Alphabet vowels and consonants sounds and letters of the Russian language. How to distinguish between voiced and voiceless consonants. Softness and hardness of consonants

What sounds are called consonants?
What is a consonant made of?
What are consonant sounds?
How many consonant letters and consonant sounds are there in the Russian alphabet?
Which consonants are always hard and which are always soft?
What letters indicate the softness of a consonant sound?

Sounds, during the pronunciation of which air meets an obstacle in the mouth, are called consonants. A consonant sound consists of noise and voice, or only noise.

The consonants are divided into voiced and deaf. Voiced sounds are made up of noise and voice, deaf sounds are made up of noise only.

Sounds consist only of noise: [k], [p], [s], [t], [f], [x], [c], [h], [w], [u]. These are voiceless consonants.

Many consonants form couples by voice-deafness: [b] — [p], [c] — [f], [g] — [k], [d] — [t], [s] — [s], [f] — [sh].

To memorize voiced consonants, you can learn the phrase: " LION AND TOAD HAVE MANY FRIENDS».
See all phrases for memorizing voiced and voiceless consonants.

Deaf consonants are easy to remember by the phrase: " STEPKA, WANT A CHICK?— Ugh!».

Consonant sounds are indicated by letters:

B,AT,G,D,F,W,Y,To,L,M,H,P,R,With,T,F,X,C,H,W,SCH.

In total, the Russian language has 21 consonants.

Consonants are also hard and soft.

Solid and soft sounds differ in the position of the tongue during pronunciation. When pronouncing soft consonants, the middle back of the tongue is raised to the hard palate.

Most consonants form pairs of hardness-softness:

The following hard and soft consonants do not form pairs in hardness-softness:

Table "Consonants: paired and unpaired, voiced and deaf, hard and soft" (Grades 1-4)

Note: in primary school hard consonants are indicated in blue, soft consonants - in green, vowels are in red.

Hardness consonants are indicated in writing by vowels BUT , O , At , S , E .

Softness consonant sound is indicated in writing by vowels E , Yo , I , Yu , I, as well as the letter b(soft sign).

Compare: nose[nose] - carried[n❜os], injection[injection] - coal[ugal❜].

Unpaired voiced sounds [d❜], [l], [l❜], [m], [m❜] [n], [n❜] [r], [r❜] are called sonorous, which means "sonorous" in Latin.

Sounds [g], [w], [h❜], [u❜] are called hissing. They got this name because their pronunciation is like a hiss.

Sounds [w], [w] are unpaired solid hissing sounds.
The sounds [h❜] and [u❜] are unpaired soft hissing sounds.

The sounds [c], [s❜], [z], [z❜], [c] are called whistling.

Consonant can not be percussive or unpercussed.

In Russian, there are more consonant sounds (36) than consonant letters (21), since one letter can denote paired hard and soft sounds: for example, the letter L (el) denotes the sounds [l] and [l❜].

Attention! A consonant can form a syllable only with

In this chapter:

§one. Sound

Sound is the smallest unit of sounding speech. Each word has a sound shell, consisting of sounds. The sound is related to the meaning of the word. At different words and forms of the word, the sound design is different. The sounds themselves do not matter, but they play an important role: they help us to distinguish between:

• words: [house] - [volume], [volume] - [there], [m'el] - [m'el']
• word forms: [house] - [lady´] - [do´ ma].

Note:

words written in square brackets are given in transcription.

§2. Transcription

Transcription is a special recording system that displays the sound. Symbols accepted in transcription:

Square brackets, which are the designation of transcription.

[ ´ ] - stress. The stress 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 softness designation:, [th ']. On this site, the designation [th ’] is adopted, which is more familiar to most guys. The soft icon will be used to get you used to the fact that this sound is soft.

There are other symbols as well. 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 a different nature. They are pronounced and perceived differently, as well as behave differently in speech and play different roles in it.

Vowels- these are sounds, during the pronunciation of which air freely passes through the oral cavity, without encountering obstacles in its path. 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. They can be screamed at. And if you put your hand to your throat, then the work of the vocal cords when pronouncing vowels can be felt, felt with your hand. Vowels are the basis of the syllable, they organize it. There are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels. For example: is he- 1 syllable, she is- 2 syllables, guys- 3 syllables, etc. There are words that consist of one vowel sound. For example, unions: and, a and interjections: Oh!, Ah!, Woo! other.

