In this chapter:
§1. Sound
Sound- the minimum unit of sounding speech. Each word has a sound shell consisting of sounds. The sound corresponds to the meaning of the word. Different words and word forms have different sound patterns. The sounds themselves are not important, but they serve an important role: they help us distinguish between:
- words: [house] - [tom], [tom] - [there], [m’el] - [m’el’]
- forms of the word: [house] - [lady´ ] - [house´ ma].
Note:
words written in square brackets are given in transcription.
§2. Transcription
Transcription is a special recording system that displays sound. The following symbols are used in the transcription:
Square brackets indicating transcription.
[ ´ ] - emphasis. The accent is placed if the word consists of more than one syllable.
[b’] - the icon next to the consonant indicates its softness.
[j] and [th] are different designations for the same sound. Since this sound is soft, these symbols are often used with an additional designation of softness: [th’]. This site uses the notation [th’], which is more familiar to most guys. The soft icon will be used to help you get used to the sound being soft.
There are other symbols. They will be introduced gradually as you become familiar with the topic.
§3. Vowels and consonants
Sounds are divided into vowels and consonants.
They have different natures. They are pronounced and perceived differently, and also behave differently in speech and play different roles in it.
Vowels- these are sounds during the pronunciation of which air passes freely through the oral cavity without encountering an obstacle on its way. Pronunciation (articulation) is not focused in one place: the quality of vowels is determined by the shape of the oral cavity, which acts as a resonator. When articulating vowels, the vocal cords in the larynx work. They are close, tense and vibrate. Therefore, when pronouncing vowels, we hear a voice. Vowels can be drawn out. You can shout them. And if you put your hand to your throat, you can feel the work of the vocal cords when pronouncing vowels, feel it with your hand. Vowels are the basis of a syllable; they organize it. There are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels. For example: He- 1 syllable, she- 2 syllables, Guys- 3 syllables, etc. There are words that consist of one vowel sound. For example, unions: and, and and interjections: Oh!, Ah!, Oooh! and others.
In a word, vowels can be in stressed and unstressed syllables.
Stressed syllable one in which the vowel is pronounced clearly and appears in its basic form.
IN unstressed syllables vowels are modified and pronounced differently. Changing vowels in unstressed syllables is called reduction.
There are six stressed vowels in the Russian language: [a], [o], [u], [s], [i], [e].
Remember:
There are words that can only consist of vowels, but consonants are also necessary.
In the Russian language there are many more consonants than vowels.
§4. Method of formation of consonants
Consonants- these are sounds, when pronounced, the air encounters an obstacle in its path. There are two types of obstruents in the Russian language: gap and stop - these are the two main ways of forming consonants. The type of obstruction determines the nature of the consonant sound.
Gap is formed, for example, when pronouncing sounds: [s], [z], [w], [z]. The tip of the tongue only approaches the lower or upper teeth. Friction consonants can be pulled: [s-s-s-s], [sh-sh-sh-sh] . As a result, you will clearly hear the noise: when pronouncing [c] - whistling, and when pronouncing [w] - hissing.
Bow, The second type of articulation of consonants is formed when the organs of speech close. The air flow abruptly overcomes this obstacle, the sounds are short and energetic. That's why they are called explosive. You won't be able to pull them. These are, for example, the sounds [p], [b], [t], [d] . Such articulation is easier to feel and feel.
So, when pronouncing consonants, noise is heard. The presence of noise is a distinctive feature of consonants.
§5. Voiced and voiceless consonants
According to the ratio of noise and voice, consonants are divided into voiced and unvoiced.
When spoken voiced consonants, both voice and noise are heard, and deaf- only noise.
Deaf words cannot be spoken loudly. They cannot be shouted.
Let's compare the words: house And cat. Each word has 1 vowel sound and 2 consonants. The vowels are the same, but the consonants are different: [d] and [m] are voiced, and [k] and [t] are voiceless. Voicedness-voicelessness is the most important feature of consonants in the Russian language.
voiced-voiceless pairs:[b] - [p], [z] - [c] and others. There are 11 such pairs.
Voiceless-voiced pairs: [p] and [b], [p"] and [b"], [f] and [v], [f"] and [v"], [k] and [d], [k"] and [g"], [t] and [d], [t"] and [d"], [w] and [g], [s] and [z], [s"] and [ z"].
