Sound is the smallest unit of language pronounced with the help of the organs of the speech apparatus. Scientists have discovered that at birth, the human ear perceives all the sounds it hears. All this time, his brain sorts out unnecessary information, and by 8-10 months a person is able to distinguish sounds unique to his native language and all the nuances of pronunciation.
33 letters make up the Russian alphabet, 21 of them are consonants, but letters must be distinguished from sounds. A letter is a sign, a symbol that can be seen or written. The sound can only be heard and pronounced, and in writing it can be designated using transcription - [b], [c], [d]. They carry a certain semantic load, connecting with each other to form words.
36 consonant sounds: [b], [z], [v], [d], [g], [zh], [m], [n], [k], [l], [t], [p ], [t], [s], [sch], [f], [ts], [w], [x], [h], [b"], [z"], [v"], [ d"], [th"], [n"], [k"], [m"], [l"], [t"], [s"], [p"], [r"], [ f"], [g"], [x"].
Consonant sounds are divided into:
- soft and hard;
voiced and voiceless;
paired and unpaired.
Soft and hard consonants
Phonetics of the Russian language has significant difference from many other languages. It contains hard and soft consonants.
When pronouncing a soft sound, the tongue is pressed harder against the palate than when pronouncing a hard consonant sound, preventing the release of air. This is what distinguishes a hard and soft consonant sound from each other. In order to determine in writing whether a consonant sound is soft or hard, you should look at the letter immediately after the specific consonant.
Consonant sounds are classified as hard in the following cases:
- if letters a, o, u, e, s follow after them - [poppy], [rum], [hum], [juice], [bull];
- after them there is another consonant sound - [vors], [hail], [marriage];
- if the sound is at the end of the word - [darkness], [friend], [table].
The softness of sound is written as an apostrophe: mole - [mol’], chalk - [m’el], wicket - [kal’itka], pir - [p’ir].
It should be noted that the sounds [ш'], [й'], [ч'] are always soft, and hard consonants are only [ш], [тс], [ж].
A consonant sound will become soft if it is followed by “b” and vowels: i, ё, yu, i, e. For example: gen - [g"en], flax - [l"on], disk - [d"ysk] , hatch - [l "uk", elm - [v "yaz", trill - [tr "el"].
Voiced and voiceless, paired and unpaired sounds
Based on their sonority, consonants are divided into voiced and voiceless. Voiced consonants can be sounds created with the participation of the voice: [v], [z], [zh], [b], [g], [y], [m], [d], [l], [r] , [n].
Examples: [bor], [ox], [shower], [call], [heat], [goal], [fishing], [pestilence], [nose], [genus], [swarm].
Examples: [kol], [floor], [volume], [sleep], [noise], [shch"uka], [choir], [king"], [ch"an].
Paired voiced and voiceless consonants include: [b] - [p], [zh] - [w], [g] - [x], [z] - [s]. [d] - [t], [v] - [f]. Examples: reality - dust, house - volume, year - code, vase - phase, itch - court, live - sew.
Sounds that do not form pairs: [h], [n], [ts], [x], [r], [m], [l].
Soft and hard consonants can also have a pair: [p] - [p"], [p] - [p"], [m] - [m"], [v] - [v"], [d] - [ d"], [f] - [f"], [k] - [k"], [z] - [z"], [b] - [b"], [g] - [g"], [ n] - [n"], [s] - [s"], [l] - [l"], [t] - [t"], [x] - [x"]. Examples: byl - bel, height - branch, city - cheetah, dacha - business, umbrella - zebra, skin - cedar, moon - summer, monster - place, finger - feather, ore - river, soda - sulfur, pillar - steppe, lantern - farm, mansions - hut.
Table for memorizing consonants
To clearly see and compare soft and hard consonants, the table below shows them in pairs.
