Vowels and consonants are their characteristics. Vowels and consonants letters and sounds. Phonetics: characteristics of stressed vowels

Phonetics – a branch of linguistics that studies the sound side of language, i.e., methods of formation (articulation) and acoustic properties of sounds, their changes in the speech stream.

Vowel sounds- These are speech sounds formed by the free passage of an air stream through the vocal cords, consisting mainly of voice (voice tone) with almost complete absence of noise.

Vowel classification:

1) degree of rise of the back of the tongue (method of formation): vowels of the upper rise: i, ы, у; mid-rise vowels: e, o; low vowel a.

2) place of rise of the back of the tongue (place of formation): front vowels: i, e; middle vowels: ы, а; back vowels: u, o;

3) participation or non-participation of the lips: labialized vowels (rounded): o, u; unlabialized (unrounded): a, e, i, s.

Based on the width of the mouth, vowels are divided into wide (acoustically more sonorous): a; medium (acoustically medium sonority): e, o; narrow (acoustically least sonorous): i, ы, у.

Consonants- these are the sounds of speech, consisting either of noise alone, or of the voice and noise, which is formed in the organs of pronunciation, where the stream of air exhaled from the lungs encounters various obstacles.

Classification of consonants:

1) sonorant consonants, formed with the help of voice and slight noise: m, n, l, p, j;

2) noisy consonants, divided into noisy voiced consonants, formed by noise accompanied by a voice: b, c, d, d, g, h, and noisy voiceless consonants, formed only with the help of noise, without the participation of the voice: p, f, k, t, w, sch, s, x, c, h.

2. Place of education:

1) labial consonants, divided into labiolabial: b, p, m and labiodental: v, f;

2) lingual consonants, divided into anterior lingual, which include dental t, d, s, z, c, n, l and palatodental w, shch, zh, h, r;

3) middle lingual (posterior palatal) j;

4) back-lingual (back-palatal) consonants k, g, x.

3. Method of education:

1) plosive consonants (stop): b, p, d, t, g, k;

2) fricative consonants (frictional): v, f, z, s, zh, sh, shch, j, x;

3) affricates c, h;

4) transitive consonants, which include nasal m, n and lateral l;

5) trembling p.

4. Absence or presence of palatalization: hard consonants, formed without additional mid-palatal articulation (all consonants, except ch and sh), and soft, formed with such additional articulation (all consonants, except c and sh).

Sound analysis of the word:

1. say the word and listen to yourself;

2. find the stressed syllable and pronounce the word syllable by syllable;

3. draw out the first sound in a complete word, name it and describe it;

4. designate the selected sound with a symbol;

6. check if the word is correct.

The words should be: not difficult to understand.

A complete sound (phonetic) analysis of a word includes the determination of both the composition of sounds in a word in their qualitative originality and the order in which they appear. It is necessary to hear the stress in the word, the softness and hardness of consonant sounds, their sonority and deafness (fox, lamp, mouse, bear, teeth, soup), hear the words at the very beginning Christmas tree not one sound, but two (yo) and much more.

2) Preparing and conducting a lesson in reading fables: I.A. Krylov “The Monkey and the Glasses.”

Fable- a small narrative work in verse or, less commonly, in prose with moralizing, satirical or ironic content.

Sequence of work on the fable:

I. Preparatory work:

2. quiz based on the material from the fables read;

3. a conversation about the habits of animals - the characters in the fable that is to be read.

II. Teacher reading or listening to a fable recording phonographs, watching a film.

III. Conversation with an emotional and evaluative plan.

IV. Analysis of the specific content of the fable:

1. clarification of the structure and composition of the fable;

2. clarification of the motives of behavior of the characters, their characteristic features;

3. establishing the main idea of ​​the specific content of the fable.

Sound-letter analysis of a word: what is the difference between sounds and letters?

Before moving on to phonetic analysis with examples, we draw your attention to the fact that letters and sounds in words are not always the same thing.

Letters- these are letters, graphic symbols, with the help of which the content of a text is conveyed or a conversation is outlined. Letters are used to visually convey meaning; we perceive them with our eyes. The letters can be read. When you read letters out loud, you form sounds - syllables - words.

A list of all the letters is just an alphabet

Almost every schoolchild knows how many letters are in the Russian alphabet. That's right, there are 33 of them in total. The Russian alphabet is called the Cyrillic alphabet.

In total, the Russian alphabet uses:

  • 21 letters for consonants;
  • 10 letters - vowels;
  • and two: ь (soft sign) and ъ (hard sign), which indicate properties, but do not themselves define any sound units.

