In Russian, there are voiced and voiceless consonants. When studying phonetics (the science of the sounds of speech) and graphics (the science of the letters of the alphabet), it is necessary to clearly know which sound is deaf and which is voiced.
What is it for?
The fact is that in Russian it is not necessary for the letters denoting voiced consonants to be read loudly in all cases. There are also cases when the letters denoting muffled sounds are read loudly. Correct correlation of letter and sound will greatly help in learning the rules of spelling words.
Let us examine in more detail what the concepts of deafness and voicedness mean. The formation of voiced consonants occurs due to noise and voice: the air stream not only overcomes an obstacle in the oral cavity, but also vibrates the vocal cords.
- The following sounds are voiced: b, c, d, d, g, h, l, m, n, p, d.
- However, in phonetics, from this series of sounds, the so-called sonoric sounds are also distinguished, which are as close as possible in their characteristics to vowel sounds: they can be sung, extended in speech. These sounds include d, p, l, n, m.
Deaf consonants are pronounced without the participation of the voice, only with the help of noise, while the vocal cords are relaxed.
- These letters and sounds include the following: k, p, s, t, f, x, c, h, w, sch. In order to make it easier to remember all the voiceless consonants in Russian, you need to learn the phrase: "Styopka, do you want a shchets?" - "Fi!" All consonants in it are deaf.
Pairs of voiced and voiceless consonants
Voiced and deaf sounds and letters denoting them are contrasted in Russian and form pairs:
- b-p,
- in-f,
- g-k,
- d-t,
- s-s,
- wsh.
If we take into account that the consonants in these pairs can also be soft (except for w-w), then there will be a total of 11 opposed pairs for deafness-voicedness. The listed sounds are called paired. The rest of the voiced and voiceless sounds do not have pairs. The voiced unpaired ones include the above-mentioned sonorants, and the deaf ones - x, c, ch, sch. The consonant table presented on our website will help you to study these sounds in more detail.
Click on the picture to print a table with voiced and voiceless consonants
How is it that letters in the Russian alphabet can denote several sounds?
The pronunciation of a sound is often predetermined by its position in the word. So, ringing sound at the end of the word is stunned, and this position of the sound is called "weak". Stunning can also occur before the following voiceless consonant, for example: a pond, a booth. We write voiced consonants, but we pronounce: twig, but ka.
Conversely, a voiceless consonant can become voiced if it is followed by a voiced sound: threshing, but we pronounce malad ba. Knowing this feature Russian phonetics, we check the spelling of consonants at the end and middle of a word using test words: hammer - thresh, pond-ponds, booth - booth. We select the test word so that after the dubious consonant there is a vowel.
To remember what a sound is in terms of its characteristics, it is necessary to carry out in the mind the associations of sound with any object, event or natural sound. For example, the sound w is similar to the rustling of leaves, and the sound w is like the hum of bees. The association will help you to orient yourself in time. Another way is to create a phrase with a specific set of sounds.
Thus, knowing the letter-to-sound relationship is extremely important for spelling and correct pronunciation. Without studying phonetics, it is impossible to study and correctly perceive the melody of the language.
Video lesson about voiced and voiceless consonants:
Tralik and Valik about voiced and voiceless consonants
Another video lesson for children with riddles about voiced and voiceless consonants
Is the letter "Y" a vowel or consonant, hard or soft? Phonetic parsing of the word.
This question is very often asked by students who need to parse a word according to all the rules of phonetics. You will receive the answer to it a little further.
General information.
Before talking about what the letter "y" is (soft or hard), you should find out why the letters of the Russian alphabet are generally divided according to such characteristics.
The fact is that each word has its own sound shell, which consists of separate sounds. It should be noted that the sound of this or that expression is fully consistent with its meaning. Moreover, at different words and their forms are completely different sound design. And the sounds themselves do not matter. However, they play a vital role in the Russian language. Indeed, thanks to them, we can easily distinguish words.
Let's give an example
: [home] - [lady´] - [home]; [m'el] - [m'el '], [volume] - [there], [house] - [volume].
Transcription.
Why do we need information about what the letter "y" is (hard or soft)? During a word, it is very important to correctly display the transcription that describes its sound. In such a system, it is customary to use the following symbols:
- this designation is called square brackets. They are necessarily put to indicate transcription.
[´] is stress. It is placed if the word has more than one syllable.
[б ’] - a kind of comma is placed next to the consonant letter and denotes its softness.
By the way, during phonetic parsing of words, the following symbol is often used - [j]. As a rule, they denote the sound of the letter "y" (sometimes such a symbol as [y] is also used).
Letter "d": consonant or vowel?