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.
AT unstressed syllables vowels are modified, pronounced differently. Changing vowels in unstressed syllables is called reduction.

There are six stressed vowels in Russian: [a], [o], [y], [s], [i], [e].

Remember:

Words are possible that can only consist of vowels, but consonants are also necessary.
There are many more consonants in Russian than vowels.

§4. Method of formation of consonants

Consonants- these are sounds, during the pronunciation of which the air meets an obstacle in its path. In Russian, there are two types of barriers: a gap and a bow - these are the two main ways of forming consonants. The type of barrier determines the nature of the consonant sound.

gap is formed, for example, when pronouncing sounds: [s], [s], [w], [g]. The tip of the tongue only approaches the lower or upper teeth. Slotted consonants can be pulled: [s-s-s-s], [sh-sh-sh-sh] . As a result, you will hear the noise well: when pronouncing [c] - whistling, and when pronouncing [w] - hissing.

bow, The second type of articulation of consonants is formed when the organs of speech are closed. The air flow abruptly overcomes this barrier, the sounds are short, energetic. That is 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, feel.

So, when pronouncing consonants, noise is heard. The presence of noise hallmark consonants.

§5. Voiced and voiceless consonants

According to the ratio of noise and voice, consonants are divided into voiced and deaf.
When pronouncing voiced consonants, both voice and noise are heard, and deaf- just noise.
Deaf people cannot be spoken loudly. They cannot be shouted.

Compare words: house and cat. Each word has 1 vowel and 2 consonants. The vowels are the same, but the consonants are different: [d] and [m] are voiced, and [k] and [t] are deaf. Voiced-deafness is the most important sign of consonants in Russian.

voiced-deafness pairs:[b] - [n], [h] - [c] and others. There are 11 such pairs.

Pairs for deafness-voicedness: [p] and [b], [p "] and [b"], [f] and [c], [f "] and [c"], [k] and [g], [k"] and [g"], [t] and [d], [t"] and [d"], [w] and [g], [s] and [h], [s"] and [ h"].

But there are sounds that do not have a pair on the basis of sonority - deafness. For example, the sounds [p], [l], [n], [m], [th '] do not have a voiceless pair, but [c] and [h '] do not have a voiced pair.

Unpaired in deafness-voicedness

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 pronunciation features: when they are pronounced in the oral cavity, barriers also arise, but such that the air stream, passing through the barrier, forms only a slight noise; air passes freely through the opening in the nasal or oral cavity. Sonorants are pronounced with the help of a voice with the addition of a slight noise. Many teachers do not use this term, but everyone should know that these voiced unpaired sounds.

Sonorants have two important features:

1) they are not deafened, like paired voiced consonants, before deaf and at the end of a word;

2) there is no voicing of paired deaf consonants before them (i.e., the position in front of them is strong in deafness-voicedness, as well as before vowels). For more information about positional changes, see .

Deaf unpaired:[c], [h "], [w":], [x], [x "].

What is the easiest way to remember lists of voiced and voiceless consonants?

Phrases will help memorize the lists of voiced and deaf consonants:

Oh, we didn't forget each other!(Here only voiced consonants)

Foka, do you want to eat a soup?(Here only voiceless consonants)

True, these phrases do not include hardness-softness pairs. But usually people can easily figure out that not only hard [s] is voiced, but soft [s"] too, not only [b], but also [b"], etc.

§6. Hard and soft consonants

Consonants differ not only in deafness-voicedness, but also in hardness-softness.
Hardness-softness- the second most important sign of consonants in Russian.

Soft consonants differ from solid special position of the language. When pronouncing hard, the entire body of the tongue is pulled back, and when pronouncing soft, it is shifted forward, and middle part the tongue is raised. Compare: [m] - [m ’], [h] - [h ’]. Voiced soft ones sound higher than hard ones.

Many Russian consonants form pairs of hardness-softness: [b] - [b '], [ c] - [ c '] and others. There are 15 such pairs.

