Russian Alphabet

The modern Russian alphabet is based on the Cyrillic script and consists of 33 letters: 10 vowels, 21 consonants, and 2 orthographic signs that modify preceding sounds.

Classification of Letters

  1. Vowels

    • Russian vowels are split into hard-indicating and soft-indicating (iotated) pairs:

      • Hard-indicating vowels: А, Э, Ы, О, У

      • Soft-indicating vowels: Я, Е, И, Ё, Ю (these typically palatalize the preceding consonant or represent a leading /j/ sound)

  2. Consonants

    • Most Russian consonants exist in voiced/voiceless pairs:

      • Voiced: Б, В, Г, Д, Ж, З

      • Voiceless: П, Ф, К, Т, Ш, С

    • Unpaired consonants:

      • Unpaired voiced: Л, М, Н, Р, Й

      • Unpaired voiceless: Х, Ц, Ч, Щ

  3. Orthographic Signs

    • Hard Sign (Ъ): Separates a prefix ending in a consonant from a following iotated vowel, preventing palatalization.

    • Soft Sign (Ь): Indicates that the preceding consonant is palatalized (pronounced with the tongue raised toward the hard palate).

Categorization for Learners

  • True Friends (look and sound similar to Latin letters):

    • А (a), К (k), М (m), О (o), Т (t)

  • False Friends (look like Latin letters but produce different sounds):

    • В (/v/), Е (/ye/), Н (/n/), Р (/r/), С (/s/), У (/oo/), Х (/kh/)

  • New Letters with Familiar Sounds:

    • Б (/b/), Г (/g/), Д (/d/), З (/z/), И (/ee/), Л (/l/), П (/p/), Ф (/f/), Э (/e/)

  • Distinctive Slavic Sounds:

    • Ж (/zh/), Ц (/ts/), Ч (/ch/), Ш (/sh/), Щ (/shch/), Ы (/ɨ/ - deep 'i' sound), Ю (/yu/), Я (/ya/)