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Vowel sounds and letters. How many are there in Russian?

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Correct pronunciation of words is one of the components of beautiful and literate speech. To achieve this, you will first have to study the sounds themselves. In this article, we will figure out together what vowel sounds are, how many vowels are in the alphabet of the Russian language, and what sounds they can represent.

What are vowels and sounds

Vowel sounds are those sounds that we freely convey with our voice. Hence their name comes from: voice means "voice". When pronouncing, air exits through the mouth and does not create noise, and the position of the tongue and lips determines which vowel sound we will pronounce.

There are much fewer vowels in Russian than consonants. There are 6 of them in total: [a], [o], [i], [s], [y] and [e]. To understand whether a vowel sound is in front of you or not, try to sing it. For example:

• a-a-a ,

• woo

• s-s-s .

If it works, then the sound is a vowel. You can't do that with consonants.

There are more vowels than sounds - there are 10 of them: a, i, u, u, o, e, e, e, i, s . This difference is due to the fact that some of these letters can represent two sounds and are pronounced using a combination of a vowel and a consonant [y']. For example, in the word spruce the letter e two sounds are expressed - [y '] and [e]. Let's look at the table all the vowel sounds and the letters that represent them.

Demo lesson in Russian

Take the test at the introductory lesson and find out what topics separate you from the "five" in Russian.

How vowel sounds are related to syllables

Vowel sounds form syllables - sound segments of words that we pronounce with one breath. One syllable can be either a vowel with one or more consonants, or a vowel alone. There is even a rule by which syllables can be counted: how many vowels in a word - so many syllables.

For example, in the word journey there are 5 vowels: [u], [i], [e], [i] and [e]. This means that it has 5 syllables: p-te-she-stv-e .

Test yourself!

Count the number of syllables in the words: try on, tanner, well-groomed, care, prefix, capital, wet, invitation, orange .

Vowel sounds and stress

Now let's see what groups vowel sounds are divided into. Sometimes their pronunciation depends on whether the stress falls on them, that is, whether we single them out with our voice. So vowel sounds are divided into stressed and unstressed. Here are some examples:

Stress in Russian can fall on any of the existing vowel sounds. However, only 4 of them can be unstressed - these are [a], [i], [y] and [s]. In this position, we pronounce sounds weaker than under stress, because of which they can change qualities and sound differently.

Interestingly, the vowels [o] and [e] can only be stressed. There are only a couple of exceptions to this rule: for example, in words cocoa and canoe sounds [o] and [e] in an unstressed position.

How unstressed vowels are related to consonants

How an unstressed vowel sounds depends on the consonant that precedes it. Or rather, from its hardness or softness. If it is a hard consonant, it can be followed by unstressed vowels [y], [a] and [s]. When we talk about a soft consonant, it is followed by unstressed vowels [y] and [and].

Test yourself

It's time to find out if you now understand well what vowel sounds are in Russian. To do this, we have prepared tasks for self-examination.

Task 1

List all the vowels in these words:

Task 2

Name 5 words each in which the sounds [a], [i], [y] and [s] would be stressed.

Task 3

Name 5 words in which an unstressed vowel would come after a hard consonant, and 5 more words where it would follow a soft consonant.

Task 4

Count the number of syllables in the words below (don't forget to use the rule you learned at the beginning of the article!):

• weightless,

• sunrise,

• adventure,

• painter,

• perpetuate,

• pleasant,

• image,

• category,

• exciting,

• melting,

• snowflake.

The rules of phonetics help us to speak correctly, so it is important to master the topic of vowels well and avoid gaps in knowledge. If even after reading the article you still have questions on the topic, you can figure them out in the Russian language course at Skysmart. In online lessons, the teacher will help the student work out the theory and consolidate the result on non-boring tasks. So the student will be able to improve the quality of knowledge, and fall in love with the subject.

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Sounds and letters | Learning Russian

01/15/2013 | Author: svetrus | Category: Phonetics

What is sound? What is a letter? How do they compare? How are sounds formed and what are they?

Sounds

Speech sounds differ from all other sounds in that they form words.
Sound is the smallest basic unit of language along with words, phrases and sentences. But, unlike them, sound has no semantic meaning. But, it is thanks to the sounds that we distinguish the words that we hear and pronounce: house [house] and rum [rum] - the difference is in one sound. Sounds create a sound shell of words and this helps to distinguish words from each other, i.e. perform a semantic function. With the help of speech sounds, you can turn one word into another: suk-bow - tuk - tok - rock - mouth - rum - tom - com - ... (when you change one sound, the word changes).

Words differ:

• by the number of sounds they consist of: crow (6 sounds) - funnel (7 sounds), dispute - sport;
• sound set:
  • difference in one sound: lemon [l'imon] - firth [l'iman]; port [port] - cake [cake], onion [onion] - bough [bough];
  • difference in several sounds: tan [tan] - fence [fence]; beans [beans '] - password [password '];
• sequence of sounds: bush [bush] - knock [knock]; nose [nose] - sleep [sleep];
• sounds in words may not completely match: school [school] - teacher [teacher]; crucian carp [carp '] - catfish [catfish], house [house] - hut [hut].

