The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Russian language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles.

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

IPA Examples IPA Examples[1] English equivalents
Consonants
b бок; небо белый; воробей boot; beautiful
d дом; деда делает; Владимир do; dew (for some dialects)
f фата; выставка;[2] Чехов;[3] шурф фея; червь[3] fool; few
ɡ говорю; другой ɡʲ гербарий; ноги goo; argue
ɣ Господь, Господи;[4] interj. ага, ого[4]
j есть; юла; я; толстый [5] yes, boy
k кость; книга; рука; бок кишки; короткий cool; cute
l луна; стула ; ствол[6] лес; колено; мысль pill; least
m мыло; думать; там мясо; доме moot; mute
n нос; он нёс; они; корень noon; newt (for some dialects)
p пыль; стопа; скрип; зуб[3] пепел; зыбь[3] pool; pew
r рыба; широкий; орла; жир река; четыре; три; зверь trilled r, like in Spanish
s собака; писать; нос; глаз[3] синий; здесь; есть; грызть[2] soup; super (for some dialects)
ʂ широкий; наш; хороший; муж;[3] что ɕɕ щегол; считать; мужчина; вращать [7] shop; fresh cheese, fish show
t тот; читаю; водка;[2] лёд[3] тереть; дитя; грудь[3] tool; tune (for some dialects)
t͡s цель; птица; отец t͡ɕ чай; печень; течь tsunami, cats; chip
v ваш; давать; его[8] вести; человек voodoo; view
x ходить; ухо; Бог[4] хина; лёгкий[2][4] bach; huge (for some dialects).
z заезжать; язык зелёный; озеро; просьба;[2] zoo; azure (for some dialects)
ʐ жест; тяжёлый ʑʑ дрожжи; заезжать[9] rouge; asia
IPA Examples English equivalent
Stressed vowels
a трава́ ton
æ пять pat
ɑ па́лка [10] palm
e пень pay
ɛ жест met
i си́него meet
ɨ ты roses (for some dialects)
o о́блако chore
ɵ тётя audio
u пу́ля moon
ʉ чуть choose
Unstressed vowels
ɐ паро́м; сообража́ть; тропа́ bud
ə ко́жа; ше́я; о́блако about
ɪ тяжёлый; эта́п; четы́ре bit
ɨ дыша́ть; жена́; го́ды dinner
ʉ юти́ться youth
ʊ мужчи́на put
Other symbols used in transcription of Russian pronunciation
IPA Explanation
ˈ Stress (placed before the stressed syllable),
for example этап [ɪˈtap]
  1. Russian makes contrasts between palatalized ("soft") and unpalatalized ("hard") consonants. Palatalized consonants, denoted by a superscript j, ‹ ʲ› , are pronounced with the body of the tongue raised toward the hard palate, in a manner similar to the articulation of the y sound in yes. /j/, /ɕɕ/, /tɕ/, /ʑʑ/ are also considered "soft".
  2. In consonant clusters, the voicing or devoicing is determined by that of the final obstruent in the sequence (Halle 1959:31)
  3. Voiced obstruents (/b/, /bʲ/, /d/, /dʲ/ /ɡ/, /v/, /vʲ/, /z/, /zʲ/, /ʐ/, and /ʑʑ/) are devoiced word-finally unless the next word begins with a voiced obstruent (Halle 1959:22).
  4. In some religious words such as Бог and Господь, as well as interjections, ‹г› and ‹к› represent [ɣ] and [x], respectively. When /ɡ/ loses its voicing, it is also lenited (a form of dissimilation) before plosives in some words.
  5. The "soft" vowel letters <е> <ю> and <я> represent a /j/ plus a vowel when initial or following other vowels or a yer. When such vowels are unstressed, the /j/ may be deleted.
  6. /l/ is often strongly pharyngealized but this feature is nondistinctive (Ladefoged & Maddieson 1996:187-188).
  7. While some speakers pronounce words with ‹щ› as [ɕɕ] and others as [ɕtɕ], none contrast the two pronunciations. This generally includes words spelled with other letters, though speakers with the [ɕɕ] pronunciation may still pronounce words like считывать with [ɕtɕ] because of the morpheme boundary between ‹с› and ‹ч›.
  8. Intervocalic <г> can represent /v/ in certain words and affixes
  9. The phoneme /ʑʑ/ is in many dialects is replaced with /ʐ/.
  10. [ɑ] appears between a hard consonant (or a pause) and /l/
  • Halle, Morris (1959), Sound Pattern of Russian, MIT Press
  • Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996), The Sounds of the World's Languages, Blackwell Publishing, आई॰ऍस॰बी॰ऍन॰ 0-631-19815-6