Russian Pronunciation Guide
One of the most exciting things to me in studying another language is learning to pronounce new sounds. It’s an exciting challenge that adds to the exoticness of the language, enhances the intrigue of the culture for international students who study abroad in Russia, and resembles learning to play an instrument. That’s basically what your mouth and voice box are. Fortunately, letters in Russian follow specific rules, unlike in English, so there’s no guesswork.
TransEurope is uniquely qualified to teach you systematically how to pronounce each sound in Russian and, if you wish, you can practice doing so by attending an online or in-person class with a teacher in the Russian language.
Sounds That Don’t Exist in English
First, we are going to dive into the most fascinating sounds and then we will get down to the more subtle aspects of Russian pronunciation.
Ы
This is probably my favorite sound in Russian. It’s the biggest challenge to pronounce and yet it is simple as can be. First of all, it is a vowel that is pronounced emphatically. It is easy to understand how to pronounce it – all you have to do is imagine you’ve taken a punch to the belly and the sound you’d make in that situation – “oo”. Imagine the “oo” sound used in the English words “soot”, “book”, or “put”. Follow this “oo” sound with an “ee” sound, such as in the word “weed”, “leak”, or “leer”. Then, combine the two sounds, pronouncing “oo” (like a punch in the belly) and “ee” right at the end of it – “oo-ee”, and you have “ы”.
Ш
This is one of the two “sh” sounds. In English, we only have one. The difference with the letter Ш in Russian is it’s done by pushing air through the back teeth, rather than the middle teeth in your mouth. Aim for the second upper teeth from the back.
Щ
Now for the other “sh” sound. This one you pronounce at the front of your mouth, pushing the air out right about where your canine teeth are and rounding your lips at the same time.
Ж
This is the “zh” sound. It’s the same sound as the letter “g” in mirage; however, like the letter Ш, the air is to be passed in the back of the teeth, not the middle as in English. It’s also pronounced more forcefully.
О
The Russian “o” sound is different from the American “o” sound. It’s the sound pronounced in British English represented by the letters “aw”, as in “paw”. It’s pronounced by slightly rounding the lips, slightly lifting the back of the tongue, and placing the tip of the tongue behind the front row of the bottom teeth. When not stressed, its sound changes to an “ah” sound, as in “pasta”.
Э
This is the “eh” sound as in “eggs”. However, it is pronounced with the mouth a little more open.
Р
This is the Russian “R”, pronounced like the Spanish one.
Х
This is the “kh” sound, like the “h” sound, but the air scrapes the back of the throat.
Pronunciation Drills
There are few better opportunities to gain exposure to Russian pronunciation than to meet up for a class with a Russian tutor online or in person if you come to study Russian abroad. You will be guided precisely how to place your tongue, voice consonants, round your lips, use aspiration, and pronounce words properly. TransEurope has decades of experience as experts in this field and conduct special drills that help international students master these new sounds.
You can sign up to try out online classes or study in Russia in our classroom by filling out our Contact Us form.
Vowels
Russian has hard vowels and soft vowels. Soft vowels are simply vowels that are pronounced by imposing the “softening” of the preceding consonant, which means adding a “y” sound (as in “yellow) to the beginning of the vowel and pronouncing the soft version of the preceding consonant if there is one.
- Я is the soft version of А
- Е is the soft version of Э
- Ё is the soft version of О
- Ю is the soft version of У
Exceptions: И is always soft and has no hard version. At the same time, the “y” sound is not pronounced at the beginning of it if it is the first letter in the word. Meanwhile, Ы is always hard and has no soft counterpart.
When unstressed: Я and Е are pronounced like the short English “i” like in the word “is” while still softening the previous consonant.
Consonants
Soft and Hard Consonants
Most Russian consonants have a hard and a soft version. This means adding a “y” sound before the following vowel, and usually placing the tongue on the roof of the mouth and pronouncing the consonant with less force.
Exceptions to this are Ш and Ж, which are always pronounced hard. The letter Ч, meanwhile, is always pronounced soft. Soft and hard consonants become clearly discernible to anyone who takes an online class or study abroad Russian program.
Voiced Consonants at the End of Words
Some consonants use the voice box while others do not. The former type of consonants are referred to as “voiced”. At the end of words in Russian, these sounds are pronounced as their unvoiced versions. For example, Д is pronounced as Т, Г is pronounced as К, З is pronounced as С, et cetera. To tell if a consonant is voiced or not, just place your finger on your throat and if it vibrates as it’s pronounced, that means it’s voiced.
Aspirated Consonants
The sounds T and P in English are not pronounced the same as the Т and П sounds in Russian, as their English versions are aspirated, while in Russian they are not. That means that in English, air is released out of the mouth as they are pronounced. That said, this is more of a Russian intermediate-level topic, and isn’t particularly critical, certainly not during an introduction to Russian course.
Two Ordinary Consonant Clusters with their Own Letters in Russian: Ц and Й
Ц is pronounced as “ts”, like the “zz” in pizza while Й is simply the consonant version of the English “y”.
Soft and Hard Signs
The soft sign Ь simply softens the preceding consonant without adding a vowel. The hard sign Ъ meanwhile can only precede a soft vowel. What it does to the soft vowel is separate it “into two”. The vowel is consequently pronounced as an “ee” sound and then the rest of the vowel, each pronounced separately. These letters are normally introduced in the beginning of any Intro Russian-101 course.
The Sure Way to Master Russian Pronunciation
The best way to master Russian pronunciation by far is by attending organized classes with a Russian teacher who’s a native speaker and will expose you to the intricacies of each sound close and personal. This is the best way to get feedback as to how well you are doing at pronouncing sounds. At TransEurope, we design courses specifically tailored to help international students achieve their unique goals and are able to inform them with certainty of the specific results they will achieve by the end of their course with us. Our in-person and online Russian tutor staff are uniquely qualified to get you to your destination due to our decades working in linguistics and our fool-proof methodology.
Fill out the contact form and get in touch with us to try out your first class with us today.