The modern Russian alphabet consists of 33 letters. The phonetics of the modern Russian number determines 42 sounds. The sounds are vowels and consonants. The letters ь (soft sign) and ъ (hard sign) do not form sounds.
Vowel sounds
The Russian language has 10 vowel letters and 6 vowel sounds.
- Vowel letters: a, i, e, e, o, u, s, e, yu, i.
- Vowel sounds: [a], [o], [u], [e], [i], [s].
To remember, vowel letters are often written in pairs with similar sounds: a-ya, o-yo, e-e, i-y, u-yu.
Shocked and unstressed
The number of syllables in a word is equal to the number of vowels in the word: forest - 1 syllable, water - 2 syllables, road - 3 syllables, etc. The syllable that is pronounced with greater intonation is stressed. The vowel that forms such a syllable is stressed, the remaining vowels in the word are unstressed. The position under stress is called a strong position, without stress - a weak position.
Yotated vowels
A significant place is occupied by iotated vowels - the letters e, e, yu, i, which mean two sounds: e → [й'][е], е → [й'][о], yu → [й'][у], i → [th'][a]. Vowels are iotated if:
- stand at the beginning of a word (spruce, fir-tree, spinning top, anchor),
- stand after a vowel (what, sings, hare, cabin),
- stand after ь or ъ (stream, stream, stream, stream).
In other cases, the letters e, e, yu, i mean one sound, but there is no one-to-one correspondence, since different positions in the word and different combinations with the consonants of these letters give rise to different sounds.
Consonants
There are 21 consonant letters and 36 consonant sounds. The discrepancy in numbers means that some letters can represent different sounds in different words - soft and hard sounds.
Consonants: b, v, g, d, g, z, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, f, x, c, ch, sh, sch.
Consonant sounds: [b], [b'], [v], [v'], [g], [g'], [d], [d'], [zh], [z], [z' ], [th'], [k], [k'], [l], [l'], [m], [m'], [n], [n'], [p], [p' ], [p], [p'], [s], [s'], [t], [t'], [f], [f'], [x], [x'], [ts] , [h'], [w], [w'].
The sign ‘ means a soft sound, that is, the letter is pronounced softly. The absence of a sign indicates that the sound is hard. So, [b] - hard, [b’] - soft.
Voiced and voiceless consonants
There is a difference in the way we pronounce consonant sounds. Voiced consonants are formed in a combination of voice and noise, voiceless consonants are formed due to noise (the vocal cords do not vibrate). There are a total of 20 voiced consonants and 16 voiceless consonants.
| Voiced consonants | Voiceless consonants | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| unpaired | doubles | doubles | unpaired |
| th → [th"] | b → [b], [b"] | p → [p], [p"] | h → [h"] |
| l → [l], [l"] | in → [in], [in"] | f → [f], [f"] | š → [š"] |
| m → [m], [m"] | g → [g], [g"] | k → [k], [k"] | ts → [ts] |
| n → [n], [n"] | d → [d], [d"] | t → [t], [t"] | x → [x], [x"] |
| p → [p], [p"] | zh → [zh] | w → [w] | |
| z → [z], [z"] | s → [s], [s"] | ||
| 9 unpaired | 11 doubles | 11 doubles | 5 unpaired |
| 20 ringing sounds | 16 dull sounds | ||
According to pairing and unpairing, voiced and voiceless consonants are divided into:
b-p, v-f, g-k, d-t, w-sh, z-s- paired in terms of voicedness and deafness.
y, l, m, n, r - always voiced (unpaired).
x, ts, ch, shch - always voiceless (unpaired).
Unpaired voiced consonants are called sonorant.
Among the consonants, the following groups are also distinguished according to the level of “noisiness”:
zh, sh, h, sh - hissing.
b, c, d, d, g, h, j, p, s, t, f, x, c, h, w, sch- noisy.
Hard and soft consonants
| Hard consonants | Soft consonants | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| unpaired | doubles | doubles | unpaired |
| [and] | [b] | [b"] | [h"] |
| [w] | [V] | [V"] | [sch"] |
| [ts] | [G] | [G"] | [th"] |
| [d] | [d"] | ||
| [h] | [z"] | ||
| [To] | [To"] | ||
| [l] | [l"] | ||
| [m] | [m"] | ||
| [n] | [n"] | ||
| [P] | [P"] | ||
| [R] | [R"] | ||
| [With] | [With"] | ||
| [T] | [T"] | ||
| [f] | [f"] | ||
| [X] | [X"] | ||
| 3 unpaired | 15 doubles | 15 unpaired | 3 doubles |
| 18 hard sounds | 18 soft sounds | ||
In the Russian language, not all speech sounds are designated, but only the main ones. The Russian language has 43 basic sounds - 6 vowels and 37 consonants, while the number of letters is 33. The number of basic vowels (10 letters, but 6 sounds) and consonants (21 letters, but 37 sounds) also does not match. The difference in the quantitative composition of basic sounds and letters is determined by the peculiarities of Russian writing. In the Russian language, hard and soft sounds are denoted by the same letter, but the sounds soft and hard are considered different, which is why there are more consonant sounds than the letters with which they are denoted.
Voiced and voiceless consonants
Consonant sounds are divided into voiced and voiceless. Voiced ones consist of noise and voice, deaf ones consist only of noise.
