Russian Alphabets (From Russian for Everyone)

1. RussianAlphabets
There are 33 letters in the RussianAlphabet: 10 vowels, 21
consonants, and 2 signs (ь, ъ).
By ChalanthornC

2. A a
 Name of Letter: a
 Similar English Sound: ar in far
 Sample: том
1/33

3. Б б
 Name of Letter: be
 Similar English Sound: like b in box
 Sample: н
2/33

4. В в
 Name of Letter: ve
 Similar English Sound: like v in voice
 Sample: режки
3/33

5. Г г
 Name of Letter: ge
 Similar English Sound: like g in go
 Sample: ша
4/33

6. Д д
 Name of Letter: de
 Similar English Sound: like d in day
 Sample: ня
5/33

7. Е е
 Name of Letter: ye
 Similar English Sound: like ye in yet or e in exit
 Sample: ка
6/33

8. Ё ё
 Name of Letter: yo
 Similar English Sound: like yo in your
 Sample: ёж
7/33

9. Ж ж
 Name of Letter: zhe
 Similar English Sound: like s in pleasure
 Sample: жук
8/33

10. З з
 Name of Letter: ze
 Similar English Sound: like z in zoo
 Sample: к
9/33

11. И и
 Name of Letter: ee
 Similar English Sound: like ee in meet
 Sample:
10/33

12. Й й
 Name of Letter: ee kratkoye (short i)
 Similar English Sound: like y in boy
 Sample: гурт
11/33

13. К к
 Name of Letter: ka
 Similar English Sound: like k in key or c in cat
 Sample: ка
12/33

14. Л л
 Name of Letter: el
 Similar English Sound: like l in lamp
 Sample: н
13/33

15. М м
 Name of Letter: em
 Similar English Sound: like m in man
 Sample: на
14/33

16. Н н
 Name of Letter: en
 Similar English Sound: like n in note
 Sample:
15/33

17. О о
 Name of Letter: o
 Similar English Sound: like o in not
 Sample: вощи
16/33

18. П п
 Name of Letter: pe
 Similar English Sound: like p in pet
 Sample: рец
17/33

19. Р р
 Name of Letter: er
 Similar English Sound: like r in rock (but rolled)
 Sample: ба
18/33

20. С с
 Name of Letter: es
 Similar English Sound: like s in sun
 Sample: стул
19/33

21. Т т
 Name of Letter: te
 Similar English Sound: like t in table
 Sample: торт
20/33

22. У у
 Name of Letter: oo
 Similar English Sound: like oo in moon
 Sample: дочка
21/33

23. Ф ф
 Name of Letter: ef
 Similar English Sound: like f in food
 Sample: кты
22/33

24. Х х
 Name of Letter: kha
 Similar English Sound: like ch in Scottish loch
 Sample: я
23/33

25. Ц ц
 Name of Letter: tse
 Similar English Sound: like ts in boots
 Sample: фры
24/33

26. Ч ч
 Name of Letter: che
 Similar English Sound: like ch in chat
 Sample: шка
25/33

27. Ш ш
 Name of Letter: sha
 Similar English Sound: sh in short
 Sample: пка
26/33

28. Щ щ
 Name of Letter: shcha
 Similar English Sound: like sh_ch in fresh_cheese
 Sample: щётка
27/33

29. ъ
 Name of Letter: tviordiy znak (hard sign)
 Similar English Sound: has no sound
 Sample: has no sample
28/33

30. ы
 Name of Letter: ih*
 Similar English Sound: like i in ill
 Sample: has no sample
29/33* ih - "h" had been added to produce a more open sound, but is not pronounced as an English "h".

31. ь
 Name of Letter: myagkiy znak (soft sign)
 Similar English Sound: has no sound
 Sample: has no sample
30/33

32. Э э
 Name of Letter: e
 Similar English Sound: like e in end
 Sample: н
31/33

33. Ю ю
 Name of Letter: yoo
 Similar English Sound: like u in use
 Sample: бка
32/33

34. Я я
 Name of Letter: ya
 Similar English Sound: like ya in yard
 Sample: блоко
33/33

35. About Russian
Alphabet
Russian is an Eastern Slavonic language closely related to Ukrainian and Belorussian with about
277 million speakers in Russia and 30 other countries.
TheCyrillic alphabet was introduced into Russia (Kievan Rus' ) at the time of its conversion to
Christianity (988 AD).The alphabet, the Cyrillic script is named in honor of the Byzantine scholar
and monk, Cyril (827-869 AD), who, together with his brother Methodius (826-885 AD), created
the first Slavic writing system in the second half of the ninth century in order to translate the Bible
and other Christian texts into the Slavic languages.
Cyril and Methodius called their alphabet Glagolitsa, or the Glagolitic alphabet.The name comes
from the Old Slavic word glagolŭ, which means ‘sound’.The Glagolitic alphabet was used for
Slavonic manuscripts for a relatively short period of time (no more than a century) before the
development of the Cyrillic.TheCyrillic alphabet was derived from Glagolitic by Cyril’s pupils and
named after him. Cyrillic letters are different from the Glagolitic ones and have lots in common
with the Greek letters.
Until the 17th century, the only written language in Russia was Church Slavonic. Civil Russian
language started appearing in writing during the reign of Peter the Great (1672-1725).The dialect
of Moscow was used as the basis for written Russian.The new civil alphabet was introduced by
Peter the Great himself in order to write civil books, books on science and other texts not related
to the church.
Four letters were eliminated from the alphabet in a 1918 language reform. Since 1918 the
alphabet remains unchanged.