What is sound? This is the minimum component of human speech. Depicted in letters. In written form, sounds differ from letters by the presence of square brackets at the first, used in phonetic transcription. The letter is o, the sound is [o]. The transcription shows differences in spelling and pronunciation. Apostrophe [ ‘ ] indicates soft pronunciation.
In contact with
The sounds are divided into:
- Vowels. They can be pulled easily. During their creation, the tongue does not take an active part, being fixed in one position. The sound is created due to changes in the position of the tongue, lips, various vibrations of the vocal cords and the force of air supply. Length of vowels – basis of vocal art(chanting, “singing smoothly”).
- Consonant sounds a are pronounced with the participation of the tongue, which, occupying a certain position and shape, creates an obstacle to the movement of air from the lungs. This leads to noise in the oral cavity. At the output they are converted into sound. Also, the free passage of air is hampered by the lips, which close and open during speech.
Consonants are divided into:
- voiceless and voiced. Deafness and sonority of sound depend on the functioning of the speech apparatus;
- hard and soft. The sound is determined by the position of the letter in the word.
Letters representing consonants
Deaf
Voiceless in Russian: [k], [p], [s], [t], [f], [x], [ts], [sh]. The easiest way to remember is a phrase, and not a set of letters, “Styopka, do you want a cheek? Fi!” containing them all.
An example in which all consonant sounds are unvoiced: rooster, honeycomb, pin.
Voiced
When they are formed, the shape of the tongue is close to the form that produces voiceless sounds, but vibrations are added. Voiced consonant sounds create active vibrations of the ligaments. Vibrations deform the sound wave, and not a pure stream of air enters the oral cavity, but sound. Subsequently, it is further transformed by the tongue and lips.
Voiced consonants include: b, c, g, d, g, z, j, l, m, n, r.
When they are pronounced, tension is clearly felt in the larynx area. In addition, it is almost impossible to speak them clearly in a whisper.
A word in which all consonants are voiced: Rome, pride, ash, estuary.
Summary table of consonants (voiceless and voiced).
It is due to the change in sound that Russian speech is enriched with various words that are similar in spelling and pronunciation, but completely different in meaning. For example: house - volume, court - itch, code - year.
Paired consonants
What does pairing mean? Two letters that are similar in sound and, when pronounced, take similar positions with the tongue, are called paired consonants. The pronunciation of consonants can be divided into one-stage (lips and tongues are involved in their creation) and two-stage - the ligaments are connected first, then the mouth. Those cases when, during pronunciation, mouth movements coincide and create pairs.
Summary table of paired consonants taking into account hardness and softness
In speech, it is common not to pronounce each letter, but to “eat” it. This is not an exception only for Russian speech. This is found in almost all languages of the world and is especially noticeable in English. In Russian, this effect is subject to the rule: paired consonant sounds replace (auditory) each other during speech. For example: love – [l’ u b o f’].
But not everyone has their own pair. There are some that are not similar in pronunciation to any others - these are unpaired consonants. The reproduction technique differs from the pronunciation of other sounds and combines them into groups.
Paired consonants
Unpaired consonants
The first group can be pronounced softly. The second has no analogues in pronunciation.
Unpaired consonants are divided into:
- sonors – [th’], [l], [l’], [m], [m’], [n], [n’], [r], [r’]. When they are pronounced, a stream of air hits the upper sky, like a dome;
- hissing – [x], [x’], [ts], [h’], [sch’].
The Russian language contains letters that are difficult to understand in context. Are the sounds [ch], [th], [ts], [n] voiced or unvoiced? Learn these 4 letters!
Important![h] - deaf! [th] - sonorous! [ts] is deaf! [n] – sonorous!
Unpaired consonants
Hard and soft
They are the same in spelling, but different in sound. Voiceless and voiced consonants, with the exception of hissing ones, can be pronounced hard or soft. For example: [b] was – [b`] beat; [t] current – [t`] flowed.
