The sounds of speech play an important role in the life of every person - thanks to them, all people can talk and understand what is said to each other.
All speech sounds There are two types - consonants and vowels. And although the number of the latter is much larger, in many moments vowels are decisive. So, for example, the number of syllables depends on the number of vowels in a word, in addition, it is vowel sounds that have the property of stress / unstress. Considering the issue of vowels, it is also worth noting that their number does not correspond to the number of denoting letters. How many vowels are in the Russian language, and why this happens - remains to be figured out.

What sounds are called vowels (vocales)

First of all, it is worth remembering what sounds are called vowels. Vowels (from the Latin word vocales) are phonetic sounds formed with the help of the voice, without the admixture of noise. When pronouncing a vowel, a person exhales air freely and it easily passes through the larynx, then through the oral cavity and between the ligaments, without encountering any obstacles. Thanks to them acoustic features, in particular, the fact that the length of a vowel sound can be any, they are also called musical, or tone.

How many vowels in Russian

In the presence of a dozen letters, only six sounds correspond to them - these sounds are [s], [e], [o], [y], [a], [and].

Some of the above vowels are graphically indicated using different letters. For example, [a] can give not only “a”, but also the letter “i” in a certain position, and sometimes an unstressed “o”: “Valentine”, “ball”, “board”.

The sound [y] can give not only the letter "y", but sometimes "y": "sledgehammer", "hatch".

The sound [o] except for the letter “o” gives “ё”: “cake”, “dog”.

The vowel sound [s] is given by the letter “s”, as well as the stressed “i”, if it is in position after the letters “zh”, “ts”, “sh”: “fang”, “circus performer”. Unstressed letters "e", "a", "o" can sometimes also denote this sound: "tested", "horses", "chocolate".

The vowel [e] can give the letters "e" and "e": "Mary", "forester".

But the vowel [and] is graphically indicated by just one “and”, if it is in a stressed position: “peaceful”. Without stress, this vowel can be given by the letters "a" ("watchmaker"), "i" ("rows"), "e" ("adjacent") standing after soft consonants. Also "and" following a soft consonant or at the beginning of a word ("player"); "e" at the beginning of the word ("whatnot").

Thus, considering the question of how many vowels are in Russian, it becomes clear why there are fewer of them than the letters themselves.

Letters vowels

Each vowel has its own graphic designation in the form of a letter. In our language, there are a dozen signs for vowel sounds. These are the letters "o", "y", "e", "a", "i", "i", "s", "e", "e", "yu".

At the same time, the vowel sounds themselves are almost half as many - six. A similar situation has arisen due to the fact that iotized "yu", "e", "ё", "I" are not separate sounds. Depending on their position in the word, these letters can represent different sounds.

Being at the beginning of a word, following vowels or after “b” and “b”, iotized letters denote a sound combination of two sounds (they are diphthongs): [j] and the corresponding vocales: “Yana”, “wash”, “curly”.

In cases where “u”, “ё”, “e”, “я” follow consonants, they denote the corresponding vowel sound, and also make the previous consonant soft: “accepted”.

Having dealt with the question of how many vowels are in the alphabet, and how many letters, it becomes clear why there was a significant difference.

Classification of vowels. Labialization

Having paid enough attention to two questions: how many vowels are in the Russian language, and how many signs are used to convey them in writing, it is worth moving on to classification. Vowel sounds, as well as their counterparts, consonants, have a number of features according to which they are assigned to different groups.

There are several of them: these are labialization (roundness), the method of formation (rise) and the place of formation (row).

Labialization or, in other words, roundness is a sign of participation or non-participation of elongated lips in the process of pronouncing a sound. No matter how many vowels there are in the language (in Russian, as in most other languages, there are six of them), only two of them [o] and [y] are labialized. Others do not have this property.

An interesting fact: the greater the use of rounded sounds in a particular language, the more melodious the speech sounds. Therefore, one of the most melodic languages ​​in the world is French, since the sounds [o] and [y] are very often used in it.

Method of vowel formation

The classification of vowels according to the method of formation is also called the classification according to the vertical rise of the tongue. In our language, according to the rise, vocales are divided into:
1) Lower rise - sound [a].
2) Average rise - [o] and [e].
3) Upper rise - the highest position of the tongue, characteristic of the pronunciation of sounds [y], [and], [s].

Place of vowel formation

Classification of vowels by place of formation (row), divides vowel sounds according to the horizontal position of the tongue during the pronunciation of a certain sound.

