Russian is a Slavic language with a fairly phonetic alphabet, so it’s not too difficult to learn how to pronounce Russian words once you familiarize yourself with the rules. Here’s a guide to Russian pronunciation:
The Russian alphabet has 33 letters. Some of these letters are pronounced differently than their English counterparts:
А, О, У, Ы, Э, Я, Ю, and Ё are all pronounced like the vowel sounds in their corresponding English letters (e.g., “a” as in “father,” “o” as in “note,” “y” as in “yes,” etc.).
Е and И are pronounced like the “ye” and “ee” sounds in “yes” and “feet,” respectively.
З is pronounced like the “z” sound in “zoom.”
К is pronounced like the “k” sound in “kite.”
Л is pronounced like the “l” sound in “love.”
Н is pronounced like the “n” sound in “nice.”
П is pronounced like the “p” sound in “pet.”
Р is pronounced like the “r” sound in “red.”
С is pronounced like the “s” sound in “sun.”
Т is pronounced like the “t” sound in “time.”
Ф is pronounced like the “f” sound in “fun.”
Х is pronounced like the “kh” sound in the Scottish word “loch.”
Ч is pronounced like the “ch” sound in “chip.”
Ш is pronounced like the “sh” sound in “shoe.”
Щ is pronounced like the “shch” sound in “pushchair.”
Ь and Ъ are both softening signs that indicate that the preceding consonant should be pronounced more softly.
Russian has a stress accent, which means that certain syllables in a word are pronounced more loudly or with more emphasis than others. The stressed syllable is usually the one that comes before the last one in a word, but this can vary. For example, the stress in the word “банк” (bank) falls on the first syllable, while the stress in the word “поэт” (poet) falls on the second syllable.
Russian has a number of vowel sounds that don’t exist in English. Some of these can be approximated by English speakers, while others are more difficult to pronounce. Here are a few examples:
The “ы” sound is similar to the “i” sound in “bit,” but with the lips rounded.
The “э” sound is similar to the “e” sound in “met,” but with the lips slightly rounded.
The “у” sound is similar to the “oo” sound in “moon,” but with the lips rounded.
The “о” sound is similar to the “o” sound in “note,” but with the lips rounded.
The “я” sound is similar to the “ya” sound in “yard,” but with the lips slightly rounded.
The “ю” sound is similar to the “u” sound in “mute,” but with the lips slightly rounded.
The “ё” sound is similar to the “yo” sound in “yolk,” but with the lips slightly rounded.
Russian has a number of consonant sounds that don’t exist in English. Some of these can be approximated by English speakers.
Here are a few more examples of Russian consonant sounds that may be difficult for English speakers:
The “щ” sound is similar to the “shch” sound in “pushchair,” but with the tip of the tongue touching the roof of the mouth.
The “ч” sound is similar to the “ch” sound in “chip,” but with the tip of the tongue touching the roof of the mouth.
The “ш” sound is similar to the “sh” sound in “shoe,” but with the tip of the tongue touching the roof of the mouth.
The “ж” sound is similar to the “s” sound in “measure,” but with the tongue placed closer to the roof of the mouth and the teeth slightly apart.
The “х” sound is similar to the “kh” sound in the Scottish word “loch,” but with the tip of the tongue touching the roof of the mouth.
Russian has a number of diphthongs, which are two vowel sounds that are pronounced together in a single syllable. Some examples include:
Ай (like the “i” sound in “time”)
Ой (like the “oy” sound in “toy”)
Уй (like the “ooey” sound in “gooey”)
Эй (like the “ay” sound in “say”)
Яй (like the “yay” sound in “hay”)
Юй (like the “ewey” sound in “fewer”)
Russian has a number of nasal vowel sounds, which are pronounced with the nose as well as the mouth. Some examples include:
Ан (like the “on” sound in “honor”)
Он (like the “on” sound in “honor”)
Ын (like the “in” sound in “win”)
Эн (like the “en” sound in “hen”)
Ян (like the “yan” sound in “yawn”)
Юн (like the “ewen” sound in “fewer”)
Russian has a number of palatalized consonants, which are pronounced with the middle of the tongue touching the palate (the roof of the mouth). These consonants are usually denoted by a small “ь” written after the consonant. For example, the word “банк” (bank) is pronounced with a palatalized “n,” while the word “поэт” (poet) is pronounced with a palatalized “t.”
