1. In accordance with what sounds are indicated by letters, all letters are divided into vowels and consonants.
There are 10 vowel letters:
2. In the Russian language, not all speech sounds are designated, but only the main ones. In russian language 42 basic sounds - 6 vowels and 36 consonants, whereas number of letters - 33. The number of basic vowels (10 letters, but 6 sounds) and consonants (21 letters, but 36 sounds) also does not match. The difference in the quantitative composition of basic sounds and letters is determined by the peculiarities of Russian writing.
3. In Russian, hard and soft sounds are indicated by the same letter.
Wed: sir[sir] and gray[sir].
4. The six basic vowel sounds are represented by ten vowel letters:
[And] - And (Cute).
[s] - s (soap).
[A] - A (May) And I (my).
[O] - O (my) And e (Christmas tree).
[e] - uh (This) And e (me l).
[y] - at (ku st) And Yu (yu la).
Thus, to designate the four vowel sounds ([a], [o], [e], [y]) there are two rows of letters:
1) a, o, e, y; 2) i, e, e, yu.
Note!
1) I, e, e, yu are letters, not sounds! Therefore they are never used in transcription.
2) The letters a and i, o and e, e and e indicate respectively: a and i - the sound [a]; o and e - sound [o], e and e - [e] - only under stress! For the pronunciation of these vowels in an unstressed position, see paragraph 1.8.
5. The letters i, e, ё, yu perform two functions:
after a consonant they signal that the preceding consonant represents a soft consonant:
Xia Du[from hell], se l[s’el], that's it[s’ol], here[s’ uda];
after vowels, at the beginning of a word and after the separating ъ and ь, these letters denote two sounds - the consonant [j] and the corresponding vowel:
I - , e - , e - , yu - .
For example:
1. after vowels: chew t[zhujot], I shave t[br'eju t];
2. at the beginning of a word: e l , I to ;
3. after separators ъ And b: ate[сjé l], view n[v'jūn].
Note!
1) The letters i, e, e after the hissing letters zh and sh do not indicate the softness of the preceding consonant sound. The consonant sounds [zh] and [sh] in the modern Russian literary language are always hard!
Shila[shouled], tin[zhes’t’], walked[shol].
2) The letter and after the consonants zh, sh and c denotes the sound [s].
Shila[shouled], lived[zhyl], circus[circus].
3) Letters a, y and o in combinations cha, schcha, chu, schuh, cho, schuh do not indicate the hardness of the consonants ch and shch. The consonant sounds [ch’] and [sch’] in the modern Russian literary language are always soft.
Chum[ch'um], (five) pike[sh'uk], Part[h’as’t’], Shchors[Sh'ors].
4) b at the end of a word after a sibilant is not an indicator of softness. It performs a grammatical function (see paragraph 1.11).6. The sound [j] is indicated in writing in several ways:
after vowels and at the end of a word - with the letter th;
May[maj].
at the beginning of a word and between two vowels - using the letters e, e, yu, i, which denote the combination of a consonant [j] and the corresponding vowel;
E l , I to .
The presence of the sound [j] is also indicated by the separating ъ and ь - between the consonant and vowels e, e, yu, i.
Ate l[сjé l], view n[v'jūn].
7. The letters ъ and ь do not represent any sounds.
Separating ъ and ь signal that the following e, e, yu, i designate two sounds, the first of which is [j].
Non-separating b:
1) indicates the softness of the preceding consonant:
Stranded[m'el'];
2) performs a grammatical function.For example, in the word mouseь does not indicate the softness of the preceding consonant, but signals that the given noun is feminine.
For more information about spelling ъ and ь, see paragraph 1.11. Use of b and b.
Exercises for the topic “Speech sounds and letters”
Other topics
The sounds of speech play an important role in the life of every person - thanks to them, all people can talk and understand what each other says.
All speech sounds are of two types - consonants and vowels. And although the number of the latter is much larger, in many cases vowels are decisive. So, for example, the number of syllables depends on the number of vowels in a word; in addition, it is vowel sounds that have the property of being stressed/unstressed. When considering the issue of vowels, it is also worth noting that their number does not correspond to the number of denoting letters. How many vowel sounds there are in the Russian language, and why this happens, remains to be figured out.