Solid - before the letters A, O, U, Y, E Soft - before the letters I, E, E, Yu, I | Hard and soft consonants | |||
| b | ball | b" | battle | |
| V | howl | V" | eyelid | |
| G | garage | G" | hero | |
| d | hole | d" | tar | |
| h | ash | z" | yawn | |
| To | godfather | To" | sneakers | |
| l | vine | l" | foliage | |
| m | March | m" | month | |
| n | leg | n" | tenderness | |
| n | spider | p" | song | |
| r | height | p" | rhubarb | |
| With | salt | With" | hay | |
| T | cloud | T" | patience | |
| f | phosphorus | f" | firm | |
| X | thinness | X" | chemistry | |
| Unpaired | and | giraffe | h | miracle |
| w | screen | sch | hazel | |
| ts | target | th | felt | |
Another table will help you remember consonant sounds.
| Doubles | Voiced | Deaf |
| B | P | |
| IN | F | |
| G | TO | |
| D | T | |
| AND | Sh | |
| Z | WITH | |
| Unpaired | L, M, N, R, J | X, C, Ch, Shch |
Children's poems for better mastery of the material
There are exactly 33 letters in the Russian alphabet,
To find out how many consonants -
Subtract ten vowels
Signs - hard, soft -
It will immediately become clear:
The resulting number is exactly twenty-one.
Soft and hard consonants are very different,
But not dangerous at all.
If we pronounce it with noise, then they are deaf.
The consonant sounds proudly say:
They sound different.
Hard and soft
In fact, very light.
Remember one simple rule forever:
W, C, F - always hard,
But Ch, Shch, Y are only soft,
Like a cat's paws.
And let’s soften others like this:
If we add a soft sign,
Then we get spruce, moth, salt,
What a cunning sign!
And if we add the vowels I, I, Yo, E, Yu,
We get a soft consonant.
Brother signs, soft, hard,
We don't pronounce
But to change the word,
Let's ask for their help.
The rider rides on a horse,
Con - we use it in the game.
Introducing a child to the Russian alphabet is always an encounter with the unknown, but mysterious world, which contains 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 barrier for 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 unstressed sounds we check 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 hard sounds voice participation 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 with 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, the song in in full this video cannot be called: rather, we will be dealing with the 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!
Letter "y": hard or soft? This question is very often asked by students who need to parse a word according to all the rules of phonetics. You will get the answer to this a little further.
General information
Before we talk about what kind of letter “th” is (soft or hard), you should find out why the letters of the Russian alphabet are generally divided according to such characteristics.
The fact is that each word has its own sound shell, which consists of individual sounds. It should be noted that the sound of a particular expression is completely correlated with its meaning. At the same time, different words and their forms have completely different sound design. Moreover, the sounds themselves have no meaning. However, they play a vital role in the Russian language. After all, thanks to them we can easily distinguish words. Here's an example:
- [house] - [lady´] - [house´ma];
- [m’el] - [m’el’], [tom] - [there], [house] - [volume].
Transcription
Why do we need information about what type of letter “th” is (hard or soft)? When pronouncing a word, it is very important to correctly display the transcription that describes its sound. In such a system it is customary to use the following symbols:
This designation is called They must be used to indicate transcription.
[´] is the accent. It is placed if the word has more than one syllable.
[b’] - a kind of comma is placed next to the consonant letter and denotes its softness.
By the way, during phonetic analysis words often use the following symbol - [j]. As a rule, it denotes the sound of the letter “th” (sometimes a symbol such as [th] is used).
Letter "y": consonant or vowel?
As you know, in the Russian language all sounds are divided into consonants and vowels. They are perceived and pronounced completely differently.
- Vowel sounds are those sounds during the pronunciation of which air easily and freely passes through the mouth, without encountering any obstacles on its way. Moreover, you can pull them, you can shout with them. If you put your palm to your throat, you can quite easily feel the work of the vocal cords during the pronunciation of vowels. There are 6 stressed vowels in the Russian language, namely: [a], [e], [u], [s], [o] and [i].
- Consonant sounds are those sounds during the pronunciation of which the air encounters an obstacle on its way, namely a bow or a gap. Their appearance determines the nature of the sounds. As a rule, a gap is formed when pronouncing [s], [w], [z] and [z]. In this case, the tip of the tongue approaches the upper or lower teeth. The presented consonants can be drawn out (for example, [z-z-z], [z-z-z]). As for the stop, such a barrier is formed due to the closure of the speech organs. The air, or rather its flow, abruptly overcomes it, due to which the sounds are energetic and brief. That is why they are called explosive. By the way, it is impossible to pull them (try it yourself: [p], [b], [t], [d]).