You often pronounce sounds in phrases differently from how you write them in writing. In addition, a word may use more letters than sounds. For example, “children’s” - the letters “T” and “S” merge into one phoneme [ts]. And vice versa, the number of sounds in the word “blacken” is greater, since the letter “Yu” in this case is pronounced as [yu].

What is phonetic analysis?

We perceive spoken speech by ear. By phonetic analysis of a word we mean the characteristics of the sound composition. In the school curriculum, such analysis is more often called “sound-letter” analysis. So, with phonetic analysis, you simply describe the properties of sounds, their characteristics depending on the environment and the syllabic structure of a phrase united by a common word stress.

Phonetic transcription

For sound-letter parsing, a special transcription in square brackets is used. For example, it is correctly written:

  • black -> [h"orny"]
  • apple -> [yablaka]
  • anchor -> [yakar"]
  • Christmas tree -> [yolka]
  • sun -> [sontse]

The phonetic parsing scheme uses special symbols. Thanks to this, it is possible to correctly designate and distinguish the letter notation (spelling) and the sound definition of letters (phonemes).

  • The phonetically parsed word is enclosed in square brackets - ;
  • a soft consonant is indicated by the transcription sign [ ’ ] - an apostrophe;
  • stressed [´] - accent;
  • in complex word forms from several roots, the secondary stress sign [ ` ] is used - gravis (not practiced in the school curriculum);
  • the letters of the alphabet Yu, Ya, E, Ё, ь and Ъ are NEVER used in transcription (in the curriculum);
  • for doubled consonants, [:] is used - a sign of the longitude of the sound.

Below are detailed rules for orthoepic, alphabetic, phonetic and word analysis with online examples, in accordance with general school standards of the modern Russian language. Professional linguists' transcriptions of phonetic characteristics differ in accents and other symbols with additional acoustic features of vowel and consonant phonemes.

How to make a phonetic analysis of a word?

The following diagram will help you carry out letter analysis:

  • Write down the necessary word and say it out loud several times.
  • Count how many vowels and consonants there are in it.
  • Indicate the stressed syllable. (Stress, using intensity (energy), distinguishes a certain phoneme in speech from a number of homogeneous sound units.)
  • Divide the phonetic word into syllables and indicate their total number. Remember that syllable division in is different from the rules of transfer. The total number of syllables always matches the number of vowels.
  • In the transcription, sort the word by sounds.
  • Write the letters from the phrase in a column.
  • Opposite each letter in square brackets, indicate its sound definition (how it is heard). Remember that sounds in words are not always identical to letters. The letters "ь" and "ъ" do not represent any sounds. The letters “e”, “e”, “yu”, “ya”, “i” can represent 2 sounds at once.
  • Analyze each phoneme separately and indicate its properties separated by commas:
    • for a vowel we indicate in the characteristic: vowel sound; stressed or unstressed;
    • in the characteristics of consonants we indicate: consonant sound; hard or soft, voiced or deaf, sonorant, paired/unpaired in hardness-softness and sonority-dullness.
  • At the end of the phonetic analysis of the word, draw a line and count the total number of letters and sounds.

This scheme is practiced in the school curriculum.

An example of phonetic analysis of a word

Here is a sample phonetic analysis of the composition for the word “phenomenon” → [yivl’e′n’ie].
In this example there are 4 vowels and 3 consonants.
There are only 4 syllables: I-vle′-n-e.
The emphasis falls on the second.

Sound characteristics of letters:

i [th] - cong., unpaired soft, unpaired voiced, sonorous
[i] - vowel, unstressed
in [v] - acc., paired solid, paired sound.
l [l’] - acc., paired soft., unpaired. sound, sonorous
e [e′] - vowel, stressed
n [n’] - agree, paired soft, unpaired sound, sonorous
and [and] - vowel, unstressed
e [th] - acc., unpaired. soft, unpaired sound, sonorous
[e] - vowel, unstressed
________________________
In total, the word phenomenon has 7 letters, 9 sounds
The first letter “I” and the last “E” each represent two sounds.

Now you know how to do sound-letter analysis yourself. The following is a classification of sound units of the Russian language, their relationships and transcription rules for sound-letter parsing.

Phonetics and sounds in Russian

What sounds are there?

All sound units are divided into vowels and consonants. Vowel sounds, in turn, can be stressed or unstressed. The consonant sound in Russian words can be: hard - soft, voiced - dull, hissing, sonorant.

— How many sounds are there in Russian living speech?

Correct answer 42 sounds.

By doing phonetic analysis online, you will find that word formation involves 36 consonants and 6 vowels. Many people have a reasonable question: why is there such a strange inconsistency? Why does the total number of sounds and letters differ for both vowels and consonants?

