The modern Russian alphabet consists of 33 letters. The phonetics of the modern Russian number defines 42 sounds. Sounds are vowels and consonants. Letters b ( soft sign) and ъ ( solid mark) do not form sounds.

Vowel sounds

There are 10 vowels and 6 vowels in Russian.

  • Vowels: a, i, e, e, o, u, s, e, u, i.
  • Vowel sounds: [a], [o], [y], [e], [i], [s].

For memorization, vowels are often written in pairs according to a similar sound: a-z, o-e, ee, u-s, u-yu.

percussion and unstressed

The number of syllables in a word is equal to the number of vowels in a word: forest - 1 syllable, water - 2 syllables, road - 3 syllables, etc. A syllable that is pronounced with more intonation is stressed. The vowel forming such a syllable is stressed, the rest of the vowels in the word are unstressed. The position under stress is called strong position, without stress - a weak position.

Iotated vowels

A significant place is occupied by iotated vowels - the letters e, e, u, i, which mean two sounds: e → [y'] [e], e → [y'] [o], yu → [y'] [y], i → [d'][a]. Vowels are iotated if:

  1. stand at the beginning of the word (spruce, tree, spinning top, anchor),
  2. stand after a vowel (what, sings, hare, cabin),
  3. stand after b or b (stream, stream, stream, stream).

In other cases, the letters e, e, u, i mean one sound, but there is no one-to-one correspondence, since different positions in the word and various combinations with the consonants of these letters give rise to different sounds.

Consonants

There are 21 consonants and 36 consonants in total. The discrepancy in number means that some letters can mean different sounds in different words - soft and hard sounds.

Consonants: b, c, d, e, g, s, d, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, f, x, c, h, w, u.
Consonants: [b], [b '], [c], [c '], [g], [g '], [d], [d '], [g], [h], [h ' ], [d'], [k], [k'], [l], [l'], [m], [m'], [n], [n'], [n], [n' ], [p], [p'], [s], [s'], [t], [t'], [f], [f'], [x], [x'], [c] , [h'], [w], [w'].

The ‘ sign means a soft sound, that is, the letter is pronounced softly. The absence of a sign indicates that the sound is solid. So, [b] is hard, [b ’] is soft.

Voiced and voiceless consonants

There is a difference in how we pronounce consonants. Voiced consonants - are formed in a combination of voice and noise, deaf consonants - are formed due to noise (the vocal cords do not vibrate). There are 20 voiced consonants and 16 voiceless consonants.

Voiced consonantsvoiceless consonants
unpairedpairedpairedunpaired
th → [th"]b → [b], [b "]n → [n], [n"]h → [h"]
l → [l], [l"]in → [in], [in"]f → [f], [f"]u → [u"]
m → [m], [m"]g → [g], [g"]to → [to], [to "]ts → [ts]
n → [n], [n "]d → [d], [d "]t → [t], [t"]x → [x], [x"]
p → [p], [p "]f → [f]w → [w]
s → [s], [s "]s → [s], [s"]
9 unpaired11 doubles11 doubles5 unpaired
20 voiced sounds16 deaf sounds

According to pairing-unpairness, voiced and deaf consonants are divided into:
b-p, v-f, g-k, d-t, w-w, s-s- paired by sonority-deafness.
d, l, m, n, p - always voiced (unpaired).
x, c, h, u - always deaf (unpaired).

Unpaired voiced consonants are called sonorants.

Among the consonants, according to the level of "noisiness", there are also groups:
f, w, h, u - hissing.
b, c, d, e, g, h, k, p, s, t, f, x, c, h, w, u- noisy.

Hard and soft consonants

hard consonantsSoft consonants
unpairedpairedpairedunpaired
[and][b][b"][h"]
[w][V][V"][sch"]
[c][G][G"][th"]
[e][d"]
[h][h "]
[To][To"]
[l][l"]
[m][m"]
[n][n"]
[P][P"]
[R][R"]
[With][With"]
[T][T"]
[f][f"]
[X][X"]
3 unpaired15 doubles15 unpaired3 doubles
18 solid sounds18 soft sounds

In this lesson, we will learn to distinguish between voiced and deaf consonants and designate them in writing with consonants. We will find out which consonants are called paired and unpaired in terms of voicing - deafness, sonorous and hissing.