As you know, in Russian, all sounds are divided into consonants and vowels. They are perceived and pronounced in completely different ways.
Vowel sounds are those sounds during the pronunciation of which air easily and freely passes through the mouth, without encountering any obstacles in its path. Moreover, they can be pulled, with the help of them you can shout. If you put your palm to your throat, then the work of the ligaments (vocal) during the pronunciation of vowels can be quite easily felt. There are 6 stressed vowels in Russian, namely: [a], [e], [y], [s], [o] and [and].
Consonants are those sounds during the pronunciation of which the air meets an obstacle on its way, namely a bow or a gap. Their appearance determines the nature of the sounds. As a rule, a gap is formed when pronouncing [s], [w], [h] and [g]. In this case, the tip of the tongue approaches the upper or lower teeth. The consonants presented can be pulled (for example, [f-f-f], [z-z-z]). As for the bow, such an obstacle is formed due to the closing of the speech organs. The air, or rather its flow, abruptly overcomes it, due to which the sounds are energetic and short. That is why they are called explosive. By the way, it is impossible to pull them (try it yourself: [p], [b], [t], [d]).
In addition to the above consonants, the Russian language also contains the following: [m], [d], [v], [f], [g], [l], [p], [h], [c], [x] ... As you can see, there are many more of them than there are vowels.
Deaf and voiced sounds.
By the way, many consonants form themselves between pairs of deafness and voicedness: [k] - [g], [b] - [n], [z] - [c], [d] - [t], [f] - [c], etc. There are 11 such pairs in Russian. However, there are sounds that do not have pairs on this basis. These include: [d], [p], [n], [l], [m] are unpaired voiced, and [h] and [c] are unpaired voiceless.
Soft and hard consonants.
As you know, consonants differ not only in voicedness or, conversely, voicelessness, but also in softness and hardness. This property is the second most important feature of sounds.
So, the letter "y": hard or soft? To answer this question, you should consider each attribute separately:
During the pronunciation of soft consonants, the entire tongue shifts slightly forward, and its middle part rises slightly.
During the pronunciation of hard consonants, the entire language is literally pulled back.
It should be especially noted that many consonant letters form pairs among themselves according to such characteristics as softness and hardness: [d] - [d ’], [p] - [p’], etc. There are 15 such pairs in total. However, there are also sounds that do not have pairs on this basis. Which solid letters are unpaired? These include the following - [w], [w] and [c]. As for unpaired soft ones, these are [u '], [h'] and [th '].
Letter designation.
Now you know the information about whether the letter "y" is hard or soft. But here comes new question: "How is the softness of such sounds indicated in writing?" For this, absolutely different ways:
The letters "e", "u", "e", "I" after the consonants (not counting the "z", "w", and "t") indicate that these consonants are soft. Let's give an example: uncle - [d'a'd'a], aunt - [t'o't'a].
The letter "i" after the consonants (not counting "w", "w", and "t") indicates that these consonants are soft. Let's give an example: cute - [m'y'ly '], sheet - [l'ist], threads - [n'i'tk'i].
The soft sign ("b") after the consonants (not counting "g" and "w") is an indicator of grammatical form. It also indicates that consonants are soft. Examples example: distance - [gave '], stranded - [m'el'], request - [proz'ba].
As you can see, the softness of consonant sounds in writing is conveyed not by individual letters, but by their combinations with the vowels "e", "u", "e", "I", as well as a soft sign. That is why, when parsing a word phonetically, experts recommend paying attention to neighboring characters.
As for the vowel letter "y", it is always soft. In this regard, in transcription, it is customary to denote it as follows: [th ’]. That is, the comma symbol, indicating the softness of the sound, must always be set. The same rule is also subject to [uch ’], [h’].
Let's summarize.
As you can see, there is nothing difficult in correctly making a phonetic analysis of any word. To do this, you just need to know what vowels and consonants are, voiceless and voiced, as well as soft and hard. For a better understanding of how it is necessary to arrange a transcription, we will give several detailed examples.
1. The word "hero". Consists of two syllables, the 2nd being stressed. Let's parse:
Г - [г '] - voiced, consonant and soft.
p - [p] - voiced, consonant, unpaired and hard.
o - [o] - stressed vowel.
th - [th ’] - voiced, consonant, unpaired and soft.
Total: 5 letters and 5 sounds.
2. The word "trees". Consists of three syllables, with the 2nd being stressed. Let's parse:
D - [d '] - voiced, consonant and soft.
e - [and] - unstressed vowel.
p - [p ’] - voiced, consonant, unpaired and soft.
e - [e´] - stressed vowel.