All this is easily explained. A number of letters, when participating in word formation, can denote 2 sounds at once. For example, softness-hardness pairs:

  • [b] - cheerful and [b’] - squirrel;
  • or [d]-[d’]: home - to do.

And some do not have a pair, for example [h’] will always be soft. If you doubt it, try to say it firmly and make sure it is impossible: stream, pack, spoon, black, Chegevara, boy, little rabbit, bird cherry, bees. Thanks to this practical solution, our alphabet has not reached dimensionless proportions, and the sound units are optimally complemented, merging with each other.

Vowel sounds in Russian words

Vowel sounds Unlike consonants, they are melodic; they flow freely, as if in a chant, from the larynx, without barriers or tension of the ligaments. The louder you try to pronounce the vowel, the wider you will have to open your mouth. And vice versa, the louder you try to pronounce a consonant, the more energetically you will close your mouth. This is the most striking articulatory difference between these phoneme classes.

The stress in any word form can only fall on the vowel sound, but there are also unstressed vowels.

— How many vowel sounds are there in Russian phonetics?

Russian speech uses fewer vowel phonemes than letters.

There are only six shock sounds: [a], [i], [o], [e], [u], [s].
And let us remind you that there are ten letters: a, e, e, i, o, u, y, e, i, yu.
The vowels E, E, Yu, I are not “pure” sounds in transcription are not used. Often, when parsing words by letter, the emphasis falls on the listed letters.

Phonetics: characteristics of stressed vowels

The main phonemic feature of Russian speech is the clear pronunciation of vowel phonemes in stressed syllables. Stressed syllables in Russian phonetics are distinguished by the force of exhalation, increased duration of sound and are pronounced undistorted. Since they are pronounced clearly and expressively, sound analysis of syllables with stressed vowel phonemes is much easier to carry out.
The position in which the sound does not undergo changes and retains its basic form is called strong position. This position can only be occupied by a stressed sound and a syllable. Unstressed phonemes and syllables remain in a weak position.

  • The vowel in a stressed syllable is always in a strong position, that is, it is pronounced more clearly, with the greatest strength and duration.
  • A vowel in an unstressed position is in a weak position, that is, it is pronounced with less force and not so clearly.

In the Russian language, only one phoneme “U” retains unchangeable phonetic properties: k at To at R at for, planks at, at h at sya, at fishing - in all positions it is pronounced clearly as [y]. This means that the vowel “U” is not subject to qualitative reduction.
Attention: in writing, the phoneme [y] can also be indicated by another letter “U”: muesli [m’ at´sl’i], key [kl’ at´ch’], etc.

Analysis of the sounds of stressed vowels

The vowel phoneme [o] occurs only in a strong position (under stress). In such cases, “O” is not subject to reduction: cat [to O t’ik], bell [kalak O l'ch'yk], milk [malak O], eight [in O s’im’], search [paisk O vaya], dialect [g O var], autumn [ O syn'].

An exception to the rule of a strong position for “O”, when the unstressed [o] is also pronounced clearly, is represented by only some foreign words: cocoa [kaka" O], patio [pa"ti O], radio [ra"di O], boa [b O a"] and a number of service units, for example, union but.

The sound [o] in writing can be represented by another letter “e” - [o]: turn [t’ O rn], fire [kas’t’ O R].

It will also not be difficult to analyze the sounds of the remaining four vowels in the stressed position.

Unstressed vowels and sounds in Russian words

It is possible to make a correct sound analysis and accurately determine the characteristics of a vowel only after placing stress in the word. Do not forget also about the existence of homonymy in our language: lock - lock and the change in phonetic qualities depending on the context (case, number):

  • I'm home [ya d O"ma].
  • New houses [but "vye d A ma"].

IN unstressed position the vowel is modified, that is, pronounced differently than written:

  • mountains - mountain = [g O"ry] - [g A ra"];
  • he is online = [ O"n] - [ A nla"yn]
  • date e T e flax = [sv’id’ uh"T' And l'n'itsa].

Such changes in vowels in unstressed syllables are called reduction. Quantitative, when the duration of the sound changes. And high-quality reduction, when the characteristics of the original sound change.

The same unstressed vowel letter can change its phonetic characteristics depending on its position:

  • primarily relative to the stressed syllable;
  • at the absolute beginning or end of a word;
  • in open syllables (consisting of only one vowel);
  • on the influence of neighboring signs (ь, ъ) and consonant.

