Phonetics - a branch of linguistics that studies the sound structure of a language.

Orthoepy is the science of pronunciation norms.

Graphics is a section of linguistics that studies the principles of reflecting sounding speech in writing, as well as these principles themselves.

Spelling is a branch of linguistics that studies the system of spelling rules for morphemes in words of different parts of speech that are not regulated by the rules of graphics, as well as the spelling rules themselves.

sound and letter

Sound is the smallest, indivisible unit of sounding speech. A letter is a graphic sign for designating a sound in a letter, that is, a drawing. Sounds are pronounced and heard, letters are written and perceived by sight. There are sounds in any language, regardless of whether it has a written language or not; sounding speech is primary in relation to speech written down in letters; in phonographic languages, letters represent sounding speech (in contrast to languages ​​with hieroglyphic writing, where the display is not sounds, but meanings).

Unlike other language units (morphemes, words, phrases, sentences), the sound itself irrelevant. The function of sounds is reduced to shaping and distinguishing morphemes and words ( small - they say - washed).

There are 33 letters in the Russian alphabet: : Ah- "a", bb- "be", Vv- "ve", Gg- "ge", dd- "de", Her- "e", Her- "yo", Learn- "zhe", Zz- "ze", ii- "and", yy- "y", Kk- "ka", Ll- "el" Mm- "um", Hn- "en" Oo- "about", Pp- "pe", pp- "er" ss- "es", Tt- "te", woo- "at", FF- "ef", xx- "ha" ts- "ce", hh- "che", shh- "sha", Shch- "shcha", b- "hard sign" Yy- "y", b- "soft sign" uh- "e", Yuyu- "Yu", Yaya- "I". The Russian alphabet is called Cyrillic, or Cyrillic.

Letters have a lowercase version (the letter in the line does not rise above the rest of the letters) and an uppercase version (the letter differs from the lowercase height). No capitalization for letters b and b, and capital letter S is used only in foreign proper names to convey real pronunciation (at the beginning of Russian words, the sound [ы] does not occur).

10 letters are designed to represent vowel sounds and are conventionally called vowels ( a, y, o, s, uh, i, u, yo, i, e), 21 letters are intended to denote consonants and are conventionally called consonants ( b, c, d, e, f, h, d, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, f, x, c, h, w, u),b and b do not refer to either vowels or consonants and are called graphic signs.

Consonant sounds that are clearly distinguished in Russian (for example, before vowels) - 36: [b], [b "], [c], [c"], [g], [g "], [e], [ d "], [g], [h], [h "], [th"], [k], [k "], [l], [l"], [m], [m "], [ n], [n "], [n], [n"], [r], [r "], [s], [s"], [t], [t"], [f], [f "], [x], [x"], [c], [h"], [w], [u"] (in the speech of older people in separate words, such as yeast, reins, splashes etc., a long soft consonant [zh"] can be pronounced). There are more consonant sounds in Russian than consonant letters (36 and 21, respectively). The reason for this is one of the features of Russian graphics - that the softness of paired consonant sounds in Russian it is denoted not by a consonant, but by a vowel ( e, yo, yu, i, and) or b(small[small] - crumpled[m "al], con[kon] - horse[kon "]).

Vowels 10: a, y, o, s, i, uh, i, u, yo, u. There are 6 vowels that differ under stress: [a], [y], [o], [s], [i], [e]. Thus, in the Russian language there are more vowels than vowels, which is associated with the peculiarities of the use of letters i, yu, e, yo(iotized) . They perform the following functions:

1) denote 2 sounds ([th "a], [th" y], [th" o], [th "e]) in the position after vowels, separators and at the beginning of a phonetic word: I ma[th "a ma] , moI [ma th "á] , volumeI be[ab th "a t"];

2) denote the vowel and the softness of the previous paired consonant in terms of hardness / softness: myo l[m" about l] - cf .: they say[say] (an exception may be the letter e in borrowed words, not denoting the softness of the preceding consonant - puree[p "ureʹ]; since a number of words of this kind borrowed by origin have become common in modern Russian, we can say that the letter e in Russian, it ceased to denote the softness of the previous consonant sound, cf.: pos [t "e] l - pas [te] l);

3) letters e, yo, yu after an unpaired consonant in terms of hardness / softness, the vowel sound [e], [o], [y] is indicated: six[shesh "t"], silk[silk], parachute[parachute].

Phonetic transcription

To record sounding speech, phonetic transcription is used, which is built on the principle of a one-to-one correspondence between a sound and its graphic symbol.

Transcription is enclosed in square brackets, in words of two or more syllables stress is indicated. If two words are combined with a single stress, they make up one phonetic word, which is written together or with the help of a league: to the garden[fsat], [f sat].

In transcription, it is not customary to write capital letters and put punctuation marks (for example, when transcribing sentences).

Words with more than one syllable are stressed.

The softness of a consonant sound is indicated by an apostrophe: sat down[Sal].

The three main educational complexes offer not exactly the same solution for denoting soft unpaired consonants. Complex 1 denotes the softness of all unpaired ones ([h "], [u"], [th "]). Complex 2 at the beginning of the phonetics section does not indicate the softness of unpaired ones ([h], [u], [th]), then in in the theory textbook, softness is indicated for all unpaired soft ones, as in the 1st complex ([h "], [u"], [th "]), and in the practice textbook, the sound [u"] is indicated by the transcription sign [w "], as it is accepted in high school. Complex 3, like complex 1, denotes the softness of all unpaired soft ([h "], [u"],), while the sound [th] is indicated, as is customary in higher education, with [j], with the difference that that in higher education, softness [j] is not indicated, since it is associated not with an additional, but with the main articulation of this sound. To better remember that unpaired [h "], [u"], [th"] are precisely soft, we decide to designate their softness with an apostrophe.

The following transcription marks are used to record vowel sounds: stressed vowels: [а́], [о́], [у́], [и́], [ы́], [е́], unstressed: [a], [and], [s], [y]. Transcription does not use iotized vowels i, yu, e, yo.

Complex 3 uses transcription marks to denote unstressed vowels [a], [s], [i], [y], [and e] (“and, prone to e”), [s e] (“s, prone to e ""), [b] ("er"), [b] ("er"). Their correct use will be discussed in the section on unstressed vowels.

Formation of vowels and consonants

Sounds are made during exhalation: a stream of air exhaled from the lungs passes through the larynx and oral cavity. If the vocal cords in the larynx are tense and close together, then the exhaled air causes them to oscillate, resulting in a voice (tone). Tone is required when pronouncing vowels and voiced consonants. If the vocal cords are relaxed, no tone is formed. This position of the organs of speech is inherent in the pronunciation of deaf consonants.

After passing the larynx, the air stream enters the cavities of the pharynx, mouth, and sometimes the nose.

The pronunciation of consonants is necessarily associated with overcoming an obstacle in the path of the air stream, which is formed by the lower lip or tongue when they approach or close with the upper lip, teeth or palate. Overcoming the barrier (slit or bow) created by the organs of speech, the air stream forms noise, which is an obligatory component of the consonant sound: in voiced, noise is combined with tone, in deaf people, it is the only component of sound.

The pronunciation of vowels is characterized by the work of the vocal cords and the free passage of the air stream through the oral cavity. Therefore, in the composition of the vowel sound there is a voice and there is no noise. The specific sound of each vowel depends on the volume and shape of the oral cavity - the position of the tongue and lips.

Thus, from the point of view of the ratio of voice and noise in the Russian language, three groups of sounds are presented: vowels consist only of tone (voice), voiced consonants - of noise and voice, deaf consonants - only of noise.

The ratio of tone and noise for voiced consonants is not the same: paired voiced noise has more than tones, unpaired noise has less than tones, therefore deaf and paired voiced in linguistics are called noisy, and unpaired voiced [th "], [l], [l "], [m], [m "], [n], [n"], [p], [p"] - sonorant.

