Russian: spelling → sound
Russian spelling is far more regular than English, once two things are understood. First, HARDNESS: almost every consonant comes in a hard and a soft pair, and the softness is not written on the consonant — it is written on the vowel that follows, or with a silent ь. а/я, о/ё, у/ю, э/е and ы/и are the same five vowels twice over, and the second column means 'the consonant before me is soft'. Second, REDUCTION: unstressed о and а both collapse to /ɐ/, and unstressed е and я to /ɪ/. Stress is not written, moves around within a word, and changes meaning — so the tracer here needs you to mark it with an acute. Mark it and the transcription is right; leave it out and every vowel reduces, which is what a foreigner sounds like.
Trace a word
Every box is one rule firing. Hover a box (or open the table) to see why. Rules are applied in order, first match wins — that order is the spelling system. Type Cyrillic. Mark the stressed vowel with an acute (молоко́) and the tracer will reduce the others — without it, it cannot know which vowel is strong.
Consonants & glides
| IPA | Spelled | Example |
|---|---|---|
| p | п | по́чта ˈpot͡ɕtə post |
| pʲ | пь, пе, пи, пя | пять pʲatʲ five |
| b | б | брат brat brother |
| bʲ | бь, би, бе | бе́лый ˈbʲelɨj white |
| t | т | там tam there |
| tʲ | ть, ти, те, тя | брать bratʲ to take — брат 'brother' vs брать 'to take'. The soft sign is the only difference, and it is not a sound of its own. |
| d | д | дом dom house |
| dʲ | дь, де, ди | день dʲenʲ day |
| k | к | кот kot cat |
| kʲ | ки, ке | кни́ги ˈknʲiɡʲɪ books |
| ɡ | г | год ɡot year |
| ɡʲ | ги, ге | ги́тара ɡʲɪˈtarə guitar |
| f | ф, в (final) | фильм fʲilʲm film |
| fʲ | фи, фе | фильм fʲilʲm film |
| v | в | вода́ vɐˈda water |
| vʲ | вь, ве, ви | ве́чер ˈvʲet͡ɕɪr evening |
| s | с | сон son sleep |
| sʲ | сь, си, се | весь vʲesʲ all |
| z | з | зуб zup tooth — Final б is devoiced to /p/ — every voiced consonant does this at the end of a word. |
| zʲ | зь, зи, зе | зима́ zʲɪˈma winter |
| x | х | хорошо́ xərɐˈʂo good, well — Not /k/ and not English h — the sound at the end of Scottish loch. |
| xʲ | хи, хе | хи́мия ˈxʲimʲɪjə chemistry |
| ʂ | ш | шко́ла ˈʂkolə school — ALWAYS hard, whatever vowel follows. ши is said /ʂɨ/, never /ʃi/. |
| ʐ | ж | жена́ ʐɨˈna wife — Always hard too. |
| ɕː | щ | борщ borɕː borscht — Always SOFT and always long — the mirror image of ш. |
| t͡s | ц | цена́ t͡sɨˈna price — Always hard, even before и. |
| t͡ɕ | ч | час t͡ɕas hour — Always soft, even before а. |
| m | м | мать matʲ mother |
| mʲ | мь, ми, ме | ме́сто ˈmʲestə place |
| n | н | нос nos nose |
| nʲ | нь, ни, не | день dʲenʲ day |
| l | л | ло́жка ˈloʂkə spoon — Very dark — the tongue humps at the back. Closer to the l in English 'full' than in 'leaf'. |
| lʲ | ль, ли, ле | соль solʲ salt |
| r | р | рука́ rʊˈka hand, arm — Trilled, as in Spanish perro. |
| rʲ | рь, ри, ре | дверь dvʲerʲ door |
| j | й, я/е/ё/ю (initial) | я ja I |
Vowels
| IPA | Spelled | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a | а́, я́ | мать matʲ mother |
| e | э́, е́ | ме́сто ˈmʲestə place |
| i | и́ | и́мя ˈimʲə name |
| ɨ | ы, и (after hard) | сын sɨn son — The vowel English has no name for. Say /i/ and pull your tongue straight back without rounding. |
| o | о́, ё | дом dom house |
| u | у́, ю́ | рука́ rʊˈka hand |
| ɐ | о, а (unstressed) | вода́ vɐˈda water — AKANYE: unstressed о is said as an a-sound. молоко́ is /məlɐˈko/ — the three о are three different vowels. |
| ə | о, а (far from stress) | хорошо́ xərɐˈʂo good — Further from the stress, the reduction goes further still. |
| ɪ | е, я (unstressed) | зима́ zʲɪˈma winter |
| ʊ | у (unstressed) | рука́ rʊˈka hand |
The rules, in order
84 rules. The left column is a pattern (regular expression) matched at the current position of the word; (?=…) looks ahead, (?<=…) looks behind, $ is the end of the word.
