Russia’s Cyrillic script vs. the Latin alphabet
- by Melissa Michaels

What makes Russia such an interesting country to visit is that the Russian language is based on a different alphabet. For example: Добро пожаловать в Россию means welcome to Russia in the Cyrillic script. And as an English speaker, planning to go to Россия or Russia, the Cyrillic script can be daunting.

Many of the Cyrillic characters look backwards or upside down and are seemingly switched around. What looks like a “р” is really the equivalent of a Latin “r”. What looks like a “в” is really the equivalent of a Latin “v” and what looks like an “н” is really the equivalent of a Latin “n”. But, fortunately, many Russians -- though they may not be fluent in English -- are familiar with the Latin alphabet despite the quirky differences, and are able to read or sound out a European or English word anyway, so you can be sure that it’s not that difficult for us to reverse the process.

And if you’re planning to spend one or two weeks in any of the ten or so countries which use the Cyrillic script - including Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro and Belarus -- you won’t regret spending a little time preparing yourself for the experience.

Although I did not know very much Russian when I took my first trip to Russia, I felt much more comfortable and secure in a distinctly foreign region, with some background knowledge of the Cyrillic script, because, simply, I was immersed by it. And because it’s a relatively phonetic language and has only a few occasional surprises, I wasn’t entirely hopeless in sounding out the words around me with only a little bit of training. I was grateful for the knowledge.

A good tip when you need directions or help is to search for someone in their youth. A group of students, for instance, will have a better chance of knowing enough English to point you in the right direction, rather than a group of adults from the Soviet Era. And it’s always helpful to know the location of the closest American Embassy or to have English-friendly hotels.

A good tip when you need directions or help is to search for someone in their youth. A group of students, for instance, will have a better chance of knowing enough English to point you in the right direction, rather than a group of adults from the Soviet Era. And it’s always helpful to know the location of the closest American Embassy or to have English-friendly hotels.

When you begin to get some background of the Cyrillic script in your memory, it won’t be difficult to remember the letters, because there are many words that are familiar to the English word - the only problem is that the characters initially look very different. For instance, the word “банк” will look a little strange the first time you see it, but gradually you’ll recognize that “н” is really the equivalent of the latin “n” and that this is almost exactly the same as the English word “bank.” And as you gradually integrate words like these into your memory, you will be able to sound out or recognize many more words, and even some that are completely unfamiliar to you.

One of the greatest advantages of knowing the Cyrillic script is that you will be able to understand many more words than you predicted, just by their similarity to American words. “турист” being one -- which is transliterated to “tooreest” and becomes a familiar word, once you understand the Cyrillic script. “туалет” is another, which is what they might say to you if you’re looking for public restrooms and transliterates to “tooahlyet.” Now you can see that “у” in the Cyrillic script makes the sound “oo” in English, not “yuh,” and that “e” in the Cyrillic script actually makes a “yeh” sound!

Another advantage is that while you may carry with you a Russian/English dictionary or a map of the area -- including Metro maps -- many of them will only give you the Cyrillic version of the Russian word. By looking up a word you need to use, like “hotel” (гостиница) or “please” (пожалуйста), there still won’t be a guarantee that you can use it yet. But don’t let that be an obstacle during your travels!

You’ll even be able to read the names of the cities you will visit, as they will also be in the Cyrillic script and pronounced differently. For instance, we say “Moss-cow,” but this is the Westernized version. Russians actually pronounce it Maskva -- москва. We say Saint Petersburg, but Russians actually say Sankt Peterbourg -- санкт петербург.

And as I said, you’ll begin to notice that Russian is rather phonetic, which is why my transliteration is not very difficult for you to pronounce. You’ll be rewarded for your new knowledge constantly while in Russia, as you interact with your environment much more than you otherwise would. The Cyrillic script is just one of the first gates into the Russian cultural experience, and you might find your environment much more enjoyable once you’ve learned it.

Fortunately, if you’re interested in taking some short lessons on common Russian phrases or the Cyrillic script, there is an abundance of resources available. Don’t hesitate to give it a try, even immediately!

Just to warm you up, I’ve given you a brief introduction to the Cyrillic script and a graph to get you started transliterating. No amount of reading will help you speak or understand spoken Russian, because you can only learn it by listening to it and practicing it. But understanding the Cyrillic script will give you a firm foundation for the Russian experience, and if you find that you enjoy it and you want to learn more, I guarantee that you can find an abundance of free resources just by typing “learn Russian” in a search engine or on youtube -- or by visiting your local library.
Удачи! Good luck!

