Overview of the Russian Alphabet
The Russian language uses the Cyrillic alphabet. The version of the alphabet used today has thirty-three letters, which are listed in the chart below. Click on a letter to learn more about how it is formed and to see other examples of that letter in handwriting from historical records.
| Letter | Handwritten | Name | English Equivalent | Pronunciation | ||||||||
| Аа | 
| "ah" | a | a in "father" See the Additional Resources at the bottom of this page for more pronunciation tips. | ||||||||
| Бб | 
| "beh" | b | b | ||||||||
| Вв | 
| "veh" | v | v | ||||||||
| Гг | 
| "geh" | g | g in "good" | ||||||||
| Дд | 
| "deh" | d | d | ||||||||
| Ее | 
| "yeh" | ye/e | ye in "yellow" | ||||||||
| Ёё | 
| "yo" | yo | yo | ||||||||
| Жж | 
| "zheh" | zh | z in "azure" or s in "measure" | ||||||||
| Зз | 
| "zeh" | z | z | ||||||||
| Ии | 
| "ee" | i | i in "trampoline" | ||||||||
| Йй | 
| "ee-kratkoye" | y | y in "boy" | ||||||||
| Кк | 
| "kah" | k | k | ||||||||
| Лл | 
| "el" | l | l | ||||||||
| Мм | 
| "em" | m | m | ||||||||
| Нн | 
| "en" | n | n | ||||||||
| Оо | 
| "oh" | o | o | ||||||||
| Пп | 
| "peh" | p | p | ||||||||
| Рр | 
| "ehr" | r | r (rolled/trilled) | ||||||||
| Сс | 
| "ess" | s | s | ||||||||
| Тт | 
| "teh" | t | t | ||||||||
| Уу | 
| "oo" | u | u in "rude" | ||||||||
| Фф | 
| "ef" | f | f | ||||||||
| Хх | 
| "kha" | kh | ch in "Bach" | ||||||||
| Цц | 
| "tseh" | ts | ts in "hats" | ||||||||
| Чч | 
| "cha" | ch | ch in "choose" | ||||||||
| Шш | 
| "shah" | sh | sh in "shoot" | ||||||||
| Щщ | 
| "shyah" | shch | sh in "sheep" | ||||||||
| ъ | 
| "tvyordy znahk" | none; sometimes " | silent (hard sign) | ||||||||
| ы | 
| "yeri" | y | No English equivalent—the sound falls between a Russian у and и. Watch this YouTube video for pronunciation tips. | ||||||||
| ь | 
| "myagky znahk" | none; sometimes ' | silent (soft sign) | ||||||||
| Ээ | 
| "eh" | e | e in "bet" | ||||||||
| Юю | 
| "yoo" | yu | yu in "yule" | ||||||||
| Яя | 
| "yah" | ya | ya in "y'all" | ||||||||
Archaic Letters
Some letters were removed from the Russian alphabet in 1918 as part of a spelling reform. These three are the most common ones you will see:
| Letter | Handwritten | Name | Sound | Modern Russian Equivalent | English Equivalent | ||||||||||
І і | 
| "decimal i" | i in "trampoline" | и | i | ||||||||||
Ѣ ѣ | 
| "yat" | ye in "yellow" | е | ye/e | ||||||||||
Ѳ ѳ | 
| "fita" | f | ф | f | ||||||||||
Other letters that are not used today might appear in the documents as well, especially in metrical book headings (which are commonly written in Old Church Slavonic). You may encounter the following letters in such a context:
| Letter | Name | Sound | Modern Russian Equivalent | English Equivalent | Commentary |
Ѵ ѵ | "izhitsa" | i in "trampoline" | и или в | i or v | Discontinued in the 1918 spelling reform. |
Ї ї | "decimal i with diaeresis" | yi in "yield" | йи | yi | In Church Slavonic and Russian language usage, this letter was a variant of the decimal I used before vowels. A similar letter, called “yi,” is still used in Ukrainian today. |
Ѕ ѕ | "zelo" | dz/z | дз/з | dz/z | Originally had a "dz" sound, but was assigned the sound “z” in Peter I’s civil script reform in 1708. It was replaced by з in 1710. Both were still used until about 1735, after which s was eliminated. |
Ѯ ѯ | "ksee" | ks | кс | ks | Eliminated by Peter I’s civil script reform in 1708. It was brought back into use in 1710, but was later removed again in 1735. |
Ѱ ѱ | "psee" | ps | пс | ps | Eliminated by Peter I’s civil script reform in 1708. |
Ѡ ѡ | "omega" | o | о | o | Eliminated by Peter I’s civil script reform in 1708. |
Ѫ ѫ | "big yus" | u in "rude" | у | u | Replaced by у in the 1600s. |
Ѧ ѧ | "little yus" | ya in "y'all" | я | ya | Replaced by я in the 1600s and officially discontinued in Peter I’s civil script reform of 1708. |
Ѭ ѭ | "iotated big yus" | yu in "yule" | ю | yu | Likely went out of general use around the same time as the big yus. |
Ѩ ѩ | "iotated little yus" | ya in "y'all" | я | ya | Likely went out of general use around the same time as the little yus. |
Ѹ ѹ/ Ꙋ ꙋ | "ook" | u in "rude" | у | u | Was replaced by у in most cases by the early 1400s. |
Ѿ ѿ | "ote" | ote in "wrote" | от | ot | Likely went out of general use around the same time as the omega. |
Additional Resources:
- This YouTube video from RussianPod101 provides valuable tips for Russian pronunciation.
- EasyPronunciation.com is another useful online pronunciation guide with audio and video examples. You can search by word, letter combination, phonetic transcription, or sound.