In Russian, the hardness/softness of consonant sounds is the main word-distinguishing factor. If in oral speech This is learned at the imitative level, but in writing you need to know and use certain rules.
Instructions
1. Hard and soft consonants are articulated differently. Observe: when pronouncing a soft consonant, you move the entire body of the tongue forward, lifting the middle part of the back towards the hard palate. Pronouncing the same solid consonants, you move the body of the tongue back. Speakers of languages in which the hardness/softness of consonants is not a distinctive sign face certain difficulties when comprehending the Russian language. Including the ones mentioned above – articulatory ones. Remember the famous joke: “Shmel is a big fly, but they say it’s a fly in the closet!”
2. In writing, the softness of consonants is determined by their location in the word and their environment. In the middle of a word consonants softened in position before the so-called iota vowels or diphthongs. These are letters that represent two sounds: e (ye), yo (yo), yu (yu), ya (ya). At the same time, in in this case iota e, e, yu, i convey only sounds<э>, <о>, <у>, <а>respectively. Let's say: gray, grater, loves, pulls. As in words such as: sir, congestion, lubok, Tanya. And the use of the letters e, o, u, and yot instead is intended to indicate the need to soften the previous consonant. The choice of vowel letters and/s also has an impact on the hardness/softness of the consonant. Before the letter I, the consonant certainly softens (writes), before the letter Y we pronounce the consonant firmly (puffs).
3. The position at the end of the word in terms of the hardness/softness of the consonant is also strong. The softness of the final consonant is conveyed in writing with the support of the letter b. Compare: kon - horse, mole - mole. The letter “b” is used to indicate the softness of the previous consonant before the next one and in the middle of the word. Let's say: skates - skates, hemp - foam.
Note!
There is also a difference in the positional softness of consonants, which is not indicated in writing (bridge, song). This, of course, creates certain difficulties in mastering Russian written language.
Helpful advice
It should be remembered that in the Russian language there are only unpaired soft consonants. There are special graphic rules for the correct spelling of words with the letters h, u. (“cha, write with the letter a”, “chk, chn, nch, nsch - write without a soft sign”).
- If after a consonant there is a hard consonant, then the sound being identified is hard (this is if you do not take into account assimilation, when sounds are likened to each other)
- There is an exception to this point: the letter N is softened before soft D, T And sounds Ch, Shch; and vice versa, D, T are softened before the letter N. Z, S are also softened before soft D, N, T.
- If there is a vowel after a consonant sound, hardness and softness are determined by these sounds
- Softens consonants and a soft sign (its second function is the separation of sounds).
Using the method of elimination, we always remove hard f, w, c.
Only soft th, h, shch.
We determine the softness of the vowel by the vowel next to it. For example, in the word tyr there is a soft consonant sound (t), and in the word how there is a hard consonant sound (k).
if a consonant is preceded by the vowels I, E, Ya, Yu and a soft sign, then the consonants are soft.
See table. To make it easier for children to remember, we designate soft and hard commanders.
To answer this task, remember school years and lessons of the great Russian language. In language, softening consonants during pronunciation is called palatalization, these sounds are produced by raising the middle part of the tongue towards the roof of the mouth. And these consonants are defined as follows:
If after a consonant there are the following vowels: E, I, Yu, Ya.
Or the soft sign b.
Also, the following are always soft: Y, Ch, Shch.
After Alexander’s amazingly detailed answer, it would be inappropriate to write anything.
Therefore, I will add only one thing.
This presence of hard and soft consonants in the Russian language, or rather the need to pronounce them depending on the presence of one or another vowel after the same letter, is a stumbling block for foreigners learning the Russian language.
With a combination of a consonant with e, yu, ya, and - blockage.
IN best case scenario they get the following pronunciation: Tan-ya or Tanya, this is already among the advanced ones. At the same time, they simply pronounce it quite easily.
Although this is a mild sign, it is a problem for some.
I love the old joke about the bulka, the bottle and the stick, the kisel, the mamzel and the gizel.
Recently my child and I went through this topic in pre-school preparation. They even drew diagrams there, soft consonants green, and the hard ones were highlighted in blue.
Here was their rule:
That is, there are consonants that will always be hard, these are: Ж, Ц and Ш.
And there are consonants that will always be soft, these are: И, Ш and Ш.
And the rest depends on the vowel coming after and from b.
Soft consonants are scientifically called palatalized.
When soft consonants are formed, in addition to the main articulation, the participation of the hard nba is added. In Latin, solid nbo is palatum, hence the name palatalized. The softening phenomenon is called palatalization.
How to determine which consonant is soft and which is hard?
As you know, the consonants Ch, Shch, Y are always soft in the Russian language.
In other cases, a soft consonant can be identified by the letter that follows it.
Generally, a consonant letter will represent a soft consonant sound if it is followed by one of the following six letters: E, I, Yu, I, b.
forest (L soft), dog (P soft), view (V soft), ruffle (R soft), mint (M soft), horse (N soft).
