers may find it hard to define the difference between “ш” and “щ”. Two ways of pronouncing the letter щ, which I will assume to be regional variances. The first is to begin with a ш sound with a ч made just after without pause. (The example “fresh cheese” is most common.) The second is to make a “sh” sound, but push your jaw slightly forward and tighten the corners of your lips into a kind of semi-smile.
Ъъ
(Russian)
твёрдый знак - Name of Letter
[ˈtvʲordɨj znak]
The ‘Hard Sign’ is rarely used. When placed in front of a soft vowel, it not only shows a preceding consonant is hard, despite the soft vowel following it. it indicates a more strongly pronounced y (as in yoke) sound in the vowel following. It indicates a slight pause between syllables. Can also be marked with a double quotation or “.
Ы ы
(Russian)
Ы - Yery (i/ou + ee) - Name of Letter
The Russian yery (ы) is a sound which is made by raising your tongue to a position in your mouth exactly between the positions of the sound of ‘i’ in bit and that of ‘ou’ in should. Practice it by first pronouncing the English sounds, one after another, until you are conscious of where your tongue is when you pronounce them. Your tongue should be rather high in your mouth in either case, but when you pronounce the ‘i’ in bit your tongue should be in the front of your mouth while it is in the back when you pronounce the ‘ou’ of should. When you become aware of these positions, force your tongue to a position exactly at the midpoint between these two positions and, without rounding your lips, make the sound. That is a Russian yery.
Ы is a “Hard Vowel”.
(Russian)
Ь ь
(Russian)
мягкий знак - Name of Letter
[ˈmʲæxʲkʲɪj znak]
The ‘Soft Sign’ makes the previous letter ‘soft’. Think of the “p” sound in the word “pew”. (Try inflecting a very slight “y” sound onto letter before it.)
Э э
(Russian)
Э - Eh - Name of Letter
[ɛ]
Pronounced like the “e” in “fed”.
Э is a “Hard Vowel”.
(Russian)
Ю ю
(Russian)
Ю - Yu - Name of Letter
[ju]
Pronounced like the “u” in “universe”. (Pronounced much like the english word “you”).
Ю is a “Soft Vowel”.
(Russian)
Я я
(Russian)
Я - Yah - Name of Letter
[ja]
Pronounced like the “ya” in “yard”.
Я is a “Soft Vowel”.
(Russian)
A - Name of Letter
[a]
Pronounced like the “a” in the word “father” or “car”. It is not the ‘flat’ “a” sound you sometimes hear in words like “cat” or “flat”.
бэ - Name of Letter
[bɛ]
Pronounced like the “b” in “bat”. (Equivalent to the english letter “b”)
вэ - Name of Letter
[vɛ]
V - Pronounced like the “v” in “vet”. (Equivalent to the english letter “v”).
гэ - Name of Letter
[ɡɛ]
G - Pronounced like the “g” in “go”. (Equivalent to the english letter “g”).
дэ - Name of Letter
[dɛ]
D - Pronounced like the “d” in “dog”. (Equivalent to the english letter “d”).
жэ - Name of Letter
[ʐɛ]
Like “s” in “measure”, “pleasure” or “fusion” or like “g” in colour “beige”. (As there is no english symbol for this sound, it is usually represented as “zh”)
зэ - Name of Letter
[zɛ]
Pronounced like the “z” in “zoo”. (Equivalent to the english letter “z”).
И и - Name of Letter
[i]
Pronounced like the “i” in “taxi”. (Sometimes equivalent to the english letter “i”, the short ‘ee’ sound.). (Note: The hand-written form for “и” looks a little like the english “u”).
и краткое - Name of Letter
[i ˈkratkəɪ]
This letter is used to form diphthongs. So “oй” is like the “oy” sound in “boy” or “aй” is like the “igh” in “sigh”.
ка - Name of Letter
[ka]
Pronounced like the “k” in “kitten” or “kangaroo”. This letter replaces the english “c” sound in words like “cat”.
эл or эль - Name of Letter
[el] or [elʲ]
Pronounced like the “l” in “love”. (Equivalent to the english letter “l”).
эм - Name of Letter
[ɛm]
Pronounced like the “m” in man. (Note: Unlike english, the hand-written “м” should always start from the bottom)
эн - Name of Letter
[ɛn]
Pronounced like the “n” in “no”. (Equivalent to the english letter “n”).
о - Name of Letter
[о]
When stressed, it is pronounced like the “o” in “bore”. When un-stressed it is pronounced more like the letter “a”. (See later notes.)
пэ - Name of Letter
[pɛ]
Pronounced like the “p” in “pot”. (Equivalent to the english letter “p”).
эр - Name of Letter
[ɛr]
Pronounced like the “r” in “run”, but it is rolled. (Equivalent to the english letter “r”).
эс - Name of Letter
[ɛs]
Pronounced like the “s” in “see”. (Equivalent to the english letter “s”).
тэ - Name of Letter
[tɛ]
Pronounced like the “t” in “tap”. (Note: The hand-written (and italic) form is “т”. It should always start from the top, as it looks quite similar to the letter “м”)
эф - Name of Letter
[ɛf]
Pronounced like the “f” in “fat”. (Equivalent to the english letter “f”).
xa - Name of Letter
[xa]
Pronounced like the “h” in “hello”. However, this is often pronounced more like the “ch” in the Scottish “Loch” or German “Bach”, or the spanish “x” in “Mexico”.
