Russian Alphabet | Russian Characters

The Russian alphabet is the foundation of modern Russian writing and belongs to the Cyrillic script system. It consists of 33 letters, including 10 vowels, 21 consonants, and 2 silent modifiers (the soft sign ь and hard sign ъ). The Russian alphabet is essential for learning Russian pronunciation, grammar, and for those involved in Slavic language research, translation, and localization. Below is a detailed introduction to each letter in alphabetical order, covering pronunciation, Unicode parameters, LaTeX commands, and usage notes.

🔤 Vowel Letters (10)

А а is called "A" and is the first letter of the Russian alphabet. It sounds like the 'a' in English "father", an open back vowel. Its uppercase Unicode is U+0410, lowercase U+0430. In LaTeX, you can use \textcyrillic{a} or load a Cyrillic font; HTML entities are А and а. This is the most basic vowel with no special modifications.

Е е is called "Ye". It sounds like 'ye' in English "yes". After vowels it's [je], and after consonants it palatalizes the preceding consonant. Uppercase Unicode U+0415, lowercase U+0435; LaTeX command \cyre, HTML entities Е and е. Note the distinction from Ё ё.

Ё ё is called "Yo", pronounced [jo] and always stressed. Uppercase U+0401, lowercase U+0451; LaTeX requires \cyryo or a special package; HTML entities Ё and ё. In Russian, ё is often written as е, but the pronunciation differs — dictionaries must mark it.

И и is called "Ee", similar to 'ee' in English "see", a close front vowel. Uppercase U+0418, lowercase U+0438; LaTeX command \cyri, HTML entities И and и. Note the difference from the Latin letter N — the two dots on top are distinctive.

О о is called "O", similar to 'o' in English "bored", but a pure rounded vowel without glide. Uppercase U+041E, lowercase U+043E; LaTeX command \cyro, HTML entities О and о. When stressed it's [o], unstressed it weakens to [a] or [ə].

У у is called "U", similar to 'oo' in English "boot", a rounded back vowel. Uppercase U+0423, lowercase U+0443; LaTeX command \cyru, HTML entities У and у. Simple in writing, unlike Latin Y — Russian У has no bottom tail.

Ы ы is called "Y" (close central unrounded vowel), a unique Russian sound, somewhat like the 'e' in English "roses" but with the tongue further back. Uppercase U+042B, lowercase U+044B; LaTeX command \cyry, HTML entities Ы and ы. Many learners find it difficult to pronounce — keep lips spread while practicing.

Э э is called "E" open-mid, similar to 'e' in English "bet". Uppercase U+042D, lowercase U+044D; LaTeX command \cyreh, HTML entities Э and э. Rare at the beginning of words (except loanwords), but important for the hard quality of Russian.

Ю ю is called "Yu", pronounced [ju], like English "you". Uppercase U+042E, lowercase U+044E; LaTeX command \cyryu, HTML entities Ю and ю. Written as a combination of И and У but treated as a single letter.

Я я is called "Ya", pronounced [ja], like 'ya' in English "yacht". Uppercase U+042F, lowercase U+044F; LaTeX command \cyrya, HTML entities Я and я. It is the last vowel letter and also indicates palatalization of the preceding consonant.

🔡 Consonant Letters (21)

Б б is called "Be", a voiced bilabial plosive, similar to 'b' in English "boy", but with stronger vocal cord vibration. Uppercase U+0411, lowercase U+0431; LaTeX command \cyrb, HTML entities Б and б. At the end of a word, it devoices to [p].

В в is called "Ve", a voiced labiodental fricative, like 'v' in English "vest". Uppercase U+0412, lowercase U+0432; LaTeX command \cyrv, HTML entities В and в. Note that Russian В is not pronounced as [w] — the upper teeth must contact the lower lip.

Г г is called "Ge", a voiced velar plosive, similar to 'g' in English "go", but more explosive. Uppercase U+0413, lowercase U+0433; LaTeX command \cyrg, HTML entities Г and г. Some dialects pronounce it as [h], but standard Russian maintains [g].

Д д is called "De", a voiced dental plosive, like 'd' in English "dog", but with the tongue touching the upper teeth. Uppercase U+0414, lowercase U+0434; LaTeX command \cyrd, HTML entities Д and д. Handwritten and printed forms differ significantly.

Ж ж is called "Zhe", a voiced retroflex fricative, similar to the 's' in English "pleasure", but with the tongue curled back. Uppercase U+0416, lowercase U+0436; LaTeX command \cyrzh, HTML entities Ж and ж. This is a distinctive Russian sibilant, always hard.

З з is called "Ze", a voiced alveolar fricative, like 'z' in English "zoo". Uppercase U+0417, lowercase U+0437; LaTeX command \cyrz, HTML entities З and з. At the end of words or before voiceless consonants it devoices to [s].

Й й is called "Short I", a short semivowel [j], like 'y' in English "yes". Uppercase U+0419, lowercase U+0439; LaTeX command \cyrshorti, HTML entities Й and й. It does not form a syllable by itself and often combines with vowels.

К к is called "Ka", a voiceless velar plosive, like 'k' in English "kite", without aspiration. Uppercase U+041A, lowercase U+043A; LaTeX command \cyrk, HTML entities К and к. One of the most common Russian consonants, transliterated as 'k'.

Л л is called "El", a voiced dental lateral approximant, similar to 'l' in English "love", but with the tongue closer to the upper teeth. Uppercase U+041B, lowercase U+043B; LaTeX command \cyrl, HTML entities Л and л. The hard version is relatively dark and not palatalized.

