Why Americans are so noisy Americans are an extremely noisy nation. They speak very loudly and seem to imply that no one is listening to them from those who are not concerned. For example, in museums it is not customary to speak in a low voice - the guides themselves often practically scream, delighted

In this article we will talk about consonant sounds, their quantity, types (soft, hard, voiceless and voiced) and other features and interesting facts.

There are 33 letters in the Russian language, of which 21 are consonants:

b - [b], c - [c], g - [g], d - [d], g - [g], j - [th], z - [z],
k - [k], l - [l], m - [m], n - [n], p - [p], p - [p], s - [s],
t - [t], f - [f], x - [x], c - [c], h - [h], w - [w], sch - [sch].

All named consonant letters represent 36 consonant sounds.

The Russian language also has 10 vowel letters and only 6 vowel sounds.

A total of 33 letters (10 vowels + 21 consonants + “ь” and “ъ”), denoting 42 sounds (6 vowels and 36 consonants), not all sounds of speech, but only the main ones.

The difference between the number of letters and sounds is due to the peculiarities of Russian writing, because, for example, hard and soft consonant sounds are indicated by one letter.

Consonant sounds are divided into:

• voiced and voiceless,
• hard and soft,
• paired and unpaired.

There are a total of 36 different combinations of consonants by pairing and unpairing, hard and soft, voiceless and voiced: voiceless - 16 (8 soft and 8 hard), voiced - 20 (10 soft and 10 hard).

Hard and soft consonants

Consonants are divided into hard and soft, this division is due to the difference in the position of the tongue when pronouncing them. When we pronounce soft consonants, then the middle back of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate. We also note that in addition to the fact that consonants are divided into hard and soft, they can be paired and unpaired.

For example, the letter “k” can denote both a hard sound [k], for example, in the word cat, and a soft sound [k`], for example, in the word glasses. We get that the sounds [k] and [k’] form a pair of hardness and softness. For consonant sounds that have a pair of hardness and softness, the following rule applies:

• consonants A sound is hard if it is followed by consonants: a, o, u, s, e;
• and is soft if it is followed by vowels: e, e, i, yu, i.

In the Russian language there are letters in which the sound they denote can only be hard ([ш], [ж], [ц]), or only soft ([й], [ч`], [ш`]). Such sounds do not belong to paired sounds, but are unpaired.

Voiceless and voiced consonants

Consonants are divided into voiced and voiceless sounds. In this case, voiceless consonants are pronounced with the mouth practically covered and the vocal cords do not work when pronouncing them. Voiced consonants require more air, and the vocal cords work when pronouncing them. That is, voiced consonants consist of noise and voice, and voiceless consonants consist only of noise.

Lifehack for determining the deafness or voicedness of consonants for schoolchildren

To determine whether a sound you encounter is dull or voiced, and children often have difficulty with this, you should cover your ears with your hands and pronounce the sound. When pronouncing dull sounds, they will be heard somewhere in the distance, but when pronouncing voiced sounds, your ears will actually ring! This way you can determine what sound was encountered. Especially during phonetic analysis of words.

Some consonant sounds are similar both in their sound and also in the way they are pronounced. However, such sounds are pronounced with different tonality, that is, either dull or loud. Such sounds are combined in pairs and form a group of paired consonants. There are 6 such pairs in total, each of them has a voiceless and a voiced consonant sound. The remaining consonants are unpaired.

• paired consonants: b-p, v-f, g-k, d-t, z-s, zh-sh.
• unpaired consonants: l, m, n, r, y, c, x, h, shch.

Sonorant, noisy, hissing and whistling consonants

In the Russian language, sonorant, noisy, as well as hissing and whistling consonant sounds are also distinguished. We will give a definition of each of the named types of consonants, and also list which consonants belong to one or another type.

Sonorant consonants

Sonorant consonants - these are voiced unpaired consonants.

There are 9 sonorant sounds in total: [y’], [l], [l’], [m], [m’], [n], [n’], [r], [r’].

Noisy consonants

Noisy consonant sounds are divided into voiced and voiceless. Voiceless noisy consonants include 16 sounds: [k], [k'], [p], [p'], [s], [s'], [t], [t'], [f], [f '], [x], [x'], [ts], [ch'], [sh], [sh'], and noisy voiced consonants include 11 sounds: [b], [b'], [ c], [v'], [g], [g'], [d], [d'], [g], [h], [z'].

Hissing consonants

There are a total of 4 hissing consonant sounds in the Russian language: [zh], [ch’], [sh], [sch’]. They all resemble hissing to the ear, which is why they are called hissing consonants.