But there are sounds that do not have a pair on the basis of voicedness - deafness. For example, the sounds [r], [l], [n], [m], [y’] do not have a voiceless pair, but [ts] and [ch’] do not have a voiced pair.
Unpaired according to deafness-voicing
Voiced unpaired:[r], [l], [n], [m], [th"], [r"], [l"], [n"], [m"] . They are also called sonorous.
What does this term mean? This is a group of consonants (9 in total) that have peculiarities of pronunciation: when they are pronounced, obstacles also arise in the oral cavity, but such that the air stream, passing through an obstacle produces only a slight noise; air passes freely through an opening in the nasal or oral cavity. Sonorants are pronounced using the voice with the addition of slight noise. Many teachers do not use this term, but everyone should know that these sounds are unpaired voiced sounds.
Sonorants have two important features:
1) they are not deafened, like paired voiced consonants, before voiceless consonants and at the end of a word;
2) before them there is no voicing of paired deaf consonants (i.e. the position in front of them is strong in deafness-voicing, just like before vowels). See more about positional changes.
Voiceless unpaired:[ts], [h"], [w":], [x], [x"].
How can it be easier to remember lists of voiced and voiceless consonants?
The following phrases will help you remember lists of voiced and voiceless consonants:
Oh, we didn’t forget each other!(Here only voiced consonants)
Foka, do you want to eat some soup?(Here only voiceless consonants)
True, these phrases do not include pairs of hardness and softness. But usually people can easily figure out that not only hard [z] is voiced, but also soft [z"] too, not only [b], but also [b"], etc.
§6. Hard and soft consonants
Consonants differ not only in deafness and voicedness, but also in hardness and softness.
Hardness-softness- the second most important sign of consonants in the Russian language.
Soft consonants differ from solid special position of the tongue. When pronouncing hard words, the entire body of the tongue is pulled back, and when pronouncing soft words, it is moved forward, and the middle part of the tongue is raised. Compare: [m] - [m’], [z] - [z’]. Voiced soft ones sound higher than hard ones.
Many Russian consonants form hardness-softness pairs: [b] - [b’], [v] - [v’] and others. There are 15 such pairs.
Hardness-softness pairs: [b] and [b"], [m] and [m"], [p] and [p"], [v] and [v"], [f] and [f"] , [z] and [z"], [s] and [s"], [d] and [d"], [t] and [t"], [n] and [n"], [l] and [l"], [p] and [p"], [k] and [k"], [g] and [g"], [x] and [x"].
But there are sounds that do not have a pair on the basis of hardness and softness. For example, the sounds [zh], [sh], [ts] do not have a soft pair, but [y’] and [h’] do not have a hard pair.
Unpaired in hardness-softness
Hard unpaired: [zh], [w], [ts] .
Soft unpaired: [th"], [h"], [w":].
§7. Indication of softness of consonants in writing
Let's take a break from pure phonetics. Let's consider a practically important question: how is the softness of consonants indicated in writing?
There are 36 consonant sounds in the Russian language, including 15 hard-soft pairs, 3 unpaired hard and 3 unpaired soft consonants. There are only 21 consonants. How can 21 letters represent 36 sounds?
Various methods are used for this:
- iotized letters e, e, yu, i after consonants, except w, w And ts, unpaired in hardness-softness, indicate that these consonants are soft, for example: aunt- [t’o´ t’a], uncle -[Yes Yes] ;
- letter And after consonants, except w, w And ts. Consonants indicated by letters w, w And ts, unpaired solids. Examples of words with a vowel letter And: nothing- [n’i´ tk’i], sheet- [l’ist], Cute- [Cute'] ;
- letter b, after consonants, except w, w, after which the soft sign is an indicator of the grammatical form. Examples of words with a soft sign : request- [prose], stranded- [m’el’], distance- [gave’].
Thus, the softness of consonants in writing is conveyed not by special letters, but by combinations of consonants with letters and, e, e, yu, I And b. Therefore, when parsing, I advise you to pay special attention to adjacent letters after the consonants.
Discussing the problem of interpretation
School textbooks say that [w] and [w’] -
unpaired in hardness and softness. How so? We hear that the sound [w’] is a soft analogue of the sound [w].
When I was studying at school myself, I couldn’t understand why? Then my son went to school. He had the same question. It appears in all children who approach learning thoughtfully.
Confusion arises because school textbooks do not take into account that the sound [sh’] is also long, but the hard sound [sh] is not. Pairs are sounds that differ in only one attribute. And [w] and [w’] - two. Therefore [w] and [w’] are not pairs.
