Help:IPA/Russian

This is the pronunciation key for IPA transcriptions of Russian on Wikipedia.

It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Russian in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here. Some keys are built on consensus more strongly than others; if the conventions of this key are already in wide use, any substantive change to it should be discussed on the talk page first as it would affect a large number of articles. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

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The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Russian pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-ru}}.

Russian distinguishes hard (unpalatalized or plain) and soft (palatalized) consonants. Soft consonants, most of which are denoted by a superscript j, ⟨ʲ⟩, are pronounced with the body of the tongue raised toward the hard palate, like the articulation of the y sound in yes. /j, ɕː, tɕ/ are always soft, whereas /ʂ, ts, ʐ/ are always hard.

See Russian phonology and Russian alphabet for a more thorough look at the sounds of Russian.

Consonants
Hard			Soft
IPA	Examples	English approximation	IPA	Examples	English approximation
b	бок^ⓘ; апде́йт^[1]	boot	bʲ	бе́лый^ⓘ	beautiful
d	дать^ⓘ; футбо́л^ⓘ^[1]	do	dʲ	де́ло^ⓘ; ходьба́^ⓘ; жени́тьба^ⓘ^[1]	dew (UK)
f	фо́рма^ⓘ; вы́ставка^ⓘ;^[1] бо́ров^ⓘ^[2]	fool	fʲ	фина́л^ⓘ; верфь^ⓘ; кровь^ⓘ^[2]	few
ɡ	год^ⓘ^[3]^[4]; анекдо́т^ⓘ^[1]	goo	ɡʲ	геро́й^ⓘ	argue
N/a			j	есть^ⓘ [je-]; ёж^ⓘ [jɵ-]; юг^ⓘ [ju-]; я^ⓘ [ja]; майо́р^ⓘ^[5]	yes, York, you, yard, boy
k	кость^ⓘ; бе́гство^ⓘ^[1]; флаг^ⓘ^[2]	scar	kʲ	кино́^ⓘ; секью́рити	skew
l	луна́^ⓘ^[6]	pill	lʲ	лес^ⓘ; боль^ⓘ	lean
m	мы́ло^ⓘ	moot	mʲ	мя́со^ⓘ; семь^ⓘ	mute
n	нос^ⓘ	noon	nʲ	нёс^ⓘ; день^ⓘ; ко́нчик^ⓘ^[7]	newt (for some dialects)
p	под^ⓘ; ры́бка^ⓘ^[1]; зуб^ⓘ^[2]	span	pʲ	пе́пел^ⓘ; цепь^ⓘ; зыбь^ⓘ^[2]	spew
r	раз^ⓘ	flapped or trilled r, like in Spanish	rʲ	ряд^ⓘ; зверь^ⓘ	flapped or trilled r, like in Spanish