In addition to the above consonants, the Russian language also has the following: [m], [y], [v], [f], [g], [l], [r], [ch], [ts], [x] . As you can see, there are many more of them than vowels.
Voiced and voiced sounds
By the way, many consonant sounds form pairs of deafness and voicedness: [k] - [g], [b] - [p], [z] - [c], [d] - [t], [f] - [v], etc. In total, there are 11 such pairs in the Russian language. However, there are sounds that do not have pairs on this basis. These include: [y], [p], [n], [l], [m] are unpaired voiced ones, and [ch] and [ts] are unpaired voiceless ones.
Soft and hard consonants
As you know, consonant letters differ not only in sonority or, conversely, deafness, but also in softness and hardness. This property is the second most important feature of sounds.
So, is the letter “th” hard or soft? To answer this question, you should consider each sign separately:
- When pronouncing soft consonants, the entire tongue moves slightly forward, and its middle part rises slightly.
- During the pronunciation of hard consonants, the entire tongue is literally pulled back.
It should be especially noted that many consonant letters form pairs with each other based on characteristics such as softness and hardness: [d] - [d’], [p] - [p’], etc. There are 15 such pairs in total. However, there are also sounds that do not have pairs on this basis. Which letters of hard consonant sounds are unpaired? These include the following - [w], [f] and [c]. As for the unpaired soft ones, these are [sch’], [h’] and [th’].
Designation on the letter
Now you know the information about whether the letter “th” is hard or soft. But here it arises new question: “How is the softness of such sounds indicated in writing?” Completely different methods are used for this:
- The letters “e”, “yu”, “e”, “ya” after consonants (not counting “zh”, “sh”, and “ts”) indicate that these consonants are soft. Let's give an example: uncle - [d'a'd'a], aunt - [t'o't'a].
- The letter “i” after consonants (not counting “zh”, “sh”, and “ts”) indicates that these consonants are soft. Let's give an example: cute - [m'i'ly'], leaf - [l'ist], ni´tki - [n'i´tk'i].
- The soft sign (“b”) after consonants (not counting “zh” and “sh”) is an indicator of grammatical form. It also indicates that the consonants are soft. Examples: far - [dal’], stranded - [m’el’], request - [proz’ba].
As you can see, the softness of consonant sounds in writing is conveyed not by individual letters, but by their combinations with the vowels “e”, “yu”, “e”, “ya”, as well as a soft sign. That is why experts recommend paying attention to adjacent symbols.
As for the vowel letter “th”, it is always soft. In this regard, in transcription it is usually denoted as follows: [th’]. That is, the comma symbol, indicating the softness of the sound, must always be inserted. [ш'], [ч'] also obey the same rule.
Let's sum it up
As you can see, there is nothing difficult about making any word correctly. To do this, you just need to know what vowels and consonants are, unvoiced and voiced, as well as soft and hard. For a better understanding of how to format a transcription, we will provide several detailed examples.
1. The word "hero". Consists of two syllables, with the 2nd being stressed. Let's do the analysis:
g - [g’] - voiced, consonant and soft.
e - [i] is an unstressed vowel.
p - [p] - voiced, consonant, unpaired and hard.
o - [o] - stressed vowel.
th - [th’] - voiced, consonant, unpaired and soft.
Total: 5 letters and 5 sounds.
2. The word "trees". Consists of three syllables, with the 2nd being stressed. Let's do the analysis:
d - [d’] - voiced, consonant and soft.
e - [i] is an unstressed vowel.
p - [p’] - voiced, consonant, unpaired and soft.
e - [e´] - stressed vowel.
in - [v’] - voiced, consonant and soft
e - [th’] - voiced, consonant, unpaired and soft and [e] - vowel, unstressed;
v - [f] - dull and hard.
Total: 8 letters and 8 sounds.
What sounds are called consonants?
What does a consonant sound consist of?
What are the different consonant sounds?
How many consonant letters and consonant sounds are there in the Russian alphabet?
Which consonants are always hard and which are always soft?
What letters indicate the softness of a consonant?
Sounds in the pronunciation of which the air encounters an obstacle in the mouth are called consonant sounds. A consonant sound consists of noise and voice or only noise.