Voiced consonant sounds: [b] [b"] [c] [v"] [g] [g"] [d] [d"] [z] [z"] [zh] [l] [l"] [ m] [m"] [n] [n"] [r] [r"] [th]
Voiceless consonants: [p] [p"] [f] [f"] [k] [k"] [t] [t"] [s] [s"] [w] [x] [x"] [ h"] [h"]
Paired and unpaired consonants
Many consonants form pairs of voiced and voiceless consonants:
Voiced [b] [b"] [c] [c"] [g] [g"] [d] [d"] [z] [z"] [g]
Voiceless [p] [p"] [f] [f"] [k] [k"] [t] [t"] [s] [s"] [w]
The following voiced and voiceless consonant sounds do not form pairs:
Voiced [l] [l"] [m] [m"] [n] [n"] [r] [r"] [th]
Voiceless [x] [x"] [ch"] [sch"]
Soft and hard consonants
Consonant sounds are also divided into hard and soft. They differ in the position of the tongue when pronounced. When pronouncing soft consonants, the middle back of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate.
Most consonants form pairs of hard and soft consonants:
Solid [b] [c] [d] [d] [h] [j] [l] [m] [n] [p] [r] [s] [t] [f] [x]
Soft [b"] [c"] [d"] [d"] [z"] [k"] [l"] [m"] [n"] [p"] [p"] [s"] [ t"] [f"] [x"]
The following hard and soft consonant sounds do not form pairs:
Solid [f] [w] [c]
Soft [h"] [sch"] [th"]
Sibilant consonants
The sounds [zh], [sh], [ch’], [sh’] are called hissing.
[g] [w] [h"] [sch"]
Whistling consonants
[z] [z"] [s] [s"] [ts]
Whistling sounds s-s, z-z, anterior lingual, fricative. When articulating hard teeth, the teeth are exposed, the tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth, the back of the tongue is slightly curved, the lateral edges of the tongue are pressed against the upper molars, causing a groove to form in the middle. Air passes through this groove creating frictional noise.
When pronouncing soft s, s, the articulation is the same, but in addition the back of the tongue rises to the hard palate. When pronouncing sounds z-z, the ligaments are closed and vibrate. The velum is raised.
We all want our children to write beautifully and competently. The ability to write without errors in Russian is not easy even for native speakers. This skill seems to confirm the knowledge and education of a person, and it is acquired at school. Every year, parents of future first-graders anxiously await the start of the school year and worry about their child’s readiness for a new school life.
There is so much new knowledge and tasks ahead of them! And no matter how wonderful and experienced the teacher is, the child often needs the help of his parents. For example, a first-grader will approach his mother and ask him to name words in which all the consonants are hard, and he will have to remember everything that he remembers about this from school. It’s not always so easy to remember what you once learned in elementary school.
This article is precisely to help parents of first-graders, where we will remember and organize what a first-grader has to learn and firmly learn about consonants and vowels in words. This topic is very important for children’s subsequent mastery of grammar and phonetics of the Russian language; without this, competent writing cannot be achieved in the future.
- One of the important basic skills that subsequently determines a child’s literacy and success in mastering the Russian language is the ability to hear and understand its sounds. Here, parents should clearly convey to their children the difference between the concepts of “letter” and “sound”, and teach them to distinguish one from the other.
- It is no secret that sometimes adults themselves consider it possible to replace one word with another in a conversation with a child, which does not bother adults, but confuses the child. He must firmly remember that a sound is what is heard, and a letter is what is written, and they do not always coincide.
- The next thing that a little schoolchild has to learn is what building blocks words are made of and how they are conveyed when writing.
This is exactly what 1st grade teaches children. The student learns that the Russian language divides these sounding building blocks of speech into 2 large groups - vowels and consonants.
A child can easily recognize vowels: they can be sung or shouted. But the consonant is not so simple! Often similar but different consonants are denoted in writing by the same letter, and you need to learn to distinguish them according to certain characteristics.
In their sound, consonants can be hard or soft, voiced or voiceless. Voiceless consonants are those that are created when, as you exhale, the air encounters an obstacle in the form of the tongue, lips or teeth. Voiced will be those where a voice is added to it.
This table below introduces the consonant sounds of these two groups.
Children learn to distinguish between deaf and voiced consonants quite quickly. But how to determine whether the consonants in a word are hard or soft can be more difficult to understand.
Meanwhile, it is necessary for the child to feel all the consonants in a word; this subsequently determines literate writing. It is important that, just like voiced/unvoiced sounds, he clearly distinguishes between the hard and soft sounds he encounters.
About hard and soft consonants
In order for a first-grader to learn to distinguish between the hardness and softness of consonant sounds that indicate letters in a syllable, we draw his attention to the fact that the softness or hardness of consonant sounds is determined by the vowels behind them.
- When we see or hear vowels a, u, e, o, y after consonant sounds, it means these are words with hard consonants;
- When consonant sounds are followed by e, e, yu, i, i, then they are soft.
It is best to reinforce your understanding of this rule with examples. To do this, pairs of words are taken where syllables with hard and soft consonants are in the same position, which helps children better understand the difference in their pronunciation and remember this rule.