I hope this helps give you a general overview of Russian pronunciation! It’s always a good idea to practice listening to and repeating words and phrases out loud to get a feel for the rhythms and sounds of the language.
The word ‘fun’
If a Russian speaker were to spell the word “fun” in Russian script, they would write it as “фан” (fan). The word “фан” is actually a shortened version of the word “фантазия” (fantaziya), which means “fantasy” or “imagination.” It is often used colloquially to refer to something that is enjoyable or entertaining.
The letters “ф” and “н” in “фан” are pronounced like the “f” and “n” sounds in “fun,” respectively. The “а” is pronounced like the “a” sound in “father.”
The word “fun” can be translated into Russian as “веселье” (vesel’ye). In phonetic transcription, it would be pronounced as follows:
веселье [vye-syel’-ye]
Note that the stress in this word falls on the second syllable. The “е” in the first syllable is pronounced like the “ye” sound in “yes,” while the “е” in the second syllable is pronounced like the “e” sound in “met.” The “и” in the middle of the word is pronounced like the “ee” sound in “feet.”
Kyiv, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Putin, Zelensky
Kyiv (also spelled Kiev) is written as Киев. The letter К is pronounced like the “k” sound in “key,” the letter и is pronounced like the “ee” sound in “feet,” and the letter в is pronounced like the “v” sound in “vet.”
Moscow (Москва) is pronounced as “MAHSK-va.” The letter М is pronounced like the “m” sound in “mother,” the letter о is pronounced like the “o” sound in “hot,” the letter с is pronounced like the “s” sound in “sink,” the letter к is pronounced like the “k” sound in “key,” and the letter в is pronounced like the “v” sound in “vet.” The stress is typically placed on the first syllable, so the first syllable is pronounced with a little more emphasis than the second syllable.
Saint Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург) is pronounced as “sankt-pyet-yer-BOORK.” The letter С is pronounced like the “s” sound in “sink,” the letter а is pronounced like the “a” sound in “father,” the letter н is pronounced like the “n” sound in “nice,” the letter к is pronounced like the “k” sound in “key,” the letter т is pronounced like the “t” sound in “time,” the letter п is pronounced like the “p” sound in “pet,” the letter е is pronounced like the “ye” sound in “yes,” the letter р is pronounced like the “r” sound in “run,” the letter б is pronounced like the “b” sound in “bat,” and the letter у is pronounced like the “oo” sound in “moon.” The stress is typically placed on the first syllable of the first word and the second syllable of the second word, so those syllables are pronounced with a little more emphasis than the other syllables.
In Russian, the surname Putin is written as Путин and is pronounced as “POO-teen.” The letter П is pronounced like the “p” sound in “pet,” the letter у is pronounced like the “oo” sound in “moon,” the letter т is pronounced like the “t” sound in “time,” the letter и is pronounced like the “ee” sound in “feet,” and the letter н is pronounced like the “n” sound in “nice.” The stress is typically placed on the first syllable, so the first syllable is pronounced with a little more emphasis than the second syllable.
Zelenskyy (also spelled Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is written as Зеленский and is pronounced as “zye-LYEN-skiy.” The letter З is pronounced like the “z” sound in “zoo,” the letter е is pronounced like the “ye” sound in “yes,” the letter л is pronounced like the “l” sound in “love,” the letter н is pronounced like the “n” sound in “nice,” the letter с is pronounced like the “s” sound in “sink,” and the letter к is pronounced like the “k” sound in “key.” The letter и is pronounced like the “ee” sound in “feet,” and the letter й is a palatalized version of the letter и, which means that it is pronounced with a slight “y” sound before it. The stress is typically placed on the first syllable, so the first syllable is pronounced with a little more emphasis than the other syllables.