EditVowels
Stress
In Russian, every word has one stressed syllable. In order to speak Russian properly it is necessary to know where to put the stress in the words. In some cases incorrect stress leads to the change of meaning or grammatical value of the word. Stress in Russian is not fixed, it may fall on any syllable and normally it is not indicated with an accent mark, The best way to learn the stress is to memorize it by listening and repeating after a native speaker.
Vowel Reduction
In Russian, unstressed vowels are not pronounced as distinctly as stressed vowels. The alteration of a vowel in an unstressed position is called reduction. As a result of reduction, some letters denoting vowel sounds are read in a different manner than they are read in the alphabet.
| Stressed А is like ah in father |
Unstressed А is like ə in photography |
| Sressed O is like oh in coffee |
Unstressed О is like a or uh |
| Stressed Е is like ye in yellow |
Unstressed Е is like yi |
| Stressed Я is like ya in yacht |
Unstressed Я is like yi |
Exception: In the endings of nouns, adjectives etc., in unstressed position the letter я should be read as
yaИ, Ы, У, Ю, Э — no alteration in unstressed position.
Summary:
- Each word has one stressed syllable. Stress in the Russian language follows no rules.
- Alteration of vowels in unstressed position:
EditConsonants
Hard and Soft
All consonant sounds are divided into hard and soft. Most sounds come in pairs "hard vs. soft", i.e. their pronunciation differs only by softness. There are 15 pairs of consonants "hard vs. soft". Both hard and soft sound in each pair represented by the same letter.
The sound is soft if the letter is followed by: И, Е, Ю, Я, Ё or Ь
Otherwise, a consonant sound is hard.
Voiced and Voiceless:
Most of Russian consonants come in voice/voiceless pairs:
- Б – П
- В – Ф
- Ж – Ш
- Г – К
- Д – Т
- З – С
Voiced consonants are pronounced with vibration of vocal cords, while unvoiced consonants are pronounced with little or no vibration of vocal cords.
Devocalization
Russian letters Б, В, Г, Д, Ж, З turn into the voiceless sounds П, Ф, К, Т, Ш, С before unvoiced consonants, at the end of the word and before final ь
Vocalization
Vocalization is an opposite process compared to devoicing. It means that letters п, ф, с, т, ш and к, the basic meanings of which are unvoiced consonants, may designate voiced sounds (hard and soft). Vocalization occurs in cases when these letters are found before letters б, г, д, ж, з denoting voiced sounds.
Note that if п, ф, с, т, ш and к are found before в, vocalization does not occur.
EditWhen reading:
- check the stress,
- reduce unstressed vowels,
- soften consonants if they are followed by И, Е, Ю, Я, Ё or Ь,
- devocalize voiced consonant at the end of the word or before unvoiced consonants,
- vocalize unvoiced consonants before voiced consonants.
For learning
Russian | Category
Tips | Level
A1: Beginner |
Second language
English | Created
Dec 19, 2010 01:40 | Views
985 |
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