+-------+-------------------+
| 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 _nò~ch~tee_. 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_.