What are all the vowels? Vowels and consonants sounds and letters – Knowledge Hypermarket

The most important part of speech are words; we pronounce, write and read them, and from them we put together phrases and sentences. They consist of letters and sounds that have become so firmly established in our lives that we hardly notice them.

Letters and sounds are not the same thing, although they are closely interrelated concepts. We write, see and read letters, and we pronounce and hear sounds. Letters are graphic written symbols, while sounds are the acoustic component of words and human speech in general. In different words, the same letter sometimes corresponds to different sounds.

“In the beginning there was the word. Then words, words, words..." (author Vladimir Kolechitsky).

“The word is given to a person not for self-satisfaction, but for the embodiment and transmission of that thought, that feeling, that share of truth and inspiration that he possesses - to other people.” (author V. Korolenko).

Various branches of linguistic science study letters and sounds. Studies sounds phonetics, and alphabetic characters - graphic arts. Spelling letters is a prerogative spelling .

The collection of letters of any language makes up its alphabet. The letters of the Russian language are divided into consonants, vowels and auxiliaries. Auxiliary signs include those that do not carry sound information - hard and soft signs.

Consonants and sounds of the Russian alphabet

Consonant sounds and letters are characterized by the fact that during their pronunciation a certain obstacle appears in the path of air in the oral cavity. As a result, noise is necessarily present in the acoustic sound of consonants. They got the name “consonants” because they almost always stand next to vowels or in the same word with them.

There are a total of 21 consonant letters in the Russian language:

b V G d and h th
To l m n P R With
T f X ts h w sch

Another characteristic feature of consonants is that they cannot be chanted. The pronunciation of sibilant consonants can be stretched (for example: With , f , w , sch), but “singing” will not work.

As noted above, consonants in words almost always coexist with vowels. However, there are a limited number of words that consist only of consonants. Along with prepositions To , With or particle b, these are some foreign proper names ( Krch- Prague region; Armenian name Mkrtch, which in Russian is sometimes written with a vowel - for euphony), as well as interjections like brr or shh .

The classification of consonant letters and sounds in the Russian language is based on acoustic criteria.

Voiced and voiceless consonants

Those consonants whose pronunciation consists only of noise are called voiceless. In contrast, consonants formed by sound and noise are called voiced.

The letter stands apart th(and short). According to its acoustic sound, it is classified as a voiced consonant, however, it is impossible to pronounce it in isolation. Letter th can only be pronounced together with a preceding or following vowel sound, for example [yy], [yy], etc.

Paired and unpaired consonants

Most voiced consonants correspond to certain unvoiced ones. Such letters that are consonant with each other are called paired. There are also consonants that do not have a pair. Among them there are also deaf and voiced, and they are called unpaired .

Paired voiced and voicelessUnpaired voicedUnpaired deaf
b - p l X
v - f m ts
g - k n h
d - t R sch
f - w th
z - s

Soft and hard consonants

The pronunciation of consonants in words can be hard or soft. If the sound is pronounced softly, the tongue moves forward slightly, approaching or touching the upper palate. When pronouncing hard sounds, the tongue does not move forward (but the tongue can touch the upper palate due to an upward movement).

Most consonants form both hard and soft sounds, but there are some exceptions. In particular, the letters and , ts , w always have a hard sound, and the letters th , h , sch- soft.

In other cases, the hardness or softness of the consonants is determined by which letter comes after them.

If the consonant is accompanied by letters A , O , at , uh , s , ъ- then you get a solid sound. The same applies if a consonant is at the end of a word or another consonant comes after it.

If the consonant is accompanied by letters e , e , And , Yu , I , b- then its sound will be soft.
Video lesson

Hissing and whistling consonants

Some of the consonants in Russian are pronounced like hissing. These are the sounds and , w , sch , h, which are called sibilant consonants.

Another group of consonant sounds, when leaving the oral cavity, forms acoustic vibrations that resemble a whistle. These are the sounds h , With , ts- whistling.

The properties of hissing and whistling consonants are especially noticeable when they are pronounced for a long time.

One of the important features of these sounds is that most speech defects are associated with their pronunciation. For this reason, special attention should be paid to working with hissing and whistling consonants when teaching children. It is important to note that speech deficiencies associated with these sounds may be amenable to speech therapy correction.

Russian vowels and sounds

Unlike consonants and letters, a characteristic feature of vowels is that when they are pronounced, air passes through the oral cavity freely. As a result, vowel sounds can not only be easily stretched, but also chanted. Another distinctive feature is that they can be pronounced as loudly as you like, at the full strength of your voice.

Through vowels and sounds, consonants are combined into syllables. Each syllable has only one vowel. The number of other letters - consonants, hard and soft signs - may be different. Words can consist of one or more syllables: ros-pis, breaking , yard , painting .