For adults and high school students.
In order to maintain correctness, it is necessary to change the school tradition of transcribing the sound [w’]. It seems that it is easier for the guys to use one more additional sign than to face an illogical, unclear and misleading statement. It's simple. So that generation after generation does not rack their brains, it is necessary to finally show that a soft hissing sound is long.
For this purpose, in linguistic practice there are two icons:
1) superscript above the sound;
2) colon.
Using a superscript is inconvenient because it is not provided by the set of characters that can be used in computer typing. This means that the following possibilities remain: using a colon [w’:] or a grapheme denoting the letter [w’] . It seems to me that the first option is preferable. Firstly, children often mix sounds and letters at first. The use of a letter in transcription will create the basis for such confusion and provoke an error. Secondly, children are now starting to learn foreign languages early. And the [:] symbol, when used to indicate the length of a sound, is already familiar to them. Thirdly, transcription indicating longitude with a colon [:] will perfectly convey the features of the sound. [sh’:] - soft and long, both features that make up its difference from the sound [sh] are presented clearly, simply and unambiguously.
What advice can you give to children who are now studying using generally accepted textbooks? You need to understand, comprehend, and then remember that in fact the sounds [w] and [w’:] do not form a pair in terms of hardness and softness. And I advise you to transcribe them the way your teacher requires.
§8. Place of formation of consonants
Consonants differ not only according to the characteristics already known to you:
- deafness-voice,
- hardness-softness,
- method of formation: bow-slit.
The last, fourth sign is important: place of education.
The articulation of some sounds is carried out by the lips, others - by the tongue, its different parts. So, the sounds [p], [p'], [b], [b'], [m], [m'] are labial, [v], [v'], [f], [f' ] - labiodental, all others - lingual: anterior lingual [t], [t'], [d], [d'], [n], [n'], [s], [s'], [z ], [z'], [w], [w], [w':], [h'], [c], [l], [l'], [r], [r'] ,
middle lingual [th’] and back lingual [k], [k’], [g], [g’], [x], [x’].
§9. Positional changes of sounds
1. Strong-weak positions for vowels. Positional changes of vowels. Reduction
People do not use spoken sounds in isolation. They don't need it.
Speech is a sound stream, but a stream organized in a certain way. The conditions in which a particular sound 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. The system of unstressed endings is a special phonetic subsystem. In it E And A differ:
Building[building n’ii’e] - building[building n’ii’a], opinion[mn’e´ n’i’e] - opinion[mn’e´ n’ii’a], more[mo´ r’e] - seas[mo´ r’a], will[vo´l’a] - at will[na_vo´l’e]. Remember this when doing phonetic analysis of words.
Check:
How your teacher requires you to mark vowels in an unstressed position. If he uses a simplified transcription system, that's okay: it's widely accepted. Just don’t be surprised that you actually hear different sounds in the unstressed position.
2. Strong-weak positions for consonants. Positional changes of consonants
For all consonants without exception, the strong position is position before vowel. Before vowels, consonants appear in their basic form. Therefore, when doing phonetic analysis, do not be afraid to make a mistake when characterizing a consonant in a strong position: [dach’a] - country house,[t'l'iv'i´ z'r] - TV,[s’ino´ n’ima] - synonyms,[b'ir'o´ zy] - birch trees,[karz"i´ny] - baskets. All consonants in these examples come before vowels, i.e. in a strong position.
Strong positions on deafness of voicedness:
- before vowels: [there] - there,[ladies] - I'll give,
- before unpaired voiced [p], [p’], [l], [l’], [n], [n’], [m], [m’], [th’]: [dl’a] - For,[tl'a] - aphids,
- Before [in], [in’]: [own’] - mine,[ringing] - ringing.
Remember:
In a strong position, voiced and voiceless consonants do not change their quality.
Weak positions in deafness and voicedness:
- before paired ones according to deafness-voicing: [sl´ tk’ii] - sweet,[zu´ pk’i] - teeth.
- before voiceless unpaired ones: [aphva´ t] - girth, [fhot] - entrance.
- at the end of a word: [zup] - tooth,[dup] - oak.
Positional changes of consonants according to deafness-voicing
In weak positions, consonants are modified: positional changes occur with them. Voiced ones become voiceless, i.e. are deafened, and the deaf are voiced, i.e. call out. Positional changes are observed only for paired consonants.