Consonant sounds are divided into voiced and unvoiced. Voiced ones consist of noise and voice, while deaf ones consist only of noise.
The sounds only consist of noise: [k], [p], [s], [t], [f], [x], [ts], [ch], [sh], [sch]. These are voiceless consonants.
Many consonant sounds form pairs by voicing -deafness: [b] — [p], [v] — [f], [g] — [k], [d] — [t], [z] — [s], [w] — [w].
To memorize voiced consonants, you can learn the phrase: “ THE LION AND THE TOAD HAVE MANY FRIENDS».
See all phrases for memorizing voiced and voiceless consonants.
Voiceless consonants are easy to remember from the phrase: “ STYOPKA, DO YOU WANT A CHECK?— Ugh!».
Consonant sounds are indicated by letters:
B,IN,G,D,AND,Z,Y,TO,L,M,N,P,R,WITH,T,F,X,C,H,Sh,SCH.
In total, the Russian language has 21 consonants.
Consonant sounds are also hard and soft.
Hard and soft sounds differ in the position of the tongue when pronounced. When pronouncing soft consonants, the middle back of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate.
Most consonant sounds form pairs based on hardness and softness:
The following hard and soft consonant sounds do not form hard-softness pairs:
| Solid | [and] | [w] | [ts] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soft | [h❜] | [sch❜] | [th❜] |
Table “Consonant sounds: paired and unpaired, voiced and voiceless, hard and soft” (grades 1-4)
Note: V elementary school hard consonant sounds are indicated in blue, soft consonant sounds - green, vowel sounds - in red.
Hardness consonant sounds are indicated in writing by vowels A , ABOUT , U , Y , E .
Softness consonant sound is indicated in writing by vowels E, Yo, I, Yu, I, as well as the letter b(soft sign).
Compare: nose[nose] - carried[n❜os], corner[corner] - coal[ugal❜].
Unpaired ringing sounds[th❜], [l], [l❜], [m], [m❜] [n], [n❜] [r], [r❜] are called sonorous, which means “sonorous” in Latin.
The sounds [zh], [sh], [ch❜], [sch❜] are called sizzling. They got this name because their pronunciation is similar to hissing.
The sounds [zh], [sh] are unpaired hard hissing sounds.
The sounds [ch❜] and [ш❜] are unpaired soft hissing sounds.
The sounds [c], [s❜], [z], [z❜], [ts] are called whistling.
Consonant doesn't happen stressed or unstressed.
In the Russian language there are more consonant sounds (36) than consonant letters (21), since one letter can denote paired hard and soft sounds: for example, the letter L (el) denotes the sounds [l] and [l❜].
Attention! A consonant sound can form a syllable only with
What is sound? This is the minimum component of human speech. Depicted in letters. In written form, sounds are distinguished from letters by the presence of square brackets at the first, which are used in phonetic transcription. The letter is o, the sound is [o]. The transcription shows differences in spelling and pronunciation. Apostrophe [ ‘ ] indicates soft pronunciation.
The sounds are divided into:
- Vowels. They can be pulled easily. During their creation, the tongue does not take an active part, being fixed in one position. The sound is created due to changes in the position of the tongue, lips, various vibrations of the vocal cords and the force of air supply. Length of vowels – basis of vocal art(chanting, “singing smoothly”).
- Consonant sounds a are pronounced with the participation of the tongue, which, occupying a certain position and shape, creates an obstacle to the movement of air from the lungs. This leads to noise in the oral cavity. At the output they are converted into sound. Also, the free passage of air is hampered by the lips, which close and open during speech.
Consonants are divided into:
- voiceless and voiced. Deafness and sonority of sound depend on the functioning of the speech apparatus;
- hard and soft. The sound is determined by the position of the letter in the word.
Letters representing consonants
Deaf
Voiceless in Russian: [k], [p], [s], [t], [f], [x], [ts], [sh]. The easiest way to remember is a phrase, and not a set of letters, “Styopka, do you want a cheek? Fi!” containing them all.
An example in which all consonant sounds are unvoiced: rooster, honeycomb, pin.