The picture above was originally a standard qwerty keyboard. In Russia, they often have both the Cyrillic and Latin letters on their keyboard, in order to be able to type both. I’ve arranged them as phonetically matched up as possible. If the Cyrillic letter has a Latin equivalent, it will be matched up on this keyboard.

By looking at it, you can see that the light blue has no Latin equivalent and the former Latin letters in its place, like q, w, u, and x have no Cyrillic equivalent.

The purple letters have some similar match to Latin, but they are not entirely identical. Sometimes they’re formed in different parts of the mouth and sometimes they have different rules when used in different words. For instance the Cyrillic ‘c’ is never used as it is used in ‘cat.’ It’s never hard, and always soft like an ‘s’.

The reason you see no transliteration for the letters in red is because they have no English equivalent and needs more explanation.

I’ve now going to give you some words to practice with. Try using the table to transliterate these Cyrillic words into their Latin equivalent and see if they become more familiar to you! Don’t be surprised if they still sound phenomenally different to your ear, when spoken authentically, but if done correctly, you should be able to guess what the word means in English by reading your own transliteration.

фонтан
такси
телефон
эскалатор
адрес
информация
президент
проспект
метро
фотография
театр
вода
туалет
компьютер
супермаркет

If you feel ready for a more detailed description of how to sound out the letters, I'll give you a brief summary of the alphabet and its closest Latin equivalent so that you can get an idea of how these words might sound. These are again, divided into the categories of purple, light blue and red, to align with the graph I've given you

Ээ - eh as in fed
Рр - r, rolled with the tongue, similar to a Spanish r
Тт -- t as in tree
Ии - ee, but is transliterated as an i as in иван or ivan, but which is really pronounced eevan
Оо - oh as in open. although, depending on the stress, it can often be pronounced as an ‘ah’ -- as in спасибо, which is really pronounced somewhere between spaseebo and “spaseeba”
Пп - p as in pancake

Аа - ah as in august, not as it is in apple or maintain.
Сс - s as in spice this will never be hard, like in cat, only soft, like in ice.
Дд - d as in dance
Фф -- f as in free
Гг - g softly spoken, as in get, never hard like in gentle
Кк - k as in capture
Лл - l as in let

Зз - z as in zeal
Вв - v as in vacation
Бб - b as in banana
Нн - n as in never
Мм - m as in many

Яя - Ya, the ah is pronounced like it is in “la la la or yaw”
Шш - sh as in shampoo
Юю - yoo as in you
Уу --oo as in food
Ее - ye as in yet
Хх - kh as in the Scottish loch or German bach
Жж - often transliterated as ‘zhe’ but sounds like a soft ‘juh’ as in measure or pleasure or the French Jaques.
Чч - ch as in church
Цц - ts as in its or lets and is sometimes transliterated as cz, as in czar

Йй -- this is a diphthong (or a combination of vowels that makes a new sound, like coin or loud) and when used after a vowel sounds somewhat like when you say the word “boy,” because both the ‘o’ and the ‘yeh’ are briefly heard. ‘й’ takes the place of the ‘y’ in boy.

Щщ - often transliterated as shch. There really isn’t any substantial English equivalent of the difference between ‘sh’ and ‘shch,’ so you don’t need to worry about it too much right now. For now, imagine it as a little bit longer than you would otherwise say ‘sh’ -- like the difference between a curt ‘show’ and a more drawn out, ‘sheep’

Ыы - there is no English equivalent of this vowel, because it is formed with the mouth like no other english vowel is, so it takes some practice. It’s similar to an “ee” but the sound is formed using the throat muscles, rather than the mouth. Try saying ‘eat’ a little deeper in the mouth, using your throat muscles.

Both of these do not have any distinct sounds, but are still considered letters, because by placing them after another Cyrillic letter, it changes the way you pronounce it. You only need to worry about this if you’re going to seriously study Russian. :)
Ьь - soft sign
Ъъ -- hard sign


And these words you’ll be sure to see many times around the cities you visit:
аптека - aptyeka -- pharmacy
музей - moozey -- museum
банк - bank -- bank
рубль -- roobl -- ruble (Russian currency)
парк - park -- park
почта -- pochta -- post office
цветы - tsveti -- flower shop
ресторан - restoran -- restaurant
магазин - magazin -- not to be confused with magazine, it actually means a small shop or a store.
три -- tree -- and actually it’s the number three, not a tree!
царь - tsar -- sometimes transliterated as tsar or czar
я турист - ya tooreest - which means ‘I am a tourist’