The American Printer: A Manual of Typography / Containing practical directions for managing all departments of a printing office, as well as complete instructions for apprentices; with several useful tables, numerous schemes for imposing forms in every variety, hints to authors, etc.

by Thomas MacKellar

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.