History

Russian alphabet is derived from the Cyrillic script, which was invented in the 9th century to capture accurately the phonology of the first Slavic literary language, Old Church Slavonic. The early Cyrillic alphabet was adapted to Old East Slavic from Old Church Slavonic and was used in Kievan Rus' from the 10th century onward to write what would become the modern Russian language. The last major reform of Russian orthography took place in 1917–1918.^[2]

Letter	Cursive	Italics	Name	Old name	IPA	Common transliteration	Approximate English equivalent	Examples	No.	Unicode (Hex)
Аа		А а	а [a]	азъ [ɑs]	[a]	a	father	два dva "two"	1	U+0410 / U+0430
Бб		Б б	бэ [bɛ]	буки [ˈbukʲɪ]	[b] or [bʲ]	b	bad	оба óba "both"	—	U+0411 / U+0431
Вв		В в	вэ [vɛ]	вѣди [ˈvʲedʲɪ]	[v] or [vʲ]	v	vine	вода vod� "water"	2	U+0412 / U+0432
Гг		Г г	гэ [ɡɛ]	глаголь [ɡɫɐˈɡolʲ]	[ɡ] or [gʲ]	g	go	год god "year"	3	U+0413 / U+0433
Дд†		Д д	дэ [dɛ]	добро [dɐˈbro]	[d] or [dʲ]	d	do	да da "yes"	4	U+0414 / U+0434
Ее		Е е	е [je]	есть [jesʲtʲ]	[je], [ ʲe] or [e]	ye, je, e	yes	не ne "not"	5	U+0415 / U+0435
Ёё		Ё ё	ё [jo]	–	[jo] or [ ʲɵ]	yo, jo, ë	yota	ёж yozh "hedgehog"	—	U+0401 / U+0451
Жж		Ж ж	жэ [ʐɛ] ⓘ	живѣте [ʐɨˈvʲetʲɪ][c]	[ʐ]	zh, ž	measure	жук zhuk "beetle"	—	U+0416 / U+0436
Зз		З з	зэ [zɛ]	земля [zʲɪˈmlʲa]	[z] or [zʲ]	z	zoo	зной znoy "heat"	7	U+0417 / U+0437
Ии		И и	и [i]	иже [ˈiʐɨ]	[i], [ ʲi], or [ɨ]	i	police	или íli "or"	8	U+0418 / U+0438
Йй		Й й	и краткое 'short i' [ˈi ˈkratkəjə]	и съ краткой [ɪ s ˈkratkəj]	[j]	y, i, j	you or toy	мой moy "my, mine"	—	U+0419 / U+0439
Кк		К к	ка [ka]	како [ˈkakə]	[k] or [kʲ]	k	kept	кто kto "who"	20	U+041A / U+043A
Лл‡		Л л	эль [ɛlʲ]	люди [ˈlʲʉdʲɪ]	[ɫ] or [lʲ]	l	feel or lamp	луч luch "ray"	30	U+041B / U+043B
Мм		М м	эм [ɛm]	мыслѣте [mɨˈsʲlʲetʲɪ][4]	[m] or [mʲ]	m	map	меч mech "sword"	40	U+041C / U+043C
Нн		Н н	эн [ɛn]	нашъ [naʂ]	[n] or [nʲ]	n	not	но no "but"	50	U+041D / U+043D
Оо		О о	о [о]	онъ [on]	[o]	o	more	он on "he"	70	U+041E / U+043E
Пп		П п	пэ [pɛ]	покой [pɐˈkoj]	[p] or [pʲ]	p	pet	под pod "under"	80	U+041F / U+043F
Рр		Р р	эр [ɛr]	рцы [rtsɨ]	[r] or [rʲ]	r	rolled r	река rek� "river"	100	U+0420 / U+0440
Сс		С с	эс [ɛs]	слово [ˈsɫovə]	[s] or [sʲ]	s	set	если yésli "if"	200	U+0421 / U+0441
Тт		Т т	тэ [tɛ]	твердо [ˈtvʲerdə]	[t] or [tʲ]	t	top	тот tot "that"	300	U+0422 / U+0442
Уу		У у	у [u]	укъ [uk]	[u]	u	tool	куст kust "bush"	400	U+0423 / U+0443
Фф		Ф ф	эф [ɛf]	фертъ [fʲert]	[f] or [fʲ]	f	face	фея féya "fairy"	500	U+0424 / U+0444
Хх		Х х	ха [xa]	хѣръ [xʲer]	[x] or [xʲ]	kh, h	like Scottish "loch", ugh	дух dukh "spirit"	600	U+0425 / U+0445
Цц		Ц ц	цэ [tsɛ]	цы [tsɨ]	[t͡s]	ts, c	sits	конец konéts "end"	900	U+0426 / U+0446
Чч		Ч ч	че [tɕe]	червь [tɕerfʲ]	[t͡ɕ]	ch, č	check	час chas "hour"	90	U+0427 / U+0447
Шш		Ш ш	ша [ʂa]	ша [ʂa]	[ʂ]	sh, š	similar to "sh" in hush	ваш vash "yours"	—	U+0428 / U+0448
Щщ		Щ щ	ща [ɕːa]	ща [ɕtɕa]	[ɕː], [ɕ]	shch, sch, šč, śś	similar to a long "sh" as in push ships	щека śek� "cheek"	—	U+0429 / U+0449
Ъъ		Ъ ъ	твёрдый знак 'hard sign' [ˈtvʲɵrdɨj znak] ⓘ	еръ [jer]	[∅]	ʺ	silent, prevents palatalization of the preceding consonant	объект obʺyékt "object"	—	U+042A / U+044A
Ыы		Ы ы	ы [ɨ]	еры [jɪˈrɨ]	[ɨ]	y	General American roses (rough equivalent)	ты ty "you"	—	U+042B / U+044B
Ьь		Ь ь	мягкий знак 'soft sign' [ˈmʲæxʲkʲɪj znak] ⓘ	ерь [jerʲ]	[ ʲ]	ʹ	silent, palatalizes the preceding consonant (if phonologically possible)	гусь gusʹ "goose"	—	U+042C / U+044C
Ээ		Э э	э [ɛ]	э оборотное 'rotated «э»' [ˈɛ ɐbɐˈrotnəjɪ]	[ɛ] or [e]	e, �	met	это �to "this"	—	U+042D / U+044D
Юю		Ю ю	ю [ju]	ю [ju]	[ju] or [ ʲu]	yu, ju	use	юг yug "south"	—	U+042E / U+044E
Яя		Я я	я [ja]	я [ja]	[ja] or [ ʲa]	ya, ja	yard	ряд ryad "row"	—	U+042F / U+04