Russian alphabet consonants. Soft and hard consonants. Are vocal cords involved in the pronunciation of voiceless consonants?
What is the difference between vowels and consonants and letters and sounds? What rules do they obey? How are the hardness and softness of sounds and letters indicated? You will receive answers to all these questions in this article.
General information about vowels and consonants
Vowels and consonants represent the basis of the entire Russian language. After all, with the help of their combinations, syllables are formed that form words, expressions, sentences, texts, etc. That is why quite a lot of hours are devoted to this topic in high school.
and sounds in Russian
A person learns what vowels and consonants are in the Russian alphabet already from the first grade. And despite the apparent simplicity of this topic, it is considered one of the most difficult for students.
So, in the Russian language there are ten vowel letters, namely: o, i, a, y, yu, i, e, e, u, e. During their immediate pronunciation, you can feel how the air passes through unhindered oral cavity. At the same time, we hear our own voice quite clearly. It should also be noted that vowel sounds can be drawn out (a-a-a-a, uh-uh-uh, i-i-i-i-i, u-u-u-u-u and so on ).
Features and letters
Vowels are the basis of a syllable, that is, they are the ones who organize it. As a rule, Russian words have as many syllables as vowels themselves. Let's give clear example: u-che-ni-ki - 5 syllables, re-bya-ta - 3 syllables, he - 1 syllable, o-no - 2 syllables and so on. There are even words that consist of only one vowel sound. Usually these are interjections (A!, Oh!, Oooh!) and conjunctions (and, a, etc.).
Endings, suffixes and prefixes are very important topics in the Russian Language discipline. After all, without knowing how such letters are written in a particular word, it is quite problematic to compose a literate letter.
Consonants and sounds in Russian
Vowels and consonants letters and sounds vary significantly. And if the first ones can be easily pulled out, then the latter ones are pronounced as briefly as possible (except for hissing ones, since they can be pulled out).
It should be noted that in the Russian alphabet the number of consonant letters is 21, namely: b, v, g, d, zh, z, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, f, x, ts, h, w, shch. The sounds they denote are usually divided into dull and voiced. What is the difference? The fact is that during the pronunciation of voiced consonants, a person can hear not only the characteristic noise, but also his own voice (b!, z!, r!, etc.). As for the deaf, there is no way to pronounce them loudly or, for example, shout. They only create a kind of noise (sh-sh-sh-sh-sh, s-s-s-s-s, etc.).
Thus, almost everything is divided into two different categories:
- voiced - b, c, d, d, g, z, j, l, m, n, r;
- deaf - k, p, s, t, f, x, c, ch, sh.
Softness and hardness of consonants
Not everyone knows, but vowels and consonants can be hard and soft. This is the second the most important sign in Russian (after voicing and voicelessness).
A distinctive feature of soft consonants is that during their pronunciation the human tongue takes a special position. As a rule, it moves a little forward, and its entire middle part rises slightly. As for when pronouncing them, the tongue is pulled back. You can compare the position of your speech organ yourself: [n] - [n’], [t] - [t’]. It should also be noted that voiced and soft sounds sound slightly higher than hard sounds.
In the Russian language, almost all consonants have pairs based on softness and hardness. However, there are also those who simply do not have them. These include hard ones - [zh], [sh] and [ts] and soft ones - [th"], [h"] and [sh"].
Softness and hardness of vowel sounds
Surely few people have heard that the Russian language has soft vowels. Soft consonants are sounds quite familiar to us, which cannot be said about the above-mentioned ones. This is partly due to the fact that in secondary school practically no time is devoted to this topic. After all, it is already clear with the help of which vowels the consonants become soft. However, we still decided to dedicate you to this topic.
So, those letters that are capable of softening the consonants preceding them are called soft. These include the following: i, e, i, e, yu. As for letters such as a, y, y, e, o, they are considered hard because they do not soften the consonants in front. To see this, here are a few examples:
Indication of the softness of consonant letters during phonetic analysis of a word
Phonetics studies the sounds and letters of the Russian language. Surely, in high school you were asked more than once to make a word. During such an analysis, it is imperative to indicate whether it is separately considered or not. If yes, then it must be designated as follows: [n’], [t’], [d’], [v’], [m’], [p’]. That is, at the top right next to the consonant letter before the soft vowel, you need to put a kind of dash. The following soft sounds are marked with a similar icon - [th"], [h"] and [w"].