ща - Name of Letter
[ɕɕa]
Pronounced like “sh” but with your tongue on the roof of your mouth. Try putting your tongue in the same position as you would to say “ch” but say “sh” instead. English speakers may find it hard to define the difference between “ш” and “щ”.
твёрдый знак - Name of Letter
[ˈtvʲordɨj znak]
The ‘Hard Sign’ is rarely used. It indicates a slight pause between sylables.
ы - Name of Letter
[ɨ]
Pronounced like the “i” in “bit” or “ill”. (Said with your tongue slightly back in your mouth.) or “car”. It is not the ‘flat’ “a” sound you sometimes hear in words like “cat” or “flat”.
мягкий знак - Name of Letter
[ˈmʲæxʲkʲɪj znak]
The ‘Soft Sign’ makes the previous letter ‘soft’. Think of the “p” sound in the word “pew”. (Try inflecting a very slight “y” sound onto letter before it.)
ю - Name of Letter
[ju]
Pronounced like the “u” in “universe”. (Pronounced much like the english word “you”).
The “Signs”
(Russian)
Russian
The ь, or мя́гкий знак (“soft sign,”) as noted before, denotes a soft consonant when there is no vowel present to perform that function. However, when placed in front of a soft vowel, it not only shows a soft consonant, indicates a more strongly pronounced y (as in yoke) sound in the vowel following.
The ъ, or твёрдый знак ("hard sign,") fulfills the same latter function of the soft sign, but also indicates that the preceding consonant is hard, despite the soft vowel following it. This is, however, a rarely used letter and is seen mostly in verb prefixes, as in Съездить, Отъездить and the like, and can also be marked with a double quotation or ".
Stress
(Russian)
Russian
Whenever you learn a new word, be sure to remember the stress patterns, as unlike Polish, Czech, and some other Slavic languages, syllable stress in Russian is free, unpredictable, and sometimes mobile; two-syllable neuter words, for instance, almost always change stress in the plural. For a graphic example of the importance of stress, the verb писа́ть (stressed on a) which means “to write,” can have its meaning suddenly and easily changed to пи́сать, (stress on и) which means “to piss,” so be careful!
Vowel Reduction
(Russian)
Russian
In virtually all spoken forms, all final consonants are devoiced.
As with any language, there are certain differences in vowel pronounciation to be heard in different areas of Russia. Many of the boundaries of these differences remain a subject of debate, but below are the common changes in vowel pronunciation commonly heard in and around the Moscow region, and is thus considered the “standard” form of Russian.
–The O rule: an unstressed o, before the point of stress, is pronounced like an a, and after the point of stress, makes an “uh” sound, a schwa in linguistic terms.
–The И Rule: an unstressed и before the point of stress is pronounced like the i in if, whereas a finial и is pronounced normally.
–The E rule: at the beginning of a word, e is always pronounced as “ye,” regardless of stress. An unstressed e, unless preceded by a vowel is pronounced like a “schwa”, though any preceding consonant is still softened.
Main spelling rules
(Russian)
The 7-Letter Rule
After Ш, Щ, Ж, Ч, Г, Х, & К, write И instead of Ы
The 5-Letter Rule
After Ш, Щ, Ж, Ч, Ц, don’t write O if it’s unstressed; write E instead
The Hush Rule
After Ш, Щ, Ж, Ч, don’t write Я or Ю; use А or У instead
Note that the letters Щ, and Ч are always soft, and Ж, Ш, and Ц are always considered hard; this means that after the former two, a is always pronounced as я, у is always pronounced like ю, and so on, while after the latter three, и sounds like ы, е and sounds like э.
Rules of Combination
Rule #1
(Russian)
Russian
Rule # 1: After й or ь, of there is a hard vowel, the two “blend” to form the soft variant
й + а = я , ь + а = я
й + э/е = е , ь + э/е = е
й + у = ю , ь + у = ю
й + о = е , ь + о = е
й + о = ё , ь + о = ё
й + ы = и , ь + ы = и
One little thing: й or ь plus o always makes e unless it is stressed; only then does it become ё
Rules of Combination
Rule #2
(Russian)
Russian
Rule # 2: After й or ь, if there is a soft vowel, the former is removed and the latter is left on its own.
Take for instance часть. Want the plural? Add -и, and you get частьи, but the soft sign gets absorbed, so we end up with части
Hard and Soft Vowels 1
(Russian)
Russian has a system of ‘soft’ or ‘palatalized’ consonants which parallels that of the regular consonants. (Soft consonants are pronounced as though you were pronouncing that consonant and a ‘y’ simultaneously.) Fourteen Russian consonants come in soft-hard pairs and, if the Russian alphabet assigned a distinct consonant for each, we would have to memorize fourteen additional consonant letters.
However, because they want their language to remain the simplest language in the world, the Russians decided to use the following vowel to indicate whether the preceding consonant is hard or soft. Since the Russian language has only 5 distinct vowel sounds, this system requires only 5 additional letters. This saves the Russian-language learner 9 letters to memorize! Here are the 10 vowel letters which indicate whether the preceding consonant is 'hard' or 'soft'. Remember, each vowel of the pair is pronounced identically, except for the ы and the и. The approximate pronunciation is given to the right.
Therefore hard vowels are placed after hard consonants, and soft vowels are placed after soft consonants.
Hard and Soft Vowels 2
(Russian)
The Combination of й+V (yery+vowel) Russian orthography does not allow spellings with й (jod) plus a vowel, that is, й+а, й+э, й+ы, й+о, й+у. Instead, the “soft” vowels are also used to indicate these combinations, as the following table illustrates.
Бь
(Russian)