Stunning-voicing of consonants
Stunning voiced occurs in positions:
- before paired deaf people: [fsta´ in’it’] - V put,
- at the end of the word: [clat] - treasure.
Voicing of the deaf occurs at position:
- before paired voiced ones: [kaz’ba´ ] - to With bah´
Strong positions in terms of hardness and softness:
- before vowels: [mat’] - mother,[m’at’] - crush,
- at the end of the word: [von] - out there,[won’] - stench,
- before labialials: [b], [b'], [p], [p'], [m], [m'] and posterior linguals: [k], [k'], [g], [g' ], [x[, [x'] for sounds [s], [s'], [z], [z'], [t], [t'], [d], [d'], [n ], [n'], [r], [r']: [sa´ n'k'i] - Sa´nki(gen. fall.), [s´ ank’i] - sled,[bun] - bun,[bu´ l’qt’] - gurgle,
- all positions for sounds [l] and [l’]: [forehead] - forehead,[pal'ba] - firing.
Remember:
In a strong position, hard and soft consonants do not change their quality.
Weak positions in hardness-softness and positional changes in hardness-softness.
- before soft [t’], [d’] for consonants [c], [z], which are necessarily softened: , [z’d’es’],
- before [h’] and [w’:] for [n], which is necessarily softened: [po´ n’ch’ik] - donut,[ka´ m’n’sh’:ik] - mason.
Remember:
In a number of positions today, both soft and hard pronunciation is possible:
- before soft front-lingual [n’], [l’] for front-lingual consonants [c], [z]: snow -[s’n’ek] and , make angry -[z’l’it’] and [zl’it’]
- before soft front-lingual, [z’] for front-lingual [t], [d] - lift -[pad’n’a´ t’] and [padn’a´ t’] , take away -[at’n’a´ t’] and [atn’a´ t’]
- before soft front-lingual [t"], [d"], [s"], [z"] for front-lingual [n]: vi´ntik -[v’i´ n"t"ik] and [v’i´ nt’ik], pension -[p'e´ n's'ii'a] and [p'e´ n's'ii'a]
- before soft labials [v’], [f’], [b’], [p’], [m’] for labials: enter -[f"p"isa´ t’] and [fp"is´ at’], ri´ fme(Dan. fall.) - [r'i´ f"m"e] and [r'i´ fm"e]
Remember:
In all cases, positional softening of consonants is possible in a weak position.
It is a mistake to write a soft sign when softening consonants positionally.
Positional changes of consonants based on the method and place of formation
Naturally, in the school tradition it is not customary to present the characteristics of sounds and the positional changes that occur with them in all the details. But the general principles of phonetics need to be learned. Without this, it is difficult to do phonetic analysis and complete test tasks. Therefore, below is a list of positionally determined changes in consonants based on the method and place of formation. This material is a tangible help for those who want to avoid mistakes in phonetic analysis.
Assimilation of consonants
The logic is this: the Russian language is characterized by similarity of sounds if they are similar in some way and at the same time are nearby.
Learn the list:
[c] and [w] → [w:] - sew
[z] and [zh] → [zh:] - compress
[s] and [h’] - at the root of words →
[sh’:] - happiness, score
- at the junction of morphemes and words →
[w’:h’] -
comb, dishonest, with what (a preposition followed by a word is pronounced together as one word)
[s] and [w’:] → [w’:] - split
[t] and [c] - in verb forms → [ts:] - smiles
-at the junction of prefix and root →
[tss] - sleep it off
[t] and [ts] → [ts:] - unhook
[t] and [h’] → [h’:] - report
[t] and [t] and [w’:]←[c] and [h’] - Countdown
[d] and [w’:] ←[c] and [h’] - counting
Dissociation of consonants
Dissimilarity is a process of positional change, the opposite of assimilation.
[g] and [k’] → [h’k’] - easy
Simplifying consonant clusters
Learn the list:
vst - [stv]: hello, feel
zdn - [zn]: late
zdc - [sc] : by the reins
lnts - [nts]: Sun
NDC -
[nc]: Dutch
ndsh -
[ns:] landscape
NTG - [ng]: x-ray
rdc -
[rts]: heart
rdch -
[rh’]: little heart
stl - [sl’]: happy
stn - [dn]: local
Pronunciation of sound groups:
In the forms of adjectives, pronouns, participles there are letter combinations: wow, him. IN place G they are pronounced [in]: him, beautiful, blue.
