Russian Dialects: Key Differences, Locations and Pronunciation

The Russian language is generally quite uniform, with only minor differences in dialect and accent. Still, it's wise to be ready for when you meet a native Russian speaker whose accent differs from the standard.

This is why learning about the variations between each regional form is a significant part of your Russian studies. Use the guide below to get to know the different Russian dialects.

What’s the Difference Between Language, Dialect and Accent?

Although there isn't a flawless way to categorize the differences between these three ideas, simple definitions exist for each.

What Is a Language?

A language is frequently viewed as a standardized, ideal manner of speaking. For instance, Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is considered the traditional form of Arabic, especially for academic and religious uses.

However, MSA is mainly used for reading, and news broadcasters are essentially the only people who speak MSA regularly.

What Is a Dialect?

Dialects are essentially variations of a language, which usually influence vocabulary and grammar.

For example, in Australia, a typical greeting is “G’day mate. How ya going?”

This is how Australians ask someone, “How are you?” This choice of words is one illustration of what distinguishes the Australian dialect from other forms of English.

What Is an Accent?

Accent can be viewed in two ways—some say an accent is how a person speaks a foreign language. It also refers to how someone pronounces words in their native tongue. It indicates which geographical, or sometimes other social group, the person belongs to.

When a French person, for instance, speaks English, he probably has a recognizable French accent. Some countries are known for having a vast number of dialects. For example, while China has one official language (Mandarin Chinese), more than 300 dialects are in use across the nation.

Russian isn't known for having particularly striking peculiarities, but it's useful to discuss language, dialects, and accent in the Russian context so you're well-equipped for what you might come across in your Russian studies.

The 3 Russian Dialects

To be a knowledgeable Russian language learner, you should know about these three Russian dialects—Northern, Central and Southern.

Северный говор (Northern Dialect)

Geographical region: north of Moscow, in области (districts) such as Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Siberia and the Far East.

Northern Russian is recognizable because speakers tend to pronounce a clear and long O. This is called оканье , or okanie . Next time you hear a Northerner say the word много (many), listen carefully because they'll probably pronounce it with two long Os, somewhat like the Bulgarian pronunciation .

Another identifiable feature of Northern Russian is the pronunciation of Ч (ch) as Ц (ts) . Печка (stove), which is normally said with a “ch” sound, might sound more like “petska” in the north.

Среднерусский говор (Central Dialect)

Geographical region: Moscow and most major cities.

Generally speaking, the central dialect aims to connect the Northern and Southern dialects.

It's the "default" or "standard" type of Russian. Therefore, most people can easily understand someone from Moscow or St. Petersburg.

However, speech patterns are more alike between Vologda and Vladivostok, which is 6,000 miles to the east, than between Moscow and Ryazan, found just 135 miles south.

The Central dialect is also regarded as the literary or cultural standard for Russian.

One way to describe the Central dialect is that it combines the vowel system of the Southern dialect with the consonant system of the Northern.

The most noticeable vowel tendency is shown in the central use of аканье , or akanie . Akanie is the standard Russian pronunciation of both O and A, as A when both vowels are unstressed. For example, много (many) is pronounced with a short A at the end in the Central dialect.

Южный говор (Southern Dialect)

Geographical region: Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk, Oryol, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tambov, Tula, Voronezh.

One prominent trait of the Southern dialect is the fricative G.

Instead of pronouncing Г (g sound), it's said as if it was a Х (h sound). For instance, снег (snow) is pronounced sneH (rather than sneG), which is closer to the Belarusian pronunciation , while нога (leg) is pronounced naHa, similar to the Ukrainian way (instead of naGa).

The Southern dialect also includes яканье , or yakanye , which causes O, E and A to all be pronounced as a hard A sound (like in the English word “bat”) before a stressed syllable. The most obvious example is несли (to carry), which is pronounced nyAslee (instead of nyeslee).

East Slavic Languages

Slavic languages can be divided into three branches: West Slavic (Czech, Slovak and Polish), South Slavic (Serbo-Croatian, Bulgarian and Macedonian) and East Slavic (Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian). East Slavic languages all use the Cyrillic script .

When the Soviet Union existed, Ukrainian and Belarusian were both categorized as dialects of Russian.

Belarusian is most closely related to Ukrainian, but shares 75% of mutual intelligibility with Russian.

However, Russian remains the primary language in Belarus, spoken by over 70% of Belarusians at home . Still, there are some clear differences between Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian that you should be able to detect.

Check out the video below to hear some of them!

Why Do You Need to Know About Russian Dialects?

As with most countries and languages, you'll find small geographical variations in how people talk, but unless you achieve a high level of fluency , you probably won't notice it.

The most crucial time to think about Russian dialects is likely when you're choosing a tutor. You can select a tutor from various platforms . And one-on-one online tutoring can truly elevate your language skills. But remember to consider where your tutor is from.

I spent two years taking online Russian classes from a tutor in Kiev and was surprised when I visited St. Petersburg and was asked if I had learned Russian in Ukraine. At that point, I hadn't even been to Ukraine, yet the slight accent my tutor had influenced my own speech. This isn't a major issue overall, but native Russian speakers might detect any quirks in your pronunciation.

Finally, for more advanced students —or very motivated beginners—here’s a great video presented in Russian that explains in detail the various differences you might hear in the language!

So there you have it, the three main Russian dialects you should know about! Do you have a particular preference for one over the others? Or maybe you've just realized that you already speak with a region-specific accent? Hear more examples by listening to native Russian content and media, like the videos on Lingflix . Lingflix takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.You can try Lingflix for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)