What sounds are called vowels?
First of all, it’s worth remembering what sounds are called vowels. Vowels (from the Latin word vocales) are phonetic sounds formed with the help of the voice, without admixtures of noise. When pronouncing a vowel, a person exhales air freely and it easily passes through the larynx, then through the oral cavity and between the ligaments, without encountering any obstacles. Due to their acoustic properties, in particular, the fact that the length of the vowel sound can be any, they are also called musical, or tonal.
How many vowel sounds are there in Russian?
If there are ten letters, they correspond to only six sounds - these sounds are [s], [e], [o], [u], [a], [i].
Some of the above vowels are graphically indicated using different letters. For example, [a] can give not only “a”, but also the letter “ya” in a certain position, and sometimes an unstressed “o”: “Valentine”, “ball”, “board”.
The sound [u] can be produced not only by the letter “u”, but sometimes also by “yu”: “sledgehammer”, “hatch”.
The sound [o], in addition to the letter “o”, gives “yo”: “cake”, “dog”.
The vowel sound [s] is given by the letter “s”, as well as the stressed “i” if it is in the position after the letters “zh”, “ts”, “sh”: “fang”, “circus performer”. Unstressed letters “e”, “a”, “o” can sometimes also denote this sound: “tested”, “horses”, “chocolate”.
The vowel [e] can be given by the letters “e” and “e”: “Mary”, “forester”.
But the vowel[i] is graphically indicated by just one “and”, if it is in the stressed position: “peaceful”. Without stress, this vowel can be produced by the letters “a” (“watchmaker”), “ya” (“rows”), “e” (“adjacent”) standing after soft consonants. Also “and” following a soft consonant or at the beginning of a word (“player”); “e” at the beginning of the word (“whatnot”).
Thus, considering the question of how many vowel sounds there are in Russian, it becomes clear why there are fewer of them than the letters themselves.
Vowel letters
Each vowel sound has its own graphic designation in the form of a letter. Our language has a dozen signs to indicate vowel sounds. These are the letters “o”, “u”, “e”, “a”, “i”, “i”, “s”, “e”, “e”, “yu”.
At the same time, the vowel sounds themselves are almost half as numerous - six. This situation arose due to the fact that the iotated “yu”, “e”, “e”, “ya” are not separate sounds. Depending on their position in a word, these letters can represent different sounds.
Located at the beginning of a word, following vowels or “ъ” and “ь”, iotated letters denote a sound combination of two sounds (they are diphthongs): [j] and the corresponding vocales: “Yana”, “wash”, “curly”.
In cases where “yu”, “e”, “e”, “ya” follow consonants, they indicate the corresponding vowel sound, and also make the preceding consonant soft: “accepted”.
Having dealt with the question of how many vowel sounds there are in the alphabet, and how many letters, it becomes clear why a significant difference arose.
Classification of vowels. Labialization
Having paid enough attention to two questions: how many vowel sounds are in the Russian language, and how many signs are used to convey them in writing, it is worth moving on to classification. Vowel sounds, like their counterparts, consonants, have a number of features according to which they are classified into different groups.
There are several of them: labialization (rounded), method of formation (rise) and place of formation (row).
Labialization or, in other words, roundness is a sign of the participation or non-participation of elongated lips in the process of sound pronunciation. No matter how many vowel sounds there are in a language (in Russian, like most other languages, there are six), only two of them [o] and [u] are labialized. Others do not have this property.
Interesting fact: the more rounded sounds are used in a language, the more melodic the speech sounds. Therefore, French is one of the most melodic languages in the world, since the sounds [o] and [u] are very often used in it.
Method of formation of vowels
The classification of vowels according to the method of formation is also called classification according to the vertical rise of the tongue. In our language, according to their rise, vocales are divided into:
1) Lower rise - sound [a].
2) Average rise - [o] and [e].
3) Upper rise - the highest position of the tongue, characteristic when pronouncing the sounds [u], [i], [s].
