Petersburg pronunciation
The traditional educated speech of Saint Petersburg. Distinct from Moscow Russian in clearer enunciation of unstressed vowels and a number of lexical preferences.
Moscow Russian
Also known as: Standard Russian, Moskovskoye
The Moscow-area standard of Russian. The reference variety in education, broadcasting, and most second-language teaching.
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Frequently asked questions
What language is Moscow Russian?
Moscow Russian is a dialect of the Russian language.
Where is Moscow Russian spoken?
Moscow Russian is primarily spoken in Russia.
Which region is Moscow Russian associated with?
Moscow Russian is part of the Europe region on DialectAtlas.
Is Moscow Russian known by other names?
Yes — Moscow Russian is also referred to as Standard Russian, Moskovskoye.
What are the other dialects of Russian?
Russian also includes Saint Petersburg Russian, Northern Russian, Southern Russian, Pomor Russian, Volga Russian, Ural Russian, Siberian Russian, Far Eastern Russian, Kazakhstani Russian. Each variety has its own vocabulary, pronunciation, and cultural context.
Other Russian dialects
See on the atlas →The northern Russian dialect group around Vologda and Arkhangelsk. Preserves okanye (clear /o/ in unstressed positions) lost in standard varieties.
The southern Russian dialect group spanning Voronezh, Rostov, and the broader steppe. Marked by fricative /ɣ/ and a distinct verb-ending system.
Pomorsky govor
The Russian of the Pomor coastal communities along the White Sea. A North Russian variety with a distinct lexicon shaped by maritime life, fishing, and contact with Karelian and Saami.
Vladimir-Volga dialects · Middle Russian
The Central Russian dialects of the middle Volga, around Nizhny Novgorod and Vladimir. A transitional zone between the Northern and Southern dialect groups.
Uralsky govor
The Russian of the Ural region around Yekaterinburg and Perm. Mixes Northern and Central Russian features with contact influence from local Finno-Ugric and Turkic languages.
Sibirskie govory
The Russian varieties of Western and Central Siberia, descended from northern-Russian settlers. Distinguished by retained okanye, a conservative lexicon, and contact features from indigenous Siberian languages.
Dalnevostochny govor
The Russian of the Russian Far East around Vladivostok and Khabarovsk. The youngest major regional variety, formed through 19th- and 20th-century settlement; close to standard Russian with regional vocabulary tied to Pacific life.
The Russian of Kazakhstan, used by ethnic Russians and as a second language by many Kazakhs. Based on standard Russian but with regional vocabulary, code-switching, and Kazakh contact features.
Nearby dialects
See on the atlas →1 km away
A Northern Romani variety spoken by the Ruska Roma across Russia and Ukraine, shaped by long and intensive contact with Russian. It was the basis of a short-lived literary standard developed in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s and remains one of the more vital Northern Romani dialects.
401 km away
The Central Russian dialects of the middle Volga, around Nizhny Novgorod and Vladimir. A transitional zone between the Northern and Southern dialect groups.
601 km away
The sole surviving member of the Oghur branch of Turkic, spoken in Chuvashia in the Volga region. Linguistically the most divergent living Turkic language, with features lost everywhere else in the family.
630 km away
The Northern Ukrainian dialect group of the Polissia region, straddling northern Ukraine and southern Belarus. Forms a transitional zone between Ukrainian and Belarusian.
632 km away
The traditional educated speech of Saint Petersburg. Distinct from Moscow Russian in clearer enunciation of unstressed vowels and a number of lexical preferences.
648 km away
The Southeastern Ukrainian variety of the Sloboda region around Kharkiv and Sumy. Close to the standard, but with a distinctive lexicon shaped by long contact with Russian.