Table with examples of writing sounds in soft and hard use:
In a combination of two consonants in a row, the first one will be hard, even when the second one behind it is soft. For example, in KamChatka the sound M is hard and Ch is soft. But it happens that there is no vowel after a consonant, but you have to pronounce a combination of two (or even three) consonants.
Then you need to know the following rule:
- Most sounds have 2 pronunciation options - hard or soft, depending on the vowels that follow them. They are called paired consonants. But in the Russian language there are consonants that do not have a pair; they are always hard or always soft.
- Always hard ones include C and hissing Zh, Sh. These consonants are all hard;
- Only soft consonants include the sound й and the hissing Ch, Sh. If these soft consonants are followed by hard vowels (a, o, u, etc.), they still remain soft.
How hardness/softness is indicated in writing
There are no special symbols to convey in writing how a given letter sounds hard or soft. The softness of consonant sounds is conveyed only when transcribed with a special apostrophe. Hardness is not indicated in any way. At the same time, learning to recognize which consonants denote letters in syllables is not difficult; just remember these rules.
The sound of soft and hard consonants in writing is indicated by two methods:
- Using vowels that follow a consonant. Softness is denoted by the letters e, e, yu, i, i following the consonant, and hardness by all the others;
- In the second case, the function of indicating hardness/softness is played by a soft and hard sign.
Summarize
Consonants in the Russian language are divided into several large groups - voiced/voiceless and soft/hard. In both of these groups there are sounds that have a consonant pair and those that are unchanged. Therefore, in each of these large groups, paired and unpaired consonants are also distinguished.
| Doubles
Before A, O, U, Y, E |
Solid | Soft | ||
| beech | b | b’ | run | |
| shaft | V | V' | temple | |
| year | G | G' | guide | |
| house | d | d' | day | |
| hall | h | z' | Earth | |
| bark | To | To' | whale | |
| scrap | l | l’ | fox | |
| poppy | m | m' | measure | |
| nose | n | n’ | carried | |
| a park | P | P' | feast | |
| ruble | R | R' | rice | |
| som | With | With' | hay | |
| tone | T | T' | shadow | |
| background | f | f' | hair dryer | |
| halva | X | X' | halva | |
Unpaired
|
L, M, N, R, J Sonorant |
X, C, Ch, Shch |
We fix it while playing
In order for children to better remember and hear the difference in sounds in a language, they need to reinforce what they have learned at school with games.
- Write three words. The players take turns writing each other a word, to which they need to add two more, where there are consonants paired with the given one. For example, bark - mountain - weight;
- Or the leader gives a task: write three words where all consonants are of the same type;
- Catch! The presenter pronounces a word or syllable and throws the ball to the children. At the same time, he stipulates in advance under what conditions to catch and what not to. For example, we catch voiced ones, but not deaf ones. We catch hard ones, but not soft ones.
- Start singing! The leader sings soft syllables, and the children respond with the opposite ones. For example: la-la-la in response to la-la-la, ha-ha-ha - hee-hee-hee, etc.;
- Make a list. Here the child is given the task of making a list of dishes for a holiday, or things for a trip, where in the words all the consonants are soft or vice versa;
- Sound charging. Each sound has its own movement. A word with a dull sound - we raise our hands, a voiced one - we jump, etc.
Using this principle, you can come up with new games or adapt existing ones. This allows children to express their own creativity and understanding of what they have learned.
All consonant sounds in the Russian language are divided into hard and soft and into voiceless and voiced. What is the difference between voiced consonants? Our article answers this question.
How are voiced sounds formed?
In the process of forming a consonant sound, not only the voice, but also various noises are involved. They arise due to the fact that various obstacles form in the mouth, which are then overcome by the flow of air. For example, when pronouncing the sound [b], we close our lips, and the exhaled air forcefully breaks this barrier.
Children studying Russian in the third grade distinguish sounds by deafness and voicedness only in the indicated way. But sometimes schoolchildren in grades 5–6 also distinguish sonorants (very sonorous) and hissing ones. In the latter there is no voice at all - only noise (with the exception of F).
For example, a voiced consonant at the beginning of the word “lynx” is sonorant, and a voiceless consonant at the beginning of the word “pike” is hissing.
The sonorant consonants “l” and “r” can even take on some of the functions of a vowel and form a syllable. This happens, for example, in the word “smysol” (which is why it is sometimes mistakenly written “smysol”).
How to distinguish a ringing sound
There are several signs by which a voiced consonant can be distinguished.
You can say the sound out loud by placing your hand on your throat near the vocal cords; if vibration is felt, the sound is ringing.
You can simply memorize voiceless and voiced consonants. Or remember, relying on pairs of deafness and voicedness.
There are mnemonic formulas that allow you to remember voiceless and voiced words. This is a phrase or word where all sounds are either unvoiced or voiced. Let us give examples of such formulas.
- Deaf: Styopka, would you like some soup? - Fi. (In this phrase all sounds are unvoiced)
- Voiced: Normal (sonorant only)
Paired and unpaired voiced consonants
Most voiced consonants form voiceless-voiced pairs. In the table below, all voiced sounds are shown in the top row, and the unvoiced sounds paired with them are shown in the bottom row. If there is a dash in one row or another, it means the sound is unpaired.