The modern Russian alphabet consists of 33 letters. The phonetics of the modern Russian number determines 42 sounds. The sounds are vowels and consonants. The letters ь (soft sign) and ъ (hard sign) do not form sounds.
Vowel sounds
The Russian language has 10 vowel letters and 6 vowel sounds.
- Vowel letters: a, i, e, e, o, u, s, e, yu, i.
- Vowel sounds: [a], [o], [u], [e], [i], [s].
To remember, vowel letters are often written in pairs with similar sounds: a-ya, o-yo, e-e, i-y, u-yu.
Shocked and unstressed
The number of syllables in a word is equal to the number of vowels in the word: forest - 1 syllable, water - 2 syllables, road - 3 syllables, etc. The syllable that is pronounced with greater intonation is stressed. The vowel that forms such a syllable is stressed, the remaining vowels in the word are unstressed. The position under stress is called a strong position, without stress - a weak position.
Yotated vowels
A significant place is occupied by iotated vowels - the letters e, e, yu, i, which mean two sounds: e → [й'][е], е → [й'][о], yu → [й'][у], i → [th'][a]. Vowels are iotated if:
- stand at the beginning of a word (spruce, fir-tree, spinning top, anchor),
- stand after a vowel (what, sings, hare, cabin),
- stand after ь or ъ (stream, stream, stream, stream).
In other cases, the letters e, e, yu, i mean one sound, but there is no one-to-one correspondence, since different positions in the word and different combinations with the consonants of these letters give rise to different sounds.
Consonants
There are 21 consonant letters and 36 consonant sounds. The discrepancy in numbers means that some letters can represent different sounds in different words - soft and hard sounds.
Consonants: b, v, g, d, g, z, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, f, x, c, ch, sh, sch.
Consonant sounds: [b], [b'], [v], [v'], [g], [g'], [d], [d'], [zh], [z], [z' ], [th'], [k], [k'], [l], [l'], [m], [m'], [n], [n'], [p], [p' ], [p], [p'], [s], [s'], [t], [t'], [f], [f'], [x], [x'], [ts] , [h'], [w], [w'].
The sign ‘ means a soft sound, that is, the letter is pronounced softly. The absence of a sign indicates that the sound is hard. So, [b] - hard, [b’] - soft.
Voiced and voiceless consonants
There is a difference in the way we pronounce consonant sounds. Voiced consonants are formed in a combination of voice and noise, voiceless consonants are formed due to noise ( vocal cords do not vibrate). There are a total of 20 voiced consonants and 16 voiceless consonants.
| Voiced consonants | Voiceless consonants | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| unpaired | doubles | doubles | unpaired |
| th → [th"] | b → [b], [b"] | p → [p], [p"] | h → [h"] |
| l → [l], [l"] | in → [in], [in"] | f → [f], [f"] | š → [š"] |
| m → [m], [m"] | g → [g], [g"] | k → [k], [k"] | ts → [ts] |
| n → [n], [n"] | d → [d], [d"] | t → [t], [t"] | x → [x], [x"] |
| p → [p], [p"] | zh → [zh] | w → [w] | |
| z → [z], [z"] | s → [s], [s"] | ||
| 9 unpaired | 11 doubles | 11 doubles | 5 unpaired |
| 20 ringing sounds | 16 dull sounds | ||
According to pairing and unpairing, voiced and voiceless consonants are divided into:
b-p, v-f, g-k, d-t, w-sh, z-s- paired in terms of voicedness and deafness.
y, l, m, n, r - always voiced (unpaired).
x, ts, ch, shch - always voiceless (unpaired).
Unpaired voiced consonants are called sonorant.
Among the consonants, the following groups are also distinguished according to the level of “noisiness”:
zh, sh, h, sh - hissing.
b, c, d, e, g, h, j, p, s, t, f, x, c, h, w, sch- noisy.
Hard and soft consonants
| Hard consonants | Soft consonants | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| unpaired | doubles | doubles | unpaired |
| [and] | [b] | [b"] | [h"] |
| [w] | [V] | [V"] | [sch"] |
| [ts] | [G] | [G"] | [th"] |
| [d] | [d"] | ||
| [h] | [z"] | ||
| [To] | [To"] | ||
| [l] | [l"] | ||
| [m] | [m"] | ||
| [n] | [n"] | ||
| [P] | [P"] | ||
| [R] | [R"] | ||
| [With] | [With"] | ||
| [T] | [T"] | ||
| [f] | [f"] | ||
| [X] | [X"] | ||
| 3 unpaired | 15 doubles | 15 unpaired | 3 doubles |
| 18 hard sounds | 18 soft sounds | ||
- A a a
- B b b b b
- In in ve
- G g g
- D d d e
- E e e
- Yo yo yo
- Zhe zhe
- Z ze ze
- And and and
- Thy and short
- K k ka
- L l el
- Mm um
- N n en
- Ooo
- P p pe
- R r er
- S s es
- T t teh
- U u u
- F f ef
- X x ha
- Ts ts tses
- Ch h wh
- Sh sh sha
- Shch shcha
- ъ hard sign
- s s
- b soft sign
- Uh uh
- Yu yu yu
- I I I
| 42 sounds | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 vowels | 36 consonants | ||||
| [a] [i] [o] [y] [s] [e] | Doubles | Unpaired | |||
| Drums | Unstressed | Voiced | Deaf | Voiced | Deaf |
| [b] [b"] [in] [in"] [g] [g"] [d] [d"] [and] [z] [z"] | [n] [n"] [f] [f"] [k] [k"] [t] [t"] [w] [s] [s"] | [th"] [l] [l"] [mm"] [n] [n"] [r] [r"] | [x] [x"] [ts] [h"] [sch"] |
||
| Doubles | Unpaired | ||||
| Solid | Soft | Solid | Soft | ||
| [b] [V] [G] [d] [h] [To] [l] [m] [n] [P] [R] [With] [T] [f] [X] | [b"] [V"] [G"] [d"] [z"] [To"] [l"] [m"] [n"] [P"] [R"] [With"] [T"] [f"] [X"] | [and] [ts] [w] | [th"] [h"] [sch"] |
||
How do letters differ from sounds?
Sound is elastic vibrations in any medium. We hear sounds and can create them, among other things, with the help of the speech apparatus (lips, tongue, etc.).
A letter is a symbol of the alphabet. It has a capital (excl., ь and ъ) and lowercase version. Often a letter is a graphic representation of the corresponding speech sound. We see and write letters. To ensure that the writing is not affected by the peculiarities of pronunciation, spelling rules have been developed that determine which letters should be used in the word in question. The exact pronunciation of a word can be found in the phonetic transcription of the word, which is shown in square brackets in dictionaries.
Vowels and sounds
Vowel sounds (“glas” is the Old Slavonic “voice”) are the sounds [a], [i], [o], [u], [s], [e], in the creation of which the vocal cords are involved, and on the way no barrier is erected to the exhaled air. These sounds are sung: [aaaaaaa], [iiiiiiiii] ...
Vowel sounds are designated by the letters a, e, e, i, o, u, y, e, yu, i. The letters e, e, yu, i are called iotized. They denote two sounds, the first of which is [th"], when
- are the first in the phonetic word e le [y" e ́l"e] (3 letters, 4 sounds) e sche [th" and ш"о́] (3 letters, 4 sounds) еж [й" о ́ш] (2 letters , 3 sounds) Yu la [y" u ́l"a] (3 letters, 4 sounds) I block [y" a ́blaka] (6 letters, 7 sounds) I ichko [y" and ich"ka] (5 letters, 6 sounds)
- follow after the vowels birdie d [pt "itsy" e ́t] (7 letters, 8 sounds) ee [yiy" o ́] (2 letters, 4 sounds) kayu ta [kai" u ́ta] (5 letters, 6 sounds) blue [with "in" a ] (5 letters, 6 sounds)
- follow after ь and ъ е зд [вй" е ́ст] (5 letters, 5 sounds) rise m [fall" о ́м] (6 letters, 6 sounds) lyu [л"й" у ́] (3 letters, 3 sounds ) wings [wing "th" a] (6 letters, 6 sounds)
The letter and also denotes two sounds, the first of which is [th"], when
- follows after ь nightingale [salav "й" and ́] (7 letters, 7 sounds)
In a word, vowel sounds that are emphasized during pronunciation are called stressed, and those that are not emphasized are called unstressed. Stressed sounds are most often both heard and written. To check which letter needs to be placed in a word, you should select a single-root word in which the desired unstressed sound will be stressed.