Vowel sounds and vowels

stressed vowels

In Russian, 6 vowel sounds are distinguished under stress: [а́], [о́], [у́], [í], [ы́], [е́]. These sounds are indicated in writing with 10 vowels: a, y, o, s, i, uh, i, u, yo, u.

The sound [a] can be indicated on the letter with letters a(small[small]) and I(crumpled[m "al]).

The sound [y] is indicated by letters at(storm[bur "a]) and Yu(muesli[m "usl" and]).

The sound [o] is indicated by letters about(they say[say]) and yo(a piece of chalk[m "ol]); according to the established tradition in printed literature, not intended for babies or for teaching reading and writing, instead of a letter yo letter is used e, if it does not interfere with the understanding of the meaning of the word.

The sound [s] is indicated by the letter s(soap[soap]) and and- after and,w and c(live[life "], sew[shut "], the circus[circus]).

The sound [and] is indicated by the letter and(Mila[m "silt]).

The sound [e] is indicated by the letter e(measure[m "era] or - after a solid consonant in some borrowings - uh(mayor[mayor]).

Unstressed vowels

In unstressed syllables, vowels are pronounced differently than under stress - more briefly and with less muscular tension of the organs of speech (this process is called reduction in linguistics). In this regard, vowels without stress change their quality and are pronounced differently than stressed ones.

In addition, fewer vowels are distinguished without stress than under stress: vowels that differ under stress in the same morpheme (for example, in the root) in an unstressed position cease to differ, for example: Witha ma and Withabout ma- [With a ma], land sa and le sa- [l" and saʹ] (this process is called neutralization).

In Russian, in an unstressed position, 4 vowel sounds are distinguished: [a], [y], [s], [i]. Unstressed [a], [and] and [s] differ in pronunciation from the corresponding percussion ones: they are pronounced not only shorter, but also with a slightly different timbre, which is caused by less muscle tension during their pronunciation and, as a result, the displacement of the organs of speech to a more neutral position (resting position). Therefore, their designation using the same transcription marks as stressed vowels is, to a certain extent, conditional.

The sounds [o] and [e] in Russian are found only under stress. The only exceptions are a few borrowings ( cocoa[cocoa], canoe[canoe]) and some function words, such as union but(cf., for example, the pronunciation of the preposition on the and union but:I wenton the exhibition,but the exhibition was closed).

The quality of an unstressed vowel depends on the hardness/softness of the preceding consonant.

After solid consonants, sounds [y] are pronounced ( hand[hand]), [a] ( milk[malako]), [s] ( soap maker[soap maker], stomach[live], turn yellow[zhylt "at"], horses[lashyd "hey"]).

After soft consonants, sounds [y] are pronounced ( be in love[l "ub" it"]), [and] ( worlds[m "iry], watch[h "isy], lie[l "izhat"]).

As can be seen from the examples given, the same unstressed vowel can be displayed in writing with different letters:

[y] - in letters at(empty[empty"]) and Yu(the Bureau[b "uro]),

[a] - letters a(heat[heat]) and about(bed[pas "t" el "]),

[s] - letters s(thinker[thought "it" il "]), and(life[zhyz "n"]), a(regret[sting "et"] / [zhyl "et"] - in some words, after solid unpaired [w], [w], [c], pronunciation variability is possible), e(iron[lived "eza]),

[and] - letters and(piston[p "iston]), e(nectar[m "idok]), a(an hour[h "isok]), I(ranks[r "idesʹ]).

What has been said above about the correspondence of unstressed vowels and the letters denoting them can be summarized in a scheme convenient for use in transcription:

After a solid consonant, except for [g], [w], [c]:

		hand[hand
		herself[herself
		catfish[herself
		wash up you[we]t
		test[you] erase

After [w], [w], [c]:

		make noise[make noise
		sixth[sh] stop
		chocolate[shy] colade
		shock[sha] cheat
		balls[sha]ry
		horses lo[shy] dey
		chick[chick
		wide[sh]rocky

After a soft consonant:

		be in love[l "y] beat
		wonderful[wonderful
		worlds[m "and] ry
		change[m "and] take
		nickel[p "and] so
		watch[h "and] sy

At the beginning of a phonetic word:

		lesson[lesson
		arba[a]rba
		window[a]no
		the game[the game
		floor[and] tage

These phonetic laws regulate the pronunciation of unstressed vowels in all unstressed syllables, except for individual borrowings and auxiliary words (see above), as well as the phonetic subsystem of stressed endings and formative suffixes. So, these morphemes represent the pronunciation of the letter reflected in the letter I unstressed [a] after a soft consonant: storm[bur "a], wash yourself[my "s" a], reading[h "itay" a].

Complex 3 describes the unstressed vowel system differently. It says that under stress, vowels are pronounced clearly; sounds [and], [s], [y] are pronounced clearly and in unstressed syllables. In place of letters about and a in unstressed syllables, a weakened sound [a] is pronounced, which is less distinct (denoted as [a]). In place of letters e and I in unstressed syllables after soft consonants it is pronounced [and e], that is, the middle sound between [and] and [e] (p [and e] grater, s [and e] lo). After solid hissing [w], [w] and after [c] in place e pronounced [s e] (f [s e] lat, sh [s e] ptat, q [s e] on). In some unstressed syllables, instead of [a], a short vowel [b] is pronounced, close to [s] (m [b] loko), after soft ones, a short vowel [b] is pronounced, close to [i] ( is reading- [h "itʹj" ut]).

It seems that this material requires some commentary.

Firstly, it is necessary to designate the names of these vowels: [and e] (“and, prone to e”), [s e] (“s, prone to e”), [b] (“er”), [b] ("er").

Secondly, it is necessary to explain when the sounds are pronounced [a], [s e] and [b], and when [and e] and [b]. Their distinction depends on the position in relation to the stress and to the beginning of the phonetic word. So, in the first pre-stressed syllable (the syllable before the stressed vowel) and in the position of the absolute beginning of the word, the unstressed vowel is longer than in the other unstressed syllables (non-first pre-stressed and post-stressed); it is in these positions that the vowels [a], [s e] and [and e] are pronounced.

Sounds [a] and [s e] are found after solid consonants ([s e] - only after [g], [w], [c]) and are indicated in writing by letters a(herself[herself], horses[lyshy e d "ej"]), about(catfish[herself]), e(turn yellow[zhy e lt "et"]).

Sound [and e] occurs after soft consonants and is indicated by letters e(blizzard[m "and e t" el "), a(watch[h "and e sy]), I(row[r "and e doc]).

The sound [ъ] is pronounced after solid consonants in the non-first pre-stressed and stressed syllables and is indicated by letters a(locomotive[right]), about(milk[milk]), e(yellowness[zhlt "izna]).

The sound [b] is pronounced after soft consonants in the non-first pre-stressed and stressed syllables and is indicated by letters e(transition[n "rr" ihot]), I(Private[r "davoj"]), a(hourly[h "bsavoj"]).

The pronunciation of unstressed vowels presented in this complex is called “ekany” in linguistics and, representing the so-called “senior” pronunciation norm, is outdated (see also the “Orthoepy” subsection below).

Thus, in unstressed syllables, vowels are pronounced differently than in stressed ones. However, this change in the quality of vowels is not reflected in the letter, which is due to the basic principle of Russian orthography: only independent, semantic features of sounds are reflected in the letter, and their change, caused by the phonetic position in the word, is not reflected in the letter. From this it follows that the unstressed position of the vowel is a spelling signal. From the point of view of spelling rules, unstressed vowels can be divided into three groups: stress-checked, stress-unchecked (dictionary), vowels in roots with alternations.

Consonants and consonants

The formation of a consonant sound is associated with overcoming obstacles in the oral cavity by the air stream created by the tongue, lips, teeth, and palate. When overcoming an obstacle, noise arises - an obligatory component of a consonant sound. In some (voiced) consonants, in addition to noise, there is a voice created by the vibration of the vocal cords.