Yes, it varies 1st degree of reduction. It is subject to:

  • vowels in the first pre-stressed syllable;
  • naked syllable at the very beginning;
  • repeated vowels. Note: To make a sound-letter analysis, the first pre-stressed syllable is determined not from the “head” of the phonetic word, but in relation to the stressed syllable: the first to the left of it. In principle, it can be the only pre-shock: not-here [n’iz’d’e’shn’ii]. (uncovered syllable)+(2-3 pre-stressed syllable)+ 1st pre-stressed syllable ← Stressed syllable → over-stressed syllable (+2/3 over-stressed syllable)
  • vpe- re-di [fp’i r'i di];
  • e-naturally [ yee s't'e´s't'v'in:a]; Any other pre-stressed syllables and all post-stressed syllables during sound analysis are classified as reduction of the 2nd degree. It is also called a “weak position of the second degree.”
  • kiss [pa-tsy-la-va´t’];
  • model [ma-dy-l’i´-ra-vat’];
  • swallow [la´-st A-ch'k A];
  • kerosene [k'i-ra-s'i´-na-vy]. The reduction of vowels in a weak position also differs in stages: second, third (after hard and soft consonants - this is outside the curriculum): learn [uch'i´ts:a], become numb [atsyp'in'e´t '], hope [nad'e´zhda]. During letter analysis, the reduction of the vowel in the weak position in the final open syllable (= at the absolute end of the word) will appear very slightly:
  • calyx A;
  • goddesses I;
  • with songs And;
  • change A. Sound-letter analysis: iotized sounds Phonetically, the letters E - [ye], E - [yo], Yu - [yu], I - [ya] often denote two sounds at once. Have you noticed that in all the indicated cases the additional phoneme is “Y”? That is why these vowels are called iotized. The meaning of the letters E, E, Yu, I is determined by their positional position.

  • When analyzed phonetically, the vowels e, e, yu, i form 2 SOUNDS:

    ◊ Yo - [yo], Yu - [yu], E - [ye], I - [ya] in cases where there are:

  • At the beginning of the word "Yo" and "Yu" Always:
    • - cringe [ yo´ zhyts:a], Christmas tree [ yo´ lach'nyy], hedgehog [ yo´ zhyk], capacity [ yo´ mkast’];
    • - jeweler [ yuv'il'i´r], spinning top [ yu la´], skirt [ yu´ pka], Jupiter [ yu p'i´t'ir], nimbleness [ yu´rkas’t’];
  • at the beginning of a word "E" and "I" only under accent*:
    • - spruce [ ye´ l’], I’m driving [ ye´ w:y], huntsman [ ye´ g'ir'], eunuch [ ye´ grandson];
    • - yacht [ ya´ hta], anchor [ ya´ kar’], yaks [ ya´ ki], apple [ ya´ blac];
    • (*to perform sound-letter analysis of the unstressed vowels “E” and “I”, a different phonetic transcription is used, see below);
  • in the position immediately after the vowel "Yo" and "Yu" Always. But “E” and “I” are in stressed and unstressed syllables, except in cases where these letters are located after a vowel in the 1st pre-stressed syllable or in the 1st, 2nd unstressed syllable in the middle of words.
    Phonetic analysis online and examples in specified cases:
    • - etc yo mnik [pr’iyo´mn’ik], p oh t [payo´t], cl yuyo t [kl’u yo T];
    • - ayu rveda [a yu r'v'e´da], p oh t [pa yu´t], melt [ta´ yu t], cabin [ka yu´ta],
  • after the separation hard "b" sign "Yo" and "Yu"- Always,
    A "E" and "I" only under stress or at the absolute end of a word:
    - volume [ab yo´m], shooting [syo´mka], adjutant [ad yu"ta´nt]
  • after the separation soft "b" sign "Yo" and "Yu"- always, but "E" and "I" under stress or at the absolute end of a word:
    - interview [intyrv’ yu´], trees [d’ir’e´v’ yea], friends [friends’ ya´], brothers [bra´t’ yea], monkey [ab’iz’ ya´ on], blizzard [in’ yu´ ha], family [s’em’ ya´]
  • As you can see, in the phonemic system of the Russian language, stress is of decisive importance. Vowels in unstressed syllables undergo the greatest reduction. Let's continue the sound-letter analysis of the remaining iotized ones and see how they can still change characteristics depending on the environment in the words.

