Russian Pronunciation: Soft-Indicating Vowels

This lesson introduces five "soft" (palatalized) vowels of the Russian language я, е, ё, и, ю. You will also learn a rule of the Russian pronunciation called ikanie.

The basic rule to make a "soft" Russian vowel is to combine a sound of English y with corresponding "hard-indicating" vowel. For example, to get Russian я you should say y + a as if they are one whole (ya).

Note that when a soft-indicating vowel (such as "я") follows a consonant (as in "мясо"), it in fact has the sound of the corresponding hard vowel (the [a]-sound of "a" for "я"). The effect of the "softness" is achieved because of the way you pronounce the consonant letter (soft [m']+[a] instead of the hard [m]+[ya]).

Я as in yahoo

This vowel is pronounced like English ya in yahoo. Practice these words:

яма	ряд	яхта	мясо
ya-ma	ryat	yakh-ta	mya-sa
hole	row	yacht	meat

E as in yes

The Russian sound of e is easy, because it is close to ye in English yes. Do not confuse it with English letter e, which sounds like Russian э. Practice these words:

место	лето	песня	весело
myes-ta	lye-ta	pyes-nya	vye-see-la
place	summer	song	merrily

In the word весело, an unstressed e sounds like an abbreviated Russian и. This rule is called ikanie and it is also applied to unstressed я and э.

Rule #2

In unstressed positions, Russian letters Я, Е, Э are pronounced like an abbreviated Russian И.

Ё as in yolk

This letter is pronounced like yo in yolk. As you can see, ё is formed from y sound and vowel o: y + o = ё. Now practice these words:

ёж	ёлка	плёнка
yozh	yol-ka	plyon-ka
hedgehog	fir-tree	film, tape

Rule #3

The letter Ё is always stressed in Russian words.

И as in meet

This letter is simply pronounced like ee in meet. There is no 'y' sound in front as with the above vowels. Practice these exercises:

игла	Индия	пикник	лист
eeg-lah	een-dee-ya	peek-neek	leest
needle	India	picnic	leaf

Ю as in you

The letter ю denotes the same sound as the English word you. Practice these words:

юг	Юпитер	плюс
yook	yoo-pee-tyer	plyoos
south	Jupiter	plus sign

Quick reference on "soft-indicating" vowels

Russian letter	Symbol	Pronunciation
Я (stressed)	ya	as ya in yahoo
Я (unstressed)	ee	as ee in meet, but very short
Е (stressed)	ye	as ye in yes
Е (unstressed)	ee	as ee in meet, but very short
Ё (always stressed)	yo	as yo in yolk
Ю	yoo	as the word you
И (stressed)	ee	as ee in meet

First page > Russian "Hard" Vowels > Page 1, 2

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