М м is called "Em", a bilabial nasal, like 'm' in English "milk". Uppercase U+041C, lowercase U+043C; LaTeX command \cyrm, HTML entities М and м. Its shape is nearly identical to Latin M.

Н н is called "En", an alveolar nasal, like 'n' in English "nose". Uppercase U+041D, lowercase U+043D; LaTeX command \cyrn, HTML entities Н and н. Note that its uppercase looks like Latin H but represents a different sound.

П п is called "Pe", a voiceless bilabial plosive, like 'p' in English "spin", without aspiration. Uppercase U+041F, lowercase U+043F; LaTeX command \cyrp, HTML entities П and п. The handwritten form resembles the Greek letter π.

Р р is called "Er", an alveolar trill, similar to the rolled 'r' in Spanish or Italian. Uppercase U+0420, lowercase U+0440; LaTeX command \cyrr, HTML entities Р and р. This is one of the most difficult Russian sounds to pronounce, requiring tongue vibration.

С с is called "Es", a voiceless alveolar fricative, like 's' in English "snow". Uppercase U+0421, lowercase U+0441; LaTeX command \cyrs, HTML entities С and с. Russian С has the same shape as Latin C, but the pronunciation is completely different — do not confuse them.

Т т is called "Te", a voiceless dental plosive, like 't' in English "stop", without aspiration. Uppercase U+0422, lowercase U+0442; LaTeX command \cyrt, HTML entities Т and т. The printed form differs considerably from the handwritten one.

Ф ф is called "Ef", a voiceless labiodental fricative, like 'f' in English "food". Uppercase U+0424, lowercase U+0444; LaTeX command \cyrf, HTML entities Ф and ф. The vast majority of Russian words with Ф are borrowed from other languages.

Х х is called "Kha", a voiceless velar fricative, like 'ch' in German "Bach" or the English 'h' in "loch". Uppercase U+0425, lowercase U+0445; LaTeX command \cyrh, HTML entities Х and х. This is a characteristic Russian fricative — do not confuse with Latin X.

Ц ц is called "Tse", a voiceless alveolar affricate, like 'ts' in English "cats". Uppercase U+0426, lowercase U+0446; LaTeX command \cyrc, HTML entities Ц and ц. Always hard, never palatalized, with the tongue tip against the lower teeth.

Ч ч is called "Che", a voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate, like 'ch' in English "chart". Uppercase U+0427, lowercase U+0447; LaTeX command \cyrch, HTML entities Ч and ч. In Russian grammar, Ч is usually followed by soft vowels.

Ш ш is called "Sha", a voiceless retroflex fricative, like 'sh' in English "shut", but with the tongue curled further back. Uppercase U+0428, lowercase U+0448; LaTeX command \cyrsh, HTML entities Ш and ш. Always hard — it is never followed by ы/э/ю/я but by и/е, yet pronounced hard.

Щ щ is called "Shcha", a long alveolo-palatal fricative, similar to the 'sh' in English "sheep" but longer and softer. Uppercase U+0429, lowercase U+0449; LaTeX command \cyrshch, HTML entities Щ and щ. The pronunciation is challenging, characterized by a longer duration than ш.

🪄 Silent Modifiers (2)

Ъ ъ is called "Hard Sign", it makes no sound and is used to separate a prefix from the root to prevent palatalization. Uppercase U+042A, lowercase U+044A; LaTeX command \cyrhardcorner or \textquotebreak, HTML entities Ъ and ъ. Rare in modern Russian, appearing in words like объём (volume) and съезд (congress).

Ь ь is called "Soft Sign", it has no sound but indicates that the preceding consonant is palatalized (softened). Uppercase U+042C, lowercase U+044C; LaTeX command \cyrsoftcorner, HTML entities Ь and ь. The soft sign is very frequent, crucial for indicating verb second person and feminine nouns in Russian grammar.

📖 Usage Notes for Russian Letters

First, uppercase and lowercase Russian letters sometimes differ significantly in shape (e.g., Д/д, Т/т). Second, to input Cyrillic letters in LaTeX, it is recommended to load T2A encoding and the babel package: \usepackage[T2A]{fontenc}\usepackage[russian]{babel}, then use commands like \cyr... Third, HTML entities can be decimal or hexadecimal; decimal offers better compatibility. Fourth, there are multiple standards for Latin transliteration (ISO 9, BGN/PCGN); this project provides approximate pronunciation names. Fifth, when copying SVG source or downloading PNG, the generated graphics will rely on the current font — "Noto Sans Cyrillic" or "Segoe UI" are recommended for optimal display. Sixth, because Russian has many hard/soft pairs, be careful to distinguish voiced and voiceless consonants when writing explanations. Seventh, fullwidth Cyrillic letters (U+FF21–U+FF3A etc.) are not listed separately on this page, but can be achieved with fullwidth fonts for monospaced alignment. Eighth, when developing software that involves Russian localization, always use Unicode rather than legacy encodings to ensure correct sorting and display of all letters.

💡 Usage Tips

If you need to copy the Unicode, LaTeX command, or HTML entity for any Russian letter, simply click the corresponding letter card above and click the desired item in the pop-up panel to copy it with one click. Each letter can generate SVG vector source or be downloaded as a 512×512 pixel transparent-background PNG image, convenient for presentations, font design, or language teaching materials. When writing academic papers or working with Russian typography, we recommend using LaTeX with the T2A font encoding to obtain the best output for Cyrillic letters.