The number of vowels in the Russian language is 10:

A e e And O at s uh Yu I

And there are only 6 vowel sounds: [a], [i], [o], [u], [s], [e]. The vowels corresponding to them are monophonic. The remaining 4 vowels are e , e , Yu , I- two-voiced, and separately pronounced as [ye], [yo], [yu], [ya]. At the same time, in words these letters mean one sound (examples: squirrel, ball, went, key).

As with consonants, there are a number of Russian words that consist only of vowel sounds. These are pronouns - I , her; unions - And , A; prepositions - at , O; interjections - uh , aw .

Stressed and unstressed vowels

In words, vowel sounds can be stressed or unstressed.

  • If the vowel in a word is under stress, it is read more clearly, with more emphasis and a little more drawn out.
  • In the absence of stress, vowels in words are read less clearly. Accordingly, the unstressed position is a weak position for them, and the position in a stressed syllable is a strong position.

As a rule, in traditional writing, words are not stressed. If necessary, they are indicated by the sign “acute” - a small “/” stroke above the vowel letter.

Video lesson

Designations of sounds during phonetic parsing of a word

Phonetic or sound analysis of a word serves the purpose of displaying and parsing its correct pronunciation. Both words and individual letters can be designated phonetically.

Designations of sounds, unlike letters, are enclosed in square brackets. A graphic recording of the pronunciation of a word is called transcription.

The basic rules according to which sounds are designated during phonetic analysis of a word are as follows:

  • The hardness of consonants does not have any designation, but softness is indicated by an apostrophe. For example, if [b] is a hard sound, then [b’] is soft.
  • A long sound in transcription is indicated by a colon, for example: cash register- [kas:a] .
  • Not always, but often, emphasis is placed in the transcription of words. For example: wave- [walla].
  • The soft sign and the hard sign do not have a sound pronunciation, therefore there is no display during phonetic analysis.

Video lesson

How to teach children to distinguish between hard and soft sounds

Sometimes children may have difficulty distinguishing between hard and soft consonants. In this case, there are some techniques that make it easier to understand the topic.

First of all, you need to explain to the child that the concepts of hardness and softness refer not to consonant letters, but to their sounds. And that the same letter can sound both hard and soft. Let me give you an example: “ b" - the words ram - white, " R" - work - belt, " l" - horse - swan.

When explaining the exception letters, for better memorization it is recommended to write them like this:

  • th , h , sch
  • and , w , ts

You need to make it clear to the child that the underlined letters seem to be “sitting on pads” - the pads are soft and the letters are also soft.

In order for the child to remember well before which vowels the letter becomes hard or soft, you can use the following technique: first, with a serious expression on your face, read a syllable with a hard consonant - and then, with a smile on your face, read another syllable where this consonant is soft. Then, do the same with other letters and syllables. For example: la — la , mu — mi , zo — son, bo — byu , ry — ryo etc. A child associates soft pronunciation well with a smile, and hard pronunciation with seriousness and severity, which allows him to associatively remember the material.

Gradually you need to improve your skills and do the same exercises with simple words, such as: Mother , dad A - uncle , aunt etc. As you memorize, you should move on from simple words to more complex ones. Explanations and exercises must be gradually alternated with tasks: write words and then ask which consonants in them are hard and which are soft.

You can also suggest another exercise: make signs with words in which soft consonants are written in one color, and hard consonants in another. For example:

  • N O S I K
  • CARPET
  • NUMBER
  • WARM

There are many options, but it is advisable to choose among them those that your child likes best. This contributes to better perception of the material, its memorization and practical assimilation.

Video lesson

Some interesting and useful information

  • Sounds and words can be formed without human intervention. A well-known example is the pronunciation of words by birds of the parrot family. As for individual sounds, they can also appear in inanimate nature - with the rustling of leaves, gusts of wind, splashing of waves. This cannot be said about letters - after all, only their meaningful writing can be recognized as a letter designation, and this is characteristic only of people.
  • Despite the small number of words consisting only of vowels, they can be used to form a sentence: “Eh, and me?”
  • Almost all words in the Russian language containing the letter " f", are of foreign language origin. Only in relation to rare words (for example: eagle owl) Russian origin is assumed, but this has not been definitely proven.
  • All words starting with the letter " th", also foreign languages. For example: iodine, yogurt, iota, Yemen, Yokohama, Yorkshire, etc.
  • Letter " e" in words almost always carries an emphasis. There are very few exceptions to this rule - these are words of foreign origin ( Königsberg surfers ), as well as complex words containing three or four numerals - ( twenty-three digit , four-door , three thousandth ). It should also be noted those rare situations when one word contains two letters “ e", one of which becomes stressed, and the other - unstressed ( three-star , four-wheeled , airplane lift , three ruble ).
  • The Russian language has many words with unusual letter combinations. For example, words in which the same vowel is repeated three times in a row: snake eater , animal association , long-necked. Word with 7 consonants in a row: countermeeting (Maybe, occasionalism ). Words with three soft signs: seductiveness , diminutive , multifunctionality , charm etc. A word with two soft and one hard signs: courier . One-syllable word of 8 letters: in passing. Many other interesting examples can be given.
  • Any letter has a certain repetition frequency, the most commonly used letters in the Russian language are O , e , A , And , T , n , With , R. This phenomenon is used to recognize cipher messages.