All vowel sounds at the place of formation are divided into:
1) Back row - sounds [y], [o], when they are formed, the tongue is pushed back as much as possible.
2) Middle row - sounds [a], [s]. When they are pronounced, the tongue does not move back so far and is in the so-called middle position.
3) Front row - sounds [e], [and]. Forming them, the tongue moves forward as much as possible.

classify and memorize distinctive properties vowel sounds are much simpler than consonants, since there are much fewer of them. However, for every educated person who strives to write and speak correctly, it is important to accurately understand how many vowel sounds in Russian, with the help of what graphic signs they are written. This knowledge can also be useful to those who are going abroad and for this begin to learn a foreign language. In related Slavic languages the pronunciation of vowels is in many ways similar to Russian, since all of them in the distant past came from the same Proto-Slavic language. AT foreign languages from other language families, the principles of vowel formation, as well as their classification, occur according to generally accepted rules in linguistics. So even when studying English or French, it is important for a person to have an idea of ​​how many vowels there are in Russian.

It is important not to confuse the concepts of letter and sound.

There are 10 vowels in Russian, but only 6 vowels:

a o u u s

21 consonants, and consonants 36:

b c d e f h j k l m n p q r s t v x

their paired soft options b c etc.

sounds that do not have paired softness and hardness:

In total, it turns out there are 42 sounds in Russian.

Interestingly, most sources indicate that there are 42 sounds in Russian. But this source assures that there are 43 sounds in the Russian language (of which 6 are vowels and 37 consonants), with a total number of letters equal to 33.

Interesting. But it seems to me that, say, the letter a in the words owl and room they are two different sounds.

Indeed, in the phonetic transcription of the Russian language, 9 or even 10 sounds are distinguished:

http://www.hi-edu.ru/e-books/xbook107/01/part-025.htm

http://www.gramota.ru/book/litnevskaya.php?part1.htm#4_2

There are 42 sounds in Russian. Of them vowel sounds 6- a, o, uh, and, u, s.

Consonants sounds 32 . And this despite the fact that there are only 21 consonant letters. But so many sounds arise due to the fact that some sounds have a pair of hardness-softness: hard n and soft n, hard d and soft d, and so on. The sounds sh, sh, c, d, h, j do not have a pair in terms of softness-hardness.

Different authors have it differently. In the lyceum they teach like this: in Russian - 10 vowel sounds. My son asks me: How so? After all, the sounds e, u, i are friendly sounds: they consist of a vowel and a consonant - Y? With this question, I turned to the teacher, because the child is right! In response, I heard the following: Forget what you know! We will talk about this in primary school, in the meantime, let him know 10 vowel sounds. It so happened that we taught the child according to one system, on preparatory courses in the lyceum they are told something completely different. And on next year The child will need to be retrained. Well, metamorphoses in our Russian education!

To date, according to the rules, in Russian there are 33 letters 42 sounds.

The letters b and b do not have sounds.

10 vowels give only 6 sounds - A, I, O, U, E, S.

21 consonants form 36 consonants.

15 letters - B, C, G, D, Z, K, L, M, N, P, R, C, T, F, X form 2 sounds each: hard b and soft b.

The letters Y, H, SH give one soft sound each, and the letters Zh, Sh, Ts form one hard sound each.

But some language researchers also distinguish other consonants.

Modern Russian has 33 letters. There are 10 vowels and 21 consonants, and there are two more signs. And there will be only 6 vowel sounds. There are much more consonant sounds - 36 sounds. And there are 42 sounds in the language.

There are 36 consonant sounds in Russian, but there are only 21 letters, because many letters have a solid and soft sound, which increases the number of sounds. As for vowels, there are only 6 of them in Russian, these are a, e, and, o, u, s. A total of 42 sounds are obtained.

There are 33 letters in Russian, or according to some, 31 letters and 2 characters. They have 9 units more sounds.

So - 33 letters - 10 vowels, 21 consonants, 2 signs. 42 sounds - 6 vowels (o, e, i, s, a, y), 36 consonants.

Human speech is made up of speech sounds. There are 33 letters in the Russian alphabet, 2 of which - b and b, do not have sounds. Vowels - 6 (a, and, o, u, e, s). Consonant sounds - 36. 15 letters are formed from letters containing two sounds each, these letters are b, c, d, d, z, k, l, m, n, p, p, s, t, x, f.

In Russian there are 10 vowels, 6 vowels. Vowels: a, i, e, e, o, u, s, e, u, i. Vowel sounds: [a], [o], [y], [e], [and], [s]. In the school curriculum, vowel sounds are indicated in the diagrams in red. AT primary school explain: vowels are called so because they “voice”, are pronounced “voiced”, while consonants got such a name because they “agree” with vowels.

Scheme 1. Vowels and vowel sounds of the Russian language.

Stressed and unstressed vowels

Vowel sounds are:

• drums: juice [o] - ice ['o], forest ['e] - mayor [e], drill [y] - hatch ['y],
• unstressed: in about yes [a], s at duck [y], l e juice [and].