    ◊ Unstressed vowels"E" and "I" denote two sounds in phonetic transcription and are written as [YI]:

  • at the very beginning of the word:
    • - unity [ yee d'in'e´n'i'ye], spruce [yil´vyy], blackberry [yizhiv'i´ka], him [yivo´], fidget [yigaza´], Yenisei [yin'is'e´y ], Egypt [yig'i´p'it];
    • - January [ yee nvarskiy], core [yidro´], sting [yiz’v’i´t’], label [yirly´k], Japan [yipo´n’iya], lamb [yign’o´nak];
    • (The only exceptions are rare foreign word forms and names: Caucasian [ yeah vrap'io´idnaya], Evgeniy [yeah] genius, European [ yeah vrap'e´yits], diocese [yeah] parish, etc.).
  • immediately after a vowel in the 1st pre-stressed syllable or in the 1st, 2nd post-stressed syllable, except for the location at the absolute end of the word.
    • in a timely manner [swa yee vr'e´m'ina], trains [pa yee hello], let's eat [pa yee d'i´m], run into [on yee zh:a´t’], Belgian [b’il’g’i´ yee ts], students [uch’a´sh’i yee s’a], sentences [pr’idlazhen’n’i yee m'i], vanity [su yee ta´],
    • bark [la´ yee t'], pendulum [ma´ yee tn’ik], hare [za´ yee ts], belt [po´ yee s], declare [for yee v’i´t’], I will show [pra yee v'l'u´]
  • after the separation hard "b" or soft "b" sign:
    - intoxicating [n’ yee n’i´t], express [from yee v’i´t’], announcement [ab yee vl’e´n’iye], edible [with yee good].

    • Note: The St. Petersburg phonological school is characterized by “ecane”, and the Moscow school is characterized by “hiccup”. Previously, the iotrated “Yo” was pronounced with a more accented “Ye”. When changing capitals, performing sound-letter analysis, they adhere to Moscow norms in orthoepy.

    Some people in fluent speech pronounce the vowel “I” the same way in syllables with a strong and weak position. This pronunciation is considered a dialect and is not literary. Remember, the vowel “I” under stress and without stress is voiced differently: fair [ yea´brand], but the egg [ yee ytso´].

    Important:

    The letter “I” after the soft sign “b” also represents 2 sounds - [YI] in sound-letter analysis. (This rule is relevant for syllables in both strong and weak positions).
    Let's conduct a sample online sound-letter analysis:
    - nightingales [salav’ yi´], on chicken legs [on chicken' yi’ x "no´shkah], rabbit [rab´l’ich’ yee], no family [with’im’ yi´], judges [su´d’ yee], draws [n’ich’ yi´], streams [ruch’ yi´], foxes [li´s’ yee].

    But:
    Vowel "ABOUT" after a soft sign "b" transcribed as apostrophe of softness [’] the preceding consonant and [ABOUT], although when pronouncing the phoneme, iotization can be heard: broth [bul’o´n], pavil yo n [pav’il’on’n], similar: postal yo n, champigne yo n, shin yo n, company yo n, medal yo n, battle yo n, gil yo tina, pocket yo la, min yo n and others.

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 voicelessUnpaired voicedUnpaired 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 the upper palate due to an 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 you get a 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, special attention should be paid to working with hissing and whistling consonants 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, a characteristic feature of 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 distinctive feature is that 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 the 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, you should move on from simple words 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, what about me?”
  • Almost all words in the Russian language containing the letter " f", are of foreign language origin. Only in relation to rare words (for example: eagle owl) Russian origin is assumed, but this has not been definitely proven.
  • 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. A word with two soft and one hard signs: 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 the modern world is comprehended by reading or listening, and only a small part of it is through personal experience.

In addition, linguistic speech, which forms the second signaling system, as well as everything connected with it - auditory perception, reading, writing - represent one of the main differences between humans and animals. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of phenomena that are based on language acquisition. This process continues almost throughout life, but it begins with familiarization with letters, sounds and syllables in early childhood.

For example : sound [d’] - consonant, voiced pair, soft pair.

Important!

  • L, Ъ, E, Ё, Yu, I — letters! They cannot be transcribed!
  • The softness of consonants is indicated by a soft sign b and letters E, Yo, Yu, Ya, I.
  • [ts], [zh], [sh] - only solid ones: mouse [mouse], vein [zhila], circus [circus].
  • [h'], [h'] - only soft: night [noch’], thicket [ch’ash’a], chum [ch’um].
  • and does not indicate sound:
    1. serves to indicate the softness of consonants: mo l[mo l’], That l to [then l’ co];
    2. acts as a separator (like ) after consonants before letters e, e, yu, i, and, suggesting the appearance of the sound [th’]: V yu ha [v’ y'u ha], hare yi[zay'ach' y'i] ;
    3. indicates the grammatical form of a word without affecting pronunciation: quiet [t’ish], only b[l’ish], berech b[b'ir'Ech'].
  • does not indicate sounds, separates to a consonant before letters E, Yo, Yu, I, releasing the sound [th’]: about e zd [ab y'e st', under e m [pad y'o m].