Pairs by hardness-softness: [b] and [b "], [m] and [m"], [p] and [p "], [c] and [c"], [f] and [f"] , [h] and [h "], [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-softness. For example, the sounds [zh], [w], [c] do not have a soft pair, but [y '] and [h '] do not have a hard pair.

Unpaired in hardness-softness

Solid unpaired: [w], [w], [c] .

Soft unpaired: [th"], [h"], [w":].

§7. The designation of the softness of consonants in writing

Let's digress from pure phonetics. Consider a practically important question: how is the softness of consonants indicated in writing?

There are 36 consonants in Russian, including 15 pairs of hardness-softness, 3 unpaired hard and 3 unpaired soft consonants. There are only 21 consonants. How can 21 letters represent 36 sounds?

For this, they are used different ways:

• iotated letters e, yo, yu, i after consonants except sh, w and c, unpaired in hardness-softness, indicate that these consonants are soft, for example: uncle- [t’o´ t’a], uncle -[Yes Yes] ;
• letter and after consonants except sh, w and c. Consonants denoted by letters sh, w and c, unpaired hard. Examples of words with a vowel and: no´ tki- [n’i´ tk’i], sheet- [l'ist], cute- [cute'] ;
• letter b, after consonants except sh, w, after which the soft sign is an indicator of the grammatical form. Examples of words with soft sign: request- [proz'ba], stranded- [m'el'], distance- [gave '].

Thus, the softness of consonants in writing is transmitted not by special letters, but by combinations of consonant letters with letters i, e, e, u, i and b. Therefore, when parsing, I advise you to turn Special attention to adjacent letters after consonants.

Discussing the problem of interpretation

School textbooks say that [w] and [w ’] - unpaired in hardness-softness. How so? After all, we hear that the sound [w ’] is a soft analogue of the sound [w].
When I studied at school myself, I could not understand why? Then my son went to school. He had the same question. It appears in all the guys who are thoughtful about learning.

Bewilderment arises because school textbooks do not take into account that the sound [w ’] is also long, but the hard [w] is not. Pairs are sounds that differ in only one feature. 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 [sh ']. It seems that it is easier for children to use one more additional sign than to face an illogical, unclear and misleading statement. Everything is simple. So that generation after generation does not rack their brains, it is necessary, finally, to show that a soft hissing sound is long.

There are two icons for this in linguistic practice:

1) superscript above the sound;
2) colon.

The use of an accent mark is inconvenient because it is not provided by the character set that can be used in computer typing. This means that the following possibilities remain: the use of a colon [w':] or a grapheme denoting the letter [w'] . I think the first option is preferable. Firstly, at first, guys often mix sounds and letters. The use of a letter in transcription will create a basis for such confusion, provoke an error. Secondly, the guys now start learning early foreign languages. And the [:] sign, when used to indicate the length of a sound, is already familiar to them. Thirdly, a transcription with a colon [:] for longitude will perfectly convey the features of the sound. [w ':] - soft and long, both features that make up its difference from the sound [w] are presented clearly, simply and unambiguously.

What advice would you give to children who are now studying according to generally accepted textbooks? You need to understand, comprehend, and then remember that in fact the sounds [w] and [w ':] do not form a pair of hardness-softness. And I advise you to transcribe them as your teacher requires.

§eight. Place of formation of consonants

Consonants differ not only in the signs you already know:

• deafness-voicedness,
• 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, [c], [c '], [f], [f ' ] - labio-dental, all the rest - lingual: front-lingual [t], [t '], [d], [d '], [n], [n '], [s], [s '], [s ], [h '], [w], [g], [w ':], [h '], [c], [l], [l '], [p], [p '] , middle lingual [th '] and back lingual [k], [k '], [g], [g '], [x], [x '].

§nine. Positional changes in sounds

1. Strong-weak positions for vowels. Positional vowel changes. 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, the stressed syllable, the unstressed syllable, the position before the vowel, the position before the 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 the sounds are not subject to positionally determined changes and appear in their main form. A strong position is distinguished 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 stressed, and the weak position is unstressed.
In unstressed syllables, vowels undergo changes: they are shorter and not pronounced as distinctly 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.