Running [b"igush"] - running [b"ek] mountain [gara] - mountains [mountains]
Two words united by a single accent make up one phonetic word.
To the garden [fsat]
There are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels. The division of a word into syllables may not correspond to the division during hyphenation.
e -e (2 syllables) to -chka (2 syllables) o -de -va -tsya (4 syllables)Consonants and sounds
Consonant sounds are sounds that create an obstruction in the path of exhaled air.
Voiced consonants are pronounced with the participation of the voice, and voiceless consonants are pronounced without it. The difference is easy to hear in paired consonants, for example, [p] - [b], when pronounced, the lips and tongue are in the same position.
Soft consonants are pronounced with the participation of the middle part of the tongue and are indicated in transcription by an apostrophe " what happens when consonants
- are always soft [th"], [ch"], [sch"] ai [ai" ] (2 letters, 2 sounds) ray [ray" ] (3 letters, 3 sounds) bream [l "esch" ] (3 letters, 3 sounds)
- followed before the letters e, e, i, yu, i, b (excl., always hard [zh], [ts], [sh] and in borrowed words) mel [m "el" ] (4 letters, 3 sounds) aunt [t"ot"a] (4 letters, 4 sounds) people [l"ud"i] (4 letters, 4 sounds) life [zh yz"n"] (5 letters, 4 sounds) circus [ts yrk] (4 letters, 4 sounds) neck [sh eyya] (3 letters, 4 sounds) tempo [t emp] (4 letters, 4 sounds)
- come before soft consonants (some cases) pancake [bl"in" ch"ik]
Otherwise, consonant sounds will predominantly be hard.
Sibilant consonants include the sounds [zh], [sh], [h"], [sch"]. Speech therapists rule their pronunciation penultimately: the tongue must be strong and flexible to resist exhaled air and be held against the roof of the mouth in the shape of a cup. The last ones in line are always vibrating [p] and [p"].
Do schoolchildren need phonetics?
Without dividing into vowels, consonants, stressed and unstressed, of course, it is impossible. But the transcription is clearly too much.
Speech therapists are required to know phonetic analysis of words, and it can probably be useful to foreigners.
For students (from 1st grade!) who have not yet mastered the rules of spelling, a fairly in-depth study of phonetics only hinders, confuses and contributes to incorrect memorization of the spelling of words. It is “back” that the child will associate with the pronounced “run”.
Phonetics is a capricious lady, although interesting. It's no secret that all sounds in the Russian language are divided into consonants and vowels. The former, in turn, are divided into voiced and voiceless, soft and hard. This classification is based on the way we pronounce sounds and the characteristics of our articulatory apparatus. So how can you tell them all apart?
What exactly is the matter?
1st grade begins to study soft and hard consonant sounds at the very beginning of the Russian language course. But in order to distinguish some phonemes from others, you must first understand what the difference is between them and vowels.
Vowel sounds are pronounced only with the voice. You can sing them, stretch them out - this is exactly how teachers explain to children at school. When the air leaving the lungs passes through the trachea, larynx, and oral cavity, it does not encounter any obstacles. When we talk about consonants, to pronounce them you need to use your lips, teeth and tongue - they all participate in the process, so to speak.
Comparing consonants and vowels by their sound, we notice the following trend: when vowels, as mentioned above, are sounded only with the help of one voice, then the consonants still contain noise created by the interference that the air has to encounter when pronouncing them. This is their main difference. Unvoiced sounds are pronounced only with this very noise, while in voiced sounds a voice is also added to it. Compare, for example, the pronunciation of the words “grotto” and “mole” or “house” and “tom”. In both cases, the first letters are the letters of hard consonants, voiced and unvoiced, respectively.