| # | Pattern | Sound | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | сего́дня | written с-е-г-о-д-н-я, said /sʲɪˈvodnʲə/ | |
| 2 | его́ | ||
| 3 | ничего́ | ||
| 4 | всего́ | ||
| 5 | ого(?=$| ) | adjective genitive: -ого is /əvə/ | |
| 6 | его(?=$| ) | and -его is /ɪvə/ | |
| 7 | ши́ | ш is always hard — even и after it is /ɨ/ | |
| 8 | жи́ | ||
| 9 | ци́ | ||
| 10 | ши | ||
| 11 | жи | ||
| 12 | ци | ||
| 13 | ше́ | ||
| 14 | же́ | ||
| 15 | це́ | ||
| 16 | ше | unstressed е after a hard sibilant is /ɨ/ | |
| 17 | же | ||
| 18 | це | ||
| 19 | ш | ||
| 20 | ж | ||
| 21 | ц | ||
| 22 | щ | щ is always soft and always long | |
| 23 | ч | ч is always soft | |
| 24 | т(?=[ьяеёюи]) | ||
| 25 | д(?=[ьяеёюи]) | ||
| 26 | н(?=[ьяеёюи]) | ||
| 27 | л(?=[ьяеёюи]) | ||
| 28 | р(?=[ьяеёюи]) | ||
| 29 | с(?=[ьяеёюи]) | ||
| 30 | з(?=[ьяеёюи]) | ||
| 31 | п(?=[ьяеёюи]) | ||
| 32 | б(?=[ьяеёюи]) | ||
| 33 | м(?=[ьяеёюи]) | ||
| 34 | в(?=[ьяеёюи]) | ||
| 35 | ф(?=[ьяеёюи]) | ||
| 36 | к(?=[ьяеёюи]) | ||
| 37 | г(?=[ьяеёюи]) | ||
| 38 | х(?=[ьяеёюи]) | ||
| 39 | п | ||
| 40 | б | ||
| 41 | т | ||
| 42 | д | ||
| 43 | к | ||
| 44 | г | ||
| 45 | ф | ||
| 46 | в | ||
| 47 | с | ||
| 48 | з | ||
| 49 | х | ||
| 50 | м | ||
| 51 | н | ||
| 52 | л | ||
| 53 | р | ||
| 54 | й | ||
| 55 | ь | the soft sign is not a sound of its own — it only softens what precedes it | |
| 56 | ъ | the hard sign blocks softening and inserts a /j/ instead | |
| 57 | (?<=[бвгдзклмнпрстфхжшщчц])я́ | ||
| 58 | (?<=[бвгдзклмнпрстфхжшщчц])е́ | ||
| 59 | (?<=[бвгдзклмнпрстфхжшщчц])ё | ||
| 60 | (?<=[бвгдзклмнпрстфхжшщчц])ю́ | ||
| 61 | я́ | я at the start of a word is /ja/ — я 'I' is one syllable of two sounds | |
| 62 | е́ | ||
| 63 | ё | ё is always stressed, which is why the dots are usually left off in print | |
| 64 | ю́ | ||
| 65 | а́ | ||
| 66 | о́ | ||
| 67 | у́ | ||
| 68 | и́ | ||
| 69 | ы́ | ||
| 70 | э́ | ||
| 71 | (?<=[бвгдзклмнпрстфхжшщчц])я(?=$| ) | final unstressed я is a schwa | |
| 72 | (?<=[бвгдзклмнпрстфхжшщчц])я | ||
| 73 | (?<=[бвгдзклмнпрстфхжшщчц])е | ||
| 74 | (?<=[бвгдзклмнпрстфхжшщчц])ю | ||
| 75 | я | ||
| 76 | е | ||
| 77 | ю | ||
| 78 | [оа](?=$| ) | word-final unstressed о or а is a plain schwa | |
| 79 | [оа](?=[^аеёиоуыэюя]*[аеёиоуыэюя]́) | AKANYE, first degree: the syllable right before the stress keeps a full a-colour | |
| 80 | [оа] | AKANYE, second degree: further from the stress it reduces again. хорошо́ is /xərɐˈʂo/ — three о, three different vowels. | |
| 81 | у | ||
| 82 | и | ||
| 83 | ы | ||
| 84 | э |