Voiced and voiceless consonants

Recall how speech sounds are born. When a person begins to speak, he exhales air from the lungs. It runs along the windpipe into a narrow larynx, where there are special muscles - the vocal cords. If a person pronounces consonant sounds, then he closes (at least a little) his mouth, because of this, noise is obtained. But consonants make noise in different ways.

Let's conduct an experiment: we close our ears and pronounce the sound [p], and then the sound [b]. When we uttered the sound [b], the ligaments stretched and began to tremble. This trembling turned into a voice. There was a little ringing in my ears.

You can conduct a similar experiment by placing your hands on your neck on the right and left sides, and pronounce the sounds [d] and [t]. The sound [d] is pronounced much louder, more sonorous. Scientists call these sounds voiced, and sounds that consist only of noise - deaf.

Paired consonants in voicing-deafness

Let's try to divide the sounds into two groups according to the method of pronunciation. Let's populate phonetic houses in the city of sounds. Let's agree: deaf sounds will live on the first floor, and sonorous sounds will live on the second. Residents of the first house:

[b] [e] [h] [G] [V] [and]
[P] [T] [With] [To] [f] [w]

These consonants are called paired by sonority - deafness.

Rice. 1. Paired voiced and deaf consonants ()

They are very similar to each other - real "twins", they are pronounced almost the same: the lips fold the same way, the tongue moves the same way. But they have pairs and softness - hardness. Let's add them to the house.

[b] [b '] [e] [d'] [h] [h '] [G] [G'] [V] [V'] [and]
[P] [P'] [T] [T'] [With] [With'] [To] [To'] [f] [f'] [w]

The sounds [w] and [w] do not have paired soft sounds, they always hard. And they are also called hissing sounds.

All these sounds are denoted by letters:

[b] [b ']
[P] [P']
[e] [d']
[T] [T']
[h] [h ']
[With] [With']
[G] [G']
[To] [To']
[V] [V']
[f] [f']
[and]
[w]

Unpaired voiced consonants

But not all consonants and letters form pairs. Those consonants that do not have pairs are called unpaired. Let's settle unpaired consonant sounds in our houses.

In the second house - unpairedvoiced consonants sounds:

Recall that the sound [th '] always soft. Therefore, in our house he will live alone. These sounds are indicated in writing by letters:

[l] [l']

(el)
[m] [m']
[n] [n']
[R] [R']
[th']

(and short)

The sounds of the second house are also called sonorous , because they are formed with the help of a voice and almost without noise, they are very sonorous. The word "sonor" in Latin "sonorus" means sonorous.

Unpaired voiceless consonants

In the third house we will settle unpaired voiceless consonants sounds:

[X] [X'] [c] [h'] [sch']

Recall that the sound [ts] is always solid, and [h '] and [u '] - always soft. Unpaired deaf consonants are indicated in writing by letters:

[X] [X']
[c]
[h']
[sch']

Sounds [h '], [u '] - hissing sounds.

So we populated our city of consonant sounds and letters. Now it’s immediately clear why there are 21 consonants and 36 sounds.

Rice. 2. Voiced and voiceless consonants ()

Consolidation of knowledge in practice

Let's complete the tasks.

1. Consider the pictures and turn one word into another, replacing only one sound. Hint: remember pairs of consonants.

d point - point

b ochka - kidney

w ar - fever

fishing rod - duck

2. There are riddles, the meaning of which lies in the knowledge of consonant sounds, they are called charades. Try to guess them:

1) With a deaf consonant I pour into the field,
With a voiced - I myself ring in expanse . (Spike - voice)

2) With the deaf - she cuts the grass,
With a voiced - eats leaves. (Spit - goat)

3) With "em" - pleasant, golden, very sweet and fragrant.
With the letter "el" it happens in winter, and disappears in spring . (Honey-ice)

In order to develop the ability to pronounce some sounds, especially hissing ones, tongue twisters are taught. The tongue twister is told slowly at first, and then accelerates the pace. Let's try to learn tongue twisters:

  1. Six mice rