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Vowel sounds in Russian 2. Letters, vowels and consonants and phonetic analysis of the word

A a a
B b b b b
In in ve
G g g
D d d e
E e e
Yo yo yo
Zhe zhe
Z ze ze
And and and
Thy and short
K k ka
L l el
Mm um
N n en
Ooo
P p pe
R r er
S s es
T t teh
U u u
F f ef
X x ha
Ts ts tses
Ch h wh
Sh sh sha
Shch shcha
ъ hard sign
s s
b soft sign
Uh uh
Yu yu yu
I I I

42 sounds
6 vowels		36 consonants
[a] [i] [o] [y] [s] [e]		Doubles		Unpaired
Drums	Unstressed	Voiced	Deaf	Voiced	Deaf
		[b] [b"] [in] [in"] [g] [g"] [d] [d"] [and] [z] [z"]	[n] [n"] [f] [f"] [k] [k"] [t] [t"] [w] [s] [s"]	[th"] [l] [l"] [mm"] [n] [n"] [r] [r"]	[x] [x"] [ts] [h"] [sch"]


		Doubles		Unpaired
		Solid	Soft	Solid	Soft
		[b] [V] [G] [d] [h] [To] [l] [m] [n] [P] [R] [With] [T] [f] [X]	[b"] [V"] [G"] [d"] [z"] [To"] [l"] [m"] [n"] [P"] [R"] [With"] [T"] [f"] [X"]	[and] [ts] [w]	[th"] [h"] [sch"]

How do letters differ from sounds?

Sound is elastic vibrations in any 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 a capital (excl., ь and ъ) and lowercase version. Often a letter is a graphic representation of the corresponding speech sound. We see and write letters. To ensure that the writing is not affected by the peculiarities of pronunciation, 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 (“glas” 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 no barrier is erected to the exhaled air. These sounds are sung: [aaaaaaa], [iiiiiiiii] ...

Vowel sounds are designated by the letters a, e, e, i, o, u, y, e, yu, i. The letters e, e, yu, i are called iotized. They denote two sounds, the first of which is [th"], when

are the first in the phonetic word e le [y" e ́l"e] (3 letters, 4 sounds) e sche [th" and ш"о́] (3 letters, 4 sounds) еж [й" о ́ш] (2 letters , 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)
follow after the vowels birdie d [pt "itsy" e ́t] (7 letters, 8 sounds) ee [yiy" o ́] (2 letters, 4 sounds) kayu ta [kai" u ́ta] (5 letters, 6 sounds) blue [with "in" a] (5 letters, 6 sounds)
follow after ь and ъ е зд [вй" е ́ст] (5 letters, 5 sounds) rise m [fall" о ́м] (6 letters, 6 sounds) lyu [л"й" у ́] (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

follows after ь nightingale [salav "й" and ́] (7 letters, 7 sounds)

In a word, vowel sounds that are emphasized during pronunciation are called stressed, and those that are not emphasized are called unstressed. Stressed sounds are most often both heard and written. To check which letter needs to be placed in a word, you should select a single-root word in which the desired unstressed sound will be stressed.

Running [b"igush"] - running [b"ek] mountain [gara] - mountains [mountains]

Two words united by a single accent make up 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 hyphenation.

e -e (2 syllables) to -chka (2 syllables) o -de -va -tsya (4 syllables)

Consonants and sounds

Consonant sounds are sounds that create an obstruction in the path of exhaled air.

Voiced consonants are pronounced with the participation of the voice, and voiceless consonants are pronounced without it. The difference is easy to hear in paired consonants, for example, [p] - [b], when pronounced, 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

are always soft [th"], [ch"], [sch"] ai [ai" ] (2 letters, 2 sounds) ray [ray" ] (3 letters, 3 sounds) bream [l "esch" ] (3 letters, 3 sounds)
follow before the letters e, e, i, yu, i, b (excl., always hard [zh], [ts], [sh] and in borrowed words) mel [m "el"] (4 letters, 3 sounds) aunt [t"ot"a] (4 letters, 4 sounds) people [l"ud"i] (4 letters, 4 sounds) life [zh yz"n"] (5 letters, 4 sounds) circus [ts yrk] (4 letters, 4 sounds) neck [sh eyya] (3 letters, 4 sounds) tempo [t emp] (4 letters, 4 sounds)
come before soft consonants (some cases) pancake [bl"in" ch"ik]

Otherwise, consonant sounds will predominantly be hard.

Sibilant consonants include the sounds [zh], [sh], [h"], [sch"]. Speech therapists rule their pronunciation penultimately: the tongue must be strong and flexible to resist exhaled air and be held against the roof of the mouth in the shape of a cup. The last ones in line are always vibrating [p] and [p"].

