SECTION I 



THE STRUCTURE OF RUSSIAN 



RUSSIAN LETTERS AND SOUNDS 



Even though a student is learning only to read Russian, he will find it necessary 

 to vocalize the Russian letters in some way. Since he may have, at a later stage, the 

 opportunity to speak Russian, it would be wise for him to approximate the standard 

 Russian pronunciation from the very beginning of his studies. The brief description of 

 pronunciation below would be well supplemented by the acquisition of a tape or disc re- 

 cording of Russian sounds.* 



The following six Russian letters are similar, both in appearance and sound value, to 

 six English letters: 



The letters below are similar in sound value, though dissimilar in appearance, to certain 

 English letters: 



Four Russian letters have sound values also present in English, where they are usually 

 represented by two or more letters. They are: 



U ^ 



^ ^ 



111 ID 



m m 



TS ts (as in cats ) 



CH ch (as in cheese ) 



SH sh (as in shush ) 



SHCH shch (as in fresh cheese) 



uantfa 



tiac 



niTaT 



"trunnion" 

 "hour" 

 "state" 

 "beet soup" 



*The only inexpensive recording known to the writer is an excellent vinylite record 

 (7", 33 1/3 micro-groove) produced by the EMC Recording Company(806 East 7th 

 street, St. Paul 6, Minn.). The price is one dollar, post-paid. 



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