Voicing and stunning
In the flow of speech, sounds depend on their “neighbors”, so they can change their quality under the influence of their environment.
In Russian, several phenomena are possible:
- Stun
- Assimilation(similarity) by deafness-voicing.
Stunning occurs at the end of a word. A voiced consonant at the absolute end of a word is pronounced as its own voiceless pair. For example, [gr’ip] (mushroom).
Assimilation occurs in the middle of a word. In Russian, the sound is influenced by the neighbor on the right. Most often, a voiced sound becomes dull due to the fact that it is adjacent to another dull sound. Examples of assimilation: tub, riddle. Less often, a consonant becomes voiced “for company.” For example, request [proz’ba].
Similar processes occur in different languages, but in different ways. For example, in the Chuvash language, a voiceless consonant, when found between two vowels, becomes voiced.
How to check a questionable consonant
Because of these linguistic processes, consonant sounds are made to sound different from themselves in some positions. Therefore they need to be checked.
To determine what sound, voiceless or voiced, should be written in a given word, you should change the word or choose a root word so that there is a vowel after the consonant. For example, pillar-pillars, mow-mow, pointer-point.
The absolute end of a word is not a strong position that makes it possible to distinguish consonants by deafness and voicedness.
There are words that cannot be verified. For example, football, backpack, etc. You need to memorize them or look them up in the dictionary.
What have we learned?
From the article we learned that consonant sounds in the Russian language are voiced and unvoiced. To form a voiced consonant, you need more voice than noise. We learned which sounds are paired in terms of deafness and voicedness, and which are not. We learned what sonorous and hissing sounds are.
Test on the topic
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In this chapter:
§1. Sound
Sound- the minimum unit of sounding speech. Each word has a sound shell consisting of sounds. The sound corresponds to the meaning of the word. Different words and word forms have different sound patterns. The sounds themselves are not important, but they serve an important role: they help us distinguish between:
- words: [house] - [tom], [tom] - [there], [m’el] - [m’el’]
- forms of the word: [house] - [lady´ ] - [house´ ma].
Note:
words written in square brackets are given in transcription.
§2. Transcription
Transcription is a special recording system that displays sound. The following symbols are used in the transcription:
Square brackets indicating transcription.
[ ´ ] - emphasis. The accent is placed if the word consists of more than one syllable.
[b’] - the icon next to the consonant indicates its softness.
[j] and [th] are different designations for the same sound. Since this sound is soft, these symbols are often used with an additional designation of softness: [th’]. This site uses the notation [th’], which is more familiar to most guys. The soft icon will be used to help you get used to the sound being soft.
There are other symbols. They will be introduced gradually as you become familiar with the topic.
§3. Vowels and consonants
Sounds are divided into vowels and consonants.
They have different natures. They are pronounced and perceived differently, and also behave differently in speech and play different roles in it.
Vowels- these are sounds during the pronunciation of which air passes freely through the oral cavity without encountering an obstacle on its way. Pronunciation (articulation) is not focused in one place: the quality of vowels is determined by the shape of the oral cavity, which acts as a resonator. When articulating vowels, the vocal cords in the larynx work. They are close, tense and vibrate. Therefore, when pronouncing vowels, we hear a voice. Vowels can be drawn out. You can shout them. And if you put your hand to your throat, you can feel the work of the vocal cords when pronouncing vowels, feel it with your hand. Vowels are the basis of a syllable; they organize it. There are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels. For example: He- 1 syllable, she- 2 syllables, Guys- 3 syllables, etc. There are words that consist of one vowel sound. For example, unions: and, and and interjections: Oh!, Ah!, Oooh! and others.
In a word, vowels can be in stressed and unstressed syllables.
Stressed syllable one in which the vowel is pronounced clearly and appears in its basic form.
IN unstressed syllables vowels are modified and pronounced differently. Changing vowels in unstressed syllables is called reduction.
There are six stressed vowels in the Russian language: [a], [o], [u], [s], [i], [e].
Remember:
There may be words that can only consist of vowels, but consonants are also necessary.
In the Russian language there are many more consonants than vowels.
§4. Method of formation of consonants
Consonants- these are sounds, when pronounced, the air encounters an obstacle in its path. There are two types of obstruents in the Russian language: gap and stop - these are the two main ways of forming consonants. The type of obstruction determines the nature of the consonant sound.
Gap is formed, for example, when pronouncing sounds: [s], [z], [w], [z]. The tip of the tongue only approaches the lower or upper teeth. Friction consonants can be pulled: [s-s-s-s], [sh-sh-sh-sh] . As a result, you will clearly hear the noise: when pronouncing [c] - whistling, and when pronouncing [w] - hissing.
Bow, The second type of articulation of consonants is formed when the organs of speech close. The air flow abruptly overcomes this obstacle, the sounds are short and energetic. That's why they are called explosive. You won't be able to pull them. These are, for example, the sounds [p], [b], [t], [d] . Such articulation is easier to feel and feel.
So, when pronouncing consonants, noise is heard. The presence of noise is a distinctive feature of consonants.
§5. Voiced and voiceless consonants
According to the ratio of noise and voice, consonants are divided into voiced and unvoiced.
When spoken voiced consonants, both voice and noise are heard, and deaf- only noise.