There are 36 consonants in Russian ([b], [b'], [c], [c'], [g], [g'], [d], [d'], [g], [h] , [s'], [d'], [k], [k'], [l], [l'], [m], [m'], [n], [n'], [n] , [n'], [p], [p'], [s], [s'], [t], [t'], [f], [f'], [x], [x'] , [ts], [h'], [w], [w']) and 21 consonants ( b, c, d, e, f, h, d, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, f, x, c, h, w, u). This quantitative difference is associated with the main feature of Russian graphics - the way the hardness and softness of consonants are reflected in writing.

Voiceless and voiced consonants

Voiced and voiceless consonants differ in the participation / non-participation of the voice in the formation of a consonant sound.

Voiced are composed of noise and voice. When they are pronounced, the air stream not only overcomes the barrier in the oral cavity, but also vibrates the vocal cords. The following sounds are voiced: [b], [b '], [c], [c '], [g], [g '], [d], [d '], [g], [h], [ h'], [d'], [l], [l'], [m], [m'], [n], [n'], [p], [p']. The sound [w ’] is also voiced, occurring in the speech of individuals in words yeast, reins and some others.

Deaf consonants are pronounced without a voice when the vocal cords remain relaxed, and consist only of noise. The following consonants are deaf: [k], [k '], [p], [p '], [s], [s '], [t], [t'], [f], [f'], [x], [x'] [c], [h'], [w], [u']. To remember which consonants are deaf, there is a mnemonic rule (rule for remembering): in the phrase " Stepka, do you want a shirt?» – « Fi!» contains all deaf consonants (paired in hardness / softness - only in hard or soft varieties).

According to the presence or absence of a voice, consonants form pairs; sounds in a pair should differ in only one sign, in this case, deafness / sonority. There are 11 pairs of consonants opposed by deafness / voicedness: [b] - [p], [b '] - [p '], [c] - [f], [c '] - [f '], [g] - [k], [g '] - [k '], [d] - [t], [d '] - [t '], [s] - [s], [s '] - [s '], [g] - [w]. The listed sounds are, respectively, either voiced pairs or deaf pairs.

The remaining consonants are characterized as unpaired. Voiced unpaired ones include [d '], [l], [l '], [m], [m '], [n], [n '], [p], [p '], to deaf unpaired - sounds [x], [x'], [c], [h'], [u'].

If there is a long sound [w '] in the speech of a native speaker, then it is a voiced pair to the consonant [w ']; in this case, pairs for deafness / sonority 12.

Positional stun / voicing

In Russian, both voiceless and voiced consonants are found in certain positions. This position is before vowels ( volume[volume] - house[house]) and before consonants [in], [in '], [th'], [l], [l '], [m], [m '], [n], [n '], [r ], [R'] ( With howl[mine'] - h out[ringing] With chalk[sm'ila] - rah chalk[spread], WithR oh[shut '] - rah Roy[break ']). These positions, as rightly noted in Complex 2, are strong in voicelessness / voicelessness.

But the appearance of a voiceless or voiced sound can be predetermined by its position in the word. Such deafness / voicedness turns out to be dependent, “forced”, and the positions in which this occurs are considered weak in terms of deafness / voicedness.

Voiced pairs are deafened (or rather, they change to deaf ones)

1) at the absolute end of a word: pond[rod];

2) in front of the deaf: booth[butka].

Deaf paired consonants before voiced ones, except [v], [v'], [d'], [l], [l'], [m], [m'], [n], [n'], [p], [p '], are voiced, that is, they change to voiced: threshing[malad'baʹ].

Articulatory assimilation of sounds is denoted in phonetics by the term assimilation. As a result of assimilation, long consonants may occur, arising from the combination of the same sounds. In transcription, the longitude of a consonant is indicated by an overbar or a colon after the consonant ( bath[vana] or [van:a]). The direction of influence is from the next sound to the previous one (regressive assimilation).

Reflection of deafness / voiced consonants in writing

In writing, using special consonants ( t am -d am) only independent deafness / sonority of consonants is reflected; positional deafness / voicedness (the result of positional stunning / voicing) is not reflected in the letter, like most other positional phonetic changes. The exception is 1) the spelling of prefixes on s / s-: scatter, smash; the reflection of the pronunciation is not carried out here to the end, since only the assimilation by deafness / sonority is reflected, but not by the signs associated with the place where the barrier is formed in the consonant: stir up[rashiv’il’it’], 2) spelling of some borrowings: transcriptionP tion–transcriptionb irate.

Hard and soft consonants

Hard and soft consonants differ in articulation features, namely the position of the tongue: when soft consonants are formed, the entire body of the tongue moves forward, and the middle part of the back of the tongue rises to the hard palate, when hard consonants are formed, the body of the tongue moves back.

Consonants form 15 pairs, contrasted in hardness / softness: [b] - [b '], [c] - [c '], [g] - [g '], [d] - [d '], [s] - [s '], [k] - [k '], [l] - [l '], [m] - [m '], [n] - [n '], [n] - [n '] , [p] - [p '], [s] - [s '], [t] - [t '], [f] - [f '], [x] - [x '].

The consonants [c], [w], [g] are hard unpaired ones, and the consonants [h '], [u '], [d '] are soft unpaired ones (the sound [g '], found in some words in the speech of individual native speakers).

The consonants [w] and [w’] (as well as [w] and [w’]) do not form pairs, as they differ not only in hardness / softness, but also in brevity / longitude.

This can be summarized in the following table:

Positional softening of consonants

In Russian, both hard and soft consonants are found in certain positions, and the number of such positions is significant. This position is before vowels ( they say[youth] - a piece of chalk[m'ol]), at the end of a word: ( con[kon] - horse[con ']), for sounds [l], [l '] regardless of their position: ( shelf[shelf] - polka[shelf]) and the sounds [s], [s '], [s], [s '], [t], [t '], [d], [d '], [n], [ n'], [p], [p'] before [k], [k'], [g], [g'], [x], [x'], [b], [b'], [ n], [n'], [m], [m'] ( jar[jar] - bathhouse[jar], blizzard[blizzard] - earring[s'ir'gaʹ). These positions are strong in hardness/softness.

Positional changes regarding hardness / softness can only be caused by the influence of sounds on each other.

Positional mitigation (the change of a hard consonant to a paired soft one) is carried out in modern Russian inconsistently in relation to different groups of consonants.

In the speech of all native speakers of the modern Russian language, only the replacement of [n] with [n '] before [h '] and [u '] consistently takes place: drum[drum'ch'ik], drummer[drummer]

In the speech of many speakers, positional softening also occurs [s] before [n '] and [t '], [h] before [n '] and [d ']: bone[kos't'], song[p'es'n'a], life[zhiz'n '], nails[nails].

In the speech of some speakers (in the modern language this is more an exception than a rule), positional softening is possible in some other combinations, for example: Door[d'v'er'], eat[s'y'em].

Designation of hardness and softness of consonants in writing

Unlike deafness / voicedness, hardness / softness of paired consonants is indicated not with the help of consonant letters, but by other means.

The softness of consonants is indicated as follows.

For consonants paired by hardness / softness, softness is indicated by:

1) letters i, e, e, u, and:small - crumpled, they say - chalk, peer - pen, storm - bureau, soap - cute(before e in borrowing, the consonant can be hard: puree);

2) soft sign - at the end of the word ( horse), in the middle of the word y [l ’] before any consonant ( polka), after a soft consonant before a hard one ( quite, earlier), and in a soft consonant standing in front of soft [g '], [k '], [b '], [m '], which are the result of a change in the corresponding hard ones ( earrings- cf. earring) - see positions strong in hardness / softness.

In other cases, a soft sign in the middle of a word to indicate the softness of paired consonants is not written ( bridge, song), because positional softness, like other positional changes in sounds, is not reflected in writing.

For unpaired consonants, there is no need for an additional softness designation, so graphic rules are possible " cha, cha write with a».

The hardness of paired consonants is indicated by the absence of a soft sign in strong positions ( horse, bank), writing letters after the consonant a, o, u, s, uh(small, they say, mule, soap, peer); in some borrowings, the hard consonant is also pronounced before e(phonetics).