s	соба́ка^ⓘ; ска́зка^ⓘ^[1]; глаз^ⓘ^[2]	soup	sʲ	си́ний^ⓘ; здесь^ⓘ; есть^ⓘ; грызть^ⓘ^[1]	assume, soup (for some dialects)
ʂ	широ́кий^ⓘ; кни́жка^ⓘ^[1]; муж^ⓘ^[2]; что^ⓘ^[8]	rush	ɕː	щека́^ⓘ; счита́ть^ⓘ; мужчи́на^ⓘ^[9]^[10]	wish sheep
t	то^ⓘ; во́дка^ⓘ;^[1] лёд^ⓘ^[2]	stand	tʲ	тень^ⓘ; дитя́^ⓘ; путь^ⓘ; грудь^ⓘ^[2]	stew (UK; for some dialects)
ts^[11]	цена́^ⓘ; нра́виться^ⓘ^[10]	cats	tɕ^[11]	чай^ⓘ; течь^ⓘ^[10]	chip
v	вы^ⓘ; его́^[4]; афга́н^[1]	voodoo	vʲ	весь^ⓘ; вью́га^ⓘ	view
x	ход^ⓘ; Бог^ⓘ^[3]^[10]	loch (Scottish)	xʲ	хи́трый^ⓘ; Хью́стон; лёгкий^ⓘ^[1]^[3]^[10]	huge (for some dialects)
z	зуб^ⓘ; сбор^ⓘ^[1]	zoo	zʲ	зима́^ⓘ; резьба́; жизнь^ⓘ; про́сьба^ⓘ^[1]	presume (for some dialects)
ʐ	жест^ⓘ; волшба́^[1]	rouge	ʑː	по́зже^ⓘ^[12]	prestige genre
Stressed vowels
[-soft]			[+soft]
IPA	Examples	English approximation	IPA	Examples	English approximation
a	трава́^ⓘ	father	æ	пять^ⓘ; ча́сть^ⓘ^[13]	pat (US)
ɛ	жест^ⓘ; э́тот^ⓘ	met	e	пень^ⓘ; э́тика^ⓘ^[13]	penny
ɨ	ты^ⓘ; ши́шка^ⓘ; с и́грами	roses (for some dialects)	i	ли́ния^ⓘ; и́ли^ⓘ	meet
o	о́блако^ⓘ; шёпот^ⓘ	chore	ɵ	тётя^ⓘ; плечо́^ⓘ^[13]	bird (non-rhotic)
u	пу́ля^ⓘ	boot	ʉ	чуть^ⓘ; лю́ди^ⓘ^[13]	choose
Unstressed vowels
[-soft]			[+soft]
IPA	Examples	English approximation	IPA	Examples	English approximation
ɐ	облака́^ⓘ; како́й^ⓘ; сообража́ть^ⓘ; тропа́^ⓘ^[14]	bud	N/a
ə	ко́жа^ⓘ; о́блако^ⓘ; се́рдце^ⓘ	about	ə	во́ля^ⓘ; сего́дня^ⓘ; ку́ча^ⓘ^[15]	lasagna
ɨ	дыша́ть^ⓘ; жена́^ⓘ; во́ды^ⓘ; эта́п^ⓘ; к Ива́ну	roses (for some dialects)	ɪ	лиса́^ⓘ; четы́ре^ⓘ; тяжёлый^ⓘ; де́вять^ⓘ; часы́^ⓘ^[16]	bit
ʊ	мужчи́на^ⓘ	put	ʉ	чуде́сный^ⓘ; люби́ть^ⓘ^[13]	youth
ɛ	тетра́эдр; поэте́сса^[17]	met	N/a
o	ра́дио^ⓘ; поэте́сса^[17]	chore	ɵ	ма́чо; сёрфинги́ст^[18]	bird (non-rhotic)
Suprasegmental
IPA	Example		Explanation
ˈ	четы́ре^ⓘ [tɕɪˈtɨrʲɪ]		Stress mark, placed before the stressed syllable
ː	сза́ди^ⓘ [ˈzːadʲɪ]^[1]		Consonant length mark, placed after the geminated consonant