Place of formation of vowels
Classification of vowels by place of formation (row), divides vowel sounds according to the horizontal position of the tongue during the pronunciation of a certain sound.
All vowel sounds according to the place of formation are divided into:
1) Back row - sounds [u], [o], when they are formed, the tongue is pushed back as much as possible.
2) Middle row - sounds [a], [s]. When pronouncing them, the tongue moves back not so far and is in the so-called middle position.
3) Front row - sounds [e], [i]. By forming them, the tongue moves forward as much as possible.
It is much easier to classify and remember the distinctive properties of vowel sounds than consonants, since there are much fewer of them. However, it is important for every educated person who strives to write and speak correctly to accurately understand how many vowel sounds there are in the Russian language and with what graphic signs they are written. This knowledge can also be useful to those who are going abroad and for this purpose begin to study a foreign language. In related Slavic languages, the pronunciation of vowels is in many ways similar to Russian, since all of them in the distant past originated from the same Proto-Slavic language. In foreign languages from other language families, the principles of vowel formation, as well as their classification, occur according to generally accepted rules in linguistics. So even when studying English or French, it is important for a person to have an idea of how many vowel sounds there are in the Russian language.
- A a a
- B b b b b
- In in ve
- G g g
- D d d e
- E e e
- Yo yo yo
- Zhe zhe
- Z ze ze
- And and and
- Thy and short
- K k ka
- L l el
- Mm um
- N n en
- Ooo
- P p pe
- R r er
- S s es
- T t teh
- U u u
- F f ef
- X x ha
- Ts ts tses
- Ch h wh
- Sh sh sha
- Shch shcha
- ъ hard sign
- s s
- b soft sign
- Uh uh
- Yu yu yu
- I I I
| 42 sounds | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 vowels | 36 consonants | ||||
| [a] [i] [o] [y] [s] [e] | Doubles | Unpaired | |||
| Drums | Unstressed | Voiced | Deaf | Voiced | Deaf |
| [b] [b"] [in] [in"] [g] [g"] [d] [d"] [and] [z] [z"] | [n] [n"] [f] [f"] [k] [k"] [t] [t"] [w] [s] [s"] | [th"] [l] [l"] [mm"] [n] [n"] [r] [r"] | [x] [x"] [ts] [h"] [sch"] |
||
| Doubles | Unpaired | ||||
| Solid | Soft | Solid | Soft | ||
| [b] [V] [G] [d] [h] [To] [l] [m] [n] [P] [R] [With] [T] [f] [X] | [b"] [V"] [G"] [d"] [z"] [To"] [l"] [m"] [n"] [P"] [R"] [With"] [T"] [f"] [X"] | [and] [ts] [w] | [th"] [h"] [sch"] |
||
How do letters differ from sounds?
Sound is elastic vibrations in any medium. We hear sounds and can create them, among other things, with the help of the speech apparatus (lips, tongue, etc.).
A letter is a symbol of the alphabet. It has a capital (excl., ь and ъ) and lowercase version. Often a letter is a graphic representation of the corresponding speech sound. We see and write letters. To ensure that the writing is not affected by the peculiarities of pronunciation, spelling rules have been developed that determine which letters should be used in the word in question. The exact pronunciation of a word can be found in the phonetic transcription of the word, which is shown in square brackets in dictionaries.
Vowels and sounds
Vowel sounds (“glas” is the Old Slavonic “voice”) are the sounds [a], [i], [o], [u], [s], [e], in the creation of which the vocal cords are involved, and on the way no barrier is erected to the exhaled air. These sounds are sung: [aaaaaaa], [iiiiiiiii] ...