When pronouncing hard words, the tip of the tongue is pressed against the palate. Soft ones are formed by pressing to the upper palate of the middle part of the tongue.
In speech, the sound is determined by the letter following the consonant.
Vowels form pairs: a-ya, u-yu, e-e, y-i, o-yo.
Double vowels (I, ё, yu, e) are pronounced in one of two combinations: the sound [th] and a paired vowel from E, O, U, A, or a soft sign and a paired vowel. For example, the word cabin boy. It is pronounced [y] [y] [n] [g] [a]. Or the word mint. It is pronounced as: [m’] [a] [t] [a]. The vowels A, O, U, E, Y do not have a double sound, therefore do not affect the pronunciation of the preceding consonant.
Example difference:
A spoon is a hatch, honey is a sea, a house is a woodpecker.
Phonetic transcription:
[Spoon] – [L’ u k], [m’ o d] – [m o r’ e], [house] – [d’ a t e l].
Pronunciation rules:
- solid ones are pronounced before A, O, U, E, Y. Abscess, side, beech, Bentley, former;
- soft ones are pronounced before Ya, Yo, Yu, E, I. Revenge, honey, whale, mashed potatoes, mint;
- hard ones are pronounced if they are followed by another consonant: death. After the consonant [s] there is a consonant [m]. Regardless of whether the M is soft, voiced or hard, the S is pronounced firmly;
- hard ones are pronounced if the letter comes last in the word: class, house;
- Consonants before the vowel [e] in borrowed words are pronounced firmly, as before [e]. For example: muffler – [k] [a] [w] [n] [e];
- always soft before b: elk, pulp.
- exceptions to the rules:
- always solid F, W, C: life, thorns, cyanide;
- always soft Y, H, Sh: white, black, pike.
What is the difference between vowels and consonants and letters and sounds? What rules do they obey? How are the hardness and softness of sounds and letters indicated? You will receive answers to all these questions in this article.
General information about vowels and consonants
Vowels and consonants represent the basis of the entire Russian language. After all, with the help of their combinations, syllables are formed that form words, expressions, sentences, texts, etc. That is why quite a lot of hours are devoted to this topic. high school.
and sounds in Russian
A person learns what vowels and consonants are in the Russian alphabet already from the first grade. And despite the apparent simplicity of this topic, it is considered one of the most difficult for students.
So, in the Russian language there are ten vowel letters, namely: o, i, a, y, yu, ya, e, e, u, e. During their immediate pronunciation, you can feel how air passes freely through the oral cavity. At the same time, we hear our own voice quite clearly. It should also be noted that vowel sounds can be drawn out (a-a-a-a, uh-uh-uh, i-i-i-i-i, u-u-u-u-u and so on ).
Features and letters
Vowels are the basis of a syllable, that is, they are the ones who organize it. As a rule, Russian words have as many syllables as vowels themselves. Let's give clear example: u-che-ni-ki - 5 syllables, re-bya-ta - 3 syllables, he - 1 syllable, o-no - 2 syllables and so on. There are even words that consist of only one vowel sound. Usually these are interjections (A!, Oh!, Oooh!) and conjunctions (and, a, etc.).
Endings, suffixes and prefixes are very important topics in the Russian Language discipline. After all, without knowing how such letters are written in a particular word, it is quite problematic to compose a literate letter.
Consonants and sounds in Russian
Vowels and consonants letters and sounds vary significantly. And if the first ones can be easily pulled out, then the latter ones are pronounced as briefly as possible (except for hissing ones, since they can be pulled out).
It should be noted that in the Russian alphabet the number of consonant letters is 21, namely: b, v, g, d, zh, z, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, f, x, ts, h, w, shch. The sounds they denote are usually divided into dull and voiced. What is the difference? The fact is that during the pronunciation of voiced consonants, a person can hear not only the characteristic noise, but also his own voice (b!, z!, r!, etc.). As for the deaf, there is no way to pronounce them loudly or, for example, shout. They only create a kind of noise (sh-sh-sh-sh-sh, s-s-s-s-s, etc.).
