честь [čestj] "honor," шесть [šestj] "six"
щи [šči] "cabbage soup," шина [šina] "tire"
чорт [čort] "devil," дружок [družok] "little friend"
хочу [xaču] "I want," шум [šum] "noise"
In many words, however, е (which we distinguish as ё) is written for [o] after these consonants: жёны [žoni] "wives," чёрный [čorn'y] "black," шёл [šol] "he went," щёки [ščokji] "cheeks."
After the letter ц they write а, е, ы, о, у: царь [carj] "tsar," цены [ceni] "prices," отцы [atci] "fathers," кольцо [kaljco] "ring," отцу [atcu] "to the father." But in some foreign words they write и: цирк [cirk] "circus."
When a soft consonant is not before a vowel, the letter ь, called мягкий знак [mjaxk'y znak] "soft sign," is placed after it: дать [datj] "to give," свадьба [svadjba] "wedding." However, ь is not used after й: чай [čay] "tea," чайник [čaynj'k] "teapot."
After the letters ч, щ (which represent consonants that are always soft) the ь is written in some words, but not in others: мяч [mjač] "ball," плащ [plasc] "man's cape," but мочь [moc] "to be able" вещь [vjdic] "thing."
The letters ж, ш, which represent consonants that are always hard (except for зж, жж [žj]), are nevertheless written in some words with ь after them: нож [noš] "knife," душ [duš] "shower bath," but рожь [roš] "rye," вошь [voš] "louse."
Spellings for [y]. The consonant [y] is indicated in writing as follows:
After a vowel when no vowel follows, [y] is represented by the letter й: чай [čay] "tea," гайка [gdyka] "screw-nut."
After a vowel when another vowel follows, [y] is indicated by the use of the letters я, е, и, ё, ю for the second vowel: шёя |šeya] "neck," боец [bayec] "warrior," стоит [stayit] "he stands," поёт [payot] "he sings," стою [stayu] "I stand."
At the beginning of a word, [y] occurs only before vowels and is indicated by the use of the letters я, e, и, ё, ю for the vowel: я [ya] "I," ест [yest] "he eats," им [yim] "to them," ёлка [yolka] "Christmas tree," юг [yuk] "the south." Thus the letter и at the beginning of a word is used for both [i] and [yi], but this latter occurs only in a few pronoun forms; see §18.
After consonants, [y] occurs only when a vowel follows. After a soft consonant [y] s indicated by the letter ь and the use of я, е, и, ё, ю for the following vowel: семья [sjimjya] "family," в семье [f sjimjye] "in the family," семьи [sjemjyi] "families," пьёт [pjyot] "he drinks," пью [pjyu] "I drink." After the consonant letters ж, ш, the same spelling is used: ружья [ružya] "guns," шьёт [šyot] "he sews," шью [šyu] "I sew." After hard consonants other than ж, ш, the [y] is indicated by the letter ъ, called твёрдый знак [tvjord'y znak] "hard sign," and the use of я, е, (и), ё, ю for the following vowel: объять [abyatj] "to embrace," объезд [abyest] "detour," объём [abуom] "circumference."
Irregular Spelling. Some words are spelled in misleading ways. In such cases the dictionary indicates the pronunciation in square brackets: дождь [došč] "rain," конечно [-šn-] (that is, [kanješna]) "of course."
The following are the more important cases of irregular spelling:
The adjective and pronoun ending [-ovo] is spelled with г (instead of в): ничего [ny'čivo] "nothing."
The adjective ending [-oy] when unstressed is spelled with ы, и (instead of o): плохой [plaxoy] "bad," but старый (star'y) "old," дикий [djik'y] "wild."
In some verbs the ending for "they" is usually pronounced [-ut] when unstressed, but it is spelled -ят, -at: видят [vjidj't] "they see," слышат [sliš't] "they hear."
In some foreign words e is written for э: туннель [tunelj] "tunnel."
Consonant letters are written double in many words where ordinarily only a single consonant is spoken, especially in foreign words: класс [klas] "class," суббота [subota] "Saturday."
§3. ALTERNATION OF SOUNDS
In this Section we shall describe alternations of sounds that are not shown in the spelling; in §4 we shall describe those which appear also in the spelling of words:
Voiced and Unvoiced Mutes. Certain of the Russian consonants, which we call mutes, are classed in pairs. In each pair of mutes one is voiced and one is unvoiced:
| Voiced | Unvoiced |
| b | p |
| bj | pj |
| d | t |
| dj | ti |
| dz | c |
| g | k |
| gj | kj |
| h | y |
| hj | xj |
| j | č |
| v | i |
| vj | fj |
| z | z |
| zj | sj |
| ž | š |
| žj | šč |
The remaining consonants [l, m, n, r, y,] are non-mutes.
Final Mutes. At the end of a Russian word, as it is spoken alone, only unvoiced mutes occur. When an unvoiced mute comes to be at the end of a word, it is unchanged: пилоты [pjiloti] "pilots," пилот [pjilot] "pilot"; мосты [masti] "bridges," мост [most] "bridge"; души [duči] "shower baths," душ [duš] "shower bath." But when a voiced mute comes to be at the end of a word, it is replaced by the corresponding unvoiced mute. This is not shown in the writing: деды [djedi] "grandfathers," дед [djet] "grandfather"; поезди [p'yizda] "trains," поезд [poy'st] "train"; ножи [naži] "knives," нож [noš] "knife."
But when words belong closely together in a phrase, a final mute is replaced by the corresponding voiced mute, if the next word begins with a voiced mute other than [v]: брат [brat] "brother," брат ушёл [brat ušol] "the brother went away," брат молился [brat maljilsa] "the brother prayed," брат пошёл [brat pašol] "the brother went there," but брат забыл [brat zabil] "the brother forgot." Similariy, дед [djet] "grandfather," дед ушёл [djet ušol] "the grandfather went away," but дёд забыл [djet zabil] "the grandfather forgot"; бог [box] "God," but бог даст [boh dast] "the Lord will grant it." The sound [v] does not produce this effect: брат вошёл
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