Deaf words cannot be spoken loudly. They cannot be shouted.
Let's compare the words: house And cat. Each word has 1 vowel sound and 2 consonants. The vowels are the same, but the consonants are different: [d] and [m] are voiced, and [k] and [t] are voiceless. Voicedness-voicelessness is the most important feature of consonants in the Russian language.
voiced-voiceless pairs:[b] - [p], [z] - [c] and others. There are 11 such pairs.
Voiceless-voiced pairs: [p] and [b], [p"] and [b"], [f] and [v], [f"] and [v"], [k] and [d], [k"] and [g"], [t] and [d], [t"] and [d"], [w] and [g], [s] and [z], [s"] and [ z"].
But there are sounds that do not have a pair on the basis of voicedness - deafness. For example, the sounds [r], [l], [n], [m], [y’] do not have a voiceless pair, but [ts] and [ch’] do not have a voiced pair.
Unpaired according to deafness-voicing
Voiced unpaired:[r], [l], [n], [m], [th"], [r"], [l"], [n"], [m"] . They are also called sonorous.
What does this term mean? This is a group of consonants (9 in total) that have peculiarities of pronunciation: when they are pronounced, obstacles also arise in the oral cavity, but such that the air stream, passing through an obstacle produces only minor noise; air passes freely through an opening in the nasal or oral cavity. Sonorants are pronounced using the voice with the addition of slight noise. Many teachers do not use this term, but everyone should know that these sounds are unpaired voiced sounds.
Sonorants have two important features:
1) they are not deafened, like paired voiced consonants, before voiceless consonants and at the end of a word;
2) before them there is no voicing of paired deaf consonants (i.e. the position in front of them is strong in deafness-voicing, just like before vowels). See more about positional changes.
Voiceless unpaired:[ts], [h"], [w":], [x], [x"].
How can it be easier to remember lists of voiced and voiceless consonants?
The following phrases will help you remember lists of voiced and voiceless consonants:
Oh, we didn’t forget each other!(Here only voiced consonants)
Foka, do you want to eat some soup?(Here only voiceless consonants)
True, these phrases do not include pairs of hardness and softness. But usually people can easily figure out that not only hard [z] is voiced, but also soft [z"] too, not only [b], but also [b"], etc.
§6. Hard and soft consonants
Consonants differ not only in deafness and voicedness, but also in hardness and softness.
Hardness-softness- the second most important sign of consonants in the Russian language.
Soft consonants differ from solid special position of the tongue. When pronouncing hard words, the entire body of the tongue is pulled back, and when pronouncing soft words, it is moved forward, and the middle part of the tongue is raised. Compare: [m] - [m’], [z] - [z’]. Voiced soft ones sound higher than hard ones.
Many Russian consonants form hardness-softness pairs: [b] - [b’], [v] - [v’] and others. There are 15 such pairs.
Hardness-softness pairs: [b] and [b"], [m] and [m"], [p] and [p"], [v] and [v"], [f] and [f"] , [z] and [z"], [s] and [s"], [d] and [d"], [t] and [t"], [n] and [n"], [l] and [l"], [p] and [p"], [k] and [k"], [g] and [g"], [x] and [x"].
But there are sounds that do not have a pair on the basis of hardness and softness. For example, the sounds [zh], [sh], [ts] do not have a soft pair, but [y’] and [h’] do not have a hard pair.
Unpaired in hardness-softness
Hard unpaired: [zh], [w], [ts] .
Soft unpaired: [th"], [h"], [w":].
§7. Indication of softness of consonants in writing
Let's take a break from pure phonetics. Let's consider a practically important question: how is the softness of consonants indicated in writing?
There are 36 consonant sounds in the Russian language, including 15 hard-soft pairs, 3 unpaired hard and 3 unpaired soft consonants. There are only 21 consonants. How can 21 letters represent 36 sounds?
Various methods are used for this:
- iotized letters e, e, yu, I after consonants, except w, w And ts, unpaired in hardness-softness, indicate that these consonants are soft, for example: aunt- [t’o´ t’a], uncle -[Yes Yes] ;
- letter And after consonants, except w, w And ts. Consonants indicated by letters w, w And ts, unpaired solids. Examples of words with a vowel letter And: nothing- [n’i´ tk’i], sheet- [l’ist], Cute- [Cute'] ;
- letter b, after consonants, except w, w, after which the soft sign is an indicator of the grammatical form. Examples of words with a soft sign : request- [prose], stranded- [m’el’], distance- [gave’].
Thus, the softness of consonants in writing is conveyed not by special letters, but by combinations of consonants with letters and, e, e, yu, I And b. Therefore, when parsing, I advise you to pay special attention to adjacent letters after the consonants.
Discussing the problem of interpretation
School textbooks say that [w] and [w’] -
unpaired in hardness and softness. How so? We hear that the sound [w’] is a soft analogue of the sound [w].
When I was studying at school myself, I couldn’t understand why? Then my son went to school. He had the same question. It appears in all children who approach learning thoughtfully.
Confusion arises because school textbooks do not take into account that the sound [sh’] is also long, but the hard sound [sh] is not. Pairs are sounds that differ in only one attribute. And [w] and [w’] - two. Therefore [w] and [w’] are not pairs.
For adults and high school students.