Knowledge of letters and sounds, their spelling and pronunciation is the basis of language literacy. In turn, good command of spoken and written language is one of the indicators of a person’s erudition, and the skills of reading and understanding text are the basis for knowledge of other sciences. After all, the lion's share of information in the modern world is comprehended by reading or listening, and only a small part of it is through personal experience.

The sounds of speech play an important role in the life of every person - thanks to them, all people can talk and understand what each other says.
All speech sounds are of two types - consonants and vowels. And although the number of the latter is much larger, in many cases 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 being stressed/unstressed. When considering the issue of vowels, it is also worth noting that their number does not correspond to the number of denoting letters. How many vowel sounds there are in the Russian language, and why this happens, remains to be figured out.

What sounds are called vowels?

First of all, it’s worth remembering what sounds are called vowels. Vowels (from the Latin word vocales) are phonetic sounds formed with the help of the voice, without admixtures 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. Due to their acoustic properties, in particular, the fact that the length of the vowel sound can be any, they are also called musical, or tonal.

How many vowel sounds are there in Russian?

If there are ten letters, they correspond to only six sounds - these sounds are [s], [e], [o], [u], [a], [i].

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

The sound [u] can be produced not only by the letter “u”, but sometimes also by “yu”: “sledgehammer”, “hatch”.

The sound [o], in addition to the letter “o”, gives “yo”: “cake”, “dog”.

The vowel sound [s] is given by the letter “s”, as well as the stressed “i” if it is in the 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 be given by the letters “e” and “e”: “Mary”, “forester”.

But the vowel[i] is graphically indicated by just one “and”, if it is in the stressed position: “peaceful”. Without stress, this vowel can be produced by the letters “a” (“watchmaker”), “ya” (“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 vowel sounds there are in Russian, it becomes clear why there are fewer of them than the letters themselves.

Vowel letters

Each vowel sound has its own graphic designation in the form of a letter. Our language has a dozen signs to indicate vowel sounds. These are the letters “o”, “u”, “e”, “a”, “i”, “i”, “s”, “e”, “e”, “yu”.

At the same time, the vowel sounds themselves are almost half as numerous - six. This situation arose due to the fact that the iotated “yu”, “e”, “e”, “ya” are not separate sounds. Depending on their position in a word, these letters can represent different sounds.

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

In cases where “yu”, “e”, “e”, “ya” follow consonants, they indicate the corresponding vowel sound, and also make the preceding consonant soft: “accepted”.

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

Classification of vowels. Labialization

Having paid enough attention to two questions: how many vowel sounds 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, like their counterparts, consonants, have a number of features according to which they are classified into different groups.

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

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

Interesting fact: the more rounded sounds are used in a language, the more melodic the speech sounds. Therefore, French is one of the most melodic languages ​​in the world, since the sounds [o] and [u] are very often used in it.

Method of formation of vowels

The classification of vowels according to the method of formation is also called classification according to the vertical rise of the tongue. In our language, according to their 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 when pronouncing the sounds [u], [i], [s].

Place of formation of vowels

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 according to the place of formation are divided into:
1) Back row - sounds [u], [o], when they are formed, the tongue is pushed back as much as possible.
2) Middle row - sounds [a], [s]. When pronouncing them, the tongue moves back not so far and is in the so-called middle position.
3) Front row - sounds [e], [i]. By forming them, the tongue moves forward as much as possible.

It is much easier to classify and remember the distinctive properties of vowel sounds than consonants, since there are much fewer of them. However, it is important for every educated person who strives to write and speak correctly to accurately understand how many vowel sounds there are in the Russian language and with what graphic signs they are written. This knowledge can also be useful to those who are going abroad and for this purpose begin to study 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 originated from the same Proto-Slavic language. In 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 vowel sounds there are in the Russian language.

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 Russian, a hard and soft sound is 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"] [d] [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.