Thus, almost everything is divided into two different categories:
- voiced - b, c, d, d, g, z, j, l, m, n, r;
- deaf - k, p, s, t, f, x, c, ch, sh.
Softness and hardness of consonants
Not everyone knows, but vowels and consonants can be hard and soft. This is the second most important feature in the Russian language (after voicedness and voicelessness).
A distinctive feature of soft consonants is that during their pronunciation the human tongue takes a special position. As a rule, it moves slightly forward, and its entire middle part rises slightly. As for when pronouncing them, the tongue is pulled back. You can compare the position of your speech organ yourself: [n] - [n’], [t] - [t’]. It should also be noted that voiced and soft sounds sound slightly higher than solid ones.
In the Russian language, almost all consonants have pairs based on softness and hardness. However, there are also those who simply do not have them. These include hard ones - [zh], [sh] and [ts] and soft ones - [th"], [h"] and [sh"].
Softness and hardness of vowel sounds
Surely few people have heard that the Russian language has soft vowels. Soft consonants are sounds quite familiar to us, which cannot be said about the above-mentioned ones. This is partly due to the fact that in secondary school practically no time is devoted to this topic. After all, it is already clear with the help of which vowels the consonants become soft. However, we still decided to dedicate you to this topic.
So, those letters that are capable of softening the consonants preceding them are called soft. These include the following: i, e, i, e, yu. As for letters such as a, y, y, e, o, they are considered hard because they do not soften the consonants in front. To see this, here are a few examples:
Indication of the softness of consonant letters during phonetic analysis of a word
Phonetics studies the sounds and letters of the Russian language. Surely, in high school you were asked more than once to make a word. During such an analysis, it is imperative to indicate whether it is separately considered or not. If yes, then it must be designated as follows: [n’], [t’], [d’], [v’], [m’], [p’]. That is, at the top right next to the consonant letter before the soft vowel, you need to put a kind of dash. The following soft sounds are marked with a similar icon - [th"], [h"] and [w"].
All speech sounds are divided into vowels and consonants. In turn, consonants can be divided into hard and soft. This is one of the main characteristics of a consonant sound.
What sounds are called soft
Most schoolchildren have no doubt whether a sound is soft or hard. Usually we distinguish them simply by ear. Indeed, these sounds are heard differently than solid ones. When pronouncing them, the tongue moves slightly forward towards the teeth and are localized in the area of the hard palate. That is why after soft consonants, vowels are most often pronounced, which are also formed in front, next to the teeth.
Paired and unpaired soft consonants
Hard and soft sounds often form pairs. For example, the hard sound [B] corresponds to the soft [B’]. In transcription, softness is indicated by an apostrophe.
We see that in the Russian language there are several unpaired hard sounds and several unpaired soft sounds.
Hard and soft paired consonants can perform a meaningful function. For example, MAL and MYAL, CHALK and MEL. There are many linguistic mysteries based on this.
How are soft sounds indicated in writing?
As a rule, soft consonant sounds in writing can be indicated in different ways.
With a soft sign. However, we must remember that the soft sign only indicates the softness of the paired consonant. If we have a hissing one in front of us, its softness cannot be indicated with a soft sign. Hissing ones are either always hard (in which case they cannot be softened) or always soft (in which case a soft sign is unnecessary in this situation). After sibilants, the soft sign performs a grammatical function, that is, with its help, nouns of the 2nd and 3rd declension are distinguished.
Studying the Russian language already in the 2nd grade, children learn about the dual role of the letters E, E, Yu, Ya. If these letters stand in the field of a paired consonant, they are read E, O, U, A and at the same time indicate the softness of the previous consonant: [L'E ], [L'O], [L'U], [L'A].
Similar to the first case, after sibilants E, Yo, Yu, Ya cannot indicate the softness of the previous consonant, therefore spelling E and Yo after sibilants is difficult and is also learned as a rule and also performs the grammatical function of distinguishing parts of speech. For example, the word “arson” is a noun, and the word “arson” is a verb.