Vowel sounds are designated by the letters a, e, e, i, o, u, y, e, yu, i. The letters e, e, yu, i are called iotized. They denote two sounds, the first of which is [th"], when
- are the first in the phonetic word e le [y" e ́l"e] (3 letters, 4 sounds) e sche [th" and ш"о́] (3 letters, 4 sounds) еж [й" о ́ш] (2 letters , 3 sounds) Yu la [y" u ́l"a] (3 letters, 4 sounds) I block [y" a ́blaka] (6 letters, 7 sounds) I ichko [y" and ich"ka] (5 letters, 6 sounds)
- follow after the vowels birdie d [pt "itsy" e ́t] (7 letters, 8 sounds) ee [yiy" o ́] (2 letters, 4 sounds) kayu ta [kai" u ́ta] (5 letters, 6 sounds) blue [with "in" a] (5 letters, 6 sounds)
- follow after ь and ъ е зд [вй" е ́ст] (5 letters, 5 sounds) rise m [fall" о ́м] (6 letters, 6 sounds) lyu [л"й" у ́] (3 letters, 3 sounds ) wings [wing "th" a] (6 letters, 6 sounds)
The letter and also denotes two sounds, the first of which is [th"], when
- follows after ь nightingale [salav "й" and ́] (7 letters, 7 sounds)
In a word, vowel sounds that are emphasized during pronunciation are called stressed, and those that are not emphasized are called unstressed. Stressed sounds are most often both heard and written. To check which letter needs to be placed in a word, you should select a single-root word in which the desired unstressed sound will be stressed.
Running [b"igush"] - running [b"ek] mountain [gara] - mountains [mountains]
Two words united by a single accent make up one phonetic word.
To the garden [fsat]
There are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels. The division of a word into syllables may not correspond to the division during hyphenation.
e -e (2 syllables) to -chka (2 syllables) o -de -va -tsya (4 syllables)Consonants and sounds
Consonant sounds are sounds that create an obstruction in the path of exhaled air.
Voiced consonants are pronounced with the participation of the voice, and voiceless consonants are pronounced without it. The difference is easy to hear in paired consonants, for example, [p] - [b], when pronounced, the lips and tongue are in the same position.
Soft consonants are pronounced with the participation of the middle part of the tongue and are indicated in transcription by an apostrophe " what happens when consonants
- are always soft [th"], [ch"], [sch"] ai [ai" ] (2 letters, 2 sounds) ray [ray" ] (3 letters, 3 sounds) bream [l "esch" ] (3 letters, 3 sounds)
- follow before the letters e, e, i, yu, i, b (excl., always hard [zh], [ts], [sh] and in borrowed words) mel [m "el"] (4 letters, 3 sounds) aunt [t"ot"a] (4 letters, 4 sounds) people [l"ud"i] (4 letters, 4 sounds) life [zh yz"n"] (5 letters, 4 sounds) circus [ts yrk] (4 letters, 4 sounds) neck [sh eyya] (3 letters, 4 sounds) tempo [t emp] (4 letters, 4 sounds)
- come before soft consonants (some cases) pancake [bl"in" ch"ik]
Otherwise, consonant sounds will predominantly be hard.
Sibilant consonants include the sounds [zh], [sh], [h"], [sch"]. Speech therapists rule their pronunciation penultimately: the tongue must be strong and flexible to resist exhaled air and be held against the roof of the mouth in the shape of a cup. The last ones in line are always vibrating [p] and [p"].
Do schoolchildren need phonetics?
Without dividing into vowels, consonants, stressed and unstressed, of course, it is impossible. But the transcription is clearly too much.
Speech therapists are required to know phonetic analysis of words, and it can probably be useful to foreigners.
For students (from 1st grade!) who have not yet mastered the rules of spelling, a fairly in-depth study of phonetics only hinders, confuses and contributes to incorrect memorization of the spelling of words. It is “back” that the child will associate with the pronounced “run”.
Introducing a child to the Russian alphabet is always an encounter with an unknown but mysterious world, in which there are so many interesting things.
The letters of the Russian alphabet make up a whole family, with 33 inhabitants!
And everyone needs to be remembered in their places. But the study of letters does not end there. We also have to divide them into vowels and consonants, stressed and unstressed, soft and hard, voiceless and voiced.. And this is still far from a complete classification. Let's figure out how to correctly divide the letters of the alphabet into groups.
Vowels and consonants sounds and letters
First, let's figure out how many letters the Russian alphabet contains. There are 33 of them in total. They are all divided into two large groups: vowels and consonants.
