Russian Pronunciation

Russian Pronunciation.

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Russian Pronunciation

Introduction to the Russian Alphabet
The Vowels of the Russian Language

There are 33 letters in the Russian alphabet. There are 21 consonants, 10 vowels, and 2 unpronounced signs that indicate the pronunciation of the consonant they follow.

SIBILANTS AND VELARS
Consonants pronounced using the back of the tongue against the soft palate located on the back part of the roof of the mouth are called velars. The velars are г, к and х.

Consonants pronounced by directing air through the opening between the upper and lower teeth are called sibilants. The sibilants are ж, ц, ч, ш and щ.

Aa Ее Ёё Ии Оо Уу Ыы Ээ Юю Яя
There are ten vowels in the Russian language. These vowels can be divided into two types: hard-indicating and soft-indicating. The five hard-indicating vowels are а, э, о, у, and ы. The five soft-indicating vowels are я, е, ё, ю, and и.

WHY HARD-INDICATING AND SOFT-INDICATING VOWELS
The consonants in the Russian alphabet have a hard or soft quality. Most of the consonant letters of the modern alphabet do not indicate whether a consonant is to be pronounced using its soft or its hard variant. Therefore, Russian uses ten vowels—the hard- and soft-indicating vowels—to communicate or indicate when a consonant is hard or soft.

When a soft-indicating vowel is pronounced, the preceding consonant is often naturally pronounced soft. The soft-indicating vowels are created by adding the sound of the English letter ‘y’ to the front of the hard-indicating vowels. In English, an example would be the difference in the pronunciation between the words moot and mute, where moot is hard and mute is soft.

The Consonants

Б, В, Д
З, Л, М
Н, П, Р
С, Т, Ф

When pronounced hard, Russian consonants sound very similar to English consonants. When soft, consonants are pronounced with less force. As a reminder, the hard- and soft-indicating vowels are:

Hard-indicating vowels
Aa Ээ Оо Уу Ыы

Soft-indicating Vowels
Яя Ее Ёё Юю Ии

Velars Г, К, Х
Sibilants Ж, Ц, Ч, Ш, Щ

The hard- and soft-indicating vowels are:
Hard-indicating vowels
Aa Ээ Оо Уу Ыы

Soft-indicating Vowels
Яя Ее Ёё Юю Ии

Consonants pronounced using the back of the tongue against the soft palate located on the back part of the roof of the mouth are called velars. The velars are г, к, and х.

The hard- and soft-indicating vowels are:
Hard-indicating vowels
Aa Ээ Оо Уу Ыы

Soft-indicating Vowels
Яя Ее Ёё Юю Ии

Consonants pronounced by directing air through the opening between the upper and lower teeth are called sibilants. The sibilants are ж, ц, ч, ш, and щ.

The Soft and Hard Signs

The Soft Sign Ь
The Hard Sign Ъ

Many words in Russian contain soft consonants that are not followed by a vowel. These soft consonants can be followed by another consonant or by no letter at all. In the absence of a soft-indicating vowel, Russian uses an unpronounced sign to indicate that the consonant is soft. This is accomplished by the soft sign ь. The soft sign ь is used to indicate that the consonant it follows is to be pronounced soft. It can be written at the end of a word, between two consonants, or between a consonant and a vowel. The soft sign ь never follows a vowel.

It is important in speech and comprehension to be able to identify when a final consonant is hard or soft. It can mean the difference between two words and their meaning.

Like the soft sign ь, the hard sign ъ is unpronounced. The hard sign ъ indicates the consonant it follows is to be pronounced hard. It can only be written between a consonant and a vowel and usually follows a prefix. It is used to prevent a soft-indicating vowel from softening the preceding consonant. It creates a brief pause between the consonant and the vowel. The prefix prior to the hard sign ъ is pronounced clearly, almost as if it were a separate word. The preceding consonant is pronounced noticeably hard. The hard sign ъ separates consonants from the vowels e, ё, ю, and я.

The Stress Mark

Stressed and Unstressed A
Stressed and Unstressed O
Unstressed A and Unstressed O Compared

When the vowel а is stressed, it is pronounced similar to a in father. When а is unstressed and occurs in the initial syllable or in the syllable before the stress, it sounds nearly like stressed а, but more subdued. In other unstressed syllables, particularly the syllables following the stress, а sounds like a in above.

Like the unstressed а, when о is unstressed and occurs in the initial syllable or in the syllable before the stress it sounds nearly like stressed а, but more subdued. In other unstressed syllables, especially after the stress, it sounds like a in above.

The letters а and о sound very similar when unstressed. When а and о are unstressed and are in the initial syllable or in the syllable before the stress they sound like stressed а, but less strong. In other unstressed syllables, they sound like a in above.

Stressed and Unstressed E
Stressed and Unstressed Я
Unstressed E and Unstressed Я Compared

Stressed е is pronounced as ye, as in yet. When unstressed, the letter е is pronounced similar to the first e in beneath.

Stressed я is pronounced as ya, as in yacht. The unstressed я is pronounced very similar to the unstressed е—as the first e in beneath.

The letters е and я sound very similar when unstressed.

Stressed У, Ю, Ы, И, Ё, Э
Words with More Than One Stress

The vowels у, ю, ы and и are pronounced essentially the same whether stressed or unstressed. The difference between the stressed and unstressed versions of у, ю, ы and и is audible but doesn’t have so much to do with pronunciation as it does strength.

Certain words have two stressed syllables, although one will stand out in force.

Other

Voiced and Voiceless Consonants
Pronunciation of the -гo Suffix
Lengthening of Doubled Letters

English has what can be called voiced-voiceless pairs. Examples are b-p, d-t, g-k, v-f and z-s. The letters b, d, g, v and z are pronounced by activating the voice box. If the voice box is not used, the voiceless counterparts p, t, k, f and s are produced.

Russian also has such pairs:

Voiced Consonants Voiceless Consonants
б п
в ф
г к
д т
ж ш
з с

When the suffix -го is used as a declinable part of speech in adjectives and pronouns, the pronunciation is vo. There are only few nouns in which this pronunciation applies. For example, the noun сего́дня is pronounced ‘sevodnia’. The word сего́дня is actually сего́ дня, which means ‘of this day’. The suffix -го is very common as part of declined adjectives and pronouns.

With the exception of the letters -нн- and some foreign words, there are no words with double consonants in Russian. Unlike English, when two identical consonants are in a row the pronunciation is slightly lengthened. Incidentally, the double consonant -нн- is extremely common, especially in adjectives and participles.

Dictionaries give words. Grammar books give rules. Language360 adds context.