Do schoolchildren need phonetics?

Without dividing into vowels, consonants, stressed and unstressed, of course, it is impossible. But the transcription is clearly too much.

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

For students (from 1st grade!) who have not yet mastered the rules of spelling, a fairly 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”.

What is the difference between vowels and consonants and letters and sounds? What rules do they obey? How are the hardness and softness of sounds and letters indicated? You will receive answers to all these questions in this article.

General information about vowels and consonants

Vowels and consonants represent the basis of the entire Russian language. After all, with the help of their combinations, syllables are formed that form words, expressions, sentences, texts, etc. That is why quite a lot of hours are devoted to this topic in high school.

and sounds in Russian

A person learns what vowels and consonants are in the Russian alphabet already from the first grade. And despite the apparent simplicity of this topic, it is considered one of the most difficult for students.

So, in the Russian language there are ten vowel letters, namely: o, i, a, y, yu, ya, e, e, u, e. During their immediate pronunciation, you can feel how air passes freely through the oral cavity. At the same time, we hear our own voice quite clearly. It should also be noted that vowel sounds can be drawn out (a-a-a-a, uh-uh-uh, i-i-i-i-i, u-u-u-u-u and so on ).

Features and letters

Vowels are the basis of a syllable, that is, they are the ones who organize it. As a rule, Russian words have as many syllables as vowels themselves. Let's give a clear example: u-che-ni-ki - 5 syllables, re-bya-ta - 3 syllables, he - 1 syllable, o-no - 2 syllables, and so on. There are even words that consist of only one vowel sound. Usually these are interjections (A!, Oh!, Oooh!) and conjunctions (and, a, etc.).

Endings, suffixes and prefixes are very important topics in the Russian Language discipline. After all, without knowing how such letters are written in a particular word, it is quite problematic to compose a literate letter.

Consonants and sounds in Russian

Vowels and consonants letters and sounds vary significantly. And if the first ones can be easily pulled out, then the latter ones are pronounced as briefly as possible (except for hissing ones, since they can be pulled out).

It should be noted that in the Russian alphabet the number of consonant letters is 21, namely: b, v, g, d, zh, z, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, f, x, ts, h, w, shch. The sounds they denote are usually divided into dull and voiced. What is the difference? The fact is that during the pronunciation of voiced consonants, a person can hear not only the characteristic noise, but also his own voice (b!, z!, r!, etc.). As for the deaf, there is no way to pronounce them loudly or, for example, shout. They only create a kind of noise (sh-sh-sh-sh-sh, s-s-s-s-s, etc.).

Thus, almost everything is divided into two different categories:

voiced - b, c, d, d, g, z, j, l, m, n, r;
deaf - k, p, s, t, f, x, c, ch, sh.

Softness and hardness of consonants

Not everyone knows, but vowels and consonants can be hard and soft. This is the second most important feature in the Russian language (after voicedness and voicelessness).

A distinctive feature of soft consonants is that during their pronunciation the human tongue takes a special position. As a rule, it moves slightly forward, and its entire middle part rises slightly. As for when pronouncing them, the tongue is pulled back. You can compare the position of your speech organ yourself: [n] - [n’], [t] - [t’]. It should also be noted that voiced and soft sounds sound slightly higher than hard sounds.

In the Russian language, almost all consonants have pairs based on softness and hardness. However, there are also those who simply do not have them. These include hard ones - [zh], [sh] and [ts] and soft ones - [th"], [h"] and [sh"].

Softness and hardness of vowel sounds

Surely few people have heard that the Russian language has soft vowels. Soft consonants are sounds quite familiar to us, which cannot be said about the above-mentioned ones. This is partly due to the fact that in secondary school practically no time is devoted to this topic. After all, it is already clear with the help of which vowels the consonants become soft. However, we still decided to dedicate you to this topic.

So, those letters that are capable of softening the consonants preceding them are called soft. These include the following: i, e, i, e, yu. As for letters such as a, y, y, e, o, they are considered hard because they do not soften the consonants in front. To see this, here are a few examples:

Indication of the softness of consonant letters during phonetic analysis of a word

Phonetics studies the sounds and letters of the Russian language. Surely, in high school you were asked more than once to make a word. During such an analysis, it is imperative to indicate whether it is separately considered or not. If yes, then it must be designated as follows: [n’], [t’], [d’], [v’], [m’], [p’]. That is, at the top right next to the consonant letter before the soft vowel, you need to put a kind of dash. The following soft sounds are marked with a similar icon - [th"], [h"] and [w"].

