Why is Russian alphabet so weird?

The “backward” letters in the Cyrillic script
Cyrillic script
The Cyrillic script (/sɪˈrɪlɪk/ sih-RIL-ik) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia and is used as the national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, North Asia, and East Asia.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Cyrillic_script
used for writing Russian aren't backward at all but are actually entirely different letters who simply looked up looking like letters from the Latin alphabet.
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Why is Russian alphabet different?

The Cyrillic alphabet is closely based on the Greek alphabet, with about a dozen additional letters invented to represent Slavic sounds not found in Greek. In Russia, Cyrillic was first written in the early Middle Ages in clear-cut, legible ustav (large letters). Later a succession of cursive forms developed.
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Why is there a 3 in the Russian alphabet?

It commonly represents the voiced alveolar fricative /z/, like the pronunciation of ⟨z⟩ in "zebra". Ze is romanized using the Latin letter ⟨z⟩. The shape of Ze is very similar to the Arabic numeral three ⟨3⟩, and should not be confused with the Cyrillic letter E ⟨Э⟩.
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Why does the Russian alphabet look like that?

Cyrillic alphabet was developed in what is modern Bulgaria based on Greek alphabet, so: В was modeled after Greek Β (beta). This was originally pronounced [b] in ancient Greek but in modern (and medieval) Greek it is weakened to [v] Н, which originally looked N, was modeled after Greek Ν (nu)
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Why do Russians confuse V and W?

When speaking English, Russians will say "vodka" as "wodka". Why is that? One word: hypercorrection. In Russian, the word for vodka starts with a /v/ so it is interesting that they would say /wodka/ in English when it starts with a /v/ in their language.
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RUSSIAN ALPHABET origins - Why is it called Cyrillic?



Why can't Russians pronounce th?

For the TH, the tongue has to stick out from between the teeth. Since Russian speakers don't have the TH consonant sound in their language, they tend to keep the tongue inside for words with TH. It is a common mispronunciation and sometimes will result in pronouncing different words the same.
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What's the longest word in Russian?

Russian. Most likely one of the longest Russian words is a chemical term тетрагидропиранилциклопентилтетрагидропиридопиридиновая (tetragidropiranilciklopentiltetragidropiridopiridinovaya), which contains 55 letters. It was used in Russian patent RU2285004C2 (granted and published in 2006).
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Why is the r backwards in Russian?

The backward R or “Я” means “I” or “me” in Russian. This suits, as 'Untethered' is largely an auto-biographical piece on identity and alternate paths walked, after facing up to moral junctions in life. It also considers the decisions made based on right and wrong felt at the time and the outcomes of this.
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What language has a backwards N?

This script is called Cyrillic, and is used in many Slavic and Turkic languages. The most widely spoken languages that use Cyrillic script are: Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Belarusian, Czech, Kazakh, Kirghiz, and Macedonian.
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How do you pronounce Z in Russian?

З з sounds like “z” in “zoo” or “zodiac”, Н н sounds like “n” in “no” or “noon”, Р р sounds like “r” in “run” or “rest” (but rolled).
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Is Russian hard to learn?

Russian is widely believed to be one of the most difficult languages to learn. This is mostly true, if you have no knowledge of other Slavic languages (e.g. Bulgarian or Czech). The grammar rules in Russian are very complex and have numerous exceptions.
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What is Y in Russian?

The twenty-ninth letter of the Russian Cyrillic alphabet. Its name is ы (y) or еры́ (jerý) (obsolete), pronounced as [ɨ] (close central unrounded vowel) - it is a vowel that is somewhat like the i in bill with the tongue retracted. It is preceded by Ъ (, “"”) and followed by Ь (ʹ) in the Russian alphabet.
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Can you learn Russian in a year?

The Foreign Service Institute of the United States has determined that it takes about 1100 hours of study to reach fluency in Russian. If you're willing to study 3 hours every day, it could take you a year to reach that level.
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What does backwards N mean?

Backwards N is a letter from the Russian and Cyrillic alphabets. I've been told it makes the “I” sound in English. 10. dopilus • 1 yr. ago.
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Is there AZ in Russian alphabet?

As a letter, Z does not exist in the Cyrillic Russian alphabet; rather, a letter resembling the figure 3 represents the “z” sound.
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Why does Cyrillic look like Greek?

Cyrillic is derived from the Greek uncial script, augmented by letters from the older Glagolitic alphabet, including some ligatures. These additional letters were used for Old Church Slavonic sounds not found in Greek.
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What language has upside down V?

Turned v (majuscule: Ʌ, minuscule: ʌ) is a letter of the Latin alphabet, based on a turned form of the letter V.
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What language has upside down Y?

Haiɫzaqvla (Heiltsuk / Bella Bella) Heiltsuk is a northern Wakashan language spoken mid-way up the Pacific coast of British Columbia.
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How do you write R in Russian?

Р р - Pronounced like the "r" in "run", but it is rolled. (Equivalent to the english letter "r"). С с - Pronounced like the "s" in "see". (Equivalent to the english letter "s").
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Why does English upside down look like Russian?

The “backward” letters in the Cyrillic script used for writing Russian aren't backward at all but are actually entirely different letters who simply looked up looking like letters from the Latin alphabet.
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How do you pronounce o in Russian?

The Russian letter O is pronounced [o] when it is stressed and it is pronounced like A [a] or an unclear schwa [ə] when it is not stressed. This is called vowel reduction, and it is an important rule of the Russian pronunciation. For example, она (she) sounds like [ana] because O is unstressed.
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Are Russian and Greek similar?

But Russian does not have Greek roots. Morphemes and syntax differ greatly. The only other similarity between Greek and Russian is that both languages are stressed (having pronunciation affected by stress marks) and inflected (both languages work with a system of cases).
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Do Russians have middle names?

Russians do not choose their own middle name, it is created by taking their father's name and adding the ending -ovich/-evich for boys, or -ovna/-evna for girls, the particular ending determined by the last letter of the father's name. For example, Vladimir Popov and Irina Popova are brother and sister.
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What is the hardest Russian word to pronounce?

  • pyat' пять (n) five. pyat' gradusov. ...
  • Cheburashka. Чебурашка masculine. (p) ...
  • prepadavatel' преподаватель masculine. (n) ...
  • Zdrastvuyte! Здравствуйте! (i) Hello!
  • fsplyt` всплыть (v) come out to the surface.
  • dnyom. днём (a) in the afternoon.
  • pazhalusta. пожалуйста (i) please.
  • zashchishchayushchiysya. защищающийся (p) defending.
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What is the longest Korean word?

The longest word in Korean is 청자양인각연당초상감모란문은구대접. It is 17 syllable blocks – which doesn't look very long to anyone who doesn't read Korea. But it has 46 Hangul letters – so that's pretty long! It describes a kind of ceramic bowl.
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