But you need to be careful:
1) The consonants Ж, Ш, Ц are always hard! They will never soften, even in front of I or E.
2) In some foreign words, the consonants before the letter E are not softened. Unfortunately, universal rule on this score simply does not exist. For example, text is pronounced, but tEst, TEMP; despot, however damper; Nerve, however vonEma. So here you just have to cram and memorize every word.
3) If after a consonant there is a soft consonant, then the preceding consonant may soften, but may remain hard. The following rules can be formulated:
a) the consonant N is softened before soft T, D: bow, undine. In addition, the letter N is always softened before Ch, Sh: lemon, racer.
b) the consonants T, D are softened before the soft N: worker, rider.
c) the consonants S, Z are softened before soft T, D, N: bridge, idleness, songs, fuss. (Before other soft consonants, the letters S and Z do not soften! Laughter is S, vision is Z.)
In other cases, consonants before other consonants usually remain hard.
But my question is this... For some reason, the rule comes to mind that a consonant sound will be soft if it is followed by a soft consonant sound, softened ь. I remember this when I hear the name of my city spoken: Perm. And they say: pe r m! They say this is how they read the combination r and m. But it seems to me that the pronunciation: pe r m - corresponds to the rules Russian language, and not just a historical pronunciation that only locals know about
The consonants are always soft - Ch, Shch, Y, as well as the consonants that come before the vowels - I, Yu, E, Ya.
But the name of the city: PERM is pronounced PE R M, but many who hear about Perm for the first time pronounce PE R M. For some reason, the rule pops into my head that a consonant is soft if it is followed by a soft consonant. And that the correct pronunciation of Perm is not historically developed, which the locals know about, but corresponds to the rules of the Russian language, which everyone should know about. Is it so?
The softness of a consonant in Russian indicates soft sign. For example, day, little.
The softness of a consonant is always indicated by the vowels E, Yu, Ya, I, which come after the consonant. For example, warm, day, uncle.
The sounds Ch, Y, Shch are always soft, they do not have a pair of hard consonants.
It is also necessary to pay attention to the combination of some consonants, since consonants can be softened under the influence of subsequent soft sounds. For example, bantik, n - soft under the influence of soft T.
We need to start from the fact that in the Russian language all vowels are divided into soft and hard.
Soft vowels - E, I, Ya, Yu
Hard vowels - A, O, U, Y, E
All consonants preceding soft vowels will be soft - RI, PYA, PI, ME, Le
All consonants preceding hard vowels will be hard - RA, RO, PU, WE, ME
b also always softens consonants.
In the Russian language, three consonant sounds are always soft: Ch, Shch, Y. The remaining consonant sounds can be softened by some vowel sounds, i.e. if they are followed by the vowels I, Yu, I, E, and a soft sign.
For example, in the word rose, the r sound is hard, but in the word robe, it is soft.
To indicate soft consonants in a word, and such a task is offered in tests about the Russian language (Indicate words with all soft consonants), you should always immediately discard hard sounds and, w, ts, For example:
in a word ginseng, despite the apparent softness (the presence of the letters e and b), there are actually two hard sounds. This word is not suitable as a correct answer.
We also remember about always soft sounds: h, sch, th.
And all other consonants can be either soft or hard. They immediately soften if they are followed by the letters: e,, Yu, I, And, b,For example:
la n b, s m ena, R I, l n, l Yu l yka, l Isa, co R b.
And sometimes, despite the absence of a soft sign after a consonant, all the sounds in it are still soft due to the interaction of sounds with each other, when one soft sound softens the previous one. This phonetic phenomenon is called assimilation by softness.In the word nurse, at first glance, you cannot immediately determine whether all the sounds are soft. But if we listen to its sound, we will hear this:
nachi t, that is, all sounds are soft.
I would like to summarize the above answers. In the Russian language, there are consonants that are always hard (Zh, Sh, Ts), always soft (Ch, Shch, Y), while the rest can be both hard and soft, depending on which sounds are their neighbors to the right.
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 don't matter, but they do important role: They help us distinguish:
- 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- This special system recordings showing the 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, then work vocal cords When pronouncing vowels, you can 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. Presence of noise - hallmark 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 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 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, the guys are now starting to study early foreign languages. 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 occurs 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. System 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 simplified system transcriptions, no big deal: 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 general patterns 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 prefixes and roots →
[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 nature. But these are comparable systems. Therefore, you need to know the types of ratios.
Types of relationships between letters and sounds:
- The letter denotes a sound, for example, vowels after hard consonants and consonants before vowels: weather.
- The letter does not have its own sound meaning, for example b And ъ: mouse
- 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.
- A letter can denote a sound and the quality of the preceding sound, such as iotated vowels and And after soft consonants.
- The letter may indicate the quality of the preceding sound, for example b in words shadow, stump, gunfire.