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'];

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”

Vowel sounds

Vowel sounds differ from consonants in that they are pronounced exclusively using the voice, while consonants produce different noises.

It is enough for schoolchildren to remember the main 6 vowel sounds: [a], [e], [o], [i], [u], [s]. There are 10 letters to denote them in the Russian language: a, e, ё, i, o, u, y, e, yu, ya. The function of vowel sounds is to make speech sonorous and smooth. It is the vowels that can be sung.

Another important function is that vowel sounds are syllabic sounds, that is, the main sounds in a syllable.

Formation of vowel sounds

When pronouncing vowel sounds, exhaled air passes through the speech apparatus without encountering any obstacles. However, this does not mean that the mouth and lips are not involved in the pronunciation process. Depending on what sound we want to pronounce, we create a resonator cavity of various shapes in the mouth by lifting the tongue, moving it towards the teeth, opening the mouth more or less wide and folding the lips in a certain way. For example, when pronouncing the sound [u], we stretch our lips forward with a tube; their shape gives the vowel sound a specific sound.

Scientists have developed an extensive classification of vowel sounds. It includes such concepts as row, rise, labialization. However, the principles of classification adopted by linguists are not suitable for secondary school: they require detailed acquaintance with the process of articulation. Therefore, at school, vowel sounds are considered only from the point of view of their stress.

Accent

When performing phonetic analysis, the student must determine the stressed or unstressed vowel in this word.

Vowel sounds in Russian can be pronounced more strongly, loudly and clearly. Then we say that such a sound is percussive. Under stress is a strong position for a vowel sound, so we check unstressed vowels with stress.

Most words in Russian have one stress. However, there are unstressed words. These are mainly monosyllabic prepositions, conjunctions and particles. It happens that a preposition “pulls” the stress from a noun, for example, “in the forest.”

There are also words with two accents. These are long, complex words that are difficult to pronounce in one breath, for example, “agricultural”, “locomotive repair”, etc.

Unstressed position

The vowel sound sounds short, weak, and does not resemble itself. Unstressed vowels can often be confused with other vowels. For example, the first vowel sound in the word “rowan” sounds so unclear that it is difficult to determine whether to write “e”, “i” or “ya”.

Scientists have noticed that at the absolute beginning of a word, an unstressed vowel sounds clearer than in the middle of a word. But it's still better to check it.

Pronunciation of vowel sounds

In different regions of our country, people for whom Russian is their native language often pronounce vowels in the same words slightly differently. For example, in some areas they “okayut” - pronounce a sound close to “o” in an unstressed position where it is written. However, this pronunciation is not considered normative.

During the performance, the actors of the Maly Theater use pronunciation that was considered normative about a century ago; Due to this, their speech is very legible, perfectly understandable even in the back rows.

Phonetic analysis of the vowel sound

In phonetic analysis, in most cases it is enough to indicate whether the vowel sound is stressed or unstressed.

A vowel sound cannot have any other characteristics; it is neither voiced nor soft, nor paired or unpaired. Sometimes they also ask to write “iotated” about sounds denoted by the letters E, Yo, Yu, Ya.

It must be remembered that the sounds “e”, “e”, “yu”, “ya” do not exist in the Russian language. These letters represent

two sounds[ya], [ye], [yo], [yu] at the absolute beginning of a word, after a vowel or after a hard and soft sign;
one sound[e] [o] [y] [a] after a consonant.

This information is presented in the table.

What sounds do E, E, Yu, I mean?

At the beginning of the word 4.6. Total ratings received: 227.

In russian language 6 main(that is, those that are pronounced under stress) vowel sounds:

A O E U Y

which are indicated in the letter 10 letters:

AI O Y E E U Y Y I

1. The use of vowels as part of a word has some features in the Russian language:

The vowel [s] at the beginning of words, as a rule, does not appear; initial [s] is possible in rare borrowed proper nouns.

Oyya, Ynykgan.

The sound [s] is used only after hard consonants.

Smoke[smoke], rear[rear].

The sound [and] is used only after soft consonants.

Physicist[physicist].

The spelling of the letter and after zh, sh, ts (these sounds are always hard) is not determined by pronunciation: the letter combinations zhi, shi, qi are pronounced as [zhy], [shi], [tsy].
The vowel [s] is pronounced in place of the letter and also at the beginning of the word after a preposition for a hard consonant (the preposition does not have its own stress and is adjacent to the subsequent word).

From iris- [from] rice

The vowel [e] is used in most cases after soft consonants.

Children[d'et'i], weight[v'es].