Note. It is correct to say "stressed syllable" and "unstressed syllable". Instead of "stress falls on a vowel" say "stress falls on a syllable with a vowel." However, in the literature there are formulations "stressed vowel" and "unstressed vowel".

Stressed vowels are in a strong position, they are pronounced with more force and intonation. Unstressed vowels are in a weak position, they are pronounced with less force and may be subject to change.

Note. The designation of the letter e in a weak position differs in different school programs. Above, we showed the sound [and], in other school programs the designation [e] is found, in the institute program - [e and] (e with an overtone and).

In Russian, there are compound words with primary and secondary stress. In them, with a strong intonation, we highlight the main stress, with a weak intonation - a secondary one. For example, in the word foam blocks, the main stress falls on the syllable with the letter o, the secondary stress on the syllable with the letter e. In phonetic analysis, the vowel with the main stress is stressed, the vowel with the secondary stress is unstressed. For example: tricuspid, three-year-old.

Iotated vowel sounds

The letters i, u, e, e are called iotated and mean two sounds in the following positions of the word:

1. at the beginning of the word: tree [th "olka], Yana [th" ana], raccoon [th" inot];
2. after the vowel: hare [hare "its], button accordion [bai" an];
3. after b or b: streams [ruch "y" and], rise [fall "om].

For ё and stressed vowels i, u, e, a replacement is made: i → [y'a], yu → [y'y], e → [y'e], yo → [y'o]. For unstressed vowels, a replacement is used: i → [th "and], e → [th" and]. In some school programs, when compiling a transcription of a word and during phonetic analysis, they write Latin j instead of th.

The study of the Russian language begins at birth. Exactly then small man hears the first sounds, which, over time, adds up to words, phrases and sentences. Then the child goes to school, where these sounds familiar from childhood are classified and divided into How easy it is to remember the basics of the Russian language and not confuse anything, learn how many vowels are in Russian, and how many consonants? Let's find out together!

As you know, in our Great and Mighty there are 33 letters - 10 vowels and 23 consonants. Vowels are those sounds that are pronounced exclusively with the help of lips and tongue. The air flow during the pronunciation of such sounds does not encounter obstacles in the oral cavity, therefore vowel sounds are always clear, they can be sung. But in their classification, everything is not so simple. The basis of this division are two groups of vowels: ordinary and iotized. Common vowels include a, o, i, u, e, s. To ioted - I, yu, e, e. Thus, to the question of how many vowels are in Russian, the answer will be 6 ordinary and 4 iotized sounds.

Iotated vowels are those that in three positions simultaneously denote two sounds: [j] and [a] / [y] / [o] / [e]. Such positions are those when one of the iotized vowels is the first in a word, after a vowel, or after a soft or hard sign. Then it becomes double.

Sounds and letters in Russian sometimes correlate in a very unusual way. So, in a word there can be 5 letters and 6 sounds. An example of such a word is berry. If we produce we have the following result: [berry].

Consonants are also divided into several categories: voiced, voiceless, hissing and sonorous.

Deaf people form pairs with voiced ones. In other words, when a voiced consonant is at the end of a word or before a voiceless consonant, then it is pronounced as the corresponding voiceless consonant. There are 6 such pairs: f-w, v-f, d-t, b-p, g-k, s-s.

It is not difficult to guess what sounds are called hissing. Those, during the pronunciation of which the air passes through the oral cavity in such a way that a hiss is obtained. The letters l, m, n, p belong to K.

Some sounds and letters of the Russian language have certain features. One of the most unique letters of the Great and Mighty is ё. This element of the alphabet differs from other vowels at least in that it is always stressed. Often, in writing, the letter is replaced with e. This tradition appeared not so long ago, but it is gradually eradicating the vowel e from the Russian alphabet.

So, the classification of vowels and consonants of letters and sounds in the Russian alphabet at first glance may seem confusing and incomprehensible. But, knowing its main points, you can easily understand the structure of your native speech. First of all, it is necessary to learn how many vowel sounds in the Russian language, and how many consonants, into which groups they are divided. Remember that a thorough study of any language begins with some basic information that is taught in school. But in order not to depend on the school curriculum and to independently learn our Great and Mighty, you need to learn the alphabet, its letters and their basic properties, know how many vowels are in the Russian language, and how many consonants.

1. A a a
2. B b ba
3. in in ve
4. G G G G
5. D d de
6. E e e
7. Yo yo yo
8. Well
9. Z z ze
10. And and and
11. th and short
12. K to ka
13. L l el
14. M m um
15. N n en
16. Ltd
17. P p p p
18. R r er
19. S s es
20. T t te
21. u u u
22. f f ef
23. x x ha
24. C c c tse
25. h h th
26. Sh sh sha
27. shh shcha
28. ъ solid sign
29. s s s
30. b soft sign
31. uh uh
32. yu yu yu
33. I am I

How are letters different from sounds?