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 are 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 a slight 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’], [th’]: [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: [aphva´ 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:

  1. The letter denotes a sound, for example, vowels after hard consonants and consonants before vowels: weather.
  2. The letter does not have its own sound meaning, for example b And ъ: mouse
  3. 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.
  4. A letter can denote a sound and the quality of the preceding sound, such as iotated vowels and And after soft consonants.
  5. The letter may indicate the quality of the preceding sound, for example b in words shadow, stump, gunfire.
  6. Two letters can represent one sound, usually a long one: sew, compress, rush
  7. Three letters correspond to one sound: smile - shh -[ts:]

Test of strength

Check your understanding 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 speech organs at the moment of pronouncing a sound

  2. What is reduction called?

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

  3. For which sounds does the air stream encounter an obstacle on its path: a bow or a gap?

    • In vowels
    • In consonants

  4. Can voiceless consonants be pronounced loudly?

  5. Are the vocal cords involved in pronouncing voiceless consonants?

  6. How many pairs of consonants are formed according to deafness and voicedness?

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

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

  9. How many consonants do not have a hard-soft pair?

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

    • Special icons
    • Letter combinations

  11. 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

  12. What sounds have strong and weak positions?

    • In vowels
    • In consonants
    • For everyone: 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. In consonants
  4. Letter combinations
  5. Strong position
  6. For everyone: both vowels and consonants

In contact with

1. In accordance with what sounds are indicated by letters, all letters are divided into vowels and consonants.

There are 10 vowel letters:

2. In the Russian language, not all speech sounds are designated, but only the main ones. In russian language 42 basic sounds - 6 vowels and 36 consonants, whereas number of letters - 33. The number of basic vowels (10 letters, but 6 sounds) and consonants (21 letters, but 36 sounds) also does not match. The difference in the quantitative composition of basic sounds and letters is determined by the peculiarities of Russian writing.

3. In Russian, hard and soft sounds are indicated by the same letter.

Wed: sir[sir] and gray[sir].

4. The six basic vowel sounds are represented by ten vowel letters:

[And] - And (Cute).

[s] - s (soap).

[A] - A (May) And I (my).

[O] - O (my) And e (Christmas tree).

[e] - uh (This) And e (me l).

[y] - at (ku st) And Yu (yu la).

Thus, to designate the four vowel sounds ([a], [o], [e], [y]) there are two rows of letters:
1) a, o, e, y; 2) i, e, e, yu.

Note!

1) I, e, e, yu are letters, not sounds! Therefore they are never used in transcription.

2) The letters a and i, o and e, e and e indicate respectively: a and i - the sound [a]; o and e - sound [o], e and e - [e] - only under stress! For the pronunciation of these vowels in an unstressed position, see paragraph 1.8.

5. The letters i, e, ё, yu perform two functions:

    after a consonant they signal that the preceding consonant represents a soft consonant:

    Xia Du[from hell], se l[s’el], that's it[s’ol], here[s’ uda];

    after vowels, at the beginning of a word and after the separating ъ and ь, these letters denote two sounds - the consonant [j] and the corresponding vowel:

    I - , e - , e - , yu - .

    For example:

    1. after vowels: chew t[zhujot], I shave t[br'eju t];

    2. at the beginning of a word: e l , I to ;

    3. after separators ъ And b: ate[сjé l], view n[v'jūn].

Note!

1) The letters i, e, e after the hissing letters zh and sh do not indicate the softness of the preceding consonant sound. The consonant sounds [zh] and [sh] in the modern Russian literary language are always hard!

Shila[shouled], tin[zhes’t’], walked[shol].

2) The letter and after the consonants zh, sh and c denotes the sound [s].

Shila[shouled], lived[zhyl], circus[circus].

3) Letters a, y and o in combinations cha, schcha, chu, schuh, cho, schuh do not indicate the hardness of the consonants ch and shch. The consonant sounds [ch’] and [sch’] in the modern Russian literary language are always soft.

Chum[ch'um], (five) pike[sh'uk], Part[h’as’t’], Shchors[Sh'ors].

4) b at the end of a word after a sibilant is not an indicator of softness. It performs a grammatical function (see paragraph 1.11).

6. The sound [j] is indicated in writing in several ways:

    after vowels and at the end of a word - with the letter th;

    May[maj].

    at the beginning of a word and between two vowels - using the letters e, e, yu, i, which denote the combination of a consonant [j] and the corresponding vowel;

    E l , I to .

    The presence of the sound [j] is also indicated by the separating ъ and ь - between the consonant and vowels e, e, yu, i.

    Ate l[сjé l], view n[v'jūn].

7. The letters ъ and ь do not represent any sounds.

    Separating ъ and ь signal that the following e, e, yu, i designate two sounds, the first of which is [j].

    Non-separating b:

    1) indicates the softness of the preceding consonant:

    Stranded[m'el'];

    2) performs a grammatical function.

    For example, in the word mouseь does not indicate the softness of the preceding consonant, but signals that the given noun is feminine.

For more information about spelling ъ and ь, see paragraph 1.11. Use of b and b.

Exercises for the topic “Speech sounds and letters”

Other topics