Voiced
When they are formed, the shape of the tongue is close to the form that produces voiceless sounds, but vibrations are added. Voiced consonant sounds create active vibrations of the ligaments. Vibrations deform the sound wave, and not a pure stream of air enters the oral cavity, but sound. Subsequently, it is further transformed by the tongue and lips.
Voiced consonants include: b, c, g, d, g, z, j, l, m, n, r.
When they are pronounced, tension is clearly felt in the larynx area. In addition, it is almost impossible to speak them clearly in a whisper.
A word in which all consonants are voiced: Rome, pride, ash, estuary.
Summary table of consonants (voiceless and voiced).
It is due to the change in sound that Russian speech is enriched with various words that are similar in spelling and pronunciation, but completely different in meaning. For example: house - volume, court - itch, code - year.
Paired consonants
What does pairing mean? Two letters that are similar in sound and, when pronounced, take similar positions with the tongue, are called paired consonants. The pronunciation of consonants can be divided into one-stage (lips and tongues are involved in their creation) and two-stage - the ligaments are used first, then the mouth. Those cases when, during pronunciation, mouth movements coincide and create pairs.
Summary table of paired consonants taking into account hardness and softness
In speech, it is common not to pronounce each letter, but to “eat” it. This is not an exception only for Russian speech. This is found in almost all languages of the world and is especially noticeable in English. In Russian, this effect is subject to the rule: paired consonant sounds replace (auditory) each other during speech. For example: love – [l’ u b o f’].
But not everyone has their own pair. There are some that are not similar in pronunciation to any others - these are unpaired consonants. The reproduction technique differs from the pronunciation of other sounds and combines them into groups.
Paired consonants
Unpaired consonants
The first group can be pronounced softly. The second has no analogues in pronunciation.
Unpaired consonants are divided into:
- sonors – [th’], [l], [l’], [m], [m’], [n], [n’], [r], [r’]. When they are pronounced, a stream of air hits the upper sky, like a dome;
- hissing – [x], [x’], [ts], [h’], [sch’].
The Russian language contains letters that are difficult to understand in context. Are the sounds [ch], [th], [ts], [n] voiced or unvoiced? Learn these 4 letters!
Important![h] - deaf! [th] - sonorous! [ts] is deaf! [n] – sonorous!
Unpaired consonants
Hard and soft
They are the same in spelling, but different in sound. Voiceless and voiced consonants, with the exception of hissing ones, can be pronounced hard or soft. For example: [b] was – [b`] beat; [t] current – [t`] flowed.
When pronouncing hard words, the tip of the tongue is pressed against the palate. Soft ones are formed by pressing to the upper palate of the middle part of the tongue.
In speech, the sound is determined by the letter following the consonant.
Vowels form pairs: a-ya, u-yu, e-e, y-i, o-yo.
Double vowels (I, ё, yu, e) are pronounced in one of two combinations: the sound [th] and a paired vowel from E, O, U, A, or a soft sign and a paired vowel. For example, the word cabin boy. It is pronounced [y] [y] [n] [g] [a]. Or the word mint. It is pronounced as: [m’] [a] [t] [a]. The vowels A, O, U, E, Y do not have a double sound, therefore do not affect the pronunciation of the preceding consonant.
Example difference:
A spoon is a hatch, honey is a sea, a house is a woodpecker.
Phonetic transcription:
[Spoon] – [L’ u k], [m’ o d] – [m o r’ e], [house] – [d’ a t e l].
Pronunciation rules:
- solid ones are pronounced before A, O, U, E, Y. Abscess, side, beech, Bentley, former;
- soft ones are pronounced before Ya, Yo, Yu, E, I. Revenge, honey, whale, mashed potatoes, mint;
- hard ones are pronounced if they are followed by another consonant: death. After the consonant [s] there is a consonant [m]. Regardless of whether the M is soft, voiced or hard, the S is pronounced firmly;
- hard ones are pronounced if the letter comes last in the word: class, house;
- Consonants before the vowel [e] in borrowed words are pronounced firmly, as before [e]. For example: muffler – [k] [a] [w] [n] [e];
- always soft before b: elk, pulp.
- exceptions to the rules:
- always solid F, W, C: life, thorns, cyanide;
- always soft Y, H, Sh: white, black, pike.