в - [в ’] - voiced, consonant and soft
b - [-]
e - [th ’] - voiced, consonant, unpaired and soft and [e] - vowel, unstressed;
в - [f] - deaf,
What is the difference between vowels and consonants and sounds? What rules do they obey? How is the hardness and softness of sounds and letters indicated? You will receive answers to all these questions in the presented article.
General information about vowels and consonants
Vowels and consonants are the basis of the entire Russian language. Indeed, with the help of their combinations, syllables are formed that add up to words, expressions, sentences, texts, etc. That is why quite a few hours are devoted to this topic in high school.
and sounds in Russian
A person learns about what vowels and consonants are in the Russian alphabet from the first grade. And despite all the seeming simplicity of this topic, it is considered one of the most difficult for students.
So, in the Russian language there are ten vowels, namely: o, and, a, s, yu, i, e, e, y, e. During their direct pronunciation, you can feel how the air passes freely through oral cavity... At the same time, we quite clearly hear our own voice... It should also be noted that vowel sounds can be pulled (a-a-a-a, uh-uh-uh, u-u-u-u-u, 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, there are as many syllables in Russian words as there are vowels themselves. Let us give illustrative example: u-che-ni-ki - 5 syllables, re-bya-ta - 3 syllables, he - 1 syllable, oh-no - 2 syllables, and so on. There are even words that consist of only one vowel sound. Usually these are interjections (A!
Endings, suffixes and prefixes are very important topics in the discipline "Russian language". Indeed, without knowing how such letters are written in a particular word, it is quite problematic to write a competent letter.
Consonants and sounds in Russian
Vowels and consonants vary considerably. And if the former can be easily pulled, the latter are pronounced as short as possible (except for hissing ones, since they can be pulled).
It should be noted that in the Russian alphabet the number of consonant letters is 21, namely: b, c, d, d, g, h, d, k, l, m, n, p, p, s, t, f, x, c, h, w, sch. The sounds designated by them are usually divided into voiceless and voiced. What is the difference? The fact is that during the pronunciation of voiced consonants, a person can hear not only a characteristic noise, but also his own voice (b !, z !, p! Etc.). As for the deaf, they cannot be uttered loudly or, for example, shouted. They create only a kind of noise (sh-sh-sh-sh-sh, s-s-s-s-s, etc.).
Thus, virtually everyone falls into two different categories:
- voiced - b, c, d, d, g, h, d, l, m, n, r;
- deaf - k, p, s, t, f, x, c, h, w.
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 deafness).
A distinctive feature of soft consonants is that during their pronunciation, the human language takes on a special position. As a rule, it moves slightly forward, and its entire middle part rises slightly. As for that, when pronouncing them, the language 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 solid ones.
In Russian, almost all consonants have pairs based on softness and hardness. However, there are those who simply do not have them. These include hard - [w], [w] and [c] and soft - [d "], [h"] and [w "].
The softness and hardness of vowel sounds
Surely few people have heard that there are soft vowels in Russian. Soft consonants are quite familiar sounds for us, which cannot be said about the above. This is partly due to the fact that in secondary school, this topic is practically not given. After all, it is clear with which vowels the consonants become soft. However, we still decided to devote you to this topic.
So, soft are those letters that are able to soften the consonants in front of them. These include the following: u, e, i, e, u. As for letters such as a, y, s, e, o, they are considered solid, since they do not soften the consonants in front. To be convinced of this, we will give a few examples:
Designation of the softness of consonants in the phonetic parsing of a word
Phonetics studies the sounds and letters of the Russian language. Surely, in high school, you were asked to make a word more than once. During such an analysis, it is imperative to indicate whether it is considered separately or not. If yes, then it must be designated as follows: [n '], [t'], [d '], [in'], [m '], [p']. That is, at the top right, next to the consonant letter facing 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 "].
What is sound? This is the minimum component of human speech. It is represented by letters. V writing sounds differ from letters by the presence of the first square brackets used in phonetic transcription. The letter is o, the sound is [o]. The transcription shows the differences in spelling and pronunciation. Apostrophe [ ‘ ] indicates a soft pronunciation.
In contact with
Sounds are divided into:
- Vowels. They can be pulled easily. When creating them, the language does not take an active part, fixing itself in one position. Sound is created due to changes in the position of the tongue, lips, different vibrations of the vocal cords and the force of air supply. Vowel length - the basis of vocal art(chanting, "satin stitch singing").
- The consonants a are pronounced with the participation of the tongue, which, occupying a certain position and shape, creates an obstacle to the movement of air from the lungs. This leads to the appearance of noise in the oral cavity. At the output, they are converted into sound. Also, the free passage of air is impeded by the lips, which close-open during speech.
