Guide to Russian Pronunciation: The Russian Alphabet
Among the most basic, first sounds that we will learn from the Russian alphabet are the letters a (ah), o (aw), e (eh), and y (oo). These sounds are very similar to their English counterparts.
The Letter A (trascribed ‘ah’ when stressed)
The letter ‘a’, when it is stressed, sounds somewhat like the a in father, albeit with more annunciation and a shorter variant. Say: Ah…
| Examples | Transcription | Meaning |
| Мак | Mahk | Poppy |
| Как | Kahk | How |
| Так | Tahk | Thus |
| Акт | Ahkt | Act |
It would be wise to repeat the four words over a few times to be able to differentiate between the letters and get an idea of how the pronunciation would flow.
Repeat: Мак, Как, Так, Акт
The Letter O (transcribed ‘aw’ when stressed)
When stressing the letter ‘o’, it would very much resemble the ‘au’ in ‘fault’, or the ‘aw’ in ‘law’, in the way it sounds, except it is much more blunt and clear when it is pronounced. Another English word that has this sound would be the ‘aw’ in ‘walk’.
The way your mouth forms when you pucker your lips in order to pronounce the ‘aw’ in ‘walk’, would be the same form used to pronounce the Russian letter ‘o’.
| Examples | Transcription | Meaning |
| Том | Tawm | Volume |
| Тот | Tawt | That (one) |
| Кто | Ktaw | Who |
| Кот | Kawt | Cat |
Repeat: Том, Тот, Кто, Кот
Unstressed A and O (transcribed ‘uh’)
Since you have now learned how to pronounce the stressed versions of A and O in the Russian language, we will now proceed to learn the unstressed variants of these two letters.