Sounds corresponding to stressed [o] and [a], after hard consonants in a weak, unstressed position, sound the same. Normative in the Russian language is recognized as "akanye", i.e. nondiscrimination O and BUT in an unstressed position after hard consonants.

• under stress: [house] - [lady] - [o] ≠ [a].
• without accent: [d a ma´] -at home´ - [d a la´] -dala´ - [a] = [a].

Sounds corresponding to stressed [a] and [e], after soft consonants in a weak, unstressed position, sound the same. The normative pronunciation is "hiccups", i.e. nondiscrimination E and BUT in unstressed position after soft consonants.

• under stress: [m'ech '] - [m'ach '] - [e] ≠ [a].
• without stress: [m'ich'o´ m] - sword´ m -[m'ich'o´ m] - ball´ m - [and] = [and].
• But what about the vowels [and], [s], [y]? Why was nothing said about them? The fact is that these vowels in a weak position undergo 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 present a problem.

[ly´ zhy], [in _lu´ zhu], [n'i´ t'i] - both in strong and weak positions, the quality of vowels does not change. Both under stress and in an unstressed position, we clearly hear: [s], [y], [and] and write the letters with which these sounds are usually denoted.

Discussing the problem of interpretation

What vowel sounds are actually pronounced in unstressed syllables after hard consonants?

Performing phonetic analysis and transcribing words, many guys express bewilderment. In long polysyllabic words, after solid consonants, the sound [a] is not pronounced, as school textbooks say, but something else.

They are right.

Compare the pronunciation of the words: Moscow - Muscovites. Repeat each word several times and listen for the vowel in the first syllable. With a word Moscow everything is simple. We pronounce: [maskva´] - the sound [a] is clearly audible. And the word Muscovites? In accordance with literary norm, in all syllables, except for the first syllable before the stress, as well as the positions of the beginning and end of the word, we do not pronounce [a], but a different sound: less distinct, less clear, more like [s] than [a]. In the scientific tradition, this sound is denoted by the icon [ъ]. So, we really say: [malako´] - milk ,[harasho´ ] - well ,[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 hear clearly that the sounds in the following examples are different, cannot understand why the teacher and the textbook insist that these sounds are the same. Actually:

[in a Yes ] - water´ -[in b d’other’] - water ´ th:[a]≠[b]
[dr a wa´ ] - firewood´ -[dr b v’ino´ th’] - wood fired:[a]≠[b]

A special subsystem is 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 vowels are actually pronounced in unstressed syllables after soft consonants?

I have the greatest sympathy for the guys who study from textbooks offered on the spot BUT,E, O after soft consonants, hear and translate the sound “and, prone to e” in transcription. I consider it fundamentally wrong to give schoolchildren as the only option the outdated pronunciation norm - “ekanye”, which is much less common today than “hiccups”, mainly among very elderly people. Guys, feel free to write in an unstressed position in the first syllable before the stress in place BUT 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 resembling [and] and denoted as [ь]. 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 quite another.
The transcription sign [ъ] denotes 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 [ь] denotes a vowel after soft consonants in unstressed syllables, except for the first syllable before stress.
The letter b is a soft sign.
Transcription signs, unlike letters, are given in square brackets.

end of word- special position. It shows clearing of vowels after soft consonants. The system of unstressed endings is a special phonetic subsystem. In her E and BUT differ:

Building[heel n’i’e] - building[building´ n’i’a], me´ nie[mn’e´ n’iy’e] - me´ nia[mn’e´ n’iy’a], mo´ re[mo´ r'e] - seas[mo´ r'a], vo´ la[vo´ l'a] - at will[na_vo´ l'e]. Keep this in mind when doing phonetic parsing of words.

Check:

How does your teacher require you to designate unstressed vowels. If he uses simplified system transcription, no big deal: it's widely accepted. Just do not be surprised that you really hear different sounds in an unstressed position.