But there are digressions here. The sound [e] is combined with hard consonants:

after [g], [w], [ts];

Gesture[gesture], six[shes’t’], prices[prices].

in some foreign words;

Test[test], pace[tempo].

in some compound words.

HPP, VTEK.

2. A characteristic feature of Russian pronunciation is the different sound of vowels under and without stress.

A vowel in a stressed position is in strong position, that is, it is pronounced most clearly and with the greatest force. A vowel in an unstressed position is in weak position, that is, pronounced with less force and less clearly.

3. In an unstressed position (in a weak position), all vowel sounds are pronounced with less force, but some of them retain their qualitative characteristics, while others do not:

The vowel sounds [i], [ы], [у] (letters i, ы, у, yu) do not change the sound quality in an unstressed position;

Mil[m'il] - sweetie[m'ila], lived[zhyl] - lived[vein], jester[jester] - (no) jester[jester].

Exception makes up the sound [i]: at the beginning of a word, if in the flow of speech the word merges with the previous word ending in a hard consonant, the sound [s] is in place;

In exile[in exile].

The vowels [a], [o], [e] (letters a, i, o, e, e, e) change the sound quality in an unstressed position.

4. Russian literary pronunciation is usually called “akay” and “hiccuping”.

In the pre-stressed syllable after hard consonants in place of the vowels [a], [o], [e] (in the position after hard ones, this sound is rarely found in the Russian language), a sound close to [a] usually sounds. In the school version of the transcription it is usually denoted as [a], although this sound is not so open, therefore in linguistics a special sign [Λ] is used to denote it.

My[moj] - my[mΛja] or [maja], gave[gave] - gave[dΛla] or [gave].

In the pre-stressed syllable after soft consonants in place of the vowels [a], [o], [e], a sound close to [i] sounds. In the school version of the transcription it is usually denoted as [and], although this sound sounds more like [and] with the overtone [e] - [and e].

Wed: took[vzal] - took[v’i e la] or [v’ila], carried[nose] - carried[n'i e sla] or [n'isla], white[b'el] - Bela[b'i e la] or [b'ila].

It is with these features of Russian pronunciation that the need to check unstressed vowels is connected with the help of related words in which this vowel is stressed, that is, in a strong position.
The position of the vowel in the first pre-stressed syllable is called Iweak position: the force of exhalation when pronouncing a pre-stressed syllable is approximately one and a half times less than when pronouncing a stressed syllable.

So, in the first weak position in place of [a], [o], [e] after hard consonants there is a sound close to [a] - [Λ], after soft consonants there is a sound close to [i] - [ie] .

5. Exception can form some words with vowels [a], [o], [e] in the first weak position after sibilants [zh], [sh] and after the sound [ts]:

after hard [zh], [sh], [ts] before a soft consonant in place of [a] there is usually a sound intermediate between [s] and [e] (denoted [s e]);

Regret[zhy e l’et’], horses[lishy e d’ej], twenty[dvatsi e t’i].

in place of the letter e after [zh], [w], [ts] there is a sound intermediate between [s] and [e], - [s e];

Wife[zhyena], sixth[shyestoj], price[tsyena].

after hard [zh], [sh] in place of [a] there is a sound close to [a] - [Λ], as well as after other hard consonant sounds.

Ball[ball] - balls[shΛrý].

6. In other unstressed syllables (second, third pre-stressed syllables, unstressed syllables) the vowels [a], [o], [e] sound even weaker and unclear.

The position of the vowel in other unstressed syllables (not in the first prestressed) is usually called IIweak position: the force of exhalation when pronouncing such syllables is three times less compared to a stressed syllable.
In the school course, these sounds are not specifically discussed.
In linguistics, such sounds are usually called reduced, that is, “weakened.” To designate them, the following signs are most often used: “er” [ъ] - after hard consonants, “er” [ь] - after soft consonants. (This resource uses a simplified version of vowel transcription, that is, the pronunciation features of vowels [o], [a], [e] in closed and open overstressed syllables are not taken into account, the difference in pronunciation [o], [a], [e] in overstressed syllables syllable, etc.)

For example:

after hard consonants: brownie[d'mavoj], fish[fish], roof[roof], entirely[ts'l'ikom];

after soft consonants: private[r'davoj], field[Paul], watchmaker[ch'sΛfsh'ik].

7. Exception constitutes the II weak position of vowels at the absolute beginning of the word [a], [o]. In place of these vowels at the beginning of the word, there is not a reduced “er” [ъ], but a sound close to [a] - [Λ], as in the first weak position after hard consonants.

Cucumber[Λgur’ets]; monkey[Λb'iez'jan].

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