Russian Cyrillic Alphabet Chart
 

I've been searching for a chart that gives Russian Cyrillic alphabet letters and the equivalent abc's. I've googled, checked Wickipedia, etc. and while I've learned a lot about St. Cyril, the history of the alphabet and just about everything except what I want!

Hoping someone can direct me to a Cyrillic/abc's chart. We leave for Russia on 7/17 and I'm hoping to find something before we go. I understand signage in Russia is mostly in Cyrillic, unlike Greece where we found in Athens both Cyrillic/English street signs, etc. The chart I'm seeking would be very helpful in this regard.

Try http://www.friends-partners.org/oldf...-alphabet.html

You want something better than this chart?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrilli...Common_letters

Seems to convey all the info that an English speaker might need to know to "sound things out".

Maybe i don't understand what you are seeking...

Best wishes,

Rex

Thank you Garfield and Rex. I guess I didn't express myself well. What I need is a chart that gives the Cyrillic symbol and what that symbol is in English letters, so that we can translate signs, directions, subway stops, etc. from Cyrillic to English. I hope that explains what I'm looking for.

One caveat: look for a chart that shows calligraphy as well as the printed cyrillic alphabet. You'll also find that there are letters in Russian that don't exist in English; some modify pronunciation. None of this will matter for street signs, I expect, but it might be useful information for you.

You wouldn;t get a translation into English. You would get a version of the Russian word in the roman alphabet. Then you would still have to know what the russian word means in english.

What you are doing is called transliteration rather than translation. You want to represent the sound of original Cyrillic words using a western alphabet, presumably to help people pronounce the words.
Also, echo the previous caveat to be aware that some Cyrillic letters are written differently in block and cursive, just as in English.

I don't know if this is what you are looking for, but at the back of the Lonely Planet Russia guide, there is an extensive language section.

Hope that helps!

For the most part, if you know the Greek alphabet you can do the cyrillic alphabet.
But you are correct--if you can sound out the letters, they are often adapted from English or Romance language words.
For example, where you see this
PECTOPAH

you will find food.
R-e-s-t-oh-r-a-nh

I would suggest your library or a beginning Russian book.

You will want to have a Russian-English dictionary anyway.

I would have thought that the chart in the Wikipedia reference I cited would meet your needs. But you want it even more simplified?

I added to it and posted it here:

http://www.geocities.com/rexbickers/Cyrillic.bmp

I have the feeling that you think
Cyrillic is somehow "the same" as the Latin alphabet, just with some "funny symbols"... and you just need the "decoder ring". It's not that simple.

Russian has nine vowels (not counting _soft "i"_) - - five of them can be roughly equated to Latin letters: A, E, I, O and U - - though you need to understand that those vowel sounds are ah, eh, ee, oh and oo (basically the same as Italian, for example). I am quite shocked that the Wikipedia chart omitted "E" (eh). I have no explanation, and I stuck it back in, at the bottom (I forget where it goes, correctly).

Then there are four vowels that have a "y" sound in front of them, so they have no direct equivalent in the Latin alphabet: yeh, yoh, yoo and yah (the "backwards R"). As with "eh", the Wikipedia chart seems to have omitted "yoh". I don't know why. It includes both under the footnotes about Belarusian alphabet.

M and T are the only consonants that look and sound the same (though in cursive, T looks more like an M in the handwriting of many people).

These sounds, which fall... in some cases... in different order than they occur in the Latin alphabet - - B, V, G, D, Z, L, P, R, S and F (the Latin letters) generally sound the same in Russian, as they do in English, but they look different in Cyrillic (three that are easily confused... "V" looks like English "B", "R" looks like English "P", and "S" looks like English "C" - - thus "CCCP", in Cyrillic... is pronounced essentially like "SSSR").

Which leaves six consonants which have no equivalents in the Latin alphabet, though you can easily learn the sounds:

ZH - - as in Zhorzhii (think of Giorgio, in Italian... but remove any hint of a "d" sound, like English "George" seems to have). Or identical to French "g" as in "Georges" or "jour". Also described as the "j" or "zh" sound in English "treasure". Perhaps you could think of this letter as the same as "J". As an aside... "G" (looks the same as Greek gamma) is always hard in Russian, as in English "game" - - with the rare exception when a word ends in "ogo" - - which sounds more like "uh-voh".

KH - - like Khomeini, or Khadafi or Khrushchev (which Americans simply pronounced like Kroosh-Chef, rather incorrectly). It's that harsh "H" sound, as in Greek _chi_ in Scottish _loch_ or German "ich".

TS - - like "tsetse" or the TS sound in English "pizza" (peatsah).

CH - - the first letter in Chernobyl. Essentially the same as English "cheese".

SH - - the first consonant in Shevernadze, and the easier of two sounds that English speakers seem to stumble over (perhaps because they look quite a lot alike). More or less just like "shoe".

as opposed to...

SHCH - - not so difficult in the middle of a word, as in Khrushchev. Usually taught as the sound in the middle of the words DanishCheese (run together). Just doesn't seem to come easily at the beginning of a word.

Now... does that help you?

Basically I agree with the posting by Gretchen about "R-E-S-T-O-R-A-N"... this chart should help you with words that you _can_ sound out.

What REx says is absolutely right. There are 'extra' letters and they have specific and sometimes difficult sounds. I am sure there must be a website for the sounds--or invest in a cheap Russian language tape.
But knowing the alphabet and the sounds will allow you to sound out some things--but you have to sound them out. Otherwise it is pectopah!!

http://speakrussian.blogspot.com/

I have a website, too- if you are interested! (I am a Russian teacher).

This "Spoonful of Russian" is available as a free podcast on iTunes, as well.

%%-

http://community.middlebury.edu/~bey...ex/frame.shtml

Please note that some signs are written in Russian script (like our handwriting). You need to learn to read that as well as the capital and small printed letters to be able to read the signs.

I do agree about PECTOPAH.

The most important piece of advice is to get a map with Cyrillic letters if you go off by yourself. There are almost no signs in the conventional alphabet except right around the Kremlin. A map with everything transliterated into English will enable you to pronounce some names of streets, but it will not help you know where you are.

I hope you understand what everyone is saying - that what you seem to want would NOT translate anything. It would merely let you read/say words phonetically. You'd still have no idea what they meant w/o a russian/english dictionary.

<< what you seem to want would NOT translate anything. It would merely let you read/say words phonetically. >>

I really disagree, janis...

There are always more words in any foreign language that are related to something you know - - whether English words... words with Greek origins, Latin/Romance language origins, place names, and the like.

I still remember when I was sixteen getting all excited that at the "drive-in" movie across the street from my hotel in Athens, they were playing...

mu-pi-alpha-rho-mu-pi-alpha-rho-eta-lambda-lambda-alpha

Once you know that mu-pi is pronounced like an English "B" sound (in Modern Greek), then it's pretty easy...

B-A-R-B-A-R-E-L-L-A

;)

I should mention that PECTOPAH is one of my students' favorite jokes (ie "pec-toh-pah! Res-ton-ran"). Russian students always have a good sense of humor (makes my job that much better and more enjoyable).

%%-

"unlike Greece where we found in Athens both Cyrillic/English street signs"
I'm surprised to learn that street signs in Athens are in both Cyrillic and English.

Greek and Russian might share some common letters (e.g. a,e,f,z,k,l,m,o,p,r,t,x) but they are not similar languages at all.

Languages don't have to be similar... and yet there can be very ancient roots that show up as similar words. I guess commonality is in the eye of the beholder... the only Russian I learned was over 35 years ago, so I cannot rattle off abundant examples, but there is a pattern that can serve as a memory aid if you choose to see it...

3 - tri - - tri... TRI
4 - chetyre - - tetra... _ETR_
5 - pyaht - - penta... P_ _T
8 - vosyem - - octo... O(S)K_
10 - dyesyat - - deka... DE(S)K_


Am I the only one who uses similarities like this to remember vocabulary?

