Appendix:Russian pronunciation

See at Wikipedia for a thorough look at the sounds of Russian.

Consonants
Basic consonants as in the alphabet:

Palatalisation
Palatalised ("soft") consonants: bʲ, pʲ, vʲ, fʲ, gʲ, kʲ dʲ, tʲ, zʲ, sʲ, lʲ, mʲ, nʲ, rʲ, xʲ, (t͡sʲ). [j], [t͡ɕ] and [ɕː] are always palatalised ("soft"), [ʐ] and [ʂ] are almost always unpalatalised ("hard").

Palatalisation for other consonants typically occurs: TO DO
 * 1) In front of vowels: "е", "ё", "и", "ю", "я" and in front of "ь" ("soft sign"), see also note on "ь" as a "separation sign".
 * E.g.: вре́мя [ˈvrʲemʲə], ребёнок [rʲɪˈbʲɵnək], пита́ние [pʲɪˈtanʲɪjə], колю́чка [kɐˈlʲʉt͡ɕkə], пря́ник [ˈprʲænʲɪk], день [dʲenʲ]
 * 1) Many loanwords are NOT palatalised in front of "е" (= э), e.g., "тест" (= тэст) is pronounced [tɛst]. ("е" is then pronounced [ɛ] in stressed positions, [ɨ] in unstressed positions)

Vowels
Basic vowels as in the alphabet:

NOTES:
 * The difference between "palatal" and "non-palatal" vowels is actually their effect on a preceding consonant. Palatal vowels palatalize a preceding consonant, while non-palatal vowels don't. If no consonant directly precedes (i.e. either at the beginning of a word, following a vowel or following a soft or hard sign), a is pronounced before the palatal vowels, e.g.,  is pronounced . This, however, is omitted in some situations: (1) with palatal и (stressed or unstressed), except when following the soft sign ь (hence  is pronounced , and  is pronounced ); (2) optionally with other palatal vowels when unstressed and following a vowel (hence  is pronounced ).
 * The two pronunciations of я and ю are related to what follows: If a palatalized consonant follows, the second-listed, more-fronted pronunciations are used; otherwise, the first-listed, less-fronted pronunciations  are used. When я is unstressed, no such difference exists but it still does with unstressed ю.
 * Unstressed о and а are always pronounced when word-initial and when directly following another unstressed о or а, regardless of the position of the stress.
 * Unstressed э when word-initial and when following a vowel is pronounced, exactly as for и in the same position.