The hardness of unpaired hard consonants, as well as unpaired soft ones, does not require additional designation, so there may be a graphic rule for writing zhi and shea, spelling habits about writing and and s after c(the circus and Gypsy),about and yo after and and w(rustle and whisper).

Functions and spelling of b and b

A solid sign performs a separating function in Russian - it indicates that after a consonant, an iotized vowel indicates not the softness of the consonant, but two sounds: I- [y'a], e- [y'e], yo- [y'o], Yu- [y'u] ( hug[aby’at’] , will eat[sy'est] , shooting[sy'omka]).

Soft sign functions are more complicated. It has three functions in Russian - a separating one, a function of designating the independent softness of paired consonants, a grammatical function:

A soft character can perform a similar separating function before i, yu, e, yo, and inside a word not after a prefix ( blizzard, nightingale) and in some foreign words before about: (broth, companion).

A soft sign can serve to indicate the independent softness of a paired consonant at the end of a word and in the middle of a word before a consonant (see above): horse, bath.

A soft sign after a consonant that is unpaired in hardness / softness can perform a grammatical function - it is traditionally written in certain grammatical forms without carrying any phonetic load (cf .: the key is night, studying is learning). At the same time, the soft sign does not indicate softness not only in unpaired hard consonants, but also in unpaired soft consonants.

Positional assimilation of consonants on other grounds. Distinguishing consonants

Consonants can be likened to each other (be subjected to assimilation) not only in terms of deafness / sonority, hardness / softness, but also in other ways - the place where the barrier is formed and its nature. So, consonants are likened, for example, in the following combinations:

[s] + [w]  [sh]: sew[shsht '] = [shsht '],

[s] + [h ’]  [u ’] or [u’h ’]: with something[sch'emta] or [sch'ch'emta],

[s] + [u ']  [u ']: split[rasch'ip'it'],

[h] + [g]  [lzh]: outlive[izhzhyt '] = [izhyt '],

[t] + [s]  [ts] or [ts]: wash[muscle] = [muscle], sprinkle[atsypat'],

[t] + [c] [cc]: unhook[atsyp'it '] = [atsyp'it '],

[t] + [h’] [h’h’]: report[ach'ch'otʹ] = [ach'otʹ],

[t] + [u ’]  [h’u ’]: split off[ach'sch'ip'it'].

Several signs of consonants can be subjected to positional change at once. For example, in the word count[pach’sch’otʹ] there is an alternation of [d] + [w’]  [h’sh’], i.e., an assimilation is presented in terms of deafness, softness and signs of the place and nature of the barrier.

In separate words, the process opposite to assimilation is presented - dissimilation (dissimilation). Yes, in words light and soft instead of the expected assimilation due to deafness and the formation of a long consonant ([r] + k’][k’k’]), the combination [k’k’][x’k’] is presented ( light[loh'k'y'], soft[mah'k'y ']), where the dissimilarity of sounds according to the nature of the barrier is noted (when pronouncing the sound [k'], the organs of speech close, and when pronouncing [x '] they come closer). At the same time, dissimilation by this trait is combined with assimilation by deafness and softness.

Simplifying consonant clusters (silent consonant)

In some combinations, when three consonants are combined, one, usually the middle one, drops out (the so-called unpronounceable consonant). The fall-out of a consonant is presented in the following combinations:

Witht l- [sl]: happy happy [lucky]

Witht n- [sn]: local me[sn] th,

hd n- [sn]: late by [z'n '] y,

hd c- [sc]: by the bridle under u[sc]s,

nd w- [nsh]: landscape la[nsh]aft,

nt G– [ng]: x-ray re[ng']en,

nd c– [nc]: Dutch golla[nc]s,

Rd c- [rc]: heart se [rc] e,

Rd h- [rh ']: heart se [rch '] ishko,

l nc– [nc]: sun so[nc] e.

The sound [th ’] between vowels is also not pronounced if it is followed by a vowel [and]: my[maivo].

Qualitative and quantitative relationships between letters and sounds in Russian

Ambiguous qualitative and quantitative relationships are established between letters and sounds in the Russian language.

The same letter can represent different sounds, for example, the letter a can represent sounds [a] ( small[small]), [and] ( watch[h’isy]), [s] ( regret[zhyl’etʹ]), which is associated with a change in the pronunciation of vowels in unstressed syllables; letter With can represent sounds [s] ( garden[sat]), [s’] ( the guest[gos't ']), [h] ( pass[hdat ']), [h '] ( do[z'd'elat']), [zh] ( squeeze[buzz ’]), [w] ( embroider[rashshyt ']), [u '] ( split[rasch'sch'ip'it']), which is associated with the likening of consonants according to various criteria.

And vice versa: the same sound can be indicated in writing by different letters, for example: the sound [and] can be indicated by letters and(world[world]), a(watch[h’isy]), I(ranks[r'ids]), e(pevun[p'ivun]).

If we consider the word from the point of view of those quantitative relationships that are established between letters and sounds, then we can identify the following possible relationships:

One letter can represent one sound: wabout in[shof]; this relationship takes place when the vowel comes after a consonant that is unpaired in terms of hardness / softness and the vowel indicates only the quality of the vowel sound: for example, the letter about in the word table[table] cannot be an illustration of this unambiguous relationship, since in this case it denotes not only the sound [o], but also the hardness of the consonant [t].

One letter can represent two sounds: I ma[y'ama] (letters i, yu, e, yo at the beginning of a word, after vowels and separators).

The letter may not have a sound value: monthst ny[m'esny'] (unpronounceable consonant) , mouseb [mice] (soft sign in the grammatical function after consonants unpaired in hardness / softness).

One letter can represent a sound attribute: conb [kon'] , banb ka[ban'ka] (soft sign in the function of denoting the softness of a double consonant at the end and middle of a word).

One letter can denote a sound and a sign of another sound: mI l[m'al] (letter I denotes the sound [a] and the softness of the consonant [m ']).

Two letters can represent one sound: myts I[moitsa] , notss I[n'os'a].

It may seem that three letters can also represent one sound: wetc I[muscle], but this is not so: the sound [ts] is indicated by letters t and With, a b performs a grammatical function - indicates the form of the infinitive.

Syllable

A phonetic syllable is a vowel or a combination of a vowel with one or more consonants, pronounced with one expiratory push. There are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels in it; two vowels cannot be within the same syllable.

Syllables are stressed and unstressed.

Most Russian syllables end in a vowel, i.e. they are open: milk[ma-la-ko]. So, in the sequence SGSGSG (where C is a consonant, G is a vowel), only one variant of the syllable division is possible: SG-SG-SG.

However, in Russian there are also syllables ending in a consonant (closed). Closed syllables occur:

1) at the end of a phonetic word: railway carriage[railway carriage],

2) in the middle of a word when two or more consonants collide, if

a) after [th "] any other consonant follows: war[wai "-on],

b) after the rest of the unpaired voiced ones ([l], [l "], [m], [m"], [n], [n"], [p], [p"]), a paired consonant follows in deafness / voicedness : lamp[lamp].

In other cases of consonant confluence, the syllabic boundary passes before the group of consonants: booth[bu-tka], Spring[in "and-sleep].

The phonetic syllable must be distinguished from the syllable for transfer. Although in a large number of cases the transfer is carried out at the place of the syllable division ( mo-lo-ko, lamp-pa), but in some cases the syllable for transfer and the phonetic syllable may not coincide.

First, the hyphenation rules do not allow one vowel to be transferred or left on a line, but the sounds it denotes can form a phonetic syllable; for example, the word pit cannot be transferred, but must be divided into phonetic syllables [y "aʹma].

Secondly, according to the rules of transfer, identical consonants should be separated: van-na, cash-sa; the boundary of the phonetic syllable passes in front of these consonants, and at the place of the confluence of identical consonants, we actually pronounce one long consonant sound: bath[wa-na], cash register[ka-sa].

