A palatalized consonant is pronounced with the blade of the tongue pressed up against the hard palate. A palatalized consonant sounds like a consonant plus the [y] sound of “yes” pronounced at the exact same time. The letter ь ( мягкий знак ) indicates that the preceding consonant is palatalized. In addition to ь, the vowel letters е, ё, и, ю, and я also indicate that the preceding consonant is palatalized. на - ня но - нё ну - ню ны - ни нэ - не нь ма - мя мо - мё му - мю мы - ми мэ - ме мь да - дя до - дё ду - дю ды - ди дэ - де дь та - тя то - тё ту - тю ты - ти тэ - те ть