- Two letters can represent one sound, usually a long one: sew, compress, rush
- Three letters correspond to one sound: smile - shh -[ts:]
Test of strength
Check your understanding of this chapter.
Final test
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
What is reduction called?
- pronouncing vowels under stress
- pronouncing unstressed vowels
- special pronunciation of consonants
For which sounds does the air stream encounter an obstacle on its path: a bow or a gap?
- In vowels
- In consonants
Can voiceless consonants be pronounced loudly?
Are the vocal cords involved in pronouncing voiceless consonants?
How many pairs of consonants are formed according to deafness and voicedness?
How many consonants do not have a voiced-voiced pair?
How many pairs do Russian consonants form according to hardness and softness?
How many consonants do not have a hard-soft pair?
How is the softness of consonants conveyed in writing?
- Special icons
- Letter combinations
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
What sounds have strong and weak positions?
- In vowels
- In consonants
- For everyone: both vowels and consonants
Right answers:
- From the shape of the oral cavity at the moment of pronouncing the sound
- pronouncing unstressed vowels
- In consonants
- Letter combinations
- Strong position
- For everyone: both vowels and consonants
In contact with
Hard and Soft Consonants is a set of twenty cards that is an excellent didactic material to teach reading and develop a child's understanding of terms such as “soft” and “hard” sounds. These cards can be used with equal success for home grammar lessons and for teaching classes in kindergartens and early childhood development schools. We offer you a color version of the cards. Soft consonants are colored green, hard consonants are blue. By printing them on a color printer and pre-cutting them, you can use them to demonstrate hard and soft sounds.
According to the hardness and softness of the sound, the consonants form fifteen pairs: [b] - [b'], [c] - [v'], [g] - [g'], [d] - [d'], [z] - [z'], [p] - [p'], [f] - [f'], [k] - [k'], [t] - [t'], [s] - [s'], [m] - [m'], [n] - [n'], [p] - [p'], [l] - [l'] and [x] - [x']. For example, the letter “R” in different words can be pronounced hard – “fish” and softly – “river”. To indicate softness, a special icon is used: [‘].
But there are sounds that have no pair for softness. For example: [y'], [h'], [sh'] are always soft, and [zh], [w], [ts] are always hard. All other nouns are soft if they are followed by the vowels i, yu, ё, e, i or ь, and hard if they are paired with other vowels and consonants.
On our website, parents and kindergarten teachers can download Hard and Soft Consonant Sounds cards for free. There are other sets of cards that will help you prepare your child for school yourself.
Ability to distinguish between soft and hard consonants. Obviously, you don’t need to memorize them, but learn to hear them. And for this, the child needs to be told how exactly these sounds are made - this will greatly facilitate his understanding.
Always soft and always hard consonants
Not all consonants in our language are both hard and soft. First, you need your child to remember those of them that are only hard: Zh, Sh, Ts, and also always soft: Ch, Shch, Y. To do this, you can, for example, make a memorial plaque, where the hard ones will always be drawn above blue bricks, and always soft ones - over green pillows (the choice of color is based on how these sounds are designated in the lower grades).
If the child constantly sees this picture, which you put in his workbook or hang it over it, he will quickly remember these consonants.
How vowels “command” consonants
Then you explain to your child that other consonants can be either soft or hard. But the neighboring letters will help suggest this. If after our consonant there is another consonant, then ours is hard. For example: table. What comes after the C sound? So this is a hard consonant.
Vowel sounds “command” the consonant standing in front what it should be. If these are vowels: A, O, U, E, Y, then there are only hard consonants in front of them. And if it is: I, E, Yu, I, E, then it is soft. The softness of the previous consonant is also indicated by
Educational games
To make it easier for your child to remember this, try playing with him. Invite him to attach outside point your index finger to the palate and pronounce the syllables containing soft and hard consonants in turn. For example: TA - TYA, NA - NYA. Thanks to this, the child will be able to remember exactly how a consonant sound is produced. He will understand that when a soft consonant is formed, the tongue seems to move forward, and its back rises slightly towards the palate. But when hard consonants are pronounced, this does not happen.
Throw the ball to the child, naming a syllable with a hard consonant, and let him return the ball to you, having already pronounced it with a soft one. For example: LA - LA, LO - LE, LY - LI, etc.
At school, students are asked to distinguish hard and soft consonants using blue and green colors. Blue ones are hard and green ones are soft. Cut out a few red, blue and green squares and have them make a word mosaic. The child will display vowel sounds in red, hard consonants in blue, and soft consonants in green. For this, take small words of one or two syllables: fish, elephant, branch, chalk and so on.
Play the “chain of words” game. You pronounce a word ending with a syllable with a hard or soft consonant, and the child names the next word that begins with this syllable. Remembering to determine out loud which consonant, hard or soft, was in this syllable: winds - fish - bagels - cinema etc.
If you methodically explain to your child the difference between hard and soft consonants, this will help him navigate more easily in the future, when studying many of the features of the spelling of the Russian language. Good luck to you!