  • In an unstressed position
    • [e], [o] and the sound denoted by [a] after soft consonants are not pronounced;
    • the letter O in an unstressed syllable means [a];
    • in place of e, e, i - often [and].
  • Letter AND
    • after b denotes two sounds: h yi[h’ y'i], fox yi[fox' y'i];
    • after the hissing ones F, W, C transmits sound [s].
  • E, Yo, Yu, I :
    • after a consonant they indicate the softness of the consonant and one vowel sound: honey [m’ot];
    • denote 2 sounds (consonant [y'] and vowel - [y'e], [y'o], [y'u], ['ya]) in
      • at the beginning of a word: I ma [ y'a ma], Yu bka [ y'u pka];
      • after a vowel: bo e ts [ba y'e ts], both I t [aba y'a T'];
      • after the separating b and b: under e h [pad] y'e ct], vy Yu ha [in y'u ha].

Scheme of correspondence between unstressed vowels and letters denoting them:

(according to Litvinevskaya “Practical course of the Russian language”)

  • After a solid consonant, except [zh], [sh], [ts]
    • at -> [y] hand [hand];
    • A -> [A] herself [sa]ma;
    • O -> [A] soma [sa]ma;
    • s -> [s] wash wash;
    • e -> [s] test [you] test;
  • After [zh], [sh], [ts]:
    • at -> [y] make noise [make noise];
    • e -> [s] sixth [shy]wait
    • O -> [s] chocolate [shy]colada;
    • O -> [A] shock [shock];
    • A -> [A] balls [sha]ry;
    • A -> [s] horses horses;
    • s -> [s] chick [chick] films;
    • And -> [s] wide.
  • After a soft consonant:
    • Yu -> [y] love [l’u]beat;
    • at -> [y] wonderful [ch’u]gum
    • And -> [And] worlds [m’i]ry;
    • e -> [And] change [m’i] take;
    • I -> [And] nickel [p’i]tak;
    • A -> [And] clock [h’i]sy.
  • At the beginning of a phonetic word:
    • at -> [y] lesson [lesson] lesson;
    • A -> [A] watermelon [a] watermelon;
    • O -> [A] window [a] window ;
    • And -> [And] game [and] game;
    • uh -> [And] floor [and] floor.

  • The same letter can represent different sounds depending on the position it occupies. For example: the letter s can denote the sounds [c], , [з], [з’], [ш’], [ж:]: sleep [ With he], hay [ With' ena], collection [ h boron], request [about z' ba], compress [ and: at’], calculation [ra sch' from].
  • Stunning paired voiced consonants :
    • at the end of a word: prue d[pr T] ;
    • before a paired voiceless consonant: ska h ka [ska With ka], right and ka [pr'a w ka];
  • Voicing of a paired voiceless consonant before the paired voiced: in To hall [va G hall], With do [ z' d'elat'], about With bah [about h‘ba];
  • Softening paired hard consonants :
    • before b: mo l[mo l’], ;
    • before vowels E, E, Yu, I, I : hatch [ l'u k], p rya lady [n r'a lady];
    • k, n, r before soft h, sch: By LF ik [by LF'ik],
    • consonants (usually z, s, n, p) before any soft consonant: snow [ With' neck], h here [ z' d'ek],
  • Hardening of steamed soft consonant before hard: door -> door [dv’ernoy], horse -> horse [konskiy’].
  • Unpronounceable consonant (simplification of a group of consonants of 3-4 letters):
    • vst -> [stv] : hello vstv wow [healthy stv yay’];
    • stn -> [dn] : meh stn th [m'e sn y’], tro stn ik [tra s'n' ik];
    • stl -> [sl] : NAV stl willow [sh'a sl‘willow’] ;
    • zdn -> [zn] : By zdn th [by z'n‘iy’];
    • zdts -> [sts] : under zdc s [fall sc s];
    • ntg -> [ng] : re NTG en [r'e ng‘en];
    • ndc -> [nc] : golla NDC s [gala nc s];
    • rdc -> [rts] : se rdc e [s'e rc e] ;
    • rdch -> [rch’] : se rdch ishko [s’e RF'ishka] ;
    • lnts -> [nts] : with lnc e [with nc e];
    • [th’] is not pronounced between vowels: mo e go [ma And in]
  • Assimilation of consonants by place of education:
    • sch -> [s ] + [h’] -> [sch’] / [sch’ch’] : sch astier [ sch' ast'y'e], with something [sch’emta]-[sch’ch’emta];
    • ssh -> [s] + [sh] -> [sh:], [sh]: US it [w:yt’]=[shyt’];
    • ssch ->[s ] + [sch’] -> [sch’] : ra ssch drink [ra sch'ip'it'] ;
    • zch -> [z ] + [h’] -> [w’] : gru zch ik [gru sch' ik], story zch ik [raska sch' ik]
    • szh -> + [zh] ->[zh:] : szh at [burn’];
    • zzh -> [z ] + [zh] -> [zh:], [zh]: And zzh it [and LJ yt’]=[And and yt’] ;
    • ts, ds, ts -> [t] + [s] -> [tsts], [ts] or [tss]: we ts I [we cc a]=[we ts a], o ts yal [a tss ylat’];
    • ts -> [t] + [ts] -> [tsts], [ts]: o shopping center drink [a cc yp’it’]=[a ts yp'it'];
    • tch -> [t ] + [h’] -> [h’ch’], [h’]: o tch et [a ch'ch‘From’]=[a h' From'];
    • tsch -> [t ] + [sch’] -> [h’sch’] : o tho drink [a h'shch‘ip’it’];
    • th -> [pcs] / [h’t]: Thu customs [ w to] not Thu o [n'e huh A];
    • chn -> [shn] : horse chn about [kan shn a], sku chn o [sku shn A] ;
  • Double consonants are located
    • after a stressed vowel, they give a long sound: GRU pp a [gro P: a], vA nn a[va n: A];
    • before a stressed vowel, a regular consonant sound is formed: mi ll andHe [m’i l'and she kk Ord[a To Ort], alley [a l'Hey'a];
  • here, there in verbs -> [ca]: washing there is[wash ts A]-;
  • -tsk- in adjectives -> [tsk]: de tsk ii [d'e tsk‘iy’].