2. Strong-weak positions for consonants. Positional changes of consonants

For all consonants without exception, the strong position is position before a vowel. Before vowels, consonants appear in their basic form. Therefore, when doing phonetic analysis, do not be afraid to make a mistake characterizing a consonant in a strong position: [dacha] - country house,[t'l'iv'i´ zar] - TV set,[s’ino´ n’im] - synonyms,[b'ir'o´ zy] - birches,[karz "and´ us] - baskets. All consonants in these examples are before vowels, i.e. in a strong position.

Strong positions in voicelessness:

• before vowels: [there] - there,[ladies] - ladies,
• before unpaired voiced [r], [r '], [l], [l '], [n], [n '], [m], [m '], [d ']: [dl'a] - for,[tl'a] - aphid,
• Before [in], [in ']: [own'] - mine,[ringing] - ringing.

Remember:

In a strong position, voiced and deaf consonants do not change their quality.

Weak positions in deafness-voicedness:

• in front of pairs for deafness-voicedness: [weak tk’y] - sweet,[zu´ pk'i] - teeth.
• before deaf unpaired ones: [apkhva´ t] - girth, [fhot] - entrance.
• at the end of a word: [zoop] - tooth,[dup] - oak.
  

Positional changes of consonants according to deafness-voicedness

In weak positions, consonants are modified: positional changes occur with them. Voiced ones become deaf, i.e. deafened, and the deaf - voiced, i.e. voiced. Positional changes are observed only in paired consonants.

Stunning-voicing of consonants

Voiced stunning occurs in positions:

• in front of paired deaf people: [fsta´ v’it’] - in become,
• at the end of a word: [clat] - treasure.

Voicing of the deaf happens in position:

• before paired voiced: [kaz'ba´] - to with bba´

Strong positions in hardness-softness:

• before vowels: [mat'] - mother,[m'at'] - crush,
• at the end of a word: [out] - out,[out'] - stink,
• before labial-labial: [b], [b '], [n], [n '], [m], [m '] and back-lingual: [k], [k '], [g], [g' ], [x[, [x'] for sounds [s], [s'], [s], [s'], [t], [t'], [d], [d'], [n ], [n'], [r], [r']: [sa´ n'k'i] - Sa´ nks(born pad.), [s´ ank'i] - sled,[bu´ lka] - bu´ lka,[bu´ l'kat'] - boo' lkat,
• 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], [h], which are necessarily softened:, [z'd'es'],
• before [h '] and [w ':] for [n], which is necessarily softened: [by´ n'h'ik] - donut,[ka´ m'n'sh': ik] - bricklayer.

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], [h]: snow -[s'n'ek] and, piss off -[z’l’it’] and [zl’it’]
• before soft anterior lingual, [h ’] for anterior lingual [t], [d] - lift -[pad’n’a´ t ’] and [padn’a´ t’] , take away -[at’n’a´ t’] and [atn’a´ t’]
• before soft anterior lingual [t "], [d"], [s "], [s"] for anterior lingual [n]: vi´ ntik -[v'i´ n "t" ik] and [v'i´ nt'ik], pension -[p’e´ n’s’iy’a] and [p’e´ ns’iy’a]
• before soft labials [c '], [f '], [b '], [n '], [m '] for labials: write in -[f "p" isa' t '] and [fp" is' at '], ri´ fme(dat. pad.) - [r'i´ f "m" e] and [r'i´ fm "e]

Remember:

In all cases, in a weak position, positional softening of consonants is possible.
Writing a soft sign with positional softening of consonants is a mistake.

Positional changes of consonants according to the features of the method and place of formation

Naturally, in the school tradition it is not customary to state the characteristics of sounds and the positional changes that occur with them in all details. But the general laws of phonetics need to be learned. Without this, it is difficult to do phonetic analyzes and complete test tasks. Therefore, below is a list of positionally determined changes in consonants according to the features of the method and place of formation. This material is a tangible help for those who want to avoid errors in phonetic parsing.

Assimilation of consonants

The logic is this: the Russian language is characterized by the likeness of sounds if they are similar in some way and at the same time are close.