Avoid reading letter by letter. Say the words him, blue, beautiful Right.
§10. Letters and sounds
Letters and sounds have different purposes and different natures. But these are comparable systems. Therefore, you need to know the types of ratios.
Types of relationships between letters and sounds:
- 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
All consonant sounds in the Russian language are divided according to several criteria, including the principle of voicedness and deafness. This pronunciation characteristic influences whether the voice is used when pronouncing a sound or not. Studying this topic is very important for understanding the basic principles of the phonetic system, because voiceless consonants are a very important part of it.
What is a voiceless consonant?
Voiceless consonant sounds are produced only by noise, without the participation of the voice. When pronouncing them, the vocal cords are completely relaxed, the larynx does not vibrate.
Paired and unpaired voiceless consonants
Most sounds that fall into this category have a voiced pair. What sounds these are, you can find out from the table “Voiceless consonant sounds in the Russian language.”
Thus, in the Russian language there are 11 voiceless consonants that have a voiced pair. But there are also unpaired ones - these are sounds such as [x], [x’], [h’] and [sch’].
They cannot become voiced regardless of position.
A special mnemonic phrase helps to remember all the voiceless consonants that exist in the Russian language: “Styopka, do you want shchetc?” - Ugh!". But it will not help to remember their pairing by hardness-softness, since voiceless consonants that have a pair are presented in it only in one variety - either hard or soft.
Consonant devoicing rule
In the Russian language, there are often cases when a voiced consonant is written in writing, but in speech it turns into a dull consonant. This happens, for example, when a voiced letter appears at the very end of a word, as in the word mushroom, the transcription of which will look like [flu].
Due to the fact that voiced consonants are deafened at the end, difficulties often arise when reproducing such words in writing. However, there is an easy way to check which letter to use: you need to change the word so that the consonant appears before the vowel, for example, mushroom - mushroom. Then it will immediately become clear what needs to be written. The same applies to cases when there is a voiceless consonant at the end, and in writing it is voiced “according to the general rule.” You can check which letter is written in the same way: krik - krik, lot - lota.
Voiced consonants located in positions at the beginning and in the middle of a word can also be deafened if they are followed by a voiceless consonant. This is easy to understand using an example: booth [booth].
What have we learned?
Voiceless consonant sounds are those sounds in the formation of which the larynx does not vibrate, that is, the voice does not participate. They consist only of noise. Most voiceless consonants have a voiced pair, but there are four unpaired sounds of this type - these are [х], [х'], [ч'] and [ш']. Due to the rule of deafening consonants during pronunciation, those consonants that are voiced in writing go into their voiceless pair. This happens if they appear at the end of a word, and also when another voiceless consonant precedes them.
Some consonant sounds in the Russian language are called voiceless, since they consist of one noise, i.e. are formed without the participation of the voice. There are ten such consonants: k, p, s, t, f, x, c, ch, sh, shch.
Other consonants are called voiced because they consist of voice and noise (the nose is dominated by noise). There are also ten of them: b, V, D, D, F, 3, l, m, n, r.
Among the voiced consonants, particularly sonorous ones stand out, in which the voice clearly prevails over the noise. There are four such consonants: l, m, n, r. They are called sonorous.
The sounds zh, ch, sh, shch are also called hissing.
The voiced consonants b, v, g, d, zh, z have paired voiceless consonants p, f, k, t, sh, s. The rest do not have corresponding pairs (see table).
Voiceless consonants: p, f, k, t, s, sh
Voiced consonants: b, v, g, d, z, zh, l, m, n, r
Voiced consonants b, v, d, d, zh, z at the end of a word or in the middle of a word before a voiceless consonant are deafened. For example: pillars - pillar (p), basins - basin (s), years - year (t), friend - friend (w), dexterous - dexterous (f), slide - slippery (s), etc.
Voiced sonorant consonants l, m, n, r are not deafened.
Voiceless consonants k, p, s, t, f, sh are voiced before voiced consonants. For example: collection (h), threshing (d).
Voicing and deafening of consonants, as a rule, are not indicated when writing.
Exercise 56. Indicate the number of sounds in the words below and name each of them.
Brain, work, table, people, loach, pit, yeast, teaching, massage, mine, winnow.
Exercise 57. Explain the difference between the pronunciation and spelling of the words below.