Whistling consonants

Whistling consonant sounds [з] [з'] [с] [с'] [ц] are, in their pronunciation, front-lingual, fricative. When articulating hard sounds [z], [s] and [ts], the teeth are exposed, the tip of the tongue leans against the lower teeth, and the back of the tongue is slightly arched, the lateral edges of the tongue are pressed against the upper molars. The air passes through, creating frictional noise.

When articulating soft sounds [s'] and [z `], the same thing happens, but the back of the tongue rises to the hard palate.

When pronouncing voiced sounds [з] and [з`], the vocal cords are closed and vibrate, but the velum palatine is raised.

Proficiency in oral language is very important for the social life and development of an individual. Much attention in learning a native (or foreign) language is paid to spoken language—the correct pronunciation of phonemes. There are many words that differ only in individual sounds. Therefore, special attention is paid to the functioning of the speech organs and sound production.

Sound production

Sound formation occurs as a result of human mental and speech activity. The vocal apparatus consists of the diaphragm, larynx, epiglottis, pharynx, vocal cords, nasal and oral cavity, uvula, palate (soft and hard), alveoli, teeth, tongue, lips.

The tongue and lower lip are actively involved in sound production. The teeth, palate, and upper lip remain passive.

The production of sounds (phonemes) includes:

• respiration - breathing,
• phonation - the use of the larynx and vocal folds to create phonemes,
• articulation - work for sound production.

Noisy (deaf) Russian language

There are exactly 33 letters in the Russian language, and much more sounds - 42. There are 6 vowel phonemes, consisting of a pure voice. The remaining 36 sounds are consonants.

In the creation of 16 consonant phonemes, only noise is involved, resulting from the exhaled air flow overcoming certain barriers, which are interacting speech organs.

[k, ], [p, ], [s, ], [t, ], [f, ], [x, ], [h, ], [sch, ], [k], [p], [s ], [t], [f], [x], [ts], [sh] are voiceless consonant sounds.

To learn how to determine which consonant sounds are voiceless, you need to know their main features: how and in what place they are formed, how the vocal folds participate in their production, whether there is palatalization during pronunciation.

Formation of noisy consonants

In the process of producing voiceless consonant phonemes, the interaction of various organs of the speech apparatus occurs. They can close together or form a gap.

Voiceless consonant sounds are born when the exhaled person overcomes these barriers. Depending on the type of obstacles, voiceless phonemes are divided into:

• stop plosives [k, p, t, k, p, t];
• stop fricatives (affricates) [ts, ch, ];
• fricatives (fricatives) [s, f, x, shch, s, f, x, w].

Depending on the places where barriers are formed, voiceless phonemes are distinguished:

• labiolabial [p, p];
• labiodental [f, f];
• anterior lingual dental [s, s, t, t, ts];
• anterior lingual palatodental [h, sch, w];
• velar lingual velar [k, x, k, x].

Palatalization and velarization

Noisy phonemes are classified taking into account the degree of tension in the middle of the tongue. When, during the process of sound production, the anterior and middle regions of the tongue rise to the hard palate, a palatalized consonant (soft) voiceless sound is born. Velarized (hard) phonemes are produced by raising the root of the tongue to the posterior region of the soft palate.

6 soft and 6 hard noisy voiceless phonemes form pairs, the rest do not have pairs.

Paired voiceless consonants - [k, - k], [p, - p], [s, - s], [t, - t], [f, - f], [x, - x]; [ts, ch, sh, shch, ] - voiceless unpaired consonant sounds.

Articulation

The combination of all the work of the individual organs of the speech apparatus involved in the pronunciation of phonemes is called articulation.

For speech to be understandable, you must be able to clearly pronounce sounds, words, and sentences. To do this, you need to train your speech apparatus, practice the pronunciation of phonemes.

Having understood how voiceless consonant sounds are formed and how to pronounce them correctly, a child or adult will master speech much faster.

Sounds [k - k, x - x, ]

Lower the end of the tongue, slightly move it away from the incisors of the lower jaw. Open your mouth slightly. Raise the back of the tongue so that it comes into contact with the border zone of the elevated soft and hard palate. Through a sharp exhalation, the air overcomes the barrier - [k].

Press the end of your tongue against your lower front teeth. Bring the middle and back parts of the tongue closer to the middle-back area of ​​the hard palate. Exhale - [k, ].

In the production of phonemes [x - x, ], the speech organs are located similarly. Only between them there remains not a bow, but a gap.

