Guide to Russian Pronounciation
Softening vowels: я, ё, е, ю, и
Non-softening vowels: а, о, э, у, ы
Always hard consonants: ж, ш, ц
Always soft consonants: щ, ч
*Note: This is regardless of what vowel sound is actually written following the consonant (due to the spelling rule).
Example: живо́т is pronounced more like жыво́т
чай is pronounced more like чяй
Hard sign: When we see a hard sign before softening vowel, like in съесть, the hard sign is indicating a “pause.” The preceding consonant sound stay hard, and the following soft vowel should be pronounced like it has the /j/ sound (aka English “y”) in front of it.
Soft sign: When the soft sign is followed by a softening vowel, like in пла́тье, we want to pronounce the vowel as soft AND pronounce the following soft vowel like it has the /j/ sound (aka English “y”) in front of it.
*Note that unlike the other softening consonants, “и” has lost the initial /j/ sound. It still softens though.
*Also note that я, ё, е, ю also will have the initial /j/ sound when they are found word-initial (aka the first letter in a word).
о, а: Reduce to /ə/ or /ɐ/. They will reduce to /ɐ/ word-initially and the syllable immediately before a stressed vowel. They will reduce to /ə/ in all other cases.
Example: молоко́ > мəлɐко́
*Note: /ə/ and /ɐ/ are very similar sounds. To hear the difference, check out this interactive IPA chart.
е, я: Before a stressed syllable, they reduce to a sound similar to “и.” But note that unlike “и,” the reduced sounds will have the /j/ sound (aka English “y”) proceeding them in some positions, like word initial position. But in other positions they tend to become ə/jə.
Example: её > jиё (not иё)
объясни́ть > ɐбъjисни́ть
пла́тья > пла́тьjə
*Note that in words ending with -е, e is often not reduced. So пла́тьe will be пла́тьjе, etc.
Russian has word-final devoicing for many consonants:
б > п
в > ф
г > к
д > т
ж > ш
з > с
Example: друг > друк
пляж > пляш
Russian consonant assimilation is regressive, which means the 1st sound will be influenced by the 2nd sound. This can happen across word boundaries in fast/casual speech!
Devoicing: If the 2nd consonant is voiceless (п, ф, к, т, ш, с, х, ц, ч, щ), then the 1st one will be devoiced
Voicing: If the 2nd consonant is voiced (б, г, д, ж, з), then the 1st one will be voiced.
*Note: The one exception is “в,” which can assimilation itself but will not influence sounds preceding it.
Example: в пя́тницу > ф пя́тницу (devoicing)
с друзья́ми > з друзья́ми (voicing)
жч, сч > long щ
вств > ств
зж, сж > long ж
зш, сш > long ш
Examples: сча́стье > ща́стьjе
чу́вствовать > чуствəвəть
Unstressed ее, яя > иjə
хоро́шее > хɐро́шəjə (b/c ш is always hard)
си́нее > си́ниjə
после́дняя > пɐсле́дниjə
1 – In some common words, ch is pronounced as sh
2 – g is sometime pronounced as v or x
3 – The cя reflexive suffix is actually pronounced as if it were cə (this includes the stress rules). In the 3rd person forms and the infinite it may even be pronounced as цə
ложи́ться > лɐжы́цə
ложи́мся > лɐжы́мсə
4 – Word-final же, це, ше are pronounced like жə, цə, шə. In other positions, they are pronounced like жɛ, цɛ, шɛ. /ɛ/ is the “e” sound like in general American English “pen.”
Example: жена́ > жɛна́
со́лнце > со́лнцə
*There are a lot of exceptions in Russian! And obviously I have not covered everything. Please let me know if you see any gaping errors--I was running off of very little sleep when I wrote this haha