Learn the list:

[c] and [w] → [w:] - sew

[h] and [g] → [g:] - compress

[s] and [h ’] - at the root of words → [w':] - happiness, account
- at the junction of morphemes and words → [w':h'] - comb, dishonest, with what (a preposition followed by a word is pronounced together, like one word)

[s] and [w':] → [w':] - split

[t] and [c] - in verb forms → [ts:] - smiles
-at the junction prefixes and root → [cs] - sleep

[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

Distinguishing consonants

Dissimilarity is the process of positional change, the opposite of likening.

[g] and [k '] → [x'k '] - easy

Simplifying consonant clusters

Learn the list:

vstv - [stv]: hello, feel
zdn - [zn]: late
zdts - [sc] : under the bridle
lnts - [nts]: sun
NDC - [nc]: Dutch
ndsh - [nsh:] landscape
ntg - [ng]: x-ray
RDC - [rc]: a heart
rdch - [rh']: heart
stl - [sl ']: happy
stn - [sn]: local

Pronunciation of groups of sounds:

In the forms of adjectives, pronouns, participles, there are letter combinations: wow, him. AT place G they pronounce [in]: him, beautiful, blue.
Avoid spelling. say the words him, blue, beautiful right.

§ten. Letters and sounds

Letters and sounds are different purpose and different nature. But these are comparable systems. Therefore, the types of relationships need to be known.

Types of ratio of letters and sounds:

1. A letter denotes a sound, such as vowels after hard consonants and consonants before vowels: weather.
2. The letter has no sound value of its own, for example b and b: mouse
3. The letter stands for two sounds, for example, iotized vowels e, yo, yu, i in positions:
   • the beginning of a word
   • after vowels,
   • after the separation b and b.
4. The letter may indicate the sound and quality of the preceding sound, such as iotized vowels and and after soft consonants.
5. The letter may indicate the quality of the preceding sound, for example b in words shadow, stump, firing.
6. Two letters can represent one sound, often a long one: sew, squeeze, rush
7. Three letters correspond to one sound: smile - ts -[c:]

test of strength

Check your understanding of the contents of this chapter.

Final test

1. 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 organs of speech at the moment of pronouncing the sound

2. What is called reduction?

   • pronunciation of vowels under stress
   • pronouncing unstressed vowels
   • special pronunciation of consonants

3. At what sounds does the air stream encounter an obstacle in its path: a bow or a gap?

   • Vowels
   • Consonants

4. Can voiceless consonants be pronounced loudly?

5. Are the vocal cords involved in the pronunciation of voiceless consonants?

6. How many pairs form consonants according to deafness-voicedness?

7. How many consonants do not have a deafness-voiced pair?

8. How many pairs do Russian consonants form according to hardness-softness?

9. How many consonants do not have a pair of hardness-softness?

10. How is the softness of consonants conveyed in writing?

    • Special icons
    • Letter combinations

11. What is the name of the position of the sound in the flow of speech, in which it appears in its basic form, without undergoing positional changes?

    • Strong position
    • Weak position

12. What sounds have strong and weak positions?

    • Vowels
    • Consonants
    • All: both vowels and consonants

Right answers:

1. From the shape of the oral cavity at the moment of pronouncing the sound
2. pronouncing unstressed vowels
3. Consonants
4. Letter combinations
5. Strong position
6. All: both vowels and consonants

In contact with

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. The exact 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 ъ entry zd [vy "e st] (5 letters, 5 sounds) rise m [fall" o m] (6 letters, 6 sounds) lew [l" 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 rule their pronunciation penultimately: 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”.

Introduction

In Russian, all letters, both vowels and consonants, are its basis. After all, thanks to letters, syllables are formed, and with the help of syllables we compose words, from words, expressions, sentences, and so on.

But today's lesson we will start by studying the consonants of the Russian language.

Consonants

Distinguish between consonants and sounds. What are these letters that are called consonants? To understand what consonants are, let's learn about the origin of the word "consonants". And they are called so because they always go next to vowels or together with vowels.

There is a fundamental difference between consonants and vowels. If you remember that all vowels can be easily pulled or even sung, then consonants should be pronounced as short as possible. The only exceptions are hissing consonants, since they can also be pulled.

The alphabet of the Russian language has twenty-one consonants and 37 consonants.

