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What's the Russian alphabet like?

The Russian alphabet has 33 letters.
You may well have to spell out your name and perhaps your address in Russian. Here is the alphabet and how to pronounce it

- right click and choose 'save target as'

What's significant about the Russian alphabet?

• Made by Saints

  Russian is written in the Cyrillic script. It was created in the 9th century by the Saints Cyril and Methodius, two brothers born in Thessaloniki. The alphabet originally contained 43 letters - 24 of them based on the Greek alphabet.

  Written Russian grew out of the Slavonic writings of the Church. Today the Russian alphabet has 33 letters.

• Strange sounds

  One of the main difficulties for people learning Russian as a foreign language is the pronunciation of some letters that don't exist in other languages. The hard ones are ΜύΡ‹ (a "grunted" kind of i, as in "pill"), ΜύΡ‰ (a sharp double sh-sound) and ΜύΠΉ (y as in "yes").

  The letters ъ and ь might also cause problems as the first one is never pronounced and the second just softens the previous consonants.

  Learners of the Russian language should be grateful to the Bolsheviks for abandoning a few other letters from the Cyrillic alphabet.

• Standard Russian

  Something that helps is that some Russian letters are identical to Latin ones:
  A, E, K, M, O and T. No problems here.

  Something that doesn't help is that some Russian letters look like Latin ones, but sound completely different: B is V, H is N, P is R, C is S, Y is U and X is H.

  So if you're hungry, look for a PECTOPAH - it's a RESTORAN, restaurant. And if you're thirsty, look for a Π‘΄‘±Κ - a BAR, where you can always find a °Υ³Ϋ΄‘Π›Π•°Υ, TUALET, or toilet.

  The name ΅ώΠΈΠΊΡ‚ΠΎΡ€ is as popular in England as it is in Russia - it's Viktor. As is ΅ώΠ°Ρ€Π²Π°Ρ€Π°, Varvara - Barbara.

• More consonants!

  Another odd thing in Russian is that there often seem to be more consonants in a word than vowels, eg.
  ΜύΠΌΠ³Π»Π°, haze
  ΜύΠ²Π·Π²ΠΎΠ΄, platoon
  ΜύΠ˜Ρ€ΠΊΡƒΡ‚ΡΠΊ, Irkutsk, Siberian city

  You might be unable and unwilling to pronounce the name of the small Russian town ΜύΠ”ΠΌΠΈΡ‚Ρ€ΠΈΠ΅Π²-Π›ΡŒΠ³΄Ηвский, Dmitriyev-Lgovsky, but if you're still going to invest in Russia you must teach yourself the family name of ΜύБтрТалковский, Strzhalkovsky, CEO of Norilsk Nickel, the world's largest nickel producer, and ΜύРосприроднадзор, Rosprirodnadzor, Russia’s environmental watchdog.
  Being able to roll the r helps a lot, but don't worry if you can't - Lenin didn't manage to either.

• Email and website conventions

  When giving an email or website address the conventions are:
  Μύ@Μύсобака / собачка, dog / little dog
  Μύ.ΜύΡ‚ΠΎΡ‡ΠΊ²Ή, dot
  Μύ/ΜύслСш, slash