Do, labor, request, sweet, cork, approach, knock, skiff, departure, blackbird, give.
Exercise 58. Indicate cases of voicing and devoicing of consonants.
Hump, exit, make, beat off, sharp, squeeze, rare, carry, oak, mowing, low.
Exercise 59. Write by inserting the missing letters and indicate which sound each of the inserted letters corresponds to.
Ra.amp;sew, break, o.Run, distribute, calculate, volume.
Exercise 60. Write a sentence, emphasizing the consonants that denote sounds that have pairs of voicedness - deafness.
Although the courtyard and garden were still in the shade, the early rays were already brightly and coldly gilding the pink, yellow and blue pumpkins laid out on the reed roof of the mud hut where the watchmen lived (Cat.).
The Russian language has 21 consonants and 36 consonant sounds. Consonant letters and their corresponding consonant sounds:
b - [b], c - [c], g - [g], d - [d], g - [g], j - [th], z - [z], k - [k], l - [l], m - [m], n - [n], p - [p], p - [p], s - [s], t - [t], f - [f], x - [x ], c - [c], ch - [ch], sh - [sh], shch - [sch].
Consonant sounds are divided into voiced and voiceless, hard and soft. They are paired and unpaired. There are a total of 36 different combinations of consonants by pairing and unpairing, hard and soft, voiceless and voiced: voiceless - 16 (8 soft and 8 hard), voiced - 20 (10 soft and 10 hard).
Scheme 1. Consonants and consonant sounds of the Russian language.
Hard and soft consonants
Consonants are hard and soft. They are divided into paired and unpaired. Paired hard and paired soft consonants help us distinguish between words. Compare: horse [kon’] - kon [kon], bow [bow] - hatch [l’uk].
For understanding, let’s explain it “on the fingers”. If a consonant letter in different words means either a soft or hard sound, then the sound belongs to the pair. For example, in the word cat the letter k denotes a hard sound [k], in the word whale the letter k denotes a soft sound [k’]. We get: [k] - [k’] form a pair according to hardness and softness. Sounds for different consonants cannot be classified as a pair, for example [v] and [k’] do not form a pair in terms of hardness-softness, but they do form a pair [v]-[v’]. If a consonant sound is always hard or always soft, then it belongs to unpaired consonants. For example, the sound [zh] is always hard. There are no words in the Russian language where it would be soft [zh’]. Since there is no pair [zh]-[zh’], it is classified as unpaired.
Voiced and voiceless consonants
Consonant sounds are voiced and unvoiced. Thanks to voiced and voiceless consonants, we distinguish words. Compare: ball - heat, count - goal, house - volume. Voiceless consonants are pronounced with the mouth almost closed; when pronouncing them, the vocal cords do not work. Voiced consonants require more air, the vocal cords work.
Some consonant sounds have a similar sound in the way they are pronounced, but are pronounced with different tonality - dull or voiced. Such sounds are combined in pairs and form a group of paired consonants. Accordingly, paired consonants are a pair of a voiceless and a voiced consonant.
- paired consonants: b-p, v-f, g-k, d-t, z-s, zh-sh.
- unpaired consonants: l, m, n, r, y, c, x, h, shch.
Sonorant, noisy and sibilant consonants
Sonorants are voiced unpaired consonant sounds. There are 9 sonorant sounds: [y’], [l], [l’], [m], [m’], [n], [n’], [r], [r’].
Noisy consonant sounds are voiced and unvoiced:
- Noisy voiceless consonants (16): [k], [k"], [p], [p"], [s], [s"], [t], [t"], [f], [f "], [x], [x'], [ts], [h'], [w], [w'];
- Noisy voiced consonant sounds (11): [b], [b'], [v], [v'], [g], [g'], [d], [d'], [g], [z ], [z'].
Hissing consonant sounds (4): [zh], [ch’], [sh], [sch’].
Paired and unpaired consonants
Consonant sounds (soft and hard, voiceless and voiced) are divided into paired and unpaired. The tables above show the division. Let's summarize everything with a diagram:
Scheme 2. Paired and unpaired consonant sounds. To be able to do phonetic analysis, in addition to consonant sounds, you need to know
Exercise 17, p. 10
17. Help the cat and dog put letters that represent voiced consonant sounds into one group, and letters that denote unvoiced consonant sounds into another group. Connect the letters of each group with lines.