Notes

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Consonants in consonant clusters are assimilated in voicing if the final consonant in the sequence is an obstruent (except [v, vʲ]). All consonants become voiceless if the final consonant is voiceless or voiced if the final consonant is voiced (Halle 1959:31).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 The voiced obstruents /b, bʲ, d, dʲ, ɡ, v, vʲ, z, zʲ, ʐ/ are devoiced word-finally unless the next word begins with a voiced obstruent (Halle 1959:22).
1 2 3 ⟨г⟩ is usually pronounced [ɣ] or [x] in some religious words and colloquial derivatives from them, such as Го́споди and Бог, and in the interjections ага́, ого́, го́споди, ей-бо́гу, and also in бухга́лтер [bʊˈɣaltʲɪr] (Timberlake 2004:23). /ɡ/ devoices and lenites to [x] before voiceless obstruents (dissimilation) in the word roots -мягк- or -мягч-, -легк- or -легч-, -тягч-, and also in the old-fashioned pronunciation of -ногт-, -когт-, кто. Speakers of the Southern Russian dialects may pronounce ⟨г⟩ as [ɣ] (soft [ɣʲ], devoiced [x] and [xʲ]) throughout.
1 2 Intervocalic ⟨г⟩ represents /v/ in certain words (сего́дня, сего́дняшний, итого́ ), and in the genitive suffix -ого/-его (Timberlake 2004:23).
↑ The soft vowel letters ⟨е, ë, ю, я⟩ represent iotated vowels /je, jo, ju, ja/, except when following a consonant. When these vowels are unstressed (save for ⟨ë⟩, which is always stressed) and follow another vowel letter, the /j/ may not be present. The letter ⟨и⟩ produces iotated sound /ji/ only after ь.
↑ /l/ is often strongly pharyngealized [ɫ], but that feature is not distinctive (Ladefoged & Maddieson 1996:187-188).
↑ Alveo-palatal consonants are subjected to regressive assimilative palatalization; i.e. they tend to become palatalized in front of other phones with the same place of articulation.
↑ Most speakers pronounce ⟨ч⟩ in the pronoun что and its derivatives as [ʂ]. All other occurrences of чт cluster stay as affricate and stop.
↑ ⟨щ⟩ is sometimes pronounced as [ɕː] or [ɕɕ] and sometimes as [ɕtɕ], but no speakers contrast the two pronunciations. It is generally includes the other spellings of the sound, but the word счи́тывать sometimes has [ɕtɕ] because of the morpheme boundary between the prefix ⟨с-⟩ and the root ⟨-чит-⟩.
1 2 3 4 5 [ts], [tɕ], [ɕː], [x], have voiced allophones, [dz], [dʑ], [ʑː], [ɣ] respectively, before voiced stop consonants. Examples: плацда́рм, начди́в, дочь бы, вещдо́к, трёхдне́вный.
1 2 The affricates [ts] and [tɕ] are sometimes written with ligature ties: [t͡s] and [t͡ɕ]. Ties are not used in transcriptions on Wikipedia (except in phonology articles) because they may not display correctly in all browsers.
↑ Geminated [ʐː] is pronounced as soft [ʑː], the voiced counterpart to [ɕː], in a few lexical items (such as дрожжи or заезжать) by conservative Moscow speakers; such realization is now somewhat obsolete (Yanushevskaya & Bunčić (2015:224)).
1 2 3 4 5 Vowels are fronted and/or raised in the context of palatalized consonants: /a/ and /u/ become [æ] and [ʉ], respectively between palatalized consonants, /e/ is realized as [e] before and between palatalized consonants and /o/ becomes [ɵ] after and between palatalized consonants.
↑ Word-initial and pretonic (before the stress) /a/ and /o/, as well as when in a sequence.
↑ Only in certain word-final morphemes (Timberlake 2004:48-51).
↑ Unstressed /a/ is pronounced as [ɪ] after ⟨ч⟩ and ⟨щ⟩ except when word-final.^[source?]
1 2 In the careful style of pronunciation unstressed /e/ and /o/ in foreign words may be pronounced with little or no reduction.
↑ Unstressed [ɵ] only occurs in foreign words.

References

Cubberley, Paul (2002), "The phonology of Modern Russian", Russian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge University Press
Halle, Morris (1959), Sound Pattern of Russian, MIT Press
Jones, Daniel; Ward, Dennis (1969), The Phonetics of Russian, Cambridge University Press
Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-19815-4.
Timberlake, Alan (2004), "Sounds", A Reference Grammar of Russian, Cambridge University Press
Yanushevskaya, Irena; Bunčić, Daniel (2015), "Russian" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 45 (2): 221–228, doi:10.1017/S0025100314000395

[voice-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Consonants in consonant clusters are assimilated in voicing if the final consonant in the sequence is an obstruent (except [v, vʲ]). All consonants become voiceless if the final consonant is voiceless or voiced if the final consonant is voiced (Halle 1959:31).

[devoice-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 The voiced obstruents /b, bʲ, d, dʲ, ɡ, v, vʲ, z, zʲ, ʐ/ are devoiced word-finally unless the next word begins with a voiced obstruent (Halle 1959:22).

