(no subject)

[janetlin]

For those who are curious,
Аа = short "a" in father
Бб = "b"
Вв = "v"
Гг = hard "g" in girl
Дд = "d"
Ее = "ye" in yes; when stressed, can sound more like "yay"
ё = "yo" (the o is short. Not an initial sound)
Жж = "zh" in treasure
Зз = "z"
Ии = when stressed, "i" ("ee") in machine, when unstressed, reduces to "i" in sick
Йй = used as we use "y" in dipthongs (very very rarely an initial sound; my dictionary only has seven entries for it)
Кк = "k"
Лл = "l"
Мм = "m"
Нн = "n"
Оо = when stressed, long "o" in dome, when unstressed, short "o" in pot
Пп = "p"
Рр = "r" (trilled a little when at the beginning of a word)
Сс = "s"
Тт = "t"
Уу = "oo" in boot
Фф = "f"
Хх = hard "hh" or the "ch" in loch
Цц = "ts"
Чч = "ch" in church
Шш = "sh"
Щщ = "shch"
Ээ = "e" in egg
Юю = "yu" in universe
Яя = "ya" in yard
ы = "ui" in build, though when unstressed, becomes more like the "i" in ill
ъ = hard sign, indicates the preceding consonant is hard (not used much anymore)
ь = soft sigh, indicates the preceding consonant is palatalized


elven_alchemist, totally feel free to correct and/or refine this.

*note: this is based on American pronunciation of aforementioned vowels. Mild extrapolation will therefore be needed for the Kiwi accent.