Thirdly, when transferring, morpheme boundaries in a word are taken into account: it is not recommended to tear off one letter from a morpheme, so you should transfer smash, forest-noy, but the boundaries of phonetic syllables are different: smash[ra-zb "it"], forest[l "and-sleep"].

stress

Stress is the pronunciation of one of the syllables in a word (or rather, a vowel in it) with greater force and duration. Thus, phonetically Russian stress is forceful and quantitative (in other languages, other types of stress are presented: forceful (English), quantitative (Modern Greek), tonic (Vietnamese).

Other distinguishing features of Russian stress are its heterogeneity and mobility.

The diversity of Russian stress lies in the fact that it can fall on any syllable in a word, as opposed to languages ​​with a fixed place of stress (for example, French or Polish): tree, road, milk.

The mobility of stress lies in the fact that in the forms of one word, the stress can move from the stem to the ending: legs - legs.

Compound words (i.e., words with multiple roots) can have multiple stresses: instrument and aircraft manufacturing, however, many compound words do not have secondary stress: steamer[parachot].

Stress in Russian can perform the following functions:

1) organizing - a group of syllables with a single stress makes up a phonetic word, the boundaries of which do not always coincide with the boundaries of a lexical word and can combine independent words together with auxiliary ones: into the fields[fpal "a", he[onta];

2) semantic - stress can distinguish

a) different words, which is associated with the diversity of Russian stress: flour - flour, castle - castle,

b) the forms of one word, which is associated with the heterogeneity and mobility of Russian stress: lands - lands.

Orthoepy

The term "orthoepy" is used in linguistics in two meanings:

1) a set of norms of the literary language associated with the sound design of significant units: the norms of pronunciation of sounds in different positions, the norms of stress and intonation;

2) a science that studies the variation of the pronunciation norms of the literary language and develops pronunciation recommendations (orthoepic rules).

The differences between these definitions are as follows: in the second understanding, those pronunciation norms that are associated with the operation of phonetic laws are excluded from the field of orthoepy: changing the pronunciation of vowels in unstressed syllables (reduction), positional stunning / voicing of consonants, etc. In this understanding, only such pronunciation norms that allow variability in the literary language, for example, the possibility of pronunciation after hissing both [a] and [s] ([heat], but [zhysm "in]).

Educational complexes define orthoepy as the science of pronunciation, that is, in the first sense. Thus, according to these complexes, all the pronunciation norms of the Russian language belong to the sphere of orthoepy: the implementation of vowels in unstressed syllables, the stunning / voicing of consonants in certain positions, the softness of a consonant before a consonant, etc. These pronunciation norms were described by us above.

Of the norms that allow variability of pronunciation in the same position, it is necessary to note the following norms, updated in the school course of the Russian language:

1) pronunciation of hard and soft consonant before e in borrowed words

2) pronunciation in individual words of combinations thu and ch like [pcs] and [shn],

3) pronunciation of sounds [zh] and [zh "] in place of combinations zhzh, zhzh, zhzh,

4) variability of positional softening of consonants in separate groups,

5) variability of stress in individual words and word forms.

It is these pronunciation norms associated with the pronunciation of individual words and forms of words that are the object of description in orthoepic dictionaries.

Let us give a brief description of these pronunciation norms.

Pronunciation of hard and soft consonants before e in loanwords is regulated separately for each word of this type. So, you should pronounce k[r"]em, [t"]ermin, mu[z"]ey, shi[n"]el, but fo[ne]tika, [te]nnis, sw[te]r; in a number of words, a variable pronunciation is possible, for example: prog [r] ess and prog [r "] ess.

Pronunciation in single word combinations thu and ch like [pcs] and [sn] is also given by the list. So, with [pcs] words are pronounced what to, with [shn] - words of course boring, in a number of words, a variable pronunciation is acceptable, for example, two [h "n"] ik and two [shn"] ik, bulo [h "n] th and bulo [shn] th.

As already mentioned, in the speech of some people, mainly the older generation, there is a long soft consonant sound [zh "], which is pronounced in separate words in place of letter combinations zhzh, zhzh, zhd:yeast, reins, ride, rain: [trembling "and], [vozh" and], [y "ezh" y], [dazh "and]. In the speech of people of the younger generation at the place of combinations LJ and zzh the sound [zh] = [zhzh] ([trembling], [th "ezhu]) can be pronounced, at the place of the combination railway in the word rains- [wait"] (thus, when stunned in a word rain we have pronunciation options [dosch"] and [dosht"]).

The variability of positional softening in separate groups of consonants has already been discussed in the description of cases of positional softening. Mandatory positional softening in different groups of words is not the same. In the speech of all native speakers of the modern Russian language, as already mentioned, only the replacement of [n] with [n"] before [h"] and [u"] consistently takes place: drum[drum "h" hic], drummer[drummer]. In other groups of consonants, softening or does not occur at all (for example, shops[lafk "and]), or it is presented in the speech of some native speakers and absent in the speech of others. At the same time, the representation of positional softening in different groups of consonants is different. So, in the speech of many speakers, positional softening occurs [s] before [n "] and [t "], [h] before [n"] and [d"]: bone[kos "t"], song[p "es" n "a], life[zhiz "n"], nails[ngvoz "d" and], softening the first consonant in the combinations [sv"], [dv"], [sv"], [zl"], [sl"], [sy"] and some others is rather an exception than rule (for example: Door[dv"er"] and [d"v"er"], eat[ss"em] and [s"th"em], if[th "esl" and] and [th" es "l" and]).

Since Russian stress is diverse and mobile, and because of this, its setting cannot be regulated by the same rules for all words, the placement of stress in words and word forms is also regulated by the rules of orthoepy. "Orthoepic Dictionary of the Russian Language", ed. R. I. Avanesova describes the pronunciation and stress of more than 60 thousand words, and due to the mobility of Russian stress, all forms of this word are often included in the dictionary entry. So, for example, the word call in the forms of the present tense, it has an accent on the ending: calling, calling. Some words have variable stresses in all their forms, for example cottage cheese and cottage cheese. Other words may have variable accents in some of their forms, for example: weaving and wove,braid and braid

Differences in pronunciation can be caused by a change in the orthoepic norm. So, in linguistics it is customary to distinguish between the "older" and "younger" orthoepic norm: the new pronunciation gradually replaces the old one, but at some stage they coexist, though mainly in the speech of different people. It is with the coexistence of the "senior" and "junior" norms that the variability of the positional softening of consonants is associated.

This is also related to the difference in the pronunciation of unstressed vowels, which is reflected in educational complexes. The system for describing the change (reduction) of vowels in unstressed syllables in complexes 1 and 2 reflects the “junior” norm: in the unstressed position, the pronunciation coincides in sound [and] after soft consonants, all vowels that differ under stress, except for [y]: worlds[m "iry], village[with "sillo], five[p "it" orca]. In an unstressed syllable, after solid hissing [zh], [sh] and after [c], an unstressed vowel [s] is pronounced, reflected in the letter by the letter e(w[s] to lay, sh[s] to fetch, ts[s] on).

Complex 3 reflects the “older” norm: It says that the sounds [and], [s], [y] are pronounced clearly not only in stressed, but also in unstressed syllables: m[i] ry. In place of letters e and I in unstressed syllables after soft consonants it is pronounced [and e], that is, the middle sound between [and] and [e] (p [and e] grater, s [and e] lo). After solid hissing [w], [w] and after [c] in place e pronounced [s e] (f [s e] lat, sh [s e] ptat, q [s e] on).

The variability of pronunciation can be associated not only with the dynamic process of changing pronunciation norms, but also with socially significant factors. So, pronunciation can distinguish between the literary and professional use of the word ( compass and compass), neutral style and colloquial speech ( one thousand[tys "ich" a] and [tysch" a]), neutral and high style ( poet[paet] and [poet]).

Complex 3 proposes to perform, in addition to phonetic (see below), orthoepic analysis, which should be done “when a mistake in pronunciation or stress is possible or made in a word.” For example, more beautiful- the stress is always on the second syllable; horse[shn] o. Orthoepic analysis, in addition to phonetic analysis, is necessary when variability in the pronunciation of a given sound sequence is possible in a language or when the pronunciation of a word is associated with frequent errors (for example, in stress).