In what cases is it not necessary to indicate softness in writing?
Some soft consonant sounds and combinations are not friendly with a soft sign.
This is an unpaired soft sound [Y’]. A soft sign is never placed in its field.
In the combinations CHK, CHN-NCH, CHV, CHT, SHCHN-NSCH, RSHch, a soft sign is not needed.
It is also not required in combinations ST, CH, ZD, ZN and some others, in which S or Z are softened when pronounced before a soft consonant: verses [S’T’], difference [Z’N’], etc.
After a sibilant, a soft sign usually performs a grammatical function, but can also be dividing: “sews”, “whose”, etc.
Phonetics is a capricious lady, although interesting. It's no secret that all sounds in the Russian language are divided into consonants and vowels. The former, in turn, are divided into voiced and voiceless, soft and hard. This classification is based on the way we pronounce sounds and the characteristics of our articulatory apparatus. So how can you tell them all apart?
What exactly is the matter?
1st grade begins to study soft and hard consonant sounds at the very beginning of the Russian language course. But in order to distinguish some phonemes from others, you must first understand what the difference is between them and vowels.
Vowel sounds are pronounced only with the voice. You can sing them, stretch them out - this is exactly how teachers explain to children at school. When the air leaving the lungs passes through the trachea, larynx, and oral cavity, it does not encounter any obstacles. When we talk about consonants, to pronounce them you need to use your lips, teeth and tongue - they all participate in the process, so to speak.
Comparing consonants and vowels by their sound, we notice the following trend: when vowels, as mentioned above, are sounded only with the help of one voice, then the consonants still contain noise created by the interference that the air has to encounter when pronouncing them. This is their main difference. Unvoiced sounds are pronounced only with this very noise, while in voiced sounds a voice is also added to it. Compare, for example, the pronunciation of the words “grotto” and “mole” or “house” and “tom”. In both cases, the first letters are the letters of hard consonants, voiced and unvoiced, respectively.
“Let's go back to our sheep!”
Now that we already know a little about the differences in consonants, let's move on to our main topic.
The best way to learn is by example, right? And again let's turn to the comparison: let's say the following pairs of words:
Racket rack, bun bureau, mother - ball, vine - ice, tower - view.
There is some difference in the way we pronounce consonants. Is not it? It is determined by vowel sounds that come after consonants. The words are specially selected so that the sounds we need are in the same position in all examples. In this case, they show all their diversity. Say it again, slowly. Do you feel how the tongue, in those words where the consonants sound softer, does not rest against the palate, but seems to relax and become flat? This can be considered main feature, which our hard consonants have during articulation.
Theory
Well, now let's move on to a specific theory. Hard consonants - a table that will consist of two parts. The first thing you need to remember is that the hardness or softness of a sound is determined by its neighboring vowel. When after the letter there is a, o, y, s , then the sound it denotes will definitely be hard (mitten, stomp, lips, played), and if there are e, e, yu, i, and , the consonant will sound softer (blizzard, doggie, mint, Kyiv). Thus, we can say that there is no point in memorizing all hard consonants. Almost all of them are paired. This property was shown in the first row of words, where we learned to distinguish between hard and soft sounds. Therefore, everything depends on this very vowel.
Unpaired consonants
Another question is how to deal with unpaired consonants. There are very few of these in the Russian language: w, w, c . No matter how hard you try, you won't be able to say them softly. Even if after them those vowels that are usually used with soft consonants are written: ramrod - rustling - chic, creepy - liquid - tin, price - circus - king. These consonants are contrasted with unpaired h, sch, th , which will sound soft in all cases: chock - thicket - cleaning, cheeks - squint - crushed stone, yot - yogurt.
Break the system!
In this situation, you need to understand that the rule of following a vowel with them does not apply to unpaired hard consonant sounds. The table, which can be compiled for better assimilation of the material, in any case, will consist of two parts - paired, the equivalent of which can always be found by changing the vowel, and unpaired, living by their own rules.