Deaf→ h → x → w → s → t → c → k → w → p → f
Voiced→ j → l → n → r → z → m → d → b → g → g → c
- Say the sounds that can be represented by highlighted letters
h- [h’] m- [mm'], th- [th’] T- [t], [t’]
Exercise 18, p. 10
18. Read. Fill in the missing word in the sentence.
It's so cold outside -
I’m like an icicle, completely frozen.
L. Yakovlev
- Underline the letters in the highlighted word that represent voiceless paired consonant sounds.
Exercise 19, p. eleven
19. Read. Fill in the missing words that are the names of the consonant sounds.
1. A voiceless consonant is made up of noise.
2. A voiced consonant consists of noise and voice.
Exercise 20, p. eleven
20. Fill in the “house” with the missing letters indicating consonant sounds that are paired in deafness and voicedness.
- Select and write down words that end with these letters.
Exercise 21, p. eleven
21. Find in the textbook’s spelling dictionary words with a consonant paired in deafness and voicedness at the end of the word. Write down a few words.
Alphabet t, suddenly, city, factory, pencil, class, hammer, frost, people, lunch, scarf, drawing, student, language.
Exercise 22, p. 12
22. Read. What rule are we talking about? Why are the consonants so named?
Paired consonants- the most dangerous!
Basically you check them -
Place a vowel next to it!
We are talking about the rule of spelling words with a paired deafness-voiced consonant sound at the root of the word. Such consonants are called “dangerous” because we can choose the wrong letter, denoting the paired voiced-voiced consonant sound at the root of the word before another paired consonant. These are "dangerous" places, or spelling.
Exercise 23, p. 12
23. Read. Insert the missing letters.
1. There will be bread b, there will be lunch. 2. If there was a pie, there would be an eater. 3. He who is lazy is also sleepy. 4. Ugly in face, but good in mind. 5. The bear is clumsy, and hefty.
- Orally select test words for words with missing letters.
Hle b (bread), lunch (dinners), pie (pies), eater (eaters), lazy (lazy), sleepy (sleepy), ugly (ugly), good (good), bear (bears), clumsy (clumsy) .
Exercise 24, p. 12
24. Read.
The frost creaks. The frost is angry.
And the snow is dry and hard.
And the elm was cold, and the oak was frozen.
The trees were frozen through.
G. Volzhina
- Choose the correct letter from brackets for each word and underline it. Write these words down.
Moro z, snow, elm, chill, oak, frozen, through and through.
Exercise 25, p. 13
25. Read the lines from the American song translated by Leonid Yakhnin.
Pyro old lady Fogg bakes
In the kitchen by the stove,
And the dog is a bulldog named Dog
He goes to water the flowers.
Old Lady Fogg takes the pie
And I have tea with milk,
And the dog is a bulldog named Dog -
In it next to the table.
- What do you think is true in these lines?
Is it true:
Old Lady Fogg bakes a pie
In the kitchen by the stove...
Old Lady Fogg takes the pie
And tea with milk...
The lines about the bulldog are a tall tale.
- Underline the spelling patterns in the words based on the rules you have learned.
Exercise 26, p. 13
26. Read. Write down the words, replacing the highlighted sounds with letters.
cha[sh]ka - cha sh ka uká[s]ka - ukáz ka
ló[sh]ka - spoon ka ká[s]ka - kás ka
lá[f]ka - láv ka ló[k]ti - lók ti
kó[f]ta - kofta kó[k]ti - cóg ti
shá[p]ka - hat ka ló[t]ka - boat ka
fur[p]ka - fur coat cheek[t]ka - brush
- Be prepared to prove that you spelled the words correctly.
Cha sh ka (cup), spoon (spoon), lav ka (bench), kof ta - vocabulary word, must be remembered, hat (cap), fur coat (fur coats), pointer ka (pointer), helmet (helmet) , elbows (elbows), claws (claws), boat (boat), brush (brush).
Exercise 27, p. 14
27. Read. Underline the consonants whose spelling needs to be checked.
But g ti, riddle, slippery, carrot, carrot, timid, guard, robok, slide, nail, guard, make a riddle.
- Find a test word for each word being tested. Write it down according to the example.
(Ró b ok) ro b cue, (side and it) side and ka, (zaga d yat) zaga d ka, (but G ot) but G ty, (how much h how much h cue, (carrot V ny) carrot V ka.