Graphic arts. Spelling

Graphics is defined in all three complexes as a science that studies the designation of sounding speech in writing.

Russian graphics have specific features regarding the designation of the softness of consonants in writing, the designation of the sound [th "] and the use of graphic signs (see above). Graphics establish spelling rules for all words, determine how units of the language are transmitted in all words and parts of words ( as opposed to spelling rules, which establish the spelling of specific classes of words and their parts).

Spelling is a branch of linguistics that studies the system of rules for the uniform spelling of words and their forms, as well as these rules themselves. The central concept of orthography is spelling.

A spelling is a spelling regulated by a spelling rule or established in dictionary order, i.e., the spelling of a word that is selected from a number of graphics that are possible from the point of view of the laws.

Spelling consists of several sections:

1) writing significant parts of the word (morphemes) - roots, prefixes, suffixes, endings, that is, the designation of the sound composition of words with letters where it is not defined by graphics;

2) continuous, separate and hyphenated spellings;

3) the use of uppercase and lowercase letters;

4) transfer rules;

5) rules for graphic abbreviations of words.

Let us briefly describe these sections.

Writing morphemes (meaningful parts of a word)

The spelling of morphemes is regulated in Russian by three principles - phonemic, traditional, phonetic.

The phonemic principle is the leading one and regulates more than 90% of all spellings. Its essence lies in the fact that phonetically positional changes are not reflected in the letter - reduction of vowels, stunning, voicing, softening of consonants. At the same time, vowels are written as if under stress, and consonants - as in a strong position, for example, positions before a vowel. In different sources, this basic principle may have a different name - phonemic, morphematic, morphological.

The traditional principle governs the spelling of unchecked vowels and consonants ( Withabout tank, andP theca), roots with alternations ( sla walk - slabout live), differentiating spellings ( ohyo g - wowabout G).

The phonetic principle of orthography lies in the fact that in separate groups of morphemes, the letter can reflect the real pronunciation, i.e., positional changes in sounds. In Russian orthography, this principle is implemented in three spelling rules - the spelling of prefixes ending in s/s(rah beat - raWith drink), the spelling of the vowel in the prefix roses / times / grew / races(Ra write-off - rabout write off) and the spelling of roots starting with and, after prefixes ending in a consonant ( and history - befores history).

Continuous, separate and hyphenated spelling

Continuous, separate and hyphenated writing is regulated by the traditional principle, taking into account the morphological independence of units. Separate words are mostly written separately, except for negative and indefinite pronouns with prepositions ( with no one) and some adverbs ( hugging), parts of words - together or through a hyphen (cf .: in my opinion and to my mind).

Use of uppercase and lowercase letters

The use of uppercase and lowercase letters is regulated by the lexico-syntactic rule: proper names and appellations are written with a capital letter ( Moscow State University, Moscow State University), as well as the first word at the beginning of each sentence. The rest of the words are capitalized.

Transfer Rules

The rules for transferring words from one line to another are based on the following rules: when transferring, first of all, the syllabic articulation of the word is taken into account, and then its morphemic structure: war,smash, but not * war, *smash. One letter of the word is not transferred or left on the line. Identical consonants in the root of the word are separated when transferred: cash register.

Rules for graphic word abbreviations

The abbreviation of words in writing is also based on the following rules:

1) only the whole, undivided part of the word can be omitted ( lit-ra - literature, higher education - higher education);

2) when abbreviating a word, at least two letters are omitted;

3) it is impossible to shorten a word by throwing out its initial part;

4) the abbreviation must not fall on a vowel or letters y, y, y.

You can get information about the correct spelling of a word from spelling dictionaries of the Russian language.

Phonetic parsing

Phonetic analysis of the word is carried out according to the following scheme:

Transcribe the word with the accent.

On the transcription, hyphens (or vertical lines) indicate the syllable section.

Determine the number of syllables, indicate the stress.

Show what sound each letter corresponds to. Determine the number of letters and sounds.

Write the letters of the word in a column, next to them - the sounds, indicate their correspondence.

Indicate the number of letters and sounds.

Describe sounds according to the following parameters:

vowel: stressed / unstressed; consonant: deaf / voiced indicating pairing, hard / soft indicating pairing.

Sample phonetic parsing:

his [th "and-vo] 2 syllables, second stressed

In phonetic analysis, they show the correspondence of letters and sounds, connecting letters with the sounds they designate (with the exception of the designation of hardness / softness of a consonant with a subsequent vowel). Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the letters denoting two sounds, and to the sounds indicated by two letters. Particular attention should be paid to the soft sign, which in some cases denotes the softness of the preceding paired consonant (and in this case, it, like the consonant letter preceding it, is combined with a consonant sound), and in other cases does not carry a phonetic load, performing a grammatical function (in In this case, a dash is placed next to it in transcriptional brackets), for example:

Please note that for consonants, pairing is indicated separately on the basis of deafness / sonority and on the basis of hardness / softness, since not only absolutely unpaired consonants are presented in Russian ([y "], [ts], [h"], [ u "]), but also consonants, unpaired in only one of these signs, for example: [l] - voiced unpaired, hard paired, [g] - voiced paired, hard unpaired.

Let us give examples of simple and complex cases of phonetic parsing of words. An explanation of the parsing is given for each example.

Let us show examples of phonetic parsing for iotized vowels. The definition of iotated vowels is given on the sounds page. There are many words in the Russian word with doubled consonants: cool, balloon, sum, bath and others. In sound-letter parsing, special attention should be paid to the position of the doubled consonant, since a long sound can be formed. Let us show two cases with examples.

Example 1

Iotated vowel + ь

Word: spruce
Transcription: [y'el']

[e] - vowel, shock
l → [l ’] - consonant, voiced unpaired (sonor), soft paired
b - does not indicate a sound

In this example, the vowel e is at the beginning of the word, therefore it is ioted and forms two sounds [y ’] + [e]. The soft sign does not mean a sound, but softens the consonant l. As a result, 3 letters and 3 sounds.

Example 2

Iotated vowel + consonant alternation

Word: his
Transcription: [y'ivo]
e → [y ’] - consonant, voiced unpaired (sonor), soft unpaired
[and] - vowel, unstressed
g → [in] - consonant, voiced double, solid double
o → [o] - vowel, stressed

The vowel e is iotated and stands for two sounds. But unlike the first example, the letter is not stressed, so it means the sounds [th ’] + [and]. Note that the letter g in the word is pronounced as "v". Since there are no cases of "disappearance" of sounds in the word, therefore 3 letters and 4 sounds.

Example 3

Double consonant - long sound

Word: tennis
Transcription: [t'en is] or [t'en: is]
t → [t ’] - consonant, deaf double, soft double
e → [e] - vowel, stressed
n → [n:] - consonant, deaf double, hard double
n - does not form a sound
and → [and] - vowel, unstressed
c → [c] - consonant, deaf double, hard double

The double consonant n forms a long sound [n:], since the stress in the word goes before this consonant. Both designations of a long sound are allowed - 1) a line above the sound, 2) a colon on the right. A long sound is also called a long, trailing sound.

Example 4

Double consonant - normal sound

Word: hockey
Transcription: [hakei']
x → [x] - consonant, deaf unpaired, hard paired
o → [a] - vowel, unstressed
k → [k] - consonant, deaf double, hard double
k - does not form a sound
e → [e] - vowel, stressed
th → [th ’] - consonant, voiced unpaired (sonor), soft unpaired

Unlike the example with the word tennis, here the double consonant k does not form a long sound, since the stress in the word comes immediately after the consonant. Say both words aloud and feel that in the word hockey the letter k can be pronounced quickly, and in the word tennis the letter n can be pronounced with a slight delay.

On the site, you can make a phonetic analysis of any Russian word online - enter the word in the search form and click the button.

