Cyrillic alphabet

There are multiple Cyrillic alphabets in the world. All of them are derived from the Cyrillic script.

According to Wikipedia, the first Cyrillic script was developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 9th century.

In 863, two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries Cyril and Methodius, by order of the Byzantine emperor Michael III, created the first Slavic alphabet and began to translate Christian texts into it.

After Russia adopted Christianity, this alphabet, called “Glagolitsa” (Glagolitic alphabet), completely replaced the Old Slavic writing system. This alphabet also served as a basis for many other Slavic and non-Slavic but influenced by Russian languages.

Again, according to Wikipedia, around 252 million people in Eurasia use it these says as the official alphabet and roughly half of them are Russians. It makes the Cyrillic alphabet one of the most-used writing systems in the world.

Various Cyrillic alphabets have very much in common. Only small number of letters differ them one from another.

Below you can find the Russian Cyrillic alphabet that illustrates printed and hand-written Russian letters. The audio provided corresponds to the official sound of each letter as it is read in the Russian alphabet.

Click on any letter to learn how to pronounce it and to practice it in syllables and words.