Yes, Katya, we always got very excited to see a Pectopah!! Thanks for the website. We are having Russian visitors soon and I might try one more time to 'brush up my Shakespeare".
Janis, you are incorrect. Many words are "borrowed" from the romance languages and English. But the sounds are the important part.
A dictionary is very key. We stayed with a family and made do by pointing to words--in both languages!

yes - I know many words are borrowed. But for the VAST majority of locations, directions, informational signs - a cheat sheet/chart will not help you know what they mean. But it WILL help you pronounce them. Which is very good if one is asking directions, etc.

I've been to Russia a few times and made my way around just fine by knowing the Cyrillic pronounciations and a handful of Russian words.

A Russian/English dictionary/translator is a must.

Thanks to all of you for providing such an incredible wealth of information! I can see now that I was simplifying a more complicated solution to my question. I do have a limited dictionary, but will buy a more extensive one. Thank you for the websites; I will definitely search them for added information. Many of you have gone to great lengths to assist me and I very much appreciate your efforts.

Russian really is out there by itself. You will not see or hear that much familiar.

Studying there, my favourite was the tube Station:

Bibleoteka imeni Lenina (Library in the name of Lenin)

I renamed it "Bubbly Tickley Lemony Enema"

I hope they haven't renamed it.

Even if you have a Russian dictionary, it will not always help you. Russians decline nouns and you would have to recognize the root of the word and know what the ending stood for. Similarly, a dictionary does not list all the verb tenses, etc.

My suggestion would be just to bring a good phrase book and forget about lugging along too much. If you are just there for a short time, you will survive.

When I went to Romania and Bulgaria
3 yrs ago, I memorized the Cyrillic
alphabet so that we would be able to
read the road signs. I didn't do it
for the sounds. It really helped a
lot. I think a VirtualTourist member
sent me the website but I don't have
it anymore. Some of the signs had
both and some of the maps did, too.
It got us thru the mountains, although
we had to stop sometimes so I could
decipher the words. It was actually
fun, gave this brain a workout. We
are going to Poland in Sept. so I
will have to review it, if we decide
travel by car.

I believe Polish uses the Western alphabet.

I've been studing Russian for months - since I live here and I completely agree with FauxSteMarie, a dictionary will not do you much good. It only gives the masculine form of nouns and the infinitive form of verbs. A phrase book is a better choice.

And yes Polish uses Latin letters.

The best little language series for tourists who are planning on spending just a few days/weeks in any particular country is the "In Flight" series by Living Language. You get a CD and a very slim booklet. You listen to the CD and read the booklet. Covers all the essentials: "Hello" "Good-bye" "How to order in a restaurant" "How to get from here to there", "Left, Right" "One, two, three". It's called "In Flight" for the idea, supposedly that by the time you land, you will have the rudimentaries of a language.

I've used the ones for Czech and Hungarian and they were very helpful. Can't remember a single word of Czech or Hungarian now, but will pull those CDs out whenever we go back to those countries.

You shouldn't psych yourself out by thinking of Russian as too difficult a language. After all it is related to English and not to Hebrew or Chinese. The basic sounds are not tongue-twisters. The grammar is approximately the same. There IS one area that you need to know about: Russian has a different word for whether you go by train, by plane, or on foot. For a traveller asking directions, this is a crucial area.

The writing is derived from Greek and Hebrew and shouldn't be that hard either. It's not Egyptian hieroglyphics, Sumerian cuneiform, or Chinese characters. Do as the others have suggested and learn the Russian alphabet.

Before the In Flight series, I used to make up my own rules about a foreign language: learn to say "Hello", "Good-bye", "Thank you", "Please", "I love you (just in case...) [in Russian, that's "ya vas l-i-u-blue"]", and one swear word - just in case... [for me, in Russian, that's "doo-rock", forgot what it means and, fortunately, never had to use it!]

