Whenever Russian names or words appear in the English (Latin) alphabet and not the Russian (Cyrillic) script, some system of transliteration must be used. Of the various systems used throughout the world, the U.S. Library of Congress System is the most widely accepted system. It is reproduced below for your assistance.
Russian | English | Pronunciation Guide |
A | A | a in car |
Б | B | b in bit |
B | V | v in vine |
Г | G | g in go |
Д | D | d in do |
E | E | ye in yet |
Ё | E | yo in yolk |
Ж | Zh | s in pleasure |
З | Z | z in zoo |
И | I | ee in see |
Й | I | y in boy |
K | K | k in kitten |
Л | L | l in lamp |
M | M | m in map |
Н | N | n in not |
O | O | o in folk |
П | P | p in pet |
Р | R | r in roll |
C | S | s in see |
T | T | t in tip |
Y | U | oo in boot |
Ф | F | f in face |
X | Kh | ch in Scotch word loch |
Ц | Ts | ts in sits |
Ч | Ch | ch in chip |
Ш | Sh | sh in shut |
Щ | Shch | shch in borshch |
Ъ | ‘ | has no sound |
Ы | Y | i in ill |
Э | E | e in met |
Ю | Iu | u in use |
Я | Ia | ya in yard |
Notes
In the South Russian dialect spoken by the Doukhobors, certain letters are capable of more than one pronunciation. For example, the Cyrillic letter Г can be voiced as either G or H and the Cyrillic letter B can be voiced as either V or W.