Sound is elastic vibrations in a medium. We hear sounds and can create them, among other things, with the help of the speech apparatus (lips, tongue, etc.).

A letter is a symbol of the alphabet. It has an uppercase (excl., ь and ъ) and a lowercase version. Often the letter is graphic image corresponding speech sound. We see and write letters. So that the pronunciation features do not affect the letter, spelling rules have been developed that determine which letters should be used in the word in question. An exact record of the pronunciation of a word can be found in the phonetic transcription of the word, which is shown in square brackets in dictionaries.

Vowels and sounds

Vowel sounds (“voice” is the Old Slavonic “voice”) are the sounds [a], [i], [o], [u], [s], [e], in the creation of which the vocal cords are involved, and on the way exhaled air is not blocked. These sounds are sung: [aaaaaaa], [iiiiii] ...

Vowels are denoted by the letters a, e, e, and, o, u, s, e, u, i. The letters e, e, u, i are called iotized. They denote two sounds, the first of which is [th "], when

1. stand first in the phonetic word e le [y "e ́ l" e] (3 letters, 4 sounds) e sche [y" and sch "oʹ] (3 letters, 4 sounds) , 3 sounds) Yu la [y "u l" a] (3 letters, 4 sounds) i block [y" a blaka] (6 letters, 7 sounds) i ichko [y" and ich "ka] (5 letters, 6 sounds)
2. follow after the vowels bird d [pt "itsy" e ́ t] (7 letters, 8 sounds) her [yy" o ́] (2 letters, 4 sounds) kayu ta [kai" u ta] (5 letters, 6 sounds) blue [with "in" y "a] (5 letters, 6 sounds)
3. follow after b and b enter zd [vy "e st] (5 letters, 5 sounds) rise m [fall "o m] (6 letters, 6 sounds) lew [l "y" y ́] (3 letters, 3 sounds ) wings [wing "th" a] (6 letters, 6 sounds)

The letter and also denotes two sounds, the first of which is [th "], when

1. follows after nightingales [salav "th" and ́] (7 letters, 7 sounds)

In a word, vowels highlighted during pronunciation are called stressed, and not highlighted are unstressed. Stressed sounds are most often both heard and written. To check what kind of letter you need to put in a word, you should choose a single-root word in which the desired unstressed sound will be stressed.

Running [b "igush" y"] - running g [b" e k] mountain ra [gara] - mountains [mountains]

Two words united by a single stress make one phonetic word.

To the garden [fsat]

There are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels. The division of a word into syllables may not correspond to the division during transfer.

Consonants and sounds

Consonant sounds are sounds, during the creation of which a barrier is erected in the way of the exhaled air.

Voiced consonants are pronounced with the participation of the voice, and deaf consonants without it. The difference is easy to hear in paired consonants, for example, [n] - [b], when pronouncing which the lips and tongue are in the same position.

Soft consonants are pronounced with the participation of the middle part of the tongue and are indicated in transcription by an apostrophe " what happens when consonants

1. are always soft [th "] , [h"] , [u"] ah [ah"] (2 letters, 2 sounds) beam [beam"] (3 letters, 3 sounds) bream [l" esch "] (3 letters, 3 sounds)
2. follow before the letters e, e, and, u, i, b (excl., always solid [g], [c], [w] and in borrowed words) stranded [m "el"] (4 letters, 3 sounds) aunt [t "ot" a] (4 letters, 4 sounds) people [l "oud" and] (4 letters, 4 sounds) life [zh yz "n"] (5 letters, 4 sounds) circus [ts yrk] (4 letters, 4 sounds) neck [sh eya] (3 letters, 4 sounds) tempo [t emp] (4 letters, 4 sounds)
3. followed by soft consonants (some cases) pancake [bl "in" h "ik]

The rest of the consonants will mostly be solid.

Hissing consonants include sounds [g], [w], [h "], [u"]. Speech therapists correct their pronunciation penultimate: the tongue must be strong and flexible in order to resist exhaled air and be held against the palate in the shape of a cup. Vibrating [p] and [p"] are always the last in line.

Do students need phonetics?

Without division into vowels, consonants, stressed, unstressed, of course, it is impossible. But transcription is a clear overkill.

Speech therapists are required to know the phonetic parsing of words, and probably it can be useful to foreigners.

For students (from grade 1!), who have not yet mastered the rules of spelling, a rather in-depth study of phonetics only hinders, confuses and contributes to incorrect memorization of the spelling of words. It is “back” that the child will associate with the pronounced “run”.