Russian phonology

This article discusses the phonological system of standard Russian based on the Moscow dialect (unless otherwise noted). For an overview of dialects in the Russian language, see Russian dialects. Most descriptions of Russian describe it as having five vowel phonemes, though there is some dispute over whether a sixth vowel, /ɨ/, is separate from /i/.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɨ	u
Close-mid	ɪ		ʊ
Mid	e	ə	o
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open	æ	a	ɒ

Consonants

⟨ʲ⟩ denotes palatalization, meaning the center of the tongue is raised during and after the articulation of the consonant. Phonemes that have at different times been disputed are enclosed in parentheses.

Consonant phonemes

		Labial		Dental, Alveolar		Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar
		hard	soft	hard	soft	hard	soft	hard	soft
Nasal		m	mʲ	n	nʲ	ɳ	ɲ	ŋ	ŋʲ
Stop	voiced	b	bʲ	d	dʲ	ɖ	ɟ	ɡ	ɡʲ
	voiceless	p	pʲ	t	tʲ	ʈ	c	k	kʲ
Affricate	voiced			dz	(dzʲ)		dʑ
	voiceless			t͡s	(t͡sʲ)		t͡ɕ
Fricative	voiced	v	vʲ	z	zʲ	ʐ	ʑː	ɣ	ɣʲ
	voiceless	f	fʲ	s	sʲ	ʂ	ɕː	x	xʲ
Approximant		ʋ	ɥʲ	ɫ	lʲ	ɭ	j	ɰ	ɰʲ
Trill		ʙ	ʙʲ			r	rʲ

External links

• Russian phonology