“Let's go back to our sheep!”
Now that we already know a little about the differences in consonants, let's move on to our main topic.
The best way to learn is by example, right? And again let's turn to the comparison: let's say the following pairs of words:
Racket rack, bun bureau, mother - ball, vine - ice, tower - view.
There is some difference in the way we pronounce consonants. Is not it? It is determined by vowel sounds that come after consonants. The words are specially selected so that the sounds we need are in the same position in all examples. In this case, they show all their diversity. Say it again, slowly. Do you feel how the tongue, in those words where the consonants sound softer, does not rest against the palate, but seems to relax and become flat? This can be considered the main feature that our hard consonants have during articulation.
Theory
Well, now let's move on to a specific theory. Hard consonants - a table that will consist of two parts. The first thing you need to remember is that the hardness or softness of a sound is determined by its neighboring vowel. When after the letter there is a, o, y, s , then the sound it denotes will definitely be hard (mitten, stomp, lips, played), and if there are e, e, yu, i, and , the consonant will sound softer (blizzard, doggie, mint, Kyiv). Thus, we can say that there is no point in memorizing all hard consonants. Almost all of them are paired. This property was shown in the first row of words, where we learned to distinguish between hard and soft sounds. Therefore, everything depends on this very vowel.
Unpaired consonants
Another question is how to deal with unpaired consonants. There are very few of these in the Russian language: w, w, c . No matter how hard you try, you won't be able to say them softly. Even if after them those vowels that are usually used with soft consonants are written: ramrod - rustling - chic, creepy - liquid - tin, price - circus - king. These consonants are contrasted with unpaired h, sch, th , which will sound soft in all cases: chock - thicket - cleaning, cheeks - squint - crushed stone, yot - yogurt.
Break the system!
In this situation, you need to understand that the rule of following a vowel with them does not apply to unpaired hard consonant sounds. The table, which can be compiled for better assimilation of the material, in any case, will consist of two parts - paired, the equivalent of which can always be found by changing the vowel, and unpaired, living by their own rules.
Let's remember
Now let's move on to methods of studying and memorizing. 1st grade remembers hard consonants reluctantly - it’s too boring. But there is always a way to increase efficiency by getting the student interested in an unusual form of work, even with material that is so theoretical and unnecessary, at first glance. Various pictures, diagrams, drawings and games with word choice will come to our aid.
Let's make cards, perhaps. You will need two sheets of colored paper or colored cardboard. The main thing is that they are contrasting. We cut out identical clouds, balls, figures - whatever comes to your mind. Then we connect the two figures with glue so that these very contrasting sides are on the outside. And then, with the participation of your little helper, on one side we write vowels that are friendly with soft consonants, and on the other - with hard consonants. In order not to forget anything at all, you can also place unpaired and paired ones next to each other, respectively. When everything is at hand, it is much easier.
Next, we draw something that can help create an association - a brick on cardboard with hard sounds written on it, and a feather with soft phonemes. Or something else like that. Having a concrete example before his eyes, the student will certainly learn the information better. Later, for reinforcement, you can ask your student to distinguish between hard and soft sounds in written words. different colors- red and blue, for example, so that you can easily check his homework.
Material at hand
To prepare the signs mentioned above, you still need to have some kind of material. Hard consonant sounds - a table that you can rely on to make sure you don’t get confused. For convenience, it contains paired and unpaired sounds in terms of hardness and softness. By the way, if we want to indicate the softness of a sound, in phonetic transcription, for example, an apostrophe is placed after it.
In this table, all phonemes at the top are hard. Below are their soft counterparts. True, we have three cases when the sound does not have a pair. This means it is never soft.
Let's remember further
Shall we continue to practice? Let's give more examples of words where the same consonant sound appears in a hard or soft position. One more nuance. In addition to those very vowels that influence a consonant, it can be softened or made hard by a soft and hard sign, respectively. Let's not forget about this in our next task.
