Alphabet
The Russian alphabet is as follows:
| Letter | Handwriting | Name | Old name | IPA | English example | № | Unicode (Hex) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Аа | а |
азъ |
/a/ | father | 1 | U+0410 / U+0430 | ||
| Бб | бэ |
буки |
/b/ or /bʲ/ | bit | – | U+0411 / U+0431 | ||
| Вв | вэ |
вѣди |
/v/ or /vʲ/ | vine | 2 | U+0412 / U+0432 | ||
| Гг | гэ |
глаголь |
/ɡ/ | go | 3 | U+0413 / U+0433 | ||
| Дд | дэ |
добро |
/d/ or /dʲ/ | do | 4 | U+0414 / U+0434 | ||
| Ее | е |
есть |
/je/ or / ʲe/ | yet | 5 | U+0415 / U+0435 | ||
| Ёё | ё |
– | /jo/ or / ʲo/ | yolk | – | U+0401 / U+0451 | ||
| Жж | жэ |
живѣте |
/ʐ/ | pleasure | – | U+0416 / U+0436 | ||
| Зз | зэ |
земля |
/z/ or /zʲ/ | zoo | 7 | U+0417 / U+0437 | ||
| Ии | и |
иже |
/i/ or / ʲi/ | me | 8 | U+0418 / U+0438 | ||
| Йй | и краткое |
и съ краткой |
/j/ | yes | – | U+0419 / U+0439 | ||
| Кк | ка |
како |
/k/ or /kʲ/ | kitten | 20 | U+041A / U+043A | ||
| Лл | эл or эль or |
люди |
/l/ or /lʲ/ | lamp | 30 | U+041B / U+043B | ||
| Мм | эм |
мыслѣте |
/m/ or /mʲ/ | map | 40 | U+041C / U+043C | ||
| Нн | эн |
нашъ |
/n/ or /nʲ/ | not | 50 | U+041D / U+043D | ||
| Оо | o |
онъ |
/o/ | more | 70 | U+041E / U+043E | ||
| Пп | пэ |
покой |
/p/ or /pʲ/ | spell | 80 | U+041F / U+043F | ||
| Рр | эр |
рцы |
/r/ or /rʲ/ | rolled r | 100 | U+0420 / U+0440 | ||
| Сс | эс |
слово |
/s/ or /sʲ/ | see | 200 | U+0421 / U+0441 | ||
| Тт | тэ |
твердо |
/t/ or /tʲ/ | stool | 300 | U+0422 / U+0442 | ||
| Уу | у |
укъ |
/u/ | boot | 400 | U+0423 / U+0443 | ||
| Фф | эф |
фертъ |
/f/ or /fʲ/ | face | 500 | U+0424 / U+0444 | ||
| Хх | ха |
хѣръ |
/x/ | Loch (voiceless velar fricative) | 600 | U+0425 / U+0445 | ||
| Цц | це |
цы |
/t͡s/ | sits | 900 | U+0426 / U+0446 | ||
| Чч | че |
червь |
/t͡ɕ/ | chip | 90 | U+0427 / U+0447 | ||
| Шш | ша |
ша |
/ʂ/ | Close to shut (voiceless retroflex fricative) | – | U+0428 / U+0448 | ||
| Щщ | ща |
ща |
/ɕɕ/ | sheer (sometimes instead pronounced as with fresh cheese) (a voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative) | – | U+0429 / U+0449 | ||
| Ъъ | твёрдый знак |
еръ |
silent, prevents palatalization of the preceding consonant | – | U+042A / U+044A | |||
| Ыы | ы |
еры |
roses or silly (close central unrounded vowel) | – | U+042B / U+044B | |||
| Ьь | мягкий знак |
ерь |
/ ʲ/ | silent, slightly palatalizes the preceding consonant (if it is phonologically possible) | – | U+042C / U+044C | ||
| Ээ | э |
э оборотное |
/e/ | met | – | U+042D / U+044D | ||
| Юю | ю |
ю |
/ju/ or / ʲu/ | use | – | U+042E / U+044E | ||
| Яя | я |
я |
/ja/ or / ʲa/ | yard | – | U+042F / U+044F | ||
| letters eliminated in 1917-1918 | ||||||||
| Іі | – | – | і десятеричное |
/i/ or / ʲi/ or /j/ | Like и or й | 10 | ||
| Ѳѳ | – | – | ѳита |
/f/ or /fʲ/ | Like ф | 9 | ||
| Ѣѣ | – | – | ять |
/e/ or / ʲe/ | Like е | – | ||
| Ѵѵ | – | – | ижица |
/i/ or / ʲi/ | Usually like и, see below | – | ||
| letters eliminated before 1750 | ||||||||
| Ѕѕ | – | – | зѣло |
/z/ or /zʲ/ | Like з | 6 | ||
| Ѯѯ | – | – | кси |
/ks/ or /ksʲ/ | Like кс | 60 | ||
| Ѱѱ | – | – | пси |
/ps/ or /psʲ/ | Like пс | 700 | ||
| Ѡѡ | – | – | омега |
/o/ | Like о | 800 | ||
| Ѫѫ | – | – | юсъ большой |
/u/, /ju/ or / ʲu/ | Like у or ю | – | ||
| Ѧѧ | – | – | юсъ малый |
/ja/ or / ʲa/ | Like я | – | ||
| Ѭѭ | – | – | юсъ большой іотированный |
/ju/ or / ʲu/ | Like ю | – | ||
| Ѩѩ | – | – | юсъ малый іотированный |
/ja/ or / ʲa/ | Like я | – | ||
The consonant letters represent both as "soft" (palatalized, represented in the IPA with a ⟨ʲ⟩) and "hard" consonant phonemes. If a consonant letter is followed by a vowel letter, then the soft/hard quality of the consonant depends on whether the vowel is meant to follow "hard" consonants ⟨а, о, э, у, ы⟩ or "soft" ones ⟨я, ё, е, ю, и⟩; see below. A handful of consonant phonemes do not have phonemically distinct "soft" and "hard" variants. See Russian phonology for details.
Read more about this topic: Russian Alphabet
Famous quotes containing the word alphabet:
“Roger Thornhill: You’re police, aren’t you. Or is it FBI?
Professor: FBI, CIA, O–I—we’re all in the same alphabet soup.”
—Ernest Lehman (b.1920)
“I believe the alphabet is no longer considered an essential piece of equipment for traveling through life. In my day it was the keystone to knowledge. You learned the alphabet as you learned to count to ten, as you learned “Now I lay me” and the Lord’s Prayer and your father’s and mother’s name and address and telephone number, all in case you were lost.”
—Eudora Welty (b. 1909)
“I wonder, Mr. Bone man, what you’re thinking
of your fury now, gone sour as a sinking whale,
crawling up the alphabet on her own bones.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)