We cannot attribute only the soft and hard signs to any of the groups: they do not denote sound, but serve to indicate the hardness or softness of the previous sound.
Table with cards of vowels and consonants in the Russian language. Vowel sounds
Vowel sounds are pronounced easily, in a singsong manner. This is possible due to the fact that during articulation in the mouth there is no obstruction to the air flow.
How many vowels are there in Russian? – 10 letters. Vowel sounds are much smaller: only 6: A, O, U, Y, I, E. This difference is explained by the fact that 4 vowel letters are formed by merging two sounds: E=Y+O; E=Y+E; Yu=Y+U; I=Y+A.
Shocked and unstressed
Vowel sounds can be stressed or unstressed. Stressed vowel sounds in a word are emphasized by the voice. Thanks to stress, we understand the meaning of a word. There are words in which the meaning depends only on the placement of the stress, for example: castle- castle. Unstressed sounds are not pronounced so clearly, so in writing we check unstressed sounds with stress.
How many consonants and sounds are there in the Russian language?
There are only 21 consonants, but there are 37 sounds.
Consonant sounds are formed due to an obstruction that occurs in the mouth during the passage of air flow. The role of an obstruction can be played by teeth, tongue, lips; depending on the nature of the obstruction, consonants are divided into many groups, for example, labial, dental, etc.
Consonants are also divided into hard and soft, voiceless and voiced.
Hard and soft
Hard consonants are pronounced more roughly, while soft ones sound more graceful and are softened by a nearby vowel or in writing using a soft sign. In transcription, soft sounds are indicated by an adjacent apostrophe. For example, in the word HOUSE the letter “d” sounds hard, but in the word GO it sounds soft. Soft and hard consonants are presented in the table.
Voiceless and voiced
Voiceless consonant sounds are pronounced without the participation of the voice, while in the formation of hard sounds the participation of the voice is necessary. Voiced and unvoiced sounds, as a rule, form a pair, for example: B-P, V-F, etc. There are only a few sounds that do not have a voiced-voiced pair: Shch, Ts, Y, R, L, M, N.
The table presented on our website will help you fully consider deaf and voiced, hard and soft consonants, as well as stressed and unstressed vowels. It can be hung in the classroom where children have begun to study the Russian alphabet in more detail. It would also be a good idea to hang the chart in a visible place at home if your child is starting to learn letters.
Tables
Cartoons on the topic
To help your child quickly learn the division of letters into vowels and consonants, you can offer him cartoons on this topic. On our website you will find educational cartoons dedicated to this topic.
Speech therapist. Russian alphabet
This video presents sounds in the Russian language using examples of onomatopoeia. This technique will allow children to practice the clarity of pronunciation of vowels and consonants, and to more clearly feel the difference in their sound. Sounds accompany bright pictures of animals and natural phenomena. You can watch the cartoon here
Learn and sing the Russian alphabet
This video contains a performance of the alphabet to music. The melody is pleasant, easy to remember, and the song itself is accompanied by a display of the letter and form of its writing. This cartoon can be useful for children of any age, as it is aimed not only at remembering the order of letters, but also at practicing diction. You can watch the cartoon here
Voiceless consonants
There is a generally accepted opinion that it is impossible to sing consonants. However, the authors of this cartoon break the usual stereotypes of perception. Of course, this video cannot be called a song in its entirety: rather, we will be dealing with a drawn-out pronunciation of voiceless consonants. This is extremely useful for children's diction, in which defects in the pronunciation of hissing sounds are constantly visible. Play this cartoon for your child more often so that he corrects his diction. You can watch the cartoon here
Voiced consonants
It is much easier to sing voiced consonant sounds, although again we will not be dealing with singing, but with prolonged pronunciation of the sound. The voice is involved in the formation of voiced consonants, so they can be easily chanted. This cartoon invites children to practice this simple task and become more familiar with ringing sounds. You can watch the cartoon here
Learn vowel and consonant sounds, because they form the basis of our alphabet!