Beaver - white, blizzard - goalkeeper, city - helium, entrance - clerk, giraffe, winter - teeth, whale cat, horse - lemonade, zhmenya - sea, Neptune - rhinoceros, steamboat - break, decision-novel, owl - family, cake - theme, film-photography, halva - diagram, chicken, hat.
Determine the words from the presented pair that demonstrate soft or hard consonants. As you can see, the letters used to designate them are still the same. Please note that in some words, hardness and softness are influenced not only by vowels, but also by consonants that stand next to our sound. In addition, you can also ask your child to come up with examples for unpaired consonants, so that he can see for himself that they are only hard. Yet own experience a far clearer confirmation than any memorized theory.
One more game
To study the topic of soft and hard consonants, you can offer the student another game like this. It's very simple. In front of him is a series of words, from which only hard consonants need to be written down. And then, inserting vowels into them, come up with some word. For example, there are a number of words: pickles - footman - knives. We write out the consonants: s, l, n, add vowels. And the first thing that comes to mind is the short but capacious word “elephant”. Shall we continue?
- Edit - will - crowbar(signed out pr, v, l ).
- Tomato - role - swamp(signed out t, r, t ).
- Bittern - dormouse - hay(signed out in, with, n ).
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to remind you that under no circumstances should you say “hard consonants.” Only sounds are like that. And their designations are absolutely the same as in the case of soft ones (this was clear from the table above). Now that you have all the material in your hands, all that remains is to practice. On the Internet you can find a huge number of different games and exercises for determining the type of consonants. And, of course, you can re-read the material on the topic “Hard consonant sounds” several more times - the table presented in the article will help systematize all our knowledge. It will be much easier to repeat with her.
Do not forget to give new examples for each paired and unpaired sound, so that our student himself learns to compare the different sounds of consonant phonemes. It sometimes depends not only on the subsequent vowel or soft and hard sign, but also on neighboring consonants, which, depending on their hardness or softness, can also influence the original sound. It's not as complicated as it seems. More games and practice - and everything will definitely work out.
The most important part of speech are words; we pronounce, write and read them, and from them we put together phrases and sentences. They consist of letters and sounds that have become so firmly established in our lives that we hardly notice them.
Letters and sounds are not the same thing, although they are closely interrelated concepts. We write, see and read letters, and we pronounce and hear sounds. Letters are graphic written symbols, while sounds are the acoustic component of words and human speech in general. In different words, the same letter sometimes corresponds to different sounds.
“In the beginning there was the word. Then words, words, words..." (author Vladimir Kolechitsky).
“The word is given to a person not for self-satisfaction, but for the embodiment and transmission of that thought, that feeling, that share of truth and inspiration that he possesses - to other people.” (author V. Korolenko).
Various branches of linguistic science study letters and sounds. Studies sounds phonetics, and alphabetic characters - graphic arts. Spelling letters is a prerogative spelling .
The collection of letters of any language makes up its alphabet. The letters of the Russian language are divided into consonants, vowels and auxiliaries. Auxiliary signs include those that do not carry sound information - hard and soft signs.
Consonants and sounds of the Russian alphabet
Consonant sounds and letters are characterized by the fact that during their pronunciation a certain obstacle appears in the path of air in the oral cavity. As a result, noise is necessarily present in the acoustic sound of consonants. They got the name “consonants” because they almost always stand next to vowels or in the same word with them.
There are a total of 21 consonant letters in the Russian language:
| b | V | G | d | and | h | th |
| To | l | m | n | P | R | With |
| T | f | X | ts | h | w | sch |
Another characteristic feature of consonants is that they cannot be chanted. The pronunciation of sibilant consonants can be stretched (for example: With , f , w , sch), but “singing” will not work.
As noted above, consonants in words almost always coexist with vowels. However, there are a limited number of words that consist only of consonants. Along with prepositions To , With or particle b, these are some foreign proper names ( Krch- Prague region; Armenian name Mkrtch, which in Russian is sometimes written with a vowel - for euphony), as well as interjections like brr or shh .
The classification of consonant letters and sounds in the Russian language is based on acoustic criteria.
Voiced and voiceless consonants
Those consonants whose pronunciation consists only of noise are called voiceless. In contrast, consonants formed by sound and noise are called voiced.