Just kidding sometimes! :) Have a great trip!

easy, <<дурак>> (doo-RAHK) means "fool" and is used pejoratively like English speakers would use "idiot"

"After all it is related to English"
"The grammar is approximately the same"

Excuse me?
No set word order
No verbs for "to be" or "to have"
3 genders
6 cases (as such there are up to eighteen forms of an adjective)
English has sixteen tenses, Russian has three plus perfective and imperfective forms.
Virtually no words of Latin origin (one in three in English)

The grammar is utterly different.

It is close to English insofar as they are both Indo-European languages, but then again so are Hindu, Gaelic and Persian.

I have used "In Flight" for Hungarian. I do not recommend it. Basically it just gives you words and phrases. I played the CD a zillion times but very little locked in. The problem is that there is not the repetition that you find in a program like Pimsleur, but Pimsleur does not have Hungarian so it was not an option.

All and all, I would just suggest you get a phrase book with transliterizations so you can attempt to pronunce Russia. If the book has the phrase in Cyrillic, you can always point to it to show them what you mean.

I went to Russia with basic Russian skills from high school (refreshed by Pimsleur because I only had a year of Russian to fall back on). I could communicate at a very basic level (as for directions, toilet, etc.) but not much beyond that. One day in Petersburg I went solo because I wanted to see the House of Peter the Great, which was not on the tour agenda (a walk from the Peter & Paul Fortress), I managed. If you don't have some basic language skills, learning a few phrases from In Flight Russian is not going to help you.

The thought that one could master all the phrases from an In Flight one hour CD on a flight is, quite frankly, laughable. Don't waste your money.

By the way, for the alleged Russian speaker saying "Ya vas lublyoo" for I love you, I think you would want to use the familiar form of "you" not the formal if that is the conversation you were going to have.

"The thought that one could master all the phrases from an In Flight one hour CD on a flight is, quite frankly, laughable"

As is the notion of getting beyond the basics after four years of University, with a year in Moscow. I know, I tried.

"Discuss the use of the genitive gerund in Pushkin's Bronze Horseman" AAAGGGHHHH!

The alphabet "asbyka" is the easy bit, and can be mastered in a few hours.

Sorry that's Azbooka. Y is pronounced OO

I had 2 years of college Russian and could read the Cyrillic alphabet well enough, but once in the former Yugoslavia, I got a little addled by differences in syntax and vocabulary. So I had a good laugh at myself standing in front of a movie theater and sounding out the movie of the day:

"Kaw-oo-Bo-ee D-zhoh!" Starred John Wayne -- have no idea which of his films it actually was, but if we'd gone in, I probably would have been completely distracted by trying to sound out the subtitles!

BTW, the beginning of the recited Russian alphabet is "ah, beh, veh, geh, deh, ye, yoh, zhe, ze, ee, ee-kratkoye, etc." Can't imagine why "yeh" or "yoh" would be left out.

Also: our teacher used "rashchoice" and "fishchowder" to help with the shch; and for "yerri" he told us to say "Oo" with our lips and "ee" with our tongue and throat.

Waring-
your biblioteka Lenina mnemonic is hilarious :-)

FauxSteMarie-

Allow me to disagree about the use of polite form in "I love you". This form is used almost predominantly in the classic Russian literature and poetry.

Believe it or not, many people who are both romantic and polite will use this form even today. (I grew up and was educated in Moscow.) The issue seems, well, fausse... :-)

Still wondering what Rex might have meant by Zorzhii. Russian name Georgiy is pronounced with both "g's" as in "get", G(h)e -o-rg(h)iy, unless you meant something altogether different.


Poka to All,


-e

I screwed up on that one.

The bottom line is if byui no ponemayete porusski (you don't know Russian) stick with your tour director.

"Waring-
your biblioteka Lenina mnemonic is hilarious"

And back into Russian, from memory!

Pouzirkaya cheptouyoushaya leemonovaya kleezma