Page 128 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - St. Petersburg

126 ❯❯ Top 10 St Petersburg

Phrase Book Notes
1) Г Pronounced as v in endings -ого and -его.
In this guide the Russian language has been 2) Е Always pronounced ye at the beginning of a
transliterated into Roman script. All street and word, but in the middle of a word sometimes less
place names, and the names of most people, are distinctly (more like e).
transliterated according to this system. For some 3) Й This letter has no distinct sound of its own.
names, where a well-known English form exists, It usually lengthens the preceeding vowel.
this has been used – hence, Leo (not Lev) Tolstoy. 4) О When not stressed it is pronounced like a in
In particular, the names of Russian rulers, such as across.
Peter the Great, are given in their anglicized forms. 5) ъ, ь The hard sign (ъ) is rare and indicates a very
Throughout the book, trans literated names can brief pause before the next letter. The soft sign (ь,
be taken as an accurate guide to pronunciation. marked in the pronunciation guide as ‘) softens the
The Phrase Book also gives a phonetic guide to preceeding consonant and adds a slight y sound:
the pronunciation of words and phrases. for instance, n’ would sound like ny in ‘canyon’.
Guidelines for Pronunciation
The Cyrillic alphabet has 33 letters, of which only In an Emergency
five (а, к, м, о, т) correspond exactly to their
counterparts in English. Russian has two Help! Помогите! pamageet-ye!

pronunciations (hard and soft) of each of its vowels, Stop! Pomogite! stop!
Стоп!
and several consonants without an equivalent.

The right-hand column of the alphabet, below, Leave me Stop! astavt’-ye
Оставтье
demon strates how Cyrillic letters are pronounced alone! меня в myenya
by comparing them to sounds in English words. покое! v pakoye!
However, some letters vary in how they are Ostavte menya
pronounced according to their position in a word. v pokoe!
Important exceptions are also noted below. Call a doctor! Позовите врача! pazaveet-ye
On the following pages, the English is given in Pozovite vracha! vracha!
the left-hand column, with the Russian and its Call an Вызовите vizaveet-ye
transliteration in the middle column. But in the ambulance! скорую skoru-yu
Menu Decoder section the Russian is given in the помощь!
left-hand column and the English translation in the Vyzovite skoruyu pomash’!
right-hand column, for ease of use. Because there pomoshch!
are genders in Russian, in a few cases both masculine Fire! Пожар! pazhar!
and feminine forms of a phrase are given. Pozhar!
Police! Полиция! paleetsee-ya!
THE CYRILLIC ALPHABET Politsiya!
А а a alimony Where is the Где gdye
Б б b bed ближайший…
В в v vet nearest… Gde bleezhaysheey…
Г г g get (see note 1) blizhayshiy…
Д д d debt …telephone? …телефон? …tyelyefon?
Е е e yet (see note 2) …telefon?
Ё ё e yonder …hospital? …больница? …bal’neetsa?
Ж ж zh leisure (but a little harder) …bolnitsa?
З з z zither …police …отделение …atdyelyenye
И и i see station? полиции? paleetsee-ee?
Й й y boy (see note 3) …otdelenie
politsii?
К к k king
Л л l loot
М м m match Communication Essentials
Н н n never
О о o rob (see note 4) Yes Да da
П п p pea Da
Р р r rat (rolling, as in Italian) No Нет nyet
С с s stop Net
Т т t toffee Please Пожалуйста pazhalsta

У у u boot Thank you Pozhaluysta spaseeba
Спасибо
Ф ф f fellow Spasibo
Х х kh kh (like loch) Excuse me Извините eezveeneet-ye
Ц ц ts lets Izvinite
Ч ч ch chair Hello Здравствуйте zdrastvooyt-ye
Ш ш sh shove Zdravstvuyte
Щ щ shch fresh sheet (with Goodbye До свидания da sveedanya
a slight roll) Do svidaniya
ъ hard sign (no sound, What? Что? shto?
but see note 5) Chto?
Ы ы y lid Where? Где? gdye?
ь soft sign (no sound, Gde?
but see note 5) Why? Почему? pachyemoo?
Э э e egg Pochemu?
Ю ю yu youth When? Когда? kagda?
Я я ya yak Kogda?
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