When above the letter, it has a small line attached to it on the left, ‎ב֡‎, leader _paser_, _the disperser_ from the diffusion of the note. When below the letter, it is pointed either downward, ‎ב֑‎, called royal _athnach_, _respiration_, as the voice must rest upon it, and respire; or upward, ‎ב֢‎, subservient, _jerah-ben-jomo_, _the moon of its own day_, from its figure. PLANS OF HEBREW CASES. The first plan shows a common case for Hebrew without points; the second exhibits a pair of cases with points. [Illustration: HEBREW LOWER CASE.] [Illustration: HEBREW UPPER CASE.] [Illustration: HEBREW LOWER CASE.] RUSSIAN ALPHABET. +-------+-------------------+ | FORM. | SOUND. | +-------+-------------------+ | А а | ah, a. | | Б б | b. | | В в | v. | | Г г | g, gh. | | Д д | d. | | Е е | yai _or_ ai. | | Ж ж | zsh. | | З з | z. | | И и | ee. | | І і | ee. | | К к | k. | | Л л | l (guttural). | | М м | m. | | Н н | n. | | О о | o _or_ ah. | | П п | p. | | Р р | r. | | С с | _hard_ s _or_ ss. | | Т т | t. | | У у | oo. | | Ф ф | f, ph. | | Х х | kh, ~ch~. | | Ц ц | ts. | | Ч ч | ch, tch. | | Ш ш | ch. | | Щ щ | sh-tch. | | Ъ ъ | _mute_ e. | | Ы ы | we, ee. | | Ь ь | _half-mute_ e. | | Ѣ ѣ | yai _or_ ai. | | Э э | ai. | | Ю ю | you, ew. | | Я я | yah. | | Ѳ ѳ | f, ph. | | Ѵ ѵ | e. | | Й й | _short_ e. | +-------+-------------------+ г, х, е, л, щ, ъ, ы, ь, ѣ, я, о, й, are the only letters whose pronunciation offers any difficulty. Г has a sound nearly like _g_ in the English word _goose_, as in гру́ша, a _pear_; read _groòshah_. But it has a guttural sound not found in English, and which nearly resembles that of the German ~ch~. This sound is especially perceivable in the middle of a word when the г is followed by a consonant, also at the end of a word, as in но́гти, _the nails_; read _nò~ch~tee_. In inflections аго, яго, ого, его, of adjectives and pronouns, the letter г is pronounced as _v_; as in кра́снаго, _of beautiful_; read _kràsnavah_.