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Russian Alphabet



There are 33 letters in the Russian Alphabet: 10 vowels, 21 consonants, and 2 signs (ь, ъ).

Russian is an Eastern Slavonic language closely related to Ukrainian and Belorussian with about 277 million speakers in Russia and 30 other countries.

The Cyrillic 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.


Click each letter to listen, then click again and repeat after speaker imitating the pronunciation as closely as you can.

Click "Play" to watch how to handwrite letters and words.

Letter Handwriting Name of Letter Similar English Sound Sample Handwriting
Download sound А а

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a like ar in far
Download sound   а́том

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Download sound Б б

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be like b in box
Download sound   бато́н

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Download sound В в

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ve like v in voice
Download sound   ва́режки

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Download sound Г г

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ge like g in go
Download sound   гру́ша

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Download sound Д д

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de like d in day
Download sound   ды́ня

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Download sound Е е

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ye like ye in yet or e in exit
Download sound   ежеви́ка

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Download sound Ё ё

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yo like yo in your
Download sound   ёж

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Download sound Ж ж

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zhe like s in pleasure
Download sound   жук

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Download sound З з

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ze like z in zoo
Download sound   замо́к

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Download sound И и

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ee like ee in meet
Download sound   икра́

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Download sound Й й

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ee kratkoye (short i) like y in boy
Download sound   йо́гурт

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Download sound К к

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ka like k in key or c in cat
Download sound   клубни́ка

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Download sound Л л

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el like l in lamp
Download sound   лимо́н

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Download sound М м

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em like m in man
Download sound   мали́на

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Download sound Н н

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en like n in note
Download sound   носки́

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Download sound О о

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o like o in not
Download sound   о́вощи

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Download sound П п

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pe like p in pet
Download sound   пе́рец

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Download sound Р р

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er like r in rock (but rolled)
Download sound   ры́ба

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Download sound С с

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es like s in sun
Download sound   стул

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Download sound Т т

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te like t in table
Download sound   торт

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Download sound У у

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oo like oo in moon
Download sound   у́дочка

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Download sound Ф ф

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ef like f in food
Download sound   фру́кты

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Download sound Х х

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kha like ch in Scottish loch
Download sound   хво́я

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Download sound Ц ц

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tse like ts in boots
Download sound   ци́фры

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Download sound Ч ч

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che like ch in chat
Download sound   ча́шка

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Download sound Ш ш

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sha like sh in short
Download sound   ша́пка

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Download sound Щ щ

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shcha like sh_ch in fresh_cheese
Download sound   щётка

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Download sound ъ

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tviordiy znak (hard sign) has no sound
Download sound ы

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ih* like i in ill
Download sound ь

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myagkiy znak (soft sign) has no sound
Download sound Э э

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e like e in end
Download sound   экра́н

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Download sound Ю ю

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yoo like u in use
Download sound   ю́бка

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Download sound Я я

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ya like ya in yard
Download sound   я́блоко

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* ih - "h" had been added to produce a more open sound, but is not pronounced as an English "h".



More About Russian Alphabet

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. The Cyrillic 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.


Russian keyboard layout


from here



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