(from Greek. Phone- sound) studies the sounds of speech and everything connected with them (compatibility, formation, change, etc.). Accordingly, the object of phonetics is sound. The sounds themselves have no meaning, but they constitute the material shell of the word.

In writing, sounds are transmitted by letters. A letter is a conventional sign that serves to designate speech sounds in writing. The ratio of letters and sounds in is not the same: for example, 10 letters of the Russian alphabet denote vowel sounds (there are 6 of them), and 21 letters are consonants (there are 36 + 1 of them), moreover, letters and sounds are not indicated at all. For example, festive- 11 letters and 10 sounds [pra´z "n" ich "ny"], her- 2 letters and 4 sounds [y "y" o´], etc.

The phonetics of the Russian language is distinguished by an abundance of classifications of sounds: deaf / voiced, hard / soft, percussion / unstressed, paired / unpaired etc. But even among these “rules” there are exceptions: for example, unpaired solid([w], [w], [c]) and unpaired soft([h"], [w"], [j]), unpaired voiced (sonor)([l], [l"], [m], [m"], [n], [n"], [p], [p"], [j]) and unpaired deaf([x], [x "], [c], [h], [u]). They must be remembered so that meeting with them does not seem like a sad and unpleasant incident. Yes, and remembering all the classifications is quite difficult, so you should resort to fantasy help: for example, " L im he - paradise »- all sonorants of the Russian language, " Stepka - F and!- all deaf, etc.

We speak largely intuitively, so when pronouncing words, we do not think about the sounds that we pronounce, and about the processes that occur with sounds. Let us recall, for example, the simplest phonetic processes - stunning, voicing and assimilation by softness. See how the same letter - depending on the conditions of pronunciation - turns into different sounds: With my – [With a´my"], With go – [c" id "e´t"], With sew– [w sew], With friend – [h friend´m], about camping ba- [about´ h" ba], etc.

Often, ignorance of the phonetics of the Russian language leads to errors in speech. Of course, this primarily concerns trap words like meter(unit) and master(an outstanding person) and memorization words like shi[ n "e]l. In addition, fairly simple words, with their ease of pronunciation, often create problems during transcription: Spring- [in "isna´], watch- [h "isy´] and others. Let's also not forget that e, yo, yu, i, and (in some cases) under certain conditions give two sounds.

In other words, knowledge of Russian phonetics and the ability to use its mechanisms is not only an indicator of the level of education and culture of a person, but also very useful knowledge that will be useful at school and can be useful in extracurricular life.

Good luck in learning Russian phonetics!

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Once upon a time, at Russian language lessons at school, even in elementary grades, we all diligently articulated under the vigilant guidance of a teacher: we rounded or compressed our lips, put our tongue to the sky or pushed our teeth with them ... We learned various sounds. And then they explained to us other rules from the phonetics section. We grew up, the rules were forgotten. Who remembers now examples of voicing consonants and how does it even happen?

What is phonetics

The word "phonetics" comes from the Greek "sound". This is the name of one of the sections of the language that studies sounds, their structure, as well as intonation, stress and syllables. It is important to distinguish sounds from letters - the first there are more than a hundred, the second in the Russian alphabet, as you know, thirty-three. The study of phonetics includes two aspects: articulation (methods of sound formation) and acoustic (physical characteristics of each sound).

Sections of phonetics

The discipline consists of five parts:

1. Phonetics - studies, as already mentioned, the sounds themselves and their signs.
2. Phonology - explores phonemes. A phoneme is a minimal sound unit that makes it possible to distinguish one word from another (for example, in the words "meadow" and "bow" the phonemes "g" and "k" help to understand the difference between them).
3. Orthoepy - studies pronunciation, including the norms of correct literary pronunciation.
4. Graphics - explores the relationship between letters and sounds.
5. Spelling - studies spelling.

Basic concepts of Russian phonetics

The most important thing in this discipline is sounds. They do not have any meaning (unlike whole words), but they help to distinguish different words and word forms from each other: sang - drank, house - home - home, and so on. On paper, this is called transcription to represent sounds.

There are only ten sounds first, they are easier to pronounce than consonants: air quietly penetrates through the mouth. Vowels can be stretched, shouted out, sung. When the artists sing, they pull just these sounds. It depends on their number how many syllables are in a word. And there are words consisting exclusively of vowels (for example, unions or prepositions).

Consonants - 21, when they are pronounced, the air encounters an obstacle: either in the form of a gap, or in the form of a closure. These are two ways of forming consonants. The gap is obtained when the tongue approaches the teeth. This is how the sounds “s”, “z”, “zh”, “sh” are pronounced. These are noisy sounds, they make a hiss or whistle. The second way is when the lips close. Such sounds cannot be stretched, they are sharp, short. These are “p”, “b”, “g”, “k” and others. But they are very felt.

As well as in terms of hardness and softness, consonants can be paired with voiced and deaf. It is easy to distinguish them: voiced ones are pronounced loudly, deaf ones are deaf. These are pairs such as "b" - voiced, and "p" - deaf; "d" - voiced, and "t" - deaf. There are six such combinations in total. There are, in addition, five consonants that do not have a pair. They always remain loud. These are "l", "m", "n", "r" and "y".

Adding up to various words, composing phrases, sounds acquire many properties. Such, for example, as voicing and stunning consonants. How does it happen?

Consonant voicing: examples

The five above letters (d, l, m, n, p) do not have this property. It is very important to remember this! Voicing of a consonant sound can only occur if this sound is paired.

A voiceless consonant can become voiced by pairing in some cases. The main condition is that it must be located directly before the voiced sound (just before, not after!).

So, the voicing of a deaf consonant happens at the junction of morphemes. A morpheme is a part of a word (there are root, prefix, suffix, ending; there are also postfixes and prefixes, but they are not so important). Thus, at the junction of a prefix and a root or a root and a suffix, the process of voicing is possible. This does not happen between the suffix and the ending, since the ending usually consists of vowels. Examples of voicing consonants in this case are as follows: transaction (“s” - a prefix, a dull sound, the root of “deeds” begins with a voiced “d”, so assimilation occurs, that is, assimilation. We pronounce this word aloud as “deal”), mowing (the root “kos” ends with a dull sound “s” - the soft sign is not taken into account, it is followed by a voiced suffix “b” - assimilation occurs again, and this word is pronounced as “kozba”) and so on.

Words with voicing of consonants are also found at the junction of an independent word and a particle (particles are auxiliary words: same, would, not, neither, whether, and so on). At least (pronounced aloud “walking”), as if (pronounced “kagby”) and other combinations - these are all cases of voicing.

Finally, situations where the necessary sounds are at the junction of an independent word and a preposition can serve as examples of voicing consonants (a preposition is a service part of speech, it helps to connect words into sentences: in, to, at, under, on and others): to the bath (we pronounce “gbane”), from the house (we say “oddoma”) and so on.

Stunning consonants: examples

As in the case of voicing, stunning occurs only in the presence of paired sounds. In such a situation, the voiced consonant should come before the deaf one.

This usually happens at the end of a word if it ends in a consonant: bread (“bread”), honey (“met”), bring a lot of chairs (“stool”), and so on. Stunning also occurs if in the middle of a word (as a rule, this is a combination of a root and a suffix) the combination “voiced plus deaf” occurs. For example: stew (“bread” is a root, ends in a voiced “b”, “k” is a deaf suffix, at the output we pronounce the word “sauce”), a fairy tale (the root “kaz” ends in a voiced “z”, “k” - deaf suffix, in total we get "kaska").

The third option, when a stunning consonant sound occurs, is also at the junction of a word and a preposition: under the ceiling (pot ceiling), above you (nattoboy) and others. This property of the Russian language is especially difficult for schoolchildren who act according to the “we hear as we write” method.

How about others?

The most common language in the world - English - has its own characteristics in phonetics, like any other language. The following distinguishes British phonetics from Russian phonetics:

1. In Russia, vowels are not divided into long and short ones, but in England they are.
2. Consonants in English are always pronounced firmly, but in Russian they can soften.
3. English consonants are never stunned because it can change the meaning of the whole word.

