[ Content of Program | < Previuos topic | Next topic > ]

VOWEL SOUNDS

In the Russian language we find 6 vowel sounds (stressed) and 10 letters denoting vowel sounds.

Table 2. Vowel sounds and letters

Sounds	Letters
а, о, у, ы, и, э	а, о, у, ы, и, э, я, ё, ю, е

The vowels for syllables: there are as many vowels in a word as syllables. For example:

     ,                     ,                                      ,
сто-лo-ва-я (4), эк-за-ме-нa-тор (5), друг (1), я-зык (2), мо-ло-дoй

In front of letters а-о-у-э-ы the consonants are pronounced softly:

 ,      ,               ,
гoрод /гoрLд/, слово /слoвL/, был /был/.

In front of letters я – е –ю –е –и the consonants are articulated softly:

бил / б’ил/, слева /сл’эва/, ряд /р’ат/.

THE CONSONANTS

The consonants do not form syllables.
The consonants are subdivided into voiceless-voiced; hard-soft

Table 3. Voiceless-voiced consonants

Voiced	б в д з ж г - - - - м н р л й
Voiceless	п ф т с ш к щ ц ч

Voiceless and voiced consonants distinguish the meaning of words.
For example: бар - пар, кот – год, жар – шар.

Table 4. Hard-soft consonants

А -pairs: hard soft	б п в ф с з т д м н л р к г х б’ п’ в’ ф’ с’ з’ т’ д’ м’ н’ л’ р’ к’ г’ х’
B -not in pairs always hard always soft	ж ш ц щ ч й

The consonants of group A are pronounced in a hard way if they are followed by letters a, o, у, э, ы and softly after letters я, е, ё, ю, и, ь:
брат /брат/ - брать /брат’/,
быть /быт’/ - бить/б’ит’/,
нос /нос/ - нeс /н’ос/,
лук /лук/ - люк /л’ук/.

Hardness-softness of the consonants distinguishes the words meaning.

For example:
брат - брать,
в зал - взял,
был - бил

The letters ъ - ь do not indicate sounds. Letter ъ is used to render hardness /softness/ of preceding consonants; ь - renders softness of preceding consonants.

[ Top page | Content of Program | < Previuos topic | Next topic > ]