Help:IPA/Russian

This article includes inline links to audio files. If you have trouble playing the files, see Wikipedia Media help.

The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Russian pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.

See Russian phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Russian. See Russian alphabet for help converting spelling to pronunciation.

Russian distinguishes hard (unpalatalized or plain) and soft (palatalized) consonants. Soft consonants, most of which are denoted by a superscript j, ⟨ʲ⟩, are pronounced with the body of the tongue raised toward the hard palate, like the articulation of the y sound in yes. /j, ɕː, tɕ/ are always soft, whereas /ʂ, ts, ʐ/ are always hard.

Consonants
Hard			Soft
IPA	Examples	English approximation	IPA	Examples	English approximation
b	бок	boot	bʲ	бе́лый	beautiful
d	дать	do	dʲ	де́ло	dew (UK)
f	фо́рма; вы́ставка;^[1] бо́ров^[2]	fool	fʲ	фина́л; кровь^[2]	few
ɡ	го́д^[3]^[4]	goo	ɡʲ	геро́й	argue
N/A			j	есть [je-]; ёж [jɵ-]; ю́г [ju-]; я [ja]; майо́р^[5]	yes, York, you, yard, boy
k	кость; флаг^[2]	scar	kʲ	кино́	skew
l	луна́^[6]	pill	lʲ	лес; боль	lean
m	мы́ло	moot	mʲ	мя́со	mute
n	нос	noon	nʲ	нёс; день	newt (for some dialects)
p	под; зуб^[2]	span	pʲ	пе́пел; зыбь^[2]	spew
r	раз	flapped or trilled r, like in Spanish	rʲ	ряд; зверь
s	соба́ка; глаз^[2]	soup	sʲ	си́ний; здесь; есть; грызть^[1]	assume (for some dialects)
ʂ	широ́кий; муж^[2]; что^[7]	shop	ɕː	щека́; счита́ть; мужчи́на^[8]^[9]	wish sheep
t	то; во́дка;^[1] лёд^[2]	stand	tʲ	тень; дитя́; грудь^[2]	stew (UK; for some dialects)
ts^[10]	цена́^[9]	cats	tɕ^[10]	чай; течь^[9]	chip
v	вы; его́^[4]	voodoo	vʲ	весь	view
x	ход; Бог^[3]^[9]	loch (Scottish)	xʲ	хитрый; лёгкий^[1]^[3]^[9]	huge (for some dialects)
z	зуб	zoo	zʲ	зима́; про́сьба^[1]	azure (for some dialects)
ʐ	жест	rouge	ʑː	по́зже^[11]	prestige genre
Stressed vowels
[-soft]			[+soft]
IPA	Examples	English approximation	IPA	Examples	English approximation
a	трава́	father	æ	пять^[12]	pat (US)
ɛ	жест; э́тот	met	e	пень; э́ти^[12]	penny
ɨ	ты; ши́шка; с и́грами	roses (for some dialects)	i	ли́ния; и́ли	meet
o	о́блако	chore	ɵ	тётя^[12]	bird (non-rhotic)
u	пу́ля	boot	ʉ	чуть; лю́ди^[12]	choose
Unstressed vowels
[-soft]			[+soft]
IPA	Examples	English approximation	IPA	Examples	English approximation
ɐ	облака́; како́й; сообража́ть; тропа́^[13]	bud	N/A
ə	ко́жа; о́блако; се́рдце	about	ə	ше́я; во́ля; сего́дня; по́ле^[14]	lasagna
ɨ	дыша́ть; жена́; во́ды; эта́п	roses (for some dialects)	ɪ	лиса́; четы́ре; тяжёлый; де́вять	bit
ʊ	мужчи́на	put	ʉ	чуде́сный^[12]	youth
ɛ	тетра́эдр; поэте́сса^[15]	met	N/A
o	ра́дио; поэте́сса^[15]	chore	N/A
Suprasegmental
IPA	Example		Explanation
ˈ	четы́ре [t͡ɕɪˈtɨrʲɪ]		Stress mark (placed before the stressed syllable)
ː	сза́ди [ˈzːadʲɪ]^[1]		Consonant length mark (placed after the geminated consonant)

Notes[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Consonants in consonant clusters are assimilated in voicing if the final consonant in the sequence is an obstruent (except [v, vʲ]). All consonants become voiceless if the final consonant is voiceless or voiced if the final consonant is voiced (Halle 1959:31).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ The voiced obstruents /b, bʲ, d, dʲ, ɡ, v, vʲ, z, zʲ, ʐ/ are devoiced word-finally unless the next word begins with a voiced obstruent (Halle 1959:22).
^ ^a ^b ^c ⟨г⟩ is usually pronounced [ɣ] or [x] in some religious words and colloquial derivatives from them, such as Го́споди and Бог, and in the interjections ага́, ого́, го́споди, ей-бо́гу, and also in бухга́лтер [bʊˈɣaltʲɪr] (Timberlake 2004:23). /ɡ/ devoices and lenites to [x] before voiceless obstruents (dissimilation) in the word roots -мягк- or -мягч-, -легк- or -легч-, -тягч-, and also in the old-fashioned pronunciation of -ногт-, -когт-, кто. Speakers of the Southern Russian dialects may pronounce ⟨г⟩ as [ɣ] (soft [ɣʲ], devoiced [x] and [xʲ]) throughout.
^ ^a ^b Intervocalic ⟨г⟩ represents /v/ in certain words ( сего́дня, сего́дняшний, итого́ ), and in the genitive suffix -ого/-его (Timberlake 2004:23).
^ The soft vowel letters ⟨е, ë, ю, я⟩ represent iotated vowels /je, jo, ju, ja/, except when following a consonant. When these vowels are unstressed (save for ⟨ë⟩, which is always stressed) and follow another vowel letter, the /j/ may not be present in fluent speech. Letter ⟨и⟩ produce iotated sound /ji/ only after ь.
^ /l/ is often strongly pharyngealized [ɫ], but that feature is not distinctive (Ladefoged & Maddieson 1996:187-188).
^ Most speakers pronounce ⟨ч⟩ in the pronoun что and its derivatives as [ʂ]. All other occurrences of чт cluster stay as affricate and stop.
^ ⟨щ⟩ is sometimes pronounced as [ɕː] or [ɕɕ] and sometimes as [ɕtɕ], but no speakers contrast the two pronunciations. It is generally includes the other spellings of the sound, but the word счи́тывать sometimes has [ɕtɕ] because of the morpheme boundary between the prefix ⟨с-⟩ and the root ⟨-чит-⟩.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e [ts], [tɕ], [ɕː], [x], [xʲ] have voiced allophones, [dz], [dʑ], [ʑː], [ɣ], [ɣʲ] respectively, before voiced stop consonants. Examples: плацда́рм, начди́в, дочь бы, вещдо́к, трехдне́вный.
^ ^a ^b The affricates [ts] and [tɕ] are more correctly written with ligature ties: [t͡s] and [t͡ɕ]. Ties are not used in transcriptions on Wikipedia (except in phonology articles) because they do not display correctly in all browsers.
^ Geminated [ʐː] is pronounced as soft [ʑː], the voiced counterpart to [ɕː], in a few lexical items (such as дрожжи or заезжать) by conservative Moscow speakers; such realization is now somewhat obsolete (Yanushevskaya & Bunčić (2015:224)).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Vowels are fronted and/or raised in the context of palatalized consonants: /a/ and /u/ become [æ] and [ʉ], respectively between palatalized consonants, /e/ is realized as [e] before and between palatalized consonants and /o/ becomes [ɵ] after and between palatalized consonants.
^ Word-initial and pretonic (before the stress) /a/ and /o/, as well as when in a sequence.
^ Only in certain word-final morphemes (Timberlake 2004:48-51).
^ ^a ^b In the careful style of pronunciation unstressed /e/ and /o/ in foreign words may be pronounced with little or no reduction.

References[edit]

Cubberley, Paul (2002), "The phonology of Modern Russian", Russian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge University Press
Halle, Morris (1959), Sound Pattern of Russian, MIT Press
Jones, Daniel; Ward, Dennis (1969), The Phonetics of Russian, Cambridge University Press
Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.
Timberlake, Alan (2004), "Sounds", A Reference Grammar of Russian, Cambridge University Press
Yanushevskaya, Irena; Bunčić, Daniel (2015), "Russian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 45 (2): 221–228, doi:10.1017/S0025100314000395

[voice-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Consonants in consonant clusters are assimilated in voicing if the final consonant in the sequence is an obstruent (except [v, vʲ]). All consonants become voiceless if the final consonant is voiceless or voiced if the final consonant is voiced (Halle 1959:31).

[devoice-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ The voiced obstruents /b, bʲ, d, dʲ, ɡ, v, vʲ, z, zʲ, ʐ/ are devoiced word-finally unless the next word begins with a voiced obstruent (Halle 1959:22).

[g2-3] ⟨г⟩ is usually pronounced [ɣ] or [x] in some religious words and colloquial derivatives from them, such as Го́споди and Бог, and in the interjections ага́, ого́, го́споди, ей-бо́гу, and also in бухга́лтер [bʊˈɣaltʲɪr] (Timberlake 2004:23). /ɡ/ devoices and lenites to [x] before voiceless obstruents (dissimilation) in the word roots -мягк- or -мягч-, -легк- or -легч-, -тягч-, and also in the old-fashioned pronunciation of -ногт-, -когт-, кто. Speakers of the Southern Russian dialects may pronounce ⟨г⟩ as [ɣ] (soft [ɣʲ], devoiced [x] and [xʲ]) throughout.

[g-4] Intervocalic ⟨г⟩ represents /v/ in certain words ( сего́дня, сего́дняшний, итого́ ), and in the genitive suffix -ого/-его (Timberlake 2004:23).

[5] The soft vowel letters ⟨е, ë, ю, я⟩ represent iotated vowels /je, jo, ju, ja/, except when following a consonant. When these vowels are unstressed (save for ⟨ë⟩, which is always stressed) and follow another vowel letter, the /j/ may not be present in fluent speech. Letter ⟨и⟩ produce iotated sound /ji/ only after ь.

[6] /l/ is often strongly pharyngealized [ɫ], but that feature is not distinctive (Ladefoged & Maddieson 1996:187-188).

[7] Most speakers pronounce ⟨ч⟩ in the pronoun что and its derivatives as [ʂ]. All other occurrences of чт cluster stay as affricate and stop.

[щ-8] ⟨щ⟩ is sometimes pronounced as [ɕː] or [ɕɕ] and sometimes as [ɕtɕ], but no speakers contrast the two pronunciations. It is generally includes the other spellings of the sound, but the word счи́тывать sometimes has [ɕtɕ] because of the morpheme boundary between the prefix ⟨с-⟩ and the root ⟨-чит-⟩.

[dz-9] [ts], [tɕ], [ɕː], [x], [xʲ] have voiced allophones, [dz], [dʑ], [ʑː], [ɣ], [ɣʲ] respectively, before voiced stop consonants. Examples: плацда́рм, начди́в, дочь бы, вещдо́к, трехдне́вный.

[tie-10] The affricates [ts] and [tɕ] are more correctly written with ligature ties: [t͡s] and [t͡ɕ]. Ties are not used in transcriptions on Wikipedia (except in phonology articles) because they do not display correctly in all browsers.

[11] Geminated [ʐː] is pronounced as soft [ʑː], the voiced counterpart to [ɕː], in a few lexical items (such as дрожжи or заезжать) by conservative Moscow speakers; such realization is now somewhat obsolete (Yanushevskaya & Bunčić (2015:224)).

[palatalized_vowel-12] Vowels are fronted and/or raised in the context of palatalized consonants: /a/ and /u/ become [æ] and [ʉ], respectively between palatalized consonants, /e/ is realized as [e] before and between palatalized consonants and /o/ becomes [ɵ] after and between palatalized consonants.

[13] Word-initial and pretonic (before the stress) /a/ and /o/, as well as when in a sequence.

[14] Only in certain word-final morphemes (Timberlake 2004:48-51).

[foreign-15] In the careful style of pronunciation unstressed /e/ and /o/ in foreign words may be pronounced with little or no reduction.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

v t e International Phonetic Alphabet keys
Afrikaans Albanian Amharic Arabic Egyptian Hejazi Tunisian Aramaic Armenian Assamese Asturian Australian languages Azerbaijani Basque Belarusian Bengali Berber Breton Bulgarian Burmese Catalan Chinese Standard Cantonese Taiwanese Hokkien Corsican Czech Danish Dari Dothraki Dutch English Dialects Old English Esperanto Estonian Extremaduran Fijian Finnish Franco-Provençal French Frisian Saterland West Galician Gagauz Georgian German Standard Alemannic Greek Guarani Gujarati Haitian Creole Hawaiian Hebrew Hindi-Urdu Hungarian Icelandic Indonesian Inuktitut Irish Italian Japanese Judaeo-Spanish Kannada Kashmiri Kazakh Khmer Klingon Korean Kouri-Vini Kurdish Lao Latin Latvian Laz Lithuanian Luxembourgish Macedonian Malagasy Malaysian Malayalam Maltese Manchu Manx Māori Marshallese Mayan Mingrelian Mongolian Mirandese Nahuatl Navajo Neapolitan Northern Thai Norwegian Occitan Odia Oromo Ossetic Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Quechua Ripuarian Colognian Romanian Romansh Russian Sanskrit Classical Sardinian Scottish Gaelic Serbo-Croatian Shan Slovak Slovene Spanish Svan Swahili Swazi Swedish Tagalog Tai Lü Tajik Tamil Thai Tibetan Tigrinya Turkish Turkmen Ukrainian Venetian Vietnamese Walloon Wandamen Welsh Xhosa Yiddish Zulu
Comparisons	with other English IPA conventions with Wikipedia pronunciation respelling key with other English pronunciation respelling keys
Introductory guides	Symbols For English speakers Manual of Style: Pronunciation

Help:IPA/Russian

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Navigation menu

Personal tools

Namespaces

Variants

Views

More

Search

Navigation

Interaction

Tools

Print/export

Languages