The letter stands apart th(and short). According to its acoustic sound, it is classified as a voiced consonant, however, it is impossible to pronounce it in isolation. Letter th can only be pronounced together with a preceding or following vowel sound, for example [yy], [yy], etc.
Paired and unpaired consonants
Most voiced consonants correspond to certain unvoiced ones. Such letters that are consonant with each other are called paired. There are also consonants that do not have a pair. Among them there are also deaf and voiced, and they are called unpaired .
| Paired voiced and voiceless | Unpaired voiced | Unpaired deaf |
|---|---|---|
| b - p | l | X |
| v - f | m | ts |
| g - k | n | h |
| d - t | R | sch |
| f - w | th | |
| z - s |
Soft and hard consonants
The pronunciation of consonants in words can be hard or soft. If the sound is pronounced softly, the tongue moves forward slightly, approaching or touching the upper palate. When pronouncing hard sounds, the tongue does not move forward (but the tongue can touch upper palate due to upward movement).
Most consonants form both hard and soft sounds, but there are some exceptions. In particular, the letters and , ts , w always have a hard sound, and the letters th , h , sch- soft.
In other cases, the hardness or softness of the consonants is determined by which letter comes after them.
If the consonant is accompanied by letters A , O , at , uh , s , ъ- then it turns out solid sound. The same applies if a consonant is at the end of a word or another consonant comes after it.
If the consonant is accompanied by letters e
, e
, And
, Yu
, I
, b- then its sound will be soft.
Video lesson
Hissing and whistling consonants
Some of the consonants in Russian are pronounced like hissing. These are the sounds and , w , sch , h, which are called sibilant consonants.
Another group of consonant sounds, when leaving the oral cavity, forms acoustic vibrations that resemble a whistle. These are the sounds h , With , ts- whistling.
The properties of hissing and whistling consonants are especially noticeable when they are pronounced for a long time.
One of the important features of these sounds is that most speech defects are associated with their pronunciation. For this reason, work with hissing and whistling consonants should be given Special attention when teaching children. It is important to note that speech deficiencies associated with these sounds may be amenable to speech therapy correction.
Russian vowels and sounds
Unlike consonants and letters, characteristic feature vowels is that when they are pronounced, air passes through the oral cavity freely. As a result, vowel sounds can not only be easily stretched, but also chanted. Another one distinctive feature- they can be pronounced as loudly as you like, at the full strength of your voice.
Through vowels and sounds, consonants are combined into syllables. Each syllable has only one vowel. The number of other letters - consonants, hard and soft signs - may be different. Words can consist of one or more syllables: ros-pis, breaking , yard , painting .
The number of vowels in the Russian language is 10:
| A | e | e | And | O | at | s | uh | Yu | I |
And there are only 6 vowel sounds: [a], [i], [o], [u], [s], [e]. The vowels corresponding to them are monophonic. The remaining 4 vowels are e , e , Yu , I- two-voiced, and separately pronounced as [ye], [yo], [yu], [ya]. At the same time, in words these letters mean one sound (examples: squirrel, ball, went, key).
As with consonants, there are a number of Russian words that consist only of vowel sounds. These are pronouns - I , her; unions - And , A; prepositions - at , O; interjections - uh , aw .
Stressed and unstressed vowels
In words, vowel sounds can be stressed or unstressed.
- If the vowel in a word is under stress, it is read more clearly, with more emphasis and a little more drawn out.
- In the absence of stress, vowels in words are read less clearly. Accordingly, the unstressed position is a weak position for them, and the position in a stressed syllable is a strong position.
As a rule, in traditional writing, words are not stressed. If necessary, they are indicated by the sign “acute” - a small “/” stroke above the vowel letter.
Video lesson
Designations of sounds during phonetic parsing of a word
Phonetic or sound analysis of a word serves the purpose of displaying and parsing its correct pronunciation. Both words and individual letters can be designated phonetically.
Designations of sounds, unlike letters, are enclosed in square brackets. A graphic recording of the pronunciation of a word is called transcription.
The basic rules according to which sounds are designated during phonetic analysis of a word are as follows:
- The hardness of consonants does not have any designation, but softness is indicated by an apostrophe. For example, if [b] is a hard sound, then [b’] is soft.
- A long sound in transcription is indicated by a colon, for example: cash register- [kas:a] .
- Not always, but often, emphasis is placed in the transcription of words. For example: wave- [walla].
- The soft sign and the hard sign do not have a sound pronunciation, therefore there is no display during phonetic analysis.
Video lesson
How to teach children to distinguish between hard and soft sounds
Sometimes children may have difficulty distinguishing between hard and soft consonants. In this case, there are some techniques that make it easier to understand the topic.
First of all, you need to explain to the child that the concepts of hardness and softness refer not to consonant letters, but to their sounds. And that the same letter can sound both hard and soft. Let me give you an example: “ b" - the words ram - white, " R" - work - belt, " l" - horse - swan.
When explaining the exception letters, for better memorization it is recommended to write them like this:
- th , h , sch
- and , w , ts
You need to make it clear to the child that the underlined letters seem to be “sitting on pads” - the pads are soft and the letters are also soft.
In order for the child to remember well before which vowels the letter becomes hard or soft, you can use the following technique: first, with a serious expression on your face, read a syllable with a hard consonant - and then, with a smile on your face, read another syllable where this consonant is soft. Then, do the same with other letters and syllables. For example: la — la , mu — mi , zo — son, bo — byu , ry — ryo etc. A child associates soft pronunciation well with a smile, and hard pronunciation with seriousness and severity, which allows him to associatively remember the material.
Gradually you need to improve your skills and do the same exercises with simple words, such as: Mother , dad A - uncle , aunt etc. As you memorize, from simple words you should move on to more complex ones. Explanations and exercises must be gradually alternated with tasks: write words and then ask which consonants in them are hard and which are soft.
You can also suggest another exercise: make signs with words in which soft consonants are written in one color, and hard consonants in another. For example:
- N O S I K
- CARPET
- NUMBER
- WARM
There are many options, but it is advisable to choose among them those that your child likes best. This contributes to better perception of the material, its memorization and practical assimilation.
Video lesson
Some interesting and useful information
- Sounds and words can be formed without human intervention. A well-known example is the pronunciation of words by birds of the parrot family. As for individual sounds, they can also appear in inanimate nature - with the rustling of leaves, gusts of wind, splashing of waves. This cannot be said about letters - after all, only their meaningful writing can be recognized as a letter designation, and this is characteristic only of people.
- Despite the small number of words consisting only of vowels, they can be used to form a sentence: “Eh, and me?”
- Almost all words in the Russian language containing the letter " f", are of foreign language origin. Only for rare words (for example: eagle owl) is it assumed Russian origin, but this has not been proven for sure.
- All words starting with the letter " th", also foreign languages. For example: iodine, yogurt, iota, Yemen, Yokohama, Yorkshire, etc.
- Letter " e" in words almost always carries an emphasis. There are very few exceptions to this rule - these are words of foreign origin ( Königsberg surfers ), as well as complex words containing three or four numerals - ( twenty-three digit , four-door , three thousandth ). It should also be noted those rare situations when one word contains two letters “ e", one of which becomes stressed, and the other - unstressed ( three-star , four-wheeled , airplane lift , three ruble ).
- The Russian language has many words with unusual letter combinations. For example, words in which the same vowel is repeated three times in a row: snake eater , animal association , long-necked. Word with 7 consonants in a row: countermeeting (Maybe, occasionalism ). Words with three soft signs: seductiveness , diminutive , multifunctionality , charm etc. Word with two soft and one a solid sign: courier . One-syllable word of 8 letters: in passing. Many other interesting examples can be given.
- Any letter has a certain repetition frequency, the most commonly used letters in the Russian language are O , e , A , And , T , n , With , R. This phenomenon is used to recognize cipher messages.
Knowledge of letters and sounds, their spelling and pronunciation is the basis of language literacy. In turn, good command of spoken and written language is one of the indicators of a person’s erudition, and the skills of reading and understanding text are the basis for knowledge of other sciences. After all, the lion's share of information in modern world is comprehended by reading or listening, and only a small part of it is through personal experience.