Sounds belong to the section of phonetics. The study of sounds is included in any school curriculum in the Russian language. Familiarization with sounds and their basic characteristics occurs in the lower grades. A more detailed study of sounds with complex examples and nuances takes place in middle and high school. This page provides only basic knowledge according to the sounds of the Russian language in a compressed form. If you need to study the structure of the speech apparatus, the tonality of sounds, articulation, acoustic components and other aspects that go beyond the scope of the modern school curriculum, refer to specialized manuals and textbooks on phonetics.
What is sound?
Sound, like words and sentences, is the basic unit of language. However, the sound does not express any meaning, but reflects the sound of the word. Thanks to this, we distinguish words from each other. Words differ in the number of sounds (port - sport, crow - funnel), a set of sounds (lemon - estuary, cat - mouse), a sequence of sounds (nose - sleep, bush - knock) up to complete mismatch of sounds (boat - speedboat, forest - park).
What sounds are there?
In Russian, sounds are divided into vowels and consonants. The Russian language has 33 letters and 42 sounds: 6 vowels, 36 consonants, 2 letters (ь, ъ) do not indicate a sound. The discrepancy in the number of letters and sounds (not counting b and b) is caused by the fact that for 10 vowel letters there are 6 sounds, for 21 consonant letters there are 36 sounds (if we take into account all combinations of consonant sounds: deaf/voiced, soft/hard). On the letter, the sound is indicated in square brackets.
There are no sounds: [e], [e], [yu], [i], [b], [b], [zh'], [sh'], [ts'], [th], [h] , [sch].
Scheme 1. Letters and sounds of the Russian language.
How are sounds pronounced?
We pronounce sounds when exhaling (only in the case of the interjection “a-a-a”, expressing fear, the sound is pronounced when inhaling.). The division of sounds into vowels and consonants is related to how a person pronounces them. Vowel sounds are pronounced by the voice due to exhaled air passing through tense vocal cords and freely exiting through the mouth. Consonant sounds consist of noise or a combination of voice and noise due to the fact that the exhaled air encounters an obstacle in its path in the form of a bow or teeth. Vowel sounds are pronounced loudly, consonant sounds are pronounced muffled. A person is able to sing vowel sounds with his voice (exhaled air), raising or lowering the timbre. Consonant sounds cannot be sung; they are pronounced equally muffled. Hard and soft signs do not represent sounds. They cannot be pronounced as an independent sound. When pronouncing a word, they influence the consonant in front of them, making it soft or hard.
Transcription of the word
Transcription of a word is a recording of the sounds in a word, that is, actually a recording of how the word is correctly pronounced. Sounds are enclosed in square brackets. Compare: a - letter, [a] - sound. The softness of consonants is indicated by an apostrophe: p - letter, [p] - hard sound, [p’] - soft sound. Voiced and voiceless consonants are not indicated in writing in any way. The transcription of the word is written in square brackets. Examples: door → [dv’er’], thorn → [kal’uch’ka]. Sometimes the transcription indicates stress - an apostrophe before the stressed vowel.
There is no clear comparison of letters and sounds. In the Russian language there are many cases of substitution of vowel sounds depending on the place of stress of the word, substitution of consonants or loss of consonant sounds in certain combinations. When compiling a transcription of a word, the rules of phonetics are taken into account.
Color scheme
In phonetic analysis, words are sometimes drawn with color schemes: letters are painted in different colors depending on what sound they represent. The colors reflect the phonetic characteristics of sounds and help you visualize how a word is pronounced and what sounds it consists of.
All vowels (stressed and unstressed) are marked with a red background. Iotated vowels are marked green-red: green means the soft consonant sound [й‘], red means the vowel that follows it. Consonants with hard sounds are colored blue. Consonants with soft sounds are colored green. Soft and hard signs are painted gray or not painted at all.
Designations:
- vowel, - iotated, - hard consonant, - soft consonant, - soft or hard consonant.
Note. The blue-green color is not used in phonetic analysis diagrams, since a consonant sound cannot be soft and hard at the same time. The blue-green color in the table above is only used to demonstrate that the sound can be either soft or hard.