In order to maintain correctness, it is necessary to change the school tradition of transcribing the sound [w’]. It seems that it is easier for the guys to use one more additional sign than to face an illogical, unclear and misleading statement. It's simple. So that generation after generation does not rack their brains, it is necessary to finally show that a soft hissing sound is long.
For this purpose, in linguistic practice there are two icons:
1) superscript above the sound;
2) colon.
Using a superscript is inconvenient because it is not provided by the set of characters that can be used in computer typing. This means that the following possibilities remain: using a colon [w’:] or a grapheme denoting the letter [w’] . It seems to me that the first option is preferable. Firstly, children often mix sounds and letters at first. The use of a letter in transcription will create the basis for such confusion and provoke an error. Secondly, children are now starting to learn foreign languages early. And the [:] symbol, when used to indicate the length of a sound, is already familiar to them. Thirdly, transcription indicating longitude with a colon [:] will perfectly convey the features of the sound. [sh’:] - soft and long, both features that make up its difference from the sound [sh] are presented clearly, simply and unambiguously.
What advice can you give to children who are now studying using generally accepted textbooks? You need to understand, comprehend, and then remember that in fact the sounds [w] and [w’:] do not form a pair in terms of hardness and softness. And I advise you to transcribe them the way your teacher requires.
§8. Place of formation of consonants
Consonants differ not only according to the characteristics already known to you:
- deafness-voice,
- hardness-softness,
- method of formation: bow-slit.
The last, fourth sign is important: place of education.
The articulation of some sounds is carried out by the lips, others - by the tongue, its different parts. So, the sounds [p], [p'], [b], [b'], [m], [m'] are labial, [v], [v'], [f], [f' ] - labiodental, all others - lingual: anterior lingual [t], [t'], [d], [d'], [n], [n'], [s], [s'], [z ], [z'], [w], [w], [w':], [h'], [c], [l], [l'], [r], [r'] ,
middle lingual [th’] and back lingual [k], [k’], [g], [g’], [x], [x’].
§9. Positional changes of sounds
1. Strong-weak positions for vowels. Positional changes of vowels. Reduction
People do not use spoken sounds in isolation. They don't need it.
Speech is a sound stream, but a stream organized in a certain way. The conditions in which a particular sound appears are important. The beginning of a word, the end of a word, a stressed syllable, an unstressed syllable, a position before a vowel, a position before a consonant - these are all different positions. We will figure out how to distinguish between strong and weak positions, first for vowels, and then for consonants.
Strong position one in which sounds do not undergo positionally determined changes and appear in their basic form. A strong position is allocated for groups of sounds, for example: for vowels, this is a position in a stressed syllable. And for consonants, for example, the position before vowels is strong.
For vowels, the strong position is under stress, and the weak position is unaccented..
In unstressed syllables, vowels undergo changes: they are shorter and are not pronounced as clearly as under stress. This change in vowels in a weak position is called reduction. Due to reduction, fewer vowels are distinguished in the weak position than in the strong position.
The sounds corresponding to stressed [o] and [a] after hard consonants in a weak, unstressed position sound the same. “Akanye” is recognized as normative in the Russian language, i.e. non-discrimination ABOUT And A in an unstressed position after hard consonants.
- under stress: [house] - [dam] - [o] ≠ [a].
- without accent: [d A ma´ ] -home´ - [d A la´ ] -dala´ - [a] = [a].
The sounds corresponding to stressed [a] and [e] after soft consonants in a weak, unstressed position sound the same. The standard pronunciation is “hiccup”, i.e. non-discrimination E And A in an unstressed position after soft consonants.
- under stress: [m’ech’] - [m’ach’] - [e] ≠[a].
- without accent: [m’ich’o´ m]- sword´ m -[m'ich'o´ m] - ball´ m - [and] = [and].
- But what about the vowels [i], [s], [u]? Why was nothing said about them? The fact is that these vowels in a weak position are subject to only quantitative reduction: they are pronounced more briefly, weakly, but their quality does not change. That is, as for all vowels, an unstressed position for them is a weak position, but for a schoolchild these vowels in an unstressed position do not pose a problem.
[ski´ zhy], [in _lu´ zhu], [n’i´ t’i] - in both strong and weak positions the quality of vowels does not change. Both under stress and in unstressed position we clearly hear: [ы], [у], [и] and we write the letters that are usually used to denote these sounds.
Discussing the problem of interpretation
What vowel sounds are actually pronounced in unstressed syllables after hard consonants?
When performing phonetic analysis and transcribing words, many guys express bewilderment. In long polysyllabic words, after hard consonants, it is not the sound [a] that is pronounced, as school textbooks say, but something else.
They are right.
Compare the pronunciation of words: Moscow - Muscovites. Repeat each word several times and listen to what vowel sounds in the first syllable. With the word Moscow it's simple. We pronounce: [maskva´] - the sound [a] is clearly audible. And the word Muscovites? In accordance with the literary norm, in all syllables except the first syllable before stress, as well as the positions of the beginning and end of the word, we pronounce not [a], but another sound: less distinct, less clear, more similar to [s] than to [ a]. In the scientific tradition, this sound is designated by the symbol [ъ]. This means that in reality we pronounce: [mаlako´] - milk ,[khrasho´ ] - Fine ,[kalbasa´] - sausage.