[g2-3] 1 2 3 ⟨г⟩ is usually pronounced [ɣ] or [x] in some religious words and colloquial derivatives from them, such as Го́споди^ⓘ and Бог^ⓘ, and in the interjections ага́^ⓘ, ого́^ⓘ, го́споди^ⓘ, ей-бо́гу^ⓘ, and also in бухга́лтер [bʊˈɣaltʲɪr] (Timberlake 2004:23). /ɡ/ devoices and lenites to [x] before voiceless obstruents (dissimilation) in the word roots -мягк- or -мягч-, -легк- or -легч-, -тягч-, and also in the old-fashioned pronunciation of -ногт-, -когт-, кто. Speakers of the Southern Russian dialects may pronounce ⟨г⟩ as [ɣ] (soft [ɣʲ], devoiced [x] and [xʲ]) throughout.

[g-4] 1 2 Intervocalic ⟨г⟩ represents /v/ in certain words (сего́дня^ⓘ, сего́дняшний^ⓘ, итого́ ), and in the genitive suffix -ого/-его (Timberlake 2004:23).

[5] The soft vowel letters ⟨е, ë, ю, я⟩ represent iotated vowels /je, jo, ju, ja/, except when following a consonant. When these vowels are unstressed (save for ⟨ë⟩, which is always stressed) and follow another vowel letter, the /j/ may not be present. The letter ⟨и⟩ produces iotated sound /ji/ only after ь.

[6] /l/ is often strongly pharyngealized [ɫ], but that feature is not distinctive (Ladefoged & Maddieson 1996:187-188).

[7] Alveo-palatal consonants are subjected to regressive assimilative palatalization; i.e. they tend to become palatalized in front of other phones with the same place of articulation.

[8] Most speakers pronounce ⟨ч⟩ in the pronoun что and its derivatives as [ʂ]. All other occurrences of чт cluster stay as affricate and stop.

[щ-9] ⟨щ⟩ is sometimes pronounced as [ɕː] or [ɕɕ] and sometimes as [ɕtɕ], but no speakers contrast the two pronunciations. It is generally includes the other spellings of the sound, but the word счи́тывать sometimes has [ɕtɕ] because of the morpheme boundary between the prefix ⟨с-⟩ and the root ⟨-чит-⟩.

[dz-10] 1 2 3 4 5 [ts], [tɕ], [ɕː], [x], have voiced allophones, [dz], [dʑ], [ʑː], [ɣ] respectively, before voiced stop consonants. Examples: плацда́рм^ⓘ, начди́в, дочь бы^ⓘ, вещдо́к, трёхдне́вный.

[tie-11] 1 2 The affricates [ts] and [tɕ] are sometimes written with ligature ties: [t͡s] and [t͡ɕ]. Ties are not used in transcriptions on Wikipedia (except in phonology articles) because they may not display correctly in all browsers.

[12] Geminated [ʐː] is pronounced as soft [ʑː], the voiced counterpart to [ɕː], in a few lexical items (such as дрожжи or заезжать) by conservative Moscow speakers; such realization is now somewhat obsolete (Yanushevskaya & Bunčić (2015:224)).

[palatalized_vowel-13] 1 2 3 4 5 Vowels are fronted and/or raised in the context of palatalized consonants: /a/ and /u/ become [æ] and [ʉ], respectively between palatalized consonants, /e/ is realized as [e] before and between palatalized consonants and /o/ becomes [ɵ] after and between palatalized consonants.

[14] Word-initial and pretonic (before the stress) /a/ and /o/, as well as when in a sequence.

[15] Only in certain word-final morphemes (Timberlake 2004:48-51).

[a-16] Unstressed /a/ is pronounced as [ɪ] after ⟨ч⟩ and ⟨щ⟩ except when word-final.^[source?]

[foreign-17] 1 2 In the careful style of pronunciation unstressed /e/ and /o/ in foreign words may be pronounced with little or no reduction.

[foreign2-18] Unstressed [ɵ] only occurs in foreign words.

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