Let's remember
Now let's move on to methods of studying and memorizing. 1st grade remembers hard consonants reluctantly - it’s too boring. But there is always a way to increase efficiency by getting the student interested in an unusual form of work, even with material that is so theoretical and unnecessary, at first glance. Various pictures, diagrams, drawings and games with word choice will come to our aid.
Let's make cards, perhaps. You will need two sheets of colored paper or colored cardboard. The main thing is that they are contrasting. We cut out identical clouds, balls, figures - whatever comes to your mind. Then we connect the two figures with glue so that these very contrasting sides are on the outside. And then, with the participation of your little helper, on one side we write vowels that are friendly with soft consonants, and on the other - with hard consonants. In order not to forget anything at all, you can also place unpaired and paired ones next to each other, respectively. When everything is at hand, it is much easier.
Next, we draw something that can help create an association - a brick on a piece of cardboard with written hard sounds, and a feather with soft phonemes. Or something else like that. Having before my eyes specific example, the student will probably learn the information better. Later, for reinforcement, you can ask your student to distinguish between hard and soft sounds in written words. different colors- red and blue, for example, so that you can easily check his homework.
Material at hand
To prepare the signs mentioned above, you still need to have some kind of material. Hard consonant sounds - a table that you can rely on to make sure you don’t get confused. For convenience, it contains paired and unpaired sounds in terms of hardness and softness. By the way, if we want to indicate the softness of a sound, in phonetic transcription, for example, an apostrophe is placed after it.
In this table, all phonemes at the top are hard. Below are their soft counterparts. True, we have three cases when the sound does not have a pair. This means it is never soft.
Let's remember further
Shall we continue to practice? Let's give more examples of words where the same consonant sound appears in a hard or soft position. One more nuance. In addition to those very vowels that influence a consonant, it can be softened or made hard by a soft and hard sign, respectively. Let's not forget about this in our next task.
Beaver - white, blizzard - goalkeeper, city - helium, entrance - clerk, giraffe, winter - teeth, whale cat, horse - lemonade, zhmenya - sea, Neptune - rhinoceros, steamboat - break, decision-novel, owl - family, cake - theme, film-photography, halva - diagram, chicken, hat.
Determine the words from the presented pair that demonstrate soft or hard consonants. As you can see, the letters used to designate them are still the same. Please note that in some words, hardness and softness are influenced not only by vowels, but also by consonants that stand next to our sound. In addition, you can also ask your child to come up with examples for unpaired consonants, so that he can see for himself that they are only hard. Yet own experience a far clearer confirmation than any memorized theory.
One more game
To study the topic of soft and hard consonants, you can offer the student another game like this. It's very simple. In front of him is a series of words, from which only hard consonants need to be written down. And then, inserting vowels into them, come up with some word. For example, there are a number of words: pickles - footman - knives. We write out the consonants: s, l, n, add vowels. And the first thing that comes to mind is the short but capacious word “elephant”. Shall we continue?
- Edit - will - crowbar(signed out pr, v, l ).
- Tomato - role - swamp(signed out t, r, t ).
- Bittern - dormouse - hay(signed out in, with, n ).
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to remind you that under no circumstances should you say “hard consonants.” Only sounds are like that. And their designations are absolutely the same as in the case of soft ones (this was clear from the table above). Now that you have all the material in your hands, all that remains is to practice. You can find a huge amount on the Internet various games and exercises to determine the type of consonants. And, of course, you can re-read the material on the topic “Hard consonant sounds” several more times - the table presented in the article will help systematize all our knowledge. It will be much easier to repeat with her.
Do not forget to give new examples for each paired and unpaired sound, so that our student himself learns to compare the different sounds of consonant phonemes. It sometimes depends not only on the subsequent vowel or soft and hard sign, but also on neighboring consonants, which, depending on their hardness or softness, can also influence the original sound. It's not as complicated as it seems. More games and practice - and everything will definitely work out.
