Animated Letters
Below are examples of how a scribe would have formed the Russian letters. Knowing the strokes and formation of each letter can help you decipher hard to read letters or discern between letters that may look alike. These animations will replay on a loop.
Use the buttons to jump to a specific letter to study.
Ѣѣ
Аа | Name: “ah” English equivalent: a Pronunciation: a in “father” | ||
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Бб | Name: “beh” English equivalent: b Pronunciation: b | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Вв | Name: “veh” English equivalent: v Pronunciation: v | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Гг | Name: “geh” English equivalent: g Pronunciation: g in “good” | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Дд | Name: “deh” English equivalent: d Pronunciation: d | ||
| 
| 
|
Examples:
| 
| 
|
Variants:
Ее | Name: “yeh” English equivalent: ye/e (after consonants) Pronunciation: ye in “yellow” | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Ёё | Name: “yo” English equivalent: yo Pronunciation: yo | ||
| 
|
It is extremely common for the two dots above this letter to be omitted in handwritten documents. Be aware of this as you search for surnames or given names that include this letter, as they may be written without the two dots, making it look like a e has been written instead of a ё. Russian speakers understand from context that it is really a ё.
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Жж | Name: “zheh” English equivalent: zh Pronunciation: z in “azure” | ||
| 
|
Ж is the one of the most varied letters in the Cyrillic alphabet, so it is important to both review the examples and variants of this letter and keep an open mind to how the scribe may have represented the letter.
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Зз | Name: “zeh” English equivalent: z Pronunciation: z | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Ии | Name: “ee” English equivalent: i Pronunciation: i in “trampoline” | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Йй | Name: “ee-kratkoye” English equivalent: y Pronunciation: y in “boy” | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Кк | Name: “kah” English equivalent: k Pronunciation: k | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Лл | Name: “el” English equivalent: l Pronunciation: l | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Мм | Name: “em” English equivalent: m Pronunciation: m | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Нн | Name: “en” English equivalent: n Pronunciation: n | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Оо | Name: “oh” English equivalent: o Pronunciation: o | ||
| 
|
Some scribes do not close the bow of the letter о completely. See the examples and variants below for a few instances where that is the case.
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Пп | Name: “peh” English equivalent: p Pronunciation: p | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Рр | Name: “ehr” English equivalent: r Pronunciation: r (trilled or rolled) | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Сс | Name: “ess” English equivalent: s Pronunciation: s | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Тт | Name: “teh” English equivalent: t Pronunciation: t | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Уу | Name: “oo” English equivalent: u Pronunciation: u in “rude” | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Фф | Name: “ef” English equivalent: f Pronunciation: f | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Хх | Name: “kha” English equivalent: kh Pronunciation: ch in “Bach” | ||
| 
|
Some scribes start the letter from the top of the left semi-bow and connect to the previous letter from the top, while others begin from the bottom with a hook. Be aware that some scribes may also angle the letter so it looks more like a minim with a crossbar than two semi-bows; see the examples and variants below.
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Цц | Name: “tseh” English equivalent: ts Pronunciation: ts in “hats” | ||
| 
|
Even though tails should not be as long as descenders as a rule, some scribes make tails significantly longer than others; see the examples below.
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Чч | Name: “cha” English equivalent: ch Pronunciation: ch in “choose” | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Шш | Name: “shah” English equivalent: sh Pronunciation: sh in “shoot” | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Щщ | Name: “shyah” English equivalent: “shch” Pronunciation: sh in “sheep” | ||
| 
|
Even though tails should not be as long as descenders as a rule, some scribes make the tails significantly longer than others for this letter, just like in the case of the letter ц; see the examples below.
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
ъ | Name: “tvyordy znak” (твёрдый знак) English equivalent: none (sometimes represented by a quotation mark) Pronunciation: silent (hard sign; changes sound of surrounding letters) | ||
| Because this letter is not found at the beginning of words, you will rarely, if ever, see it capitalized. The most common exception is when a whole word is capitalized, which is much more common in print than in handwriting. |
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
ы | Name: “yeri” English equivalent: y Pronunciation: “ooey” (said fast) | ||
| Because this letter is not found at the beginning of words, you will rarely, if ever, see it capitalized. The most common exception is when a whole word is capitalized, which is much more common in print than in handwriting. |
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
ь | Name: “myagky znak” (мягкий знак) English equivalent: none (sometimes represented by an apostrophe) Pronunciation: silent (soft sign; changes sound of surrounding letters) | ||
| Because this letter is not found at the beginning of words, you will rarely, if ever, see it capitalized. The most common exception is when a whole word is capitalized, which is much more common in print than in handwriting. |
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Ээ | Name: “eh” English equivalent: e Pronunciation: e in “bet” | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Юю | Name: “yoo” English equivalent: yu Pronunciation: yu in “yule” | ||
| 
|
Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Яя | Name: “yah” English equivalent: ya Pronunciation: ya in “y’all” | ||
| 
|
Sometimes this letter can be widened dramatically by the scribe; see the examples and variants below.Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Іі | Name: “decimal i” Modern Russian equivalent: и English equivalent: i Pronunciation: i in “trampoline” | ||
| 
|
Though the use of this letter was discontinued in the 1918 spelling reform, the character is commonly encountered in historical documents.Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Ѣѣ | Name: “yat” Modern Russian equivalent: е English equivalent: ye/e (after consonants) Pronunciation: ye in “yellow” |
| 
|
Though the use of this letter was discontinued in the 1918 spelling reform, the character is commonly encountered in historical documents, especially in its lowercase form.Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
Ѳѳ | Name: “fita” Modern Russian equivalent: ф English equivalent: f Pronunciation: f |
| 
|
Though the use of this letter was discontinued in the 1918 spelling reform, the character is commonly encountered in historical documents.Examples:
| 
|
Variants:
