Think Russian sounds the same no matter where you go? Think again! And no, we’re not just talking about different ethnic groups across Russia.
Let’s take a look at what dialects are — and why there are so many of them in the Russian language.
Why Russian Sounds So Different Across the Country
From the very beginning of Ancient Rus, the size and borders of the country changed many times. At first, Russian-speaking people lived only in part of Eastern Europe. Other regions were ruled by completely different cultures and states.
As new areas became part of the country, people speaking many different languages began to settle in. Over time, they picked up Russian — but each group spoke it in their own way.
Sometimes words were borrowed from local languages. Sometimes, lifestyle, weather, and history created new words and expressions.
Even neighboring regions could develop very different ways of speaking. And local folklore varied, too. That’s one reason Russian is considered one of the most difficult languages in the world.
The Three Dialect Zones in Russia
Linguists usually divide Russian dialects into three main zones:
- Northern
- Southern
- Central (or Middle Russian)
Here’s an approximate map of Russian dialects:
Interestingly, someone from Moscow and someone from Vladivostok sound more alike than a person from Moscow and a person from Ryazan — which is much closer to Moscow!
Why? Because most people in the Urals, Siberia, and the Far East are descendants of settlers from the Central region. Northern and Southern dialects have much deeper historical roots, dating back to Ancient Rus. The Central dialect eventually became the foundation of modern Standard Russian.
- One of the best-known features of the Southern dialect is the pronunciation of “g” as a “kh” sound.
- In Northern cities, people tend to soften the “ts” sound.
- In Central regions, people often pronounce “o” as “a”—for example, saying “Maskva” instead of “Moskva” (Moscow). This “akanye” pronunciation became so common in Moscow that it shaped the modern literary norm of the Russian language. Some words were even changed over time to fit this new pronunciation.
- Ironically, in nearby Ryazan, the opposite trend happened—people tend to over-pronounce the “o,” even where it’s not required.
How Dialects Differ
Of course, there are general rules of Russian that apply across the whole country.
But regional differences still show up — in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. Local lifestyle and climate have also shaped idioms and sayings unique to each dialect zone.
Take the classic comparison between Moscow and St. Petersburg speech: “bordyur” (sidewalk edge) vs. “porebrik,” or “podyezd” (entrance) vs. “paradnaya.”
Some believe the saying “An old friend is better than two new ones” originally came from the Southern dialect zone, where “friend” sounds like “druh”—creating a rhyme with “dvukh” (two).
How Dialects Keep Changing
Each new generation adds something to the local version of Russian. People mix, cultures blend, and life evolves. This brings new words and borrowed terms from other languages.
Still, many grandmothers across Russia preserve their regional speech and pass it down. And so can you — by helping your children stay connected to Russian.
Palme School can support your family in this journey. We invite you to join a free trial class and meet our teachers. Just fill out the form below this article.
❓ Can you guess where this dialect is from?
Choose the region you think this word or phrase comes from and see how well you know Russian dialects!
The Word: Porebrik (instead of bordyur, meaning "curb")
Phrase: An old drukh is better than two new ones (a twist on “An old friend is better than two new ones”)
The Word: Ptitsyn (used instead of Ptitsin, a surname)
People say “o” even when the correct pronunciation is “a”
