Russian Alphabet Pronunciation Guide

Vowels

• А а – /a/ like "father"
• Е е – /je/ like "yes"
• Ё ё – /jo/ like "yaw"
• И и – /i/ like "meet"
• О о – /o/ like "saw" (unstressed → /ɐ/)
• У у – /u/ like "boot"
• Ы ы – /ɨ/ guttural "ui"
• Э э – /e/ like "apple"

Consonants

• Б б – /b/; В в – /v/; Г г – /g/; Д д – /d/
• Ж ж – /ʐ/ like "pleasure"
• З з – /z/; Й й – /j/ like "yes"
• К к – /k/; Л л – /l/; М м – /m/; Н н – /n/
• П п – /p/; Р р – rolled /r/
• С с – /s/; Т т – /t/; Ф ф – /f/
• Х х – /x/ like "loch"
• Ц ц – /ts/; Ч ч – /tɕ/ like "cheese"
• Ш ш – /ʂ/ like "sh"; Щ щ – /ɕː/ like "fresh cheese"
• Ъ ъ – hard sign (no sound, hardens preceding consonant)
• Ь ь – soft sign (no sound, palatalizes preceding consonant)

Stress and vowel reduction (especially unstressed о → /ɐ/) are critical for natural speech.