I understand that by giving this material in textbooks, the authors tried to simplify it. Simplified. But many children with good hearing, who clearly hear that the sounds in the following examples are different, cannot understand why the teacher and the textbook insist that these sounds are the same. In fact:
[V A Yes ] - water´ -[V ъ d'inoy'] - water:[а]≠[ъ]
[other A wa´ ] - firewood´ -[other ъ in’ino´ th’] - wood-burning:[а]≠[ъ]
A special subsystem consists of the realization of vowels in unstressed syllables after sibilants. But in the school course this material is not presented at all in most textbooks.
What vowel sounds are actually pronounced in unstressed syllables after soft consonants?
I feel the greatest sympathy for the children who study from textbooks that offer on-site A,E, ABOUT after soft consonants, hear and transcribe the sound “and, inclined to e.” I think it is fundamentally wrong to give schoolchildren as the only option the outdated pronunciation norm - “ekanya”, which is found today much less often than “icanya”, mainly among very elderly people. Guys, feel free to write in an unstressed position in the first syllable before the stress in place A And E- [And].
After soft consonants in other unstressed syllables, except for the position of the end of the word, we pronounce a short weak sound reminiscent of [i] and denoted as [b]. Say the words eight, nine and listen to yourself. We pronounce: [vo´ s’m’] - [b], [d’e´ v’t’] - [b].
Do not confuse:
Transcription marks are one thing, but letters are another.
The transcription sign [ъ] indicates a vowel after hard consonants in unstressed syllables, except for the first syllable before stress.
The letter ъ is a solid sign.
The transcription sign [b] indicates a vowel after soft consonants in unstressed syllables, except for the first syllable before stress.
The letter ь is a soft sign.
Transcription signs, unlike letters, are given in square brackets.
End of the word- special position. It shows clearing of vowels after soft consonants. The system of unstressed endings is a special phonetic subsystem. In it E And A differ:
Building[building n’ii’e] - building[building n’ii’a], opinion[mn’e´ n’i’e] - opinion[mn’e´ n’ii’a], more[mo´ r’e] - seas[mo´ r’a], will[vo´l’a] - at will[na_vo´l’e]. Remember this when doing phonetic analysis of words.
Check:
How your teacher requires you to mark vowels in an unstressed position. If he uses a simplified transcription system, that's okay: it's widely accepted. Just don’t be surprised that you actually hear different sounds in the unstressed position.
2. Strong-weak positions for consonants. Positional changes of consonants
For all consonants without exception, the strong position is position before vowel. Before vowels, consonants appear in their basic form. Therefore, when doing phonetic analysis, do not be afraid to make a mistake when characterizing a consonant in a strong position: [dach’a] - country house,[t'l'iv'i´ z'r] - TV,[s’ino´ n’ima] - synonyms,[b'ir'o´ zy] - birch trees,[karz"i´ny] - baskets. All consonants in these examples come before vowels, i.e. in a strong position.
Strong positions on deafness of voicedness:
- before vowels: [there] - there,[ladies] - I'll give,
- before unpaired voiced [p], [p’], [l], [l’], [n], [n’], [m], [m’], [y’]: [dl’a] - For,[tl'a] - aphids,
- Before [in], [in’]: [own’] - mine,[ringing] - ringing.
Remember:
In a strong position, voiced and voiceless consonants do not change their quality.
Weak positions in deafness and voicedness:
- before paired ones according to deafness-voicing: [sl´ tk’ii] - sweet,[zu´ pk’i] - teeth.
- before voiceless unpaired ones: [apkhva´ t] - girth, [fhot] - entrance.
- at the end of a word: [zup] - tooth,[dup] - oak.
Positional changes of consonants according to deafness-voicing
In weak positions, consonants are modified: positional changes occur with them. Voiced ones become voiceless, i.e. are deafened, and the deaf are voiced, i.e. call out. Positional changes are observed only for paired consonants.
Stunning-voicing of consonants
Stunning voiced occurs in positions:
- before paired deaf people: [fsta´ in’it’] - V put,
- at the end of the word: [clat] - treasure.
Voicing of the deaf occurs at position:
- before paired voiced ones: [kaz’ba´ ] - to With bah´
Strong positions in terms of hardness and softness:
- before vowels: [mat’] - mother,[m’at’] - crush,
- at the end of the word: [von] - out there,[won’] - stench,
- before labialials: [b], [b'], [p], [p'], [m], [m'] and posterior linguals: [k], [k'], [g], [g' ], [x[, [x'] for sounds [s], [s'], [z], [z'], [t], [t'], [d], [d'], [n ], [n'], [r], [r']: [sa´ n'k'i] - Sa´nki(gen. fall.), [s´ ank’i] - sled,[bun] - bun,[bu´ l’qt’] - gurgle,
- all positions for sounds [l] and [l’]: [forehead] - forehead,[pal'ba] - firing.
Remember:
In a strong position, hard and soft consonants do not change their quality.
Weak positions in hardness-softness and positional changes in hardness-softness.
- before soft [t’], [d’] for consonants [c], [z], which are necessarily softened: , [z’d’es’],
- before [h’] and [w’:] for [n], which is necessarily softened: [po´ n’ch’ik] - donut,[ka´ m’n’sh’:ik] - mason.