Exercise 28, p. 14
28. Read it. Name the fairy tales.
1. Zolushka, while running away from the palace, she lost her crystal slipper.
2. B elos tender I became very friendly with the seven dwarfs.
- Fill in the missing words. Underline the letters in them that indicate paired consonant sounds in terms of deafness and voicedness.
Exercise 29, p. 15
29. Choose a single-root test word for each word. Write it down according to the example.
Du b ki - oak trees, berry ka - berries.
Dexterous is dexterous, close is close.
Spoon - spoon, pin - pin.
Pras ba - to ask, watchman - to guard.
Polite - polite, good - good.
- Underline the letters in the words whose spelling you checked.
Exercise 30, p. 15
30. Read the riddle. Fill in the missing letters and the word. Draw the answer.
I'm round, I'm smooth
And the cue tastes pleasantly sweet.
Every toddler knows
What's my name?
Exercise 31, p. 15
31. Read. Insert the missing letters.
1. Sli V ki, golu b tsy, pyro and ki, aquarius h
.
2. Suddenly G, blue h ka, sapo and ki, ruba w ka.
Unnecessary words - diver, all of a sudden, since the spelling is at the end of the word, and in the rest - at the root of the word.
- Underline the extra word in each group of words. Explain your answer.
Exercise 32, p. 16
32. Read. Select the desired letter and insert it into the words.
B? P?
Oak, screw, mistake, button, flexible cue.
G? TO?
Iceberg, circus, easy cue, south, soft cue.
IN? F?
Island, giraffe, jacket, catch cue, beak.
D? T?
Yod, look, cage, riddle, mole.
AND? Sh?
Siskin, mitten, ruff, frog, book.
Z? WITH?
Cargo, sauce, sled, mask, tale.
Exercise 33, p. 16
33. Read. Insert the missing letters.
1. Each tree has its own fruit d. A boat floats down the river T.
2. In the boy’s hands there is a T. There is a deep stream in the village d.
3. Luna blossoms are beautiful in summer G. Green lu grew in the garden bed To.
4. There is a flower in the flowerbed With scarlet bush h.
- What is interesting about words with missing letters? In the last sentence, underline the main clauses.
In each pair, the words are pronounced the same but spelled differently.
Exercise 34, p. 17
34. Read. Complete the tasks given in the table.
- Explain how you selected test words for words with an unstressed vowel sound and for words with a paired consonant sound in the root of the words.
We selected such test words for words with an unstressed vowel sound, so that the unstressed vowel sound would become stressed at the root. For a word with a paired consonant sound in the root of the word in terms of deafness and voicedness, we selected a cognate word so that the paired consonant sound in the root was before the vowel sound.
Exercise 35, p. 17
35. Read the riddles. Fill in the missing letters in the answers.
1. Sam hu d, the head is like a pound, as soon as it hits, it will become strong. (M o l o t o To)
2. Not snow, not ice, but sulfur bromine will remove trees. (AND Not j)
- Underline the spelling patterns in the words.
Exercise 36, p. 18
36. Read. Title the text.
January
I love you, I January!
For me you are a month I ts the best -
M O l O doy, b O lshoy, skr And puffy,
Z O l O as clear as amber b!
Sun, dream G, O drive, m O roses -
Flame white b e ryo h!
S. Kozlov
- Do you agree with the author's opinion? What does the word amber mean?
Amber is a fossilized resin, yellow-brown or golden in color.
- Which of the highlighted spellings can you not explain? Why? Underline these spellings.
We cannot explain the underlined spellings, because these are unstressed vowel sounds at the root, which cannot be verified. The spelling of such words must either be memorized or checked in a spelling dictionary.
Exercise 37, p. 18
37. Read. Insert the missing letters.
Le dark frost, big snowdrift, silvery frost, Snow Maiden, snowfall, Santa Claus, fluffy snowflakes, soft snow, skates, smooth ice, snowman.
- What theme connects these words and word combinations?
The theme of winter connects these words and combinations of words.
- Compose an oral text on this topic.
It was slightly frosty outside. Yesterday's snowfall covered the city in soft snow, the roofs of the houses sparkled with silvery frost. The blizzard created large snowdrifts.
The children could not stay at home. Having put on new skates, we began drawing patterns on the smooth ice in the morning. The kids played snowballs and made a snowman.
Fluffy snowflakes swirled merrily, like children in a New Year's round dance with Father Frost and the Snow Maiden.
Voiced and voiceless consonants
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