Formation of sounds and their classification.

Speech sounds are produced during exhalation: a stream of air exhaled from the lungs passes through the larynx and oral cavity. Air vibrations and the work of speech apparatus (larynx with vocal cords, oral and nasal cavities, palate, tongue, lips, teeth) form sound.

Tones (voice) and noises are involved in the formation of speech sounds. When the exhaled air passes through the tense vocal cords in the larynx, which causes rhythmic vibrations of the cords, voices (tone) arise. Noise is formed in the oral cavity when the exhaled air overcomes obstacles (gap or closure) that are formed by the lower lip or tongue when they approach or close with the upper lip, teeth or palate.

When the exhaled air is without obstacles passes through the larynx between tense vocal cords and through the oral cavity, which can change its shape, vowels are formed . They consist only of a voice, they are the most sonorous. If you put your finger on the larynx and pronounce the vowel sound [a], [o], [y], [i], [s], [e], then you can feel how the vocal cords tremble. Vowels can be sung.

If the exhaled air encounters an obstruction in the oral cavity, consonants . Both voice and noise are already involved in their education. Consonants, in the formation of which voice and noise are involved, are called voiced . If the voice prevails over noise in the creation of sound, then such voiced consonants are sonorous . Deaf sounds are created only by noise without a voice (vocal cords are relaxed, do not tremble).

Speech sounds according to the degree of sonority (by the number of voice and noise):

• vowels: [a], [o], [y], [i], [s], [e] - only voice is involved in their formation;
• voiced:
  • sonorant consonants: [m], [m'], [n], [n'], [l], [l'], [p], [p'], [y'] – more voices than noise, always voiced, unpaired voiced;
  • noisy voiced consonants: [b], [b'], [c], [c'], [g], [g'], [d], [d'], [h], [h'] , [g] - there is more noise than voices, paired voiced (in speech, a voiced sound is sometimes used [g ']: jury [zh'uri], reins [reins'i]);
• noisy voiceless consonants: [n], [n'], [f], [f'], [k], [k'], [t], [t'], [s], [s'] , [w], [u'], [x], [x'], [c], [h'] - consist only of noise.

Please note that vowels and consonants (voiced and voiceless) differ in the degree of participation of voice and noise, according to the method of formation (there are or are not encountered obstacles in the oral cavity when exhaling air).

Voice (tone) is always present in the pronunciation of vowels and voiced consonants. When pronouncing deaf consonants, the vocal cords are relaxed, the voice is not formed.

The specific sound of each vowel depends on the volume and shape of the oral cavity - the position of the tongue and lips.

The sound of each consonant depends on the functioning of the organs of speech. Consonants are sonorous and noisy, and noisy - voiced and deaf, depending on the participation of voice and noise in their formation. Consonants also differ in the place where the noise is formed, depending on where and by what organs of speech an obstacle is formed through which the exhaled air passes (labial, lingual, etc.).

Consonants are divided into hard and soft . Soft sounds differ from hard sounds in that when they are formed, the tongue performs an additional action: its middle part rises to the hard palate.

Letters

Letters are graphic characters that represent speech sounds when writing. There are 33 letters in total. There is no complete correspondence between letters and sounds.

We pronounce and hear sounds, we see and write letters.

An exact recording of speech sounds is called transcription , denoted by square brackets […]. When recording a transcription of a word, it is necessary to designate each sound with a separate letter, put an accent sign, a soft sign [‘]. For example, a cow is [kaROVA], the letter to conveys the sound [k] , the letter р means the sound [р] , etc.

How are letters and sounds related?

Letters are called vowels or consonants because they denote vowels or consonants.

• All sounds in a word can correspond to their letter: table [table].
• One letter can represent different sounds:

  in the words fruit [raft], fruit [plady], the letter o is used to denote the sounds [o] , [a] , and the letter d is used to denote the sounds [t] and [d ] .

• Letters may not represent sounds:
• One letter can represent two sounds:
  • letters e, e, u, i at the beginning of a word, after dividing b, b and vowels, two sounds are indicated [y'e], [y'o], [y'y], [y'a]. The sounds e, e, yu, i do not exist in Russian.
  • letters b, c, d, e, z, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, f, x they say

  The ambiguity of letters is connected with the syllabic principle of the functioning of Russian graphics . The essence of this principle lies in the fact that the unit of writing and reading is not a letter, but a syllable , i. e. a combination of letters to denote consonant and vowel sounds, where the letters are mutually conditioned. The syllabic principle is used to denote the hardness and softness of consonants, as well as to denote the consonant sound [th].

• One sound can be transmitted by different letters:

  in words c irkul [ c yrkul’ ], smile ts i [smile ts a] sound [ts] is transmitted by the letter ts and the letters ts (ts) .