Other combinations

  • At the endings of adjectives WOW, HIS consonant G pronounced like [v]: red Wow[red V a], syn eth[blue V A].
  • Sound [sch'] can be designated in many ways (see):
    • with the letter Ш: sch vigor [sch’edrast’] ;
    • combinations of consonants:
      • shch: freckled [weary] ;
      • jh: defector [p’ir’ib’esh’ik];
      • sch: happiness [sh’as’t’y’e], peddler [raznots’ik] ;
      • zch: storyteller [raskasch’ik], carrier [p’ir’ivosh’ik];
      • stch:;
      • zdch: roundabout.

References:

  1. Pavlova S.A. Methods of preparing for the Unified State Exam in the Russian language: reasoning algorithms when choosing the correct answer. - M.: Education, 2009.- 192 p.
  2. Kazbek-Kazieva M.M. Preparation for Russian language Olympiads. 5-11 grades / M.M. Kazbek-Kazieva. – 4th ed. – M.J. Iris-press, 2010
  3. Litnevskaya E.I. Russian language. A short theoretical course for schoolchildren. - MSU, Moscow, 2000, ISBN 5-211-05119-x

Vowels are speech sounds, the main functional feature of which is their role in syllable formation: a vowel always forms the top of a syllable. The articulatory and acoustic characteristics of vowels do not allow us to talk about their fundamental differences with consonants: when vowels are called “mouth openers,” they lose sight of the fact that in reality the narrowing formed during the articulation of some closed vowels may be no less than the narrowing formed during the formation of some consonants; An acoustic feature of vowels is considered to be that during their formation only the vocal source acts, but this is not a specific property of vowels, because and some sonorant consonants are formed only with the participation of a vocal source. When articulating vowels, the position of the tongue is taken into account - the degree of elevation of the tongue towards the hard palate and its advancement forward or backward in the mouth and lips.
Based on their rise, they distinguish vowels of the upper (closed or narrow), middle and lower (open or wide) rise; by advancement - front vowels and back vowels; according to the work of the lips - rounded (labialized), during the formation of which the lips are rounded and protruded, and non-globed (non-labialized), during the articulation of which the lips do not play an active role.
The Russian language has six vowels. Their characteristics can be presented in a table.