Consonants

Voiced and deaf sounds

Consonants are divided into voiced and unvoiced sounds. Here, pay attention to the letters that are written in pairs. If you look closely, then in each pair there is one letter that has a deaf sound, and the other has a voiced sound.

Silent letters mean a dull sound, and when we pronounce them, we hear only noise, while pronouncing voiced letters, we can hear not only noise, but also a voice.

B - P, Z - S, D - T, G - K

But in this moment we see letters that have a pair. These pairs in Russian can be counted eleven pieces. But not all letters got pairs, so in the Russian alphabet there are also unpaired voiced, as well as unpaired deaf.

An exercise: Think of words for paired voiced and deaf sounds.

Soft and hard sounds

In addition to voiced and unvoiced letters of the alphabet can have soft and hard consonants.

During the pronunciation of sounds, in accordance with what sound we pronounce, the position of our tongue changes. When pronouncing soft consonants, our language takes one position, and when it is hard, it is completely different.

Now let's try to pronounce soft sounds first, and then hard ones. If you notice, then when pronouncing soft consonants, we move the tongue a little forward and at the same time its middle part slightly rises. But when we pronounce hard consonants, our tongue is slightly pulled back.

Vowels and sounds in Russian

Now we invite you to remember what vowel sounds and letters are in Russian. There are only ten of us:

Pronouncing vowels, unlike consonants, during pronunciation we can pull or sing them, and at the same time we feel how the air passes through the entire oral cavity, and we clearly hear our voice.

Exercise 1.

Write the word rose

1. Change the letter z to s in this word.
2. What word did you get?
3. What has now changed in the third sound, and how did it begin to sound?
4. What are all the vowels in this word?
5. What are the consonants in this word?

Exercise 2.

Cat, juice, small, feast, bow, ball

1. Replace the vowels in these words with other vowels.
2. What kind of words did you get?
3. Write down the new words you come up with.
4. How are vowels read in previous words?
5. How should sounds be read, hard or soft, in newly formed words?

Homework

1. Vowels and consonants - what is their difference?
2. What is the difference between letters and sounds?
3. Does the number of letters of the Russian alphabet match the number of sounds?
4. Why are there fewer vowels in Russian than vowels?
5. How can you explain why there are more sounds than letters?
6. What types of consonant sounds are divided into?

Is the letter "Y" a vowel or a consonant, hard or soft? Phonetic analysis of the word.

This question is often asked by students who need to parse a word according to all the rules of phonetics. You will get the answer to it a little further.

General information.

Before talking about what the letter “y” is (soft or hard), you should find out why the letters of the Russian alphabet are generally divided according to such criteria.

The fact is that each word has its own sound shell, which consists of separate sounds. It should be noted that the sound of this or that expression is fully consistent with its meaning. At the same time, different words and their forms have completely different sound design. The sounds themselves don't matter. However, they play an important role in the Russian language. After all, thanks to them, we can easily distinguish words.
Let's give an example : [house] - [lady´] - [home´ma]; [m'el] - [m'el '], [volume] - [there], [house] - [volume].

Transcription.

Why do we need information about what the letter "y" is (hard or soft)? During a word, it is very important to correctly display the transcription that describes its sound. In such a system, it is customary to use the following symbols:

- This designation is called square brackets. They must be put to indicate transcription.

[ ´] is an accent. It is placed if the word has more than one syllable.

[b '] - a kind of comma is placed next to the consonant letter and indicates its softness.

By the way, during the phonetic analysis of words, the following symbol is often used - [j]. As a rule, they denote the sound of the letter “y” (sometimes a symbol such as [y] is also used).

Letter "y": consonant or vowel?

As you know, in Russian all sounds are divided into consonants and vowels. They are perceived and pronounced differently.

Vowel sounds are those sounds during the pronunciation of which air passes easily and freely through the mouth, without encountering any obstacles in its path. Moreover, they can be pulled, with the help of them you can scream. If you put your palm to your throat, then the work of the cords (voice) during the pronunciation of vowels can be quite easily felt. There are 6 stressed vowels in Russian, namely: [a], [e], [u], [s], [o] and [i].

