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Accueil / Langues / Russe / Sons

Russe : orthographe → son

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.

Suivre un mot

Chaque case est une règle qui se déclenche. Survolez une case (ou ouvrez le tableau) pour voir pourquoi. Les règles s'appliquent dans l'ordre, la première qui correspond gagne — et cet ordre est le système orthographique. 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.

о́

Why each segment sounds like that

Lettres	Son	Rule
`д`	d ↗	default mapping
`о́`	o ↗	default mapping
`м`	m ↗	default mapping

Consonnes et semi-voyelles

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

Voyelles

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

Les règles, dans l'ordre

84 règles. La colonne de gauche est un motif (expression régulière) testé à la position courante dans le mot ; (?=…) regarde devant, (?<=…) regarde derrière, $ est la fin du mot.

#	Pattern	Sound	Why
1	`сего́дня`	sʲɪvodnʲə	written с-е-г-о-д-н-я, said /sʲɪˈvodnʲə/
2	`его́`	jɪvo
3	`ничего́`	nʲɪt͡ɕɪvo
4	`всего́`	fsʲɪvo
5	`ого(?=$\| )`	əvə	adjective genitive: -ого is /əvə/
6	`его(?=$\| )`	ɪvə	and -его is /ɪvə/
7	`ши́`	ʂɨ	ш is always hard — even и after it is /ɨ/
8	`жи́`	ʐɨ
9	`ци́`	t͡sɨ
10	`ши`	ʂɨ
11	`жи`	ʐɨ
12	`ци`	t͡sɨ
13	`ше́`	ʂe
14	`же́`	ʐe
15	`це́`	t͡se
16	`ше`	ʂɨ	unstressed е after a hard sibilant is /ɨ/
17	`же`	ʐɨ
18	`це`	t͡sɨ
19	`ш`	ʂ
20	`ж`	ʐ
21	`ц`	t͡s
22	`щ`	ɕː	щ is always soft and always long
23	`ч`	t͡ɕ	ч is always soft
24	`т(?=[ьяеёюи])`	tʲ
25	`д(?=[ьяеёюи])`	dʲ
26	`н(?=[ьяеёюи])`	nʲ
27	`л(?=[ьяеёюи])`	lʲ
28	`р(?=[ьяеёюи])`	rʲ
29	`с(?=[ьяеёюи])`	sʲ
30	`з(?=[ьяеёюи])`	zʲ
31	`п(?=[ьяеёюи])`	pʲ
32	`б(?=[ьяеёюи])`	bʲ
33	`м(?=[ьяеёюи])`	mʲ
34	`в(?=[ьяеёюи])`	vʲ
35	`ф(?=[ьяеёюи])`	fʲ
36	`к(?=[ьяеёюи])`	kʲ
37	`г(?=[ьяеёюи])`	ɡʲ
38	`х(?=[ьяеёюи])`	xʲ
39	`п`	p
40	`б`	b
41	`т`	t
42	`д`	d
43	`к`	k
44	`г`	ɡ
45	`ф`	f
46	`в`	v
47	`с`	s
48	`з`	z
49	`х`	x
50	`м`	m
51	`н`	n
52	`л`	l
53	`р`	r
54	`й`	j
55	`ь`	∅	the soft sign is not a sound of its own — it only softens what precedes it
56	`ъ`	j	the hard sign blocks softening and inserts a /j/ instead
57	`(?<=[бвгдзклмнпрстфхжшщчц])я́`	a
58	`(?<=[бвгдзклмнпрстфхжшщчц])е́`	e
59	`(?<=[бвгдзклмнпрстфхжшщчц])ё`	o
60	`(?<=[бвгдзклмнпрстфхжшщчц])ю́`	u
61	`я́`	ja	я at the start of a word is /ja/ — я 'I' is one syllable of two sounds
62	`е́`	je
63	`ё`	jo	ё is always stressed, which is why the dots are usually left off in print
64	`ю́`	ju
65	`а́`	a
66	`о́`	o
67	`у́`	u
68	`и́`	i
69	`ы́`	ɨ
70	`э́`	e
71	`(?<=[бвгдзклмнпрстфхжшщчц])я(?=$\| )`	ə	final unstressed я is a schwa
72	`(?<=[бвгдзклмнпрстфхжшщчц])я`	ɪ
73	`(?<=[бвгдзклмнпрстфхжшщчц])е`	ɪ
74	`(?<=[бвгдзклмнпрстфхжшщчц])ю`	ʊ
75	`я`	jɪ
76	`е`	jɪ
77	`ю`	jʊ
78	`[оа](?=$\| )`	ə	word-final unstressed о or а is a plain schwa
79	`[оа](?=[^аеёиоуыэюя]*[аеёиоуыэюя]́)`	ɐ	AKANYE, first degree: the syllable right before the stress keeps a full a-colour
80	`[оа]`	ə	AKANYE, second degree: further from the stress it reduces again. хорошо́ is /xərɐˈʂo/ — three о, three different vowels.
81	`у`	ʊ
82	`и`	ɪ
83	`ы`	ɨ
84	`э`	ɛ