Cyrillic II: The New Shapes
The letters left over are the genuinely new ones — no English lookalikes, no tricks. The consolation prize is big: each of these letters makes exactly one sound, always. Learn the shape once and it never betrays you.
The Hissers
Five letters cover the sounds English spells with two:
| Letter | Sound | Read this |
|---|---|---|
| Ж ж | zh (as in pleasure) | журнал — zhurnal (magazine) |
| Ш ш | sh | школа — shkola (school) |
| Ч ч | ch | чай — chai (tea) |
| Щ щ | shch | борщ — borshch |
| Ц ц | ts | цирк — tsirk (circus) |
New Vowels
| Letter | Sound | Read this |
|---|---|---|
| Ы ы | a deep 'i' from the back of the mouth | сыр — syr (cheese) |
| Э э | e as in 'end' | это — eto (this) |
| Ю ю | yu | юг — yug (south) |
| Я я | ya | я — ya (I) |
| Ё ё | yo — and always stressed | ёлка — YOL-ka (fir tree) |
Два бонуса: я on its own means I — a whole word for one letter. And ё carries the stress wherever it appears, a free pronunciation hint baked into the spelling.
Silent Helpers
Ь (soft sign) and Ъ (hard sign) make no sound of their own — they fine-tune the consonant before them. Ь softens it: пять (five) ends on a soft, whispered t. You'll meet the details in the pronunciation lesson; for now, just don't look for a sound that isn't there.
И Short
Й is a quick “y” glide that ends words like чай (tea — “chai”) and музей (museum — “muzey”). Think of it as и wearing a hat and in a hurry.
журнал · школа · чай · борщ · сыр · я
magazine · school · tea · borscht · cheese · I
Note: Read the full set aloud — all 33 letters are now yours.
Common Mistakes
- Ш vs Щ. Ш is a plain “sh”; Щ is longer and softer — “shch”. Борщ needs the second.
- Ы as “ee”. Ы comes from deeper in the mouth — сыр is not “seer”. Say “i” while pulling your tongue back.
- Hunting for Ь's sound. It has none. It changes the letter before it and asks for nothing else.
- Writing е for ё. Printed Russian often drops the dots, but the sound stays “yo” — ёлка, всё, She. When you see ё, trust it: that syllable is stressed.
What You Can Do Now
All 33 letters are yours: you can sound out any printed Russian word, slowly but correctly — street signs, menus, book covers. Next: how Russian actually sounds — stress, the disappearing о, and the other native secrets.