Consonants are divided into:
- deaf and voiced. Deafness and voiced sound depend on the work of the speech apparatus;
- hard and soft. The sound is determined by the position of the letter in the word.
Consonant letters
Deaf
Deaf in Russian: [k], [n], [s], [t], [f], [x], [c], [w]. The easiest way to remember is the phrase, and not a set of letters, “Step, want some cheeks? Fi! ”Containing all of them.
An example in which all consonants are deaf: rooster, honeycomb, pin.
Voiced
When they are formed, the form of the tongue is close to the form that produces the deaf, but vibrations are added. Voiced consonants create active vibrations of the ligaments. Vibrations deform the sound wave, and it is not a pure stream of air that enters the oral cavity, but sound. In the future, it is additionally transformed by the tongue and lips.
Voiced consonants include: b, c, d, d, g, h, y, l, m, n, r.
When they are pronounced, tension is clearly felt in the larynx region. In addition, it is almost impossible to pronounce them clearly in a whisper.
A word in which all consonants are voiced: Rome, pride, ash, estuary.
Summary table of consonants (voiceless and voiced).
It is due to the change in sound that Russian speech is enriched with various words that are similar in spelling and pronunciation, but completely different in meaning... For example: house - volume, court - itching, code - year.
Paired consonants
What does pairing mean? Two letters, similar in sound, with the pronunciation of which the language occupies similar positions, are called paired consonants. The pronunciation of consonants can be conditionally divided into one-stage (lips and tongues are involved in their creation) and two-stage - the ligaments are connected first, then the mouth. Those cases when, when pronouncing, the movements of the mouth coincide and create pairs.
Summary table of paired consonants, taking into account hardness and softness
In speech, it is common not to pronounce every letter, but to “eat” it. This is not an exception only to Russian speech. This is found in almost all languages of the world and is especially noticeable in English. In Russian, this effect is subject to the rule: paired consonants replace (by ear) each other during speech. For example: love - [l'u boo f''].
But not everyone has a match. There are not similar in pronunciation to any others - this unpaired consonants... The reproduction technique differs from the pronunciation of other sounds and combines them into groups.
Paired consonants
Unpaired consonants
The first group can be pronounced softly. The second has no analogues in pronunciation.
Unpaired consonants are divided into:
- sonors - [’], [l], [l’], [m], [m ’], [n], [n’], [p], [p ’]. When they are pronounced, the air stream hits the upper sky, like a dome;
- hissing - [x], [x ’], [c], [h’], [u ’].
The Russian language contains letters that are difficult to understand in context. Sounds [h], [y], [c], [n] voiced or deaf? Learn these 4 letters!
Important![h] - deaf! [th] - sonorous! [c] is deaf! [n] - sonorous!
Unpaired consonants
Hard and soft
They are the same spelling, but different in sound. Voiceless and voiced consonants, with the exception of hissing ones, can be pronounced hard or soft. For example: [b] was - [b`] beat; [t] current - [t`] current.
When pronouncing hard, the tip of the tongue is pressed against the palate. Soft are formed by pressing to the upper palate of the middle part of the tongue.
In speech, the sound is determined by the letter following the consonant.
Vowels form pairs: a-z, u-u, e-e, s-i, o-y.
Two-sounding vowels (i, e, yu, e) are pronounced in one of two combinations: the sound [y] and a paired vowel from E, O, U, A or a soft sign and a paired vowel. For example, Jung's word. It is pronounced like [y] [y] [n] [r] [a]. Or the word mint. It is pronounced like: [m ’] [a] [t] [a]. The vowels A, O, U, E, Y do not have a double sound, therefore does not affect the pronunciation of the leading consonant.
An example of the difference:
Spoon - hatch, honey - sea, house - woodpecker.
Phonetic transcription:
[L o z a] - [L ’u k], [m’ o d] - [mo r ’e], [d o m] - [d’ a t e l].
Pronunciation rules:
- hard ones are pronounced before A, O, U, E, Y. Abscess, side, beech, bentley, past;
- soft ones are pronounced before I, Yo, Yu, E, I. Revenge, honey, whale, puree, mint;
- solid ones are pronounced if there is another consonant after them: death. The consonant [s] is followed by the consonant [m]. Regardless of whether the M is soft, voiced or hard, C is pronounced firmly;
- solid are pronounced if the letter is the last in the word: class, house;
- consonants before the vowel [e] in borrowed words are pronounced firmly, as before [e]. For example: muffler - [k] [a] [w] [n] [e];
- always soft before b: elk, pulp.
- exceptions to the rule:
- always solid F, W, C: life, thorns, cyanide;
- always soft Y, H, U: white, black, pike.