It doesn’t matter if you are a schoolboy or an adult, but if you live in Russia, you must be able to express your thoughts correctly and know the peculiarities of your native language. After all, our language is our wealth!

Phonetics- a branch of the science of language, which studies the sounds of speech, stress, syllable.

A person can make several hundred different sounds. But in his speech (through which people communicate with each other) he uses a little more than fifty sounds. In the written speech of the Russian language, there are only 31 letters and 2 signs to designate (record) these sounds.

It is necessary to distinguish between the sounds and letters of our speech.

Sound is the smallest sound unit of a syllable.
Letters- These are signs that indicate sounds in writing.

Sound is what we hear and pronounce.
The letter is what we see and write.

When writing in a word, there may not be a quantitative relationship between sounds and letters (pit - three letters, and four sounds y-a-m-a). In some words, we do not pronounce all the sounds that are indicated by the corresponding letters when writing (the word honest does not pronounce the sound indicated by the letter T) or pronounce another sound (in the word please, pronounce the sound [ W], and write FROM), etc. Such inconsistencies are determined by the rules of spelling and orthoepy.
Letters arranged in a certain order are called an alphabet, or alphabet. Each letter has its own name.

Vowel sounds

vowels called sounds, in the formation of which the voice is most involved, and the exhaled air during their formation, without encountering obstacles, exits easily through the mouth.

There are six vowels - a, o, u, uh, s, and , but in writing they are indicated by ten letters - a, o, u, uh, s, i, e, yo, yu i . The last four letters are called compound vowels, as they mean two sounds at the same time: e-ye, yo-yo, yu-yu, ya-ya - go - [ j "e]hat, hedgehog- [ j "about]zhik, spinning top - [ j "y]la, pit-[ j "a]ma. In Russian, native Russian words do not begin with the letter й. The letter y is called non-syllable, or semi-vowel, in transcription it is designated as [ j"].

Consonants

Consonants called sounds, which are formed with the participation of voice and noise or only one noise. The air leaving the lungs meets various obstacles in the oral cavity. There are only 20 consonants. According to the participation of the voice in their formation, they are divided into voiced and deaf. There are 10 voiced consonants in Russian and 10 deaf ones.

voiced - b, c, d, e, f, h, r, l, n, m
Deaf - p, f, k, t, w, s, x, c, h, u

The first six voiced and deaf are paired consonants, as they are formed with the same articulation. With known positions of these paired consonants in the layer, they are easily replaced by one another. For example, at the end of words, instead of a voiced one, a voiceless consonant is pronounced, paired with a voiced one.

We say: [ sat], [bread], [drizzle], but we write: garden, bread, frost. Before voiced sounds, instead of a voiceless consonant, a voiced one is pronounced. We say [ goats "ba], and we write mowing.

Paired consonants are easy to remember, knowing that voiced ones are the first consonants in the alphabet - b, c, d, e, g, s.

The remaining four voiced - r, l, n, m and four deaf - x, c, h, u are unpaired consonants and are not replaced by one another. Of the consonants, 4 sibilants stand out - w, h, w, w .
All consonants except sibilant and c can be both hard and soft.

Was, ball - consonants b, l in these words are solid.

Bili- consonants b, l this word is pronounced softly.

Usually the softness of the consonant sound is easily distinguished by ear.

The softness of the consonant is created by additional articulation - the rise of the middle part of the tongue to the hard palate. At the end of words, the softness of the consonants is heard even more clearly, since it often serves as a means of distinguishing the meaning of the word:
became - steel, was - true story, become - stan, fry - heat.

Consonant c and consonants hissing w, w in Russian are always hard, hissing" h, w- always soft. After cь (soft sign) never "is written ( finger, well, cucumber), and after hissing w, w, as well as h,_uь (soft sign) is sometimes put, but not to indicate the softness of the preceding consonant, but to indicate various grammatical forms of words - gender, number, designation of a part of speech ( night, cut, clouds, watchman).

The softness of consonants (except for hissing) in writing is indicated in two ways:
1) placing ь after a consonant at the end of a word or in the middle of it between two consonants - steel, day, true story, dictionary, dove, skates, hemp, money, rural, letter;
2) setting letters after a consonant and, e, yo, Yu, I; before these letters, all consonants (except for hissing and " c") are pronounced softly, although their softness is not heard as clearly as in front of a soft sign - beat, bureau, uncle, less often, gray.

In some words with two consonants, if the first of them is pronounced softly, it is written after it - very, request, threshing, marriage, etc.
In other words, although the softness of the first consonant is heard, b (soft sign) is not written - early, mason, tip.
In addition to softening consonants, a soft sign is also used to separate sounds when it stands between a consonant and a vowel (family, blizzard, beat)

Syllable

syllable the part of the word is called, which is pronounced with one push of the exhaled air from the lungs and in which there is only one vowel, for example:
Go-lo-va, extreme, my-I, city-born, city-ska-ya.

A word can have one syllable or several. There is always only one vowel in each syllable, but there may be no consonants at all (my-ya - the second syllable does not have a consonant), there may be several. Consonants are adjacent to vowels for the convenience of their pronunciation.

Examples:
My, my-me, casually, seven-me, local and local, sister and sister, stone, public.
If the consonants stand on both sides of the vowel, then such a syllable is called closed ( extreme. kao man. like, long). if only on one side, then open ( mo-i, boo-ma-ga, de la).
The division of words into syllables is necessary for mastering the rules of word hyphenation, for determining stress, for correct pronunciation of words and spelling.

stress

stressed is called pronunciation of one of the syllables of the word with greater force. This is a sound accent. Usually there is one sound stress in a word, but in compound words there can be two ( cafe e-restaurant a n, bargain about in-industry s sluggish).

The stress in Russian can be on any syllable, on the first, second, third, etc. Therefore, they are called free ( book and" ha, boom a" ha, before e" lka).

Stress can be both mobile and permanent.

permanent the stress is always placed on the same syllable ( longing, longing, longing).

Movable stress shifts from one syllable to another head, head, head).

Stress in Russian not only performs a pronunciation function (i.e., indicates how to pronounce the word correctly), but can simultaneously indicate a different semantic meaning of the word ( at same and already e , zas s fall and backfill a be, house a and d about ma).

Phonetic parsing

Phonetic analysis of the word is carried out according to the following plan:

1. Transcribe the word by putting the stress.
2. Determine the number of syllables, indicate stress.
3. Show what sound each letter corresponds to. Determine the number of letters and sounds.
4. Write the letters of the word in a column, sounds next to them, indicate their correspondence.
5. Specify the number of letters and sounds.
6. Characterize the sounds according to the following parameters:
vowel: stressed / unstressed;
consonant: deaf / voiced, hard / soft.

Sample phonetic parsing:
his [ j "and-vo] 2 syllables, second stressed

In phonetic analysis, they show the correspondence of letters and sounds, connecting letters with the sounds they designate (with the exception of the designation of hardness / softness of a consonant with a subsequent vowel). Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the letters denoting two sounds, and to the sounds indicated by two letters. Particular attention should be paid to the soft sign, which in some cases denotes the softness of the preceding paired consonant (and in this case, it, like the consonant preceding it, is combined with a consonant sound), and in other cases does not carry a phonetic load, performing a grammatical function.

Students should be able to do not only complete (presented above), but also partial phonetic analysis, which is usually carried out as a “background”, additional task to the vocabulary dictation, syntactic analysis of a sentence, etc.

The following types of exercises may be suggested:
find words that:
- the number of letters is greater than the number of sounds;
- the number of letters is less than sounds;
- all consonant sounds are voiced (deaf, hard, soft);
- there is a sound [ b"] (or any other, the detection of which requires the use of certain skills and abilities);
- the sound side of which somehow correlates with their semantics (for example: rustle, whisper, screech, rumble, thunder, drum etc.).

At the unified state exam as tasks for the section " Phonetics» it is proposed to make a partial phonetic parsing.