Sounds [p - p, ]

Close your lips, leave your tongue freely, and move its tip slightly away from the lower incisors. Exhalation. A stream of air breaks through the lips - [p].

The lips are positioned the same way. Press the end of the tongue against the incisors of the lower jaw. Raise the middle of the tongue towards the hard palate. A sharp push of air overcomes the labial barrier - [n,].

Sounds [s - s, ]

Stretch your lips, almost close your teeth. Use the tip of your tongue to touch the front teeth of the lower jaw. Arch your tongue, lifting the middle back towards the palate. Its lateral edges are pressed against the upper chewing teeth. The air flow passes through a groove formed in the middle of the tongue. Bridges the gap between the alveolar arch and the anterior back of the tongue - [c].

The phoneme [s, ] is pronounced similarly. Only the middle of the tongue rises higher, and the front one bends more (the groove disappears).

Sounds [t - t, ]

Part your lips. Place the end of the tongue against the incisors of the upper jaw, forming a bow. A stream of exhaled air forcefully breaks through the barrier - [t].

The position of the lips is the same. Press the tip of your tongue against the lower incisors. Touch the upper alveolar arch with the front part of the tongue, creating a bow. Under the pressure of the air stream, an obstacle is overcome - [t,].

Sounds [f - f, ]

Pull in the lower lip slightly and press the upper incisors against it. Raise the back of the tongue towards the back of the soft palate. As you exhale, the air passes through a flat gap formed by the lip and teeth - [f].

Lips and teeth in the same position. Move the tip of the tongue towards the lower incisors. Raise the middle part of the tongue towards the palate. The air flow penetrates through the labial-dental fissure - [f,].

Sound [ts]

Sound is produced in two stages:

1. Stretch slightly tense lips. Press the end of the tongue against the front lower teeth. Raise the front part of the tongue, closing it with the hard palate (immediately behind the alveolar arch).
2. The air flow enters the oral cavity. Bend the tongue slightly - raise the middle part, lower the back, press the side edges to the chewing teeth. The bow turns into a gap and the air comes out - [ts].

Sound [h, ]

The formation of a phoneme consists of two phases:

1. Slightly round and protrude your lips. Press the end and front of the tongue against the hard palate and alveolar arch, creating a barrier.
2. Push out the air: at the place of the bow between the tongue and the palate there will be a gap. At the same time, you need to raise the middle of the tongue - [h,].

Sound [sh]

Pull out slightly rounded lips. Raise the end of the tongue until a narrow passage with the palate and alveolar arch is formed (1st cleft). Having lowered the middle of the tongue, raise its back part (2nd gap). Press the edges against the chewing teeth to form a cup. Exhale smoothly - [w].

Sound [sch, ]

Pull your lips out a little and round them out. Raise the end of the tongue to the alveolar arch without pressing, so that a gap remains. Raise the tongue to the hard palate (except for the front part), and press the edges against the molars of the upper jaw. Exhale slowly. The central part of the tongue goes down, creating a groove through which the air flow passes. The tongue tenses - [sch,].

In the speech stream, voiceless consonant sounds coexist with other phonemes. If a noisy phoneme is followed by a vowel, then the lips take a position for the articulation of the latter.

Comparison of noisy voiceless and voiced phonemes

Voiced phonemes are those whose formation involves both voice and noise (the latter predominates). Some voiced ones have paired sounds from among the voiceless ones.

Paired voiceless consonants and voiced sounds: [k - g], [k, - g, ], [p - b], [p, - b, ], [t - d], [t, - d, ], [ s - z], [s, - z, ], [f - v], [f, - v, ], [w - g].

Voiced and voiceless unpaired consonants:

• [y, l, m, n, r, l, m, n, r] - voiced (sonorant);
• [x, h, sch, x, ts] - noisy deaf.

Lettering for noisy phonemes

The ability to write correctly is no less important than speaking. Mastering written language is fraught with even greater difficulties, since some sounds on paper can be written with different letters or letter combinations.

When written, voiceless consonant sounds are expressed in similar letters if they are in strong positions.

By deafness-voicing: before a vowel, [v - v, ], other noisy ones (applicable to paired deaf people!).

By hardness-softness: before a vowel, [b, m, g, k, p, x, b, m, g, k, p, x, ] - for sounds [s, s, t, t, ], at the end words.

In other cases, to determine the correct letter (or combination of letters) for a voiceless consonant phoneme, certain rules of the Russian language must be applied. And sometimes you just need to remember the correct spelling of words (dictionary words).

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