Remember:
In a number of positions today both soft and hard pronunciation is possible:
- before soft front-lingual [n’], [l’] for front-lingual consonants [c], [z]: snow -[s’n’ek] and , make angry -[z’l’it’] and [zl’it’]
- before soft front-lingual, [z’] for front-lingual [t], [d] - lift -[pad’n’a´ t’] and [padn’a´ t’] , take away -[at’n’a´ t’] and [atn’a´ t’]
- before soft front-lingual [t"], [d"], [s"], [z"] for front-lingual [n]: vi´ntik -[v’i´ n"t"ik] and [v’i´ nt’ik], pension -[p'e´ n's'ii'a] and [p'e´ n's'ii'a]
- before soft labials [v’], [f’], [b’], [p’], [m’] for labials: enter -[f"p"isa´ t’] and [fp"is´ at’], ri´ fme(Dan. fall.) - [r'i´ f"m"e] and [r'i´ fm"e]
Remember:
In all cases, positional softening of consonants is possible in a weak position.
It is a mistake to write a soft sign when softening consonants positionally.
Positional changes of consonants based on the method and place of formation
Naturally, in the school tradition it is not customary to present the characteristics of sounds and the positional changes that occur with them in all the details. But the general principles of phonetics need to be learned. Without this, it is difficult to do phonetic analysis and complete test tasks. Therefore, below is a list of positionally determined changes in consonants based on the method and place of formation. This material is a tangible help for those who want to avoid mistakes in phonetic analysis.
Assimilation of consonants
The logic is this: the Russian language is characterized by similarity of sounds if they are similar in some way and at the same time are nearby.
Learn the list:
[c] and [w] → [w:] - sew
[z] and [zh] → [zh:] - compress
[s] and [h’] - at the root of words →
[sh’:] - happiness, score
- at the junction of morphemes and words →
[w’:h’] -
comb, dishonest, with what (a preposition followed by a word is pronounced together as one word)
[s] and [w’:] → [w’:] - split
[t] and [c] - in verb forms → [ts:] - smiles
-at the junction of prefix and root →
[tss] - sleep it off
[t] and [ts] → [ts:] - unhook
[t] and [h’] → [h’:] - report
[t] and [t] and [w’:]←[c] and [h’] - Countdown
[d] and [w’:] ←[c] and [h’] - counting
Dissociation of consonants
Dissimilarity is a process of positional change, the opposite of assimilation.
[g] and [k’] → [h’k’] - easy
Simplifying consonant clusters
Learn the list:
vst - [stv]: hello, feel
zdn - [zn]: late
zdc - [sc] : by the reins
lnts - [nts]: Sun
NDC -
[nc]: Dutch
ndsh -
[ns:] landscape
NTG - [ng]: x-ray
rdc -
[rts]: heart
rdch -
[rh’]: little heart
stl - [sl’]: happy
stn - [dn]: local
Pronunciation of sound groups:
In the forms of adjectives, pronouns, participles there are letter combinations: wow, him. IN place G they are pronounced [in]: him, beautiful, blue.
Avoid reading letter by letter. Say the words him, blue, beautiful Right.
§10. Letters and sounds
Letters and sounds have different purposes and different natures. But these are comparable systems. Therefore, you need to know the types of ratios.
Types of relationships between letters and sounds:
- The letter denotes a sound, for example, vowels after hard consonants and consonants before vowels: weather.
- The letter does not have its own sound meaning, for example b And ъ: mouse
- A letter represents two sounds, for example iotated vowels e, e, yu, I in positions:
- the beginning of a word
- after vowels,
- after separators b And ъ.
- A letter can denote a sound and the quality of the preceding sound, such as iotated vowels and And after soft consonants.
- The letter may indicate the quality of the preceding sound, for example b in words shadow, stump, gunfire.
- Two letters can represent one sound, usually a long one: sew, compress, rush
- Three letters correspond to one sound: smile - shh -[ts:]
Test of strength
Check your understanding of this chapter.
Final test
What determines the quality of a vowel sound?
- From the shape of the oral cavity at the moment of pronouncing the sound
- From the barrier formed by the speech organs at the moment of pronouncing a sound
What is reduction called?
- pronouncing vowels under stress
- pronouncing unstressed vowels
- special pronunciation of consonants
For which sounds does the air stream encounter an obstacle on its path: a bow or a gap?
- In vowels
- In consonants
Can voiceless consonants be pronounced loudly?
Are the vocal cords involved in pronouncing voiceless consonants?
How many pairs of consonants are formed according to deafness and voicedness?
How many consonants do not have a voiced-voiced pair?
How many pairs do Russian consonants form according to hardness and softness?
How many consonants do not have a hard-soft pair?
How is the softness of consonants conveyed in writing?
- Special icons
- Letter combinations
What is the name of the position of a sound in a stream of speech in which it appears in its basic form, without undergoing positional changes?
- Strong position
- Weak position
What sounds have strong and weak positions?
- In vowels
- In consonants
- For everyone: both vowels and consonants
Right answers:
- From the shape of the oral cavity at the moment of pronouncing the sound
- pronouncing unstressed vowels
- In consonants
- Letter combinations
- Strong position
- For everyone: both vowels and consonants
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