Yes, there are only six vowel sounds in Russian: [a], [o], [y], [e], [s], [and]. In writing, these sounds are indicated by the corresponding letters, in accordance with the spelling.
Unfortunately, sometimes sounds are called letters - iotated vowels. This is mistake. The vowels "I", "e", "ё", "yu" in words denote either the softness of the previous consonant ("honey"), or two sounds at once ("yula" [yula], beacon [mayak].
Of course, if you look more broadly, you will notice that, for example, the sound [a] is not the same in different parts the words. Under stress, it is as clear as possible, but the further its position is from the shock, the less clear it is. This is called reduction or reduction.
During sound analysis of words, when recording transcription, different icons are used for percussive and unstressed sounds. But within school course it is enough to know that there are only six vowel sounds in Russian.
Consonants and consonants
Sounds and letters are a little easier. Although it also has its own characteristics.
Letters, as already mentioned, are 21. And consonants - 37. In Russian they differ in hardness-softness and voiced-deafness.
Most consonants are paired in terms of hardness and softness. This is [[b] - [b "]; [c] - [c"]; [d] - [d "]; [d] - [d"]; [h] - [h "]; [k] - [k"]; [l] - [l "]; [m] - [m"]; [n] - [n "]; [n] - [n"]; [p] - [p "]; [s] - [s"]; [t] - [t "]; [f] - [f"]; [x] - [x "]. A total of 15 pairs. The rest of the consonants are either always hard ([w], [w], [q]), or soft ([y"], [h "], [u"] ). In total, 36 consonants are obtained. The individual is the 37th consonant sound [w ’:].
The consonant sound [w ’:] is soft, long. It is used much less frequently than other consonants. It occurs in words such as "reins", "yeast", as well as when pronouncing the word "rain": [doge ’:]
Most consonants are also paired in voicing-voicelessness. There are 11 such pairs. Always voiced, respectively, unpaired: [d '], [l], [l'], [m], [m '], [n], [n'], [p], [p ' ], [f ':]. Always: [x], [x ’], [c], [h’], [u ’].
In total, in Russian there are 37 consonants, 6 vowels. And there are 43 sounds in total.
15.sound
16.sound
17.sound
18.analuse
19.analus
Stress is the emphasis on intonation of a single word in a word. Moreover, in Russian, the stress can fall on any syllable. Are there vowels that are necessarily stressed?
Stress is a special way of emphasizing a syllable in a word, carried out using intonation. In fact, the stress is additional tool semantic identification of the word: after all, some words in the Russian language are completely identical when written, and only the stress distinguishes them from each other. For example, if the word "flour" is on the first syllable, it will mean a product used for baking, and if on the second - the suffering that a living creature is experiencing.
Stress options
In some languages of the world, the issue of stressing is solved quite simply: there is a certain standard under which all or most of the words in this language fall. This situation is observed, for example, in French, where in all words the stress is on the last syllable. In Russian, something like standard rule absent: stress can fall on any syllable in a word, while depending on the form of a particular stress setting, it can change. So, for example, the stress in the word "take" when it will depend on the gender: in masculine the form "took" will have an accent on the letter "I", and in female uniform"" Requires the stress on the letter "a". Therefore, in Russian, before reading an unfamiliar word, one should clarify in authoritative sources, for example, special dictionaries, which syllable in this word is stressed.Stressed vowels
Despite all the variety of rules in Russian words, there is a vowel that is always under stress. It is"Yo" Therefore, if you see an unfamiliar word in which this letter is present, you can safely read it, putting an emphasis on "ё" - most likely, you will not be mistaken. In addition, this fact is the reason that the accent mark above the letter "ё" is most often not put. However, this rule, like most grammar rules in Russian, has several important exceptions. The first is related to the use of foreign words, which at one time were borrowed and introduced into the Russian language. An example of such a word can be "amoebiasis" - here the shock is the second letter "a", as in most similar constructions in Russian, denoting diseases. The second exception to this rule is Difficult words having two or more roots, for example, "three-tiered": in this word, the shock will be the letter "I".Related article
Sources:
- Stress
It is rather difficult to calculate the number of words in Russian and any other language, since this value is not constant. Some words become obsolete and forgotten, at the same time new words appear and take their place in the language.
Instructions
Due to the difficulties in determining the counting methodology, the question of the exact number of words in remains open. This topic is constantly discussed not only within the framework of academic science, but also outside it on the pages of mass periodicals, in TV programs and in the Internet space. When naming the number of words in a particular language, they traditionally refer to some rather authoritative one. For the Russian language, such a publication is the "Bolshoi Academic