Table 1

These features of articulation affect the acoustic properties of vowels. The supraglottic cavities, which act as resonators, enhance certain frequencies called vowel formants. When describing the acoustic characteristics of vowels, information about the frequency of two formants is usually used - the first and second; there is a relationship between the frequency of formants and the nature of articulation: the more closed the vowel, the lower the frequency of the first formant; the more closed the back vowel, the lower the frequency of the second formant; coarsening lowers the frequency of both the first and second formants. The acoustic characteristics are in full accordance with this rule: the lowest frequency of the first formant is characterized by the vowels of the upper rise - i, ы, у; the low vowel a has the highest frequency first formant; The highest second formant is the front vowel and the lowest is the rounded back vowel u, etc.
Unstressed vowels differ from stressed vowels in the degree of expression of their articulatory-acoustic properties; thus, unstressed and less forward, and less closed than stressed; unstressed and less posterior and less closed than stressed. The reduction of unstressed vowels is smaller if the unstressed vowel is at the absolute beginning of the word. Pre-stressed vowels are reduced less than post-stressed vowels. There are certain patterns in the use of vowels. Thus, all six vowels are possible under stress; in unstressed syllables, as a rule, o and e are not used.
The vowel and is used only after soft consonants, ы - only after hard consonants, e is used after hard consonants only in borrowed words or in the position after the consonants sh, zh, ts. Back vowels a, o, u can be found both after hard and soft consonants. Consonants are speech sounds that, when adjacent to vowels, cannot be word-forming. Articulatory consonants are characterized by muscular tension in a certain part of the pronunciation apparatus, but this feature is not obligatory. Acoustically consonants are characterized by the participation of a noise source, however, this feature is not universal, because The group of consonants also includes sonants formed without noise sources. When articulating consonants, the following features are taken into account:
1) active operating body. Depending on which of the active organs actively ensures the formation of a constriction or stop, labial, anterior lingual, midlingual and posterior lingual consonants are distinguished. For front-lingual consonants, the active organ can be:
a) only the front part of the tongue - then they talk about single-focal front-lingual consonants, for example s, z (they are often called whistling - due to their acoustic effect, or dental - due to their passive organ);
b) the back of the tongue - in this case, bifocal anterior lingual consonants are formed with a second posterior focus, for example sh, zh (they are also called sibilants or palatals);
2) the method of formation of consonants. If the active organ forms a complete connection with the passive organ, the so-called. stop consonants, which in turn are divided into plosives and affricates, depending on the method of opening the stop - fast (“instant”), when forming plosives (for example, p, b) or slow, gradual, when forming affricates (ts, h ), in which the closure is followed by a gap phase. If the active organ forms a constriction with the passive one, through which an air stream continuously passes, fricative consonants are formed (for example, f, v). Depending on whether a narrowing (gap) is formed in the middle part of the tongue or whether air passes into the gap formed by the edges of the tongue, middle fricatives are distinguished (for example, s, z and lateral (for example, l). The consonants p and p' are specifically formed, during the articulation of which, peculiar vibrations of the tip of the tongue occur. These consonants are called trembling;
3) the work of the vocal cords. Depending on whether the vocal cords work in the formation of consonants, voiced and voiceless consonants are distinguished;
4) participation of the nasal cavity. If, during the articulation of consonants, the passage of the air stream into the nasal cavity is closed (in this case, the soft palate is raised), the so-called. pure consonants; if the soft palate is lowered and air during the articulation of consonants passes not only into the oral cavity, but also into the nasal cavity, nasal consonants are formed;
5) participation of the middle part of the back of the tongue. If, during the formation of any consonant, the middle part of the back of the tongue rises to the hard palate, soft consonants are formed; hard consonants are articulated without this additional movement. In addition to these actual articulatory properties, when classifying consonants, some of their acoustic characteristics are also taken into account - first of all, the degree of participation of noise components in the sound of consonants. On this basis, consonants are divided into noisy and sonant. There are certain patterns in the use of consonants in the Russian language:
1) at the absolute end of a word or before voiceless consonants it is impossible to use a voiced consonant (say - skaz - fairy tale);
2) before a voiced noisy consonant, you cannot pronounce the voiceless consonant matchmaker, but wedding;
3) before a bifocal consonant, a unifocal consonant is not pronounced (to pity, to embroider).
Sonants, from the point of view of the rules of alternation, form a special group: although articulatory they are voiced consonants, they themselves do not alternate with voiceless consonants at the end of a word and before voiceless ones, and before them it is possible to use both voiceless and voiced noisy consonants (remove, but know; strength, but anger). Labial fricative voiced consonants in and in’, if they are not in front of noisy consonants, also allow both voiceless and voiced consonants in front of them, i.e. functionally close to sonants: own, twist, called, etc.
If in, in’ are in front of noisy consonants, then the use of deaf consonants in front of them is prohibited: the brother ran in, but the brother ran out.
Among labial consonants, stops and fricatives differ not only in the method of formation, but also in the passive active organ: if the stop is formed by two lips, then when articulating fricatives, the passive organ is the upper teeth, therefore the consonants f and f', v and v' are labial- dental
For the back-lingual soft k' and x', the position at the absolute end of the word is unusual.

table 2