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Lesson: The Russian alphabet - The Russian alphabet.

Part 3.
Vocabulary
Шш

Шокола́д chocolate
Жж

Журна́л magazine
Щщ

Бо́рщ borscht
объе́кт object
паро́ль password
Ии

Иде́я idea
Ыы

Сы́р cheese
Ээ

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Эне́ргия energy
Юю

Ю́мор humour
Яя

Я́ блоко apple
Ёё

Ёлка Chirstmas tree

Йй

Йо́га yoga
Here's a tip
In this unit we will learn all the rest of the Russian alphabet: the le ers that sound and
look very di erent from the le ers of the Latin alphabet. Let's first look at consonants
and 2 pronunciation signs.
Ш - pronounced / / like in shock
ʃ

Ж - pronounced / / like in pleasure

ʒ

Щ - pronounced /shch/ like in Swedish chair (as one sound)

ъ - called "hard sign" but has no sound, it keeps the previous consonant hard and
creates a small pause between syllables
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 - called "so sign" but has no sound, it makes the previous consonant so
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Борщ /borshch/ is a hot liquid dish, a soup made out of beetroot and other vegetables.
It is a traditional dish in Ukrainian and Russian cuisines and one of the most popular
first courses along with /shchee/, a cabbage soup. In Russian restaurants you will
щи
definitely find both soups on the menu.
There are two pronunciation signs in the Russian alphabet. The main function of the so
sign is to so en the previous consonant, the hard sign keeps the previous
ь ъ
consonant hard before the vowels e, ë, and . We will learn these vowels shortly.
ю я

In the next flashcard you will see an example of a hard sign. Listen carefully how it
a ects the pronunciation of the previous consonant.
Now you will see an example of a so sign. Listen carefully to see how it a ects the
pronunciation of the consonant it follows.
Let's now have a look at the vowels and one semi-consonant, called "short e" - . й

И - pronounced /i:/ like in "meet"

Ы - pronounced /y/ like in "ill"
Э - pronounced / / like in "egg"
ɛ

Ю - pronounced /ju/ like in "you"

Я - pronounced /ja/ like in "yard"
Ё - pronounced /j / like in "your"
ɔ

Й - pronounced /j/ like in "yoga"

The le er and sound /y/ is uncommon in the Latin alphabet languages. In the Russian
ы
language there are no words that start with . ы

In our examples, the accented le ers show us where the stress is. In Russian, there is
no rule for where the stress falls within a word, so we must learn each word case-by-
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 case. In some words, it falls on the first syllable - , in some, in the middle of the
22/8/2019 Learn to speak a language in 10 minutes a day - Busuu

ма́ма
word - , and in others on the last syllable - .
доро́га хорошо́

If we change the place of the stress within a word, it can change the word's meaning:
за́мок - a castle and - a lock. We assume that one-syllable words are stressed.
замо́к

Unstressed vowels are always shorter than stressed ones.

The le er is always stressed in the Russian language. The dots are omi ed in most
Ёё
wri en and printed texts, which means that looks exactly like but we must make the
ё е
distinction in spoken Russian.
Let's have another look at the le ers we've just learned. They are highlighted in bold
below.
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Аа Бб Вв Гг Дд Ее Ёё Жж Зз Ии Йй Кк Лл Мм Нн Оо Пп Рр Сс Тт Уу Ф
, , , , , ,, ,, , ,
ф Хх Цц Чч Шш Щщ ъ Ыы ь Ээ ЮюЯя

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