Consonant sounds are those sounds during the pronunciation of which the air meets an obstacle in its path, namely a bow or a gap. Their appearance determines the nature of the sounds. As a rule, a gap is formed when pronouncing [s], [w], [h] and [g]. In this case, the tip of the tongue approaches the upper or lower teeth. The presented consonants can be drawn (for example, [zh-zh-zh], [z-z-z]). As for the bow, such a barrier is formed due to the closing of the organs of speech. The air, or rather its flow, abruptly overcomes it, due to which the sounds are energetic and short. That is why they are called explosive. By the way, it is impossible to pull them (try it yourself: [p], [b], [t], [d]).

In addition to the above consonants, the Russian language also has the following: [m], [d], [c], [f], [g], [l], [p], [h], [c], [x] . As you can see, there are many more than vowels.

Silent and voiced sounds.

By the way, many consonants form between pairs of deafness and sonority: [k] - [g], [b] - [p], [h] - [c], [d] - [t], [f] - [c], etc. In total, there are 11 such pairs in Russian. However, there are sounds that do not have pairs on this basis. These include: [th], [p], [n], [l], [m] are unpaired voiced, and [h] and [c] are unpaired voiceless.

Soft and hard consonants.

As you know, consonants differ not only in sonority or, conversely, deafness, but also in softness and hardness. This property represents the second most important feature of sounds.

So, the letter "y": hard or soft? To answer this question, you should consider each feature separately:

During the pronunciation of soft consonants, the entire tongue moves slightly forward, and its middle part rises slightly.
During the pronunciation of hard consonants, the entire tongue is literally pulled back.

It should be especially noted that many consonants form pairs among themselves according to such features as softness and hardness: [d] - [d '], [p] - [p '], etc. There are 15 such pairs in total. However, there are also sounds that do not have pairs on this basis. What solid letters are unpaired? These include the following - [w], [g] and [c]. As for unpaired soft ones, these are [u '], [h '] and [y '].

Letter designation.

Now you know the information about whether the letter "y" is hard or soft. But here comes new question: "How is the softness of such sounds indicated in writing?" For this, completely different methods are used:

The letters "e", "u", "ё", "i" after the consonants (not counting "zh", "sh", and "c") indicate that these consonants are soft. Let's give an example: uncle - [d'a´d'a], aunt - [t'o´t'a].
The letter "i" after the consonants (not counting "zh", "sh", and "c") indicates that these consonants are soft. Let's give an example: cute - [m'and'cute'], sheet - [l'ist], nowhere - [n'i´tk'i].
The soft sign ("ь") after consonants (not counting "zh" and "w") is an indicator of grammatical form. It also indicates that consonants are soft. Examples example: distance - [gave '], stranded - [m'el '], request - [proz'ba].

As you can see, the softness of consonant sounds in writing is conveyed not by individual letters, but by their combinations with the vowels "e", "yu", "ё", "ya", as well as a soft sign. That is why, when phonetically parsing a word, experts recommend paying attention to neighboring characters.

As for the vowel "y", it is always soft. In this regard, in transcription it is usually denoted as follows: [th ']. That is, the comma symbol, indicating the softness of the sound, must always be set. [u '], [h '] obey the same rule.

Let's summarize.

As you can see, there is nothing difficult in correctly making a phonetic analysis of any word. To do this, you just need to know what vowels and consonants are, deaf and voiced, as well as soft and hard. For a better understanding of how it is necessary to arrange transcription, here are a few detailed examples.

1. The word "hero". Consists of two syllables, with the 2nd being stressed. Let's do a breakdown:

G - [g ’] - voiced, consonant and soft.
p - [p] - voiced, consonant, unpaired and hard.
o - [o] - stressed vowel.
th - [th ’] - voiced, consonant, unpaired and soft.

Total: 5 letters and 5 sounds.

2. The word "trees". Consists of three syllables, with the 2nd being stressed. Let's do a breakdown:

D - [d '] - voiced, consonant and soft.
e - [and] - unstressed vowel.
p - [p '] - voiced, consonant, unpaired and soft.
e - [e´] - stressed vowel.
in - [in '] - voiced, consonant and soft
b - [–]
e - [y '] - voiced, consonant, unpaired and soft and [e] - vowel, unstressed;
in - [f] - deaf,