RUSSIAN ALPHABET.

Form.		Sound.
А	а	ah, a.
Б	б	b.
В	в	v.
Г	г	g, gh.
Д	д	d.
Е	е	yai or ai.
Ж	ж	zsh.
З	з	z.
И	и	ee.
І	і	ee.
К	к	k.
Л	л	l (guttural).
М	м	m.
Н	н	n.
О	о	o or ah.
П	п	p.
Р	р	r.
С	с	hard s or ss.
Т	т	t.
У	у	oo.
Ф	ф	f, ph.
Х	х	kh, ch.
Ц	ц	ts.
Ч	ч	ch, tch.
Ш	ш	ch.
Щ	щ	sh-tch.
Ъ	ъ	mute e.
Ы	ы	we, ee.
Ь	ь	half-mute e.
Ѣ	ѣ	yai or ai.
Э	э	ai.
Ю	ю	you, ew.
Я	я	yah.
Ѳ	ѳ	f, ph.
Ѵ	ѵ	e.
Й	й	short e.

г, х, е, л, щ, ъ, ы, ь, ѣ, я, о, й, are the only letters whose pronunciation offers any difficulty.

Г has a sound nearly like g in the English word goose, as in гру́ша, a pear; read groòshah. But it has a guttural sound not found in English, and which nearly resembles that of the German ch. This sound is especially perceivable in the middle of a word when the г is followed by a consonant, also at the end of a word, as in но́гти, the nails; read nòchtee. In inflections аго, яго, ого, его, of adjectives and pronouns, the letter г is pronounced as v; as in кра́снаго, of beautiful; read kràsnavah.

Е has three different sounds: 1. In Russian words, and in all syllables in which it is preceded by a vowel, е has a sound like that of yai, when the y is nearly sunk in the pronunciation, as in ему́, to him; read yaimoò. 2. At the beginning of words from foreign languages, and at the middle and end of a word when preceded by a consonant, it has the sound of e in met, as in берегу́, I guard; read bayregoò. 3. In the termination екъ of diminutives, in all the characteristic inflections of cases in the nouns, and of persons in the verbs, in fact, in almost all words, this letter when accented has a sound nearly like that of short yo or o; as in куле́къ, a little sack; веде́шь, thou leadest; медъ, the honey; read koolyòk, vaidyòsh, myod. This sound yo or o of the letter е is commonly distinguished by a diæresis over the vowel, as кулёкъ, ведёшь, мёлъ.

Л has a guttural sound nearly analogous to the English w. Писарлъ, he wrote, read pisaw or pisou.

Ль has a soft sound, as in the French word bouillon.

Х corresponds to the German ch. It is a strong aspiration that nearly resembles the sound k when pronounced hastily from the throat; as in хвала́, the praise; read khvahlàh.

Щ unites the sound of ш and ч, as in щитъ, the shield; read shtcheet.

Ъ. This letter has no sound; the preceding consonant, the last letter of the word, ought to be pronounced a little hollow, as in боо́ъ, a bean; read bop.

Ы has a sound nearly like we when the w is pronounced rapidly; as in бу́квьшы, the letters, read boòkwe. It has this sound after the consonants б, в, м, п, ф; but after another consonant it is a thick e, as in сынъ, the son; read seen.

Ь. This letter at the end of a word has a sound nearly like that of the very short e. When followed by a consonant in the middle of a word it is mute, but is pronounced when followed by a vowel; as in знатъ, to know; read znaht.

Ѣ at the beginning of a word has the sound of yai; as in Ѣсть, to eat; read yaist. In the middle of a word it is pronounced yai, the sound of y being almost sunk; as in нѣтъ, no; read nyaitt. At the end of a word it is sounded ay.

Я when accented has the sound of the diphthong yah; as in я́ма, a pit; read yàhmah. But if not accented it is pronounced yai, as in ядро́, a ball; read yaidrò. The pronoun ея́, of her, is pronounced yaiyò, and the syllable ся of pronominal verbs is pronounced sah, as in стара́ться, to exert one’s self; read stahràhtsah.

О is pronounced as English o; but if unaccented it takes the sound of ah, as in ко́локолъ, a bell; колокола́, bells; read kòlahkall, kahlakahlà.

Й is a short e, pronounced very rapidly, as in дай, give; read dàï or die, giving utterance to a short e after the vowel.

In general the pronunciation of Russian words depends especially upon the tonic accent, which is no longer printed in Russian books, except to distinguish some homonymous words, or some grammatical inflections of similar forms; as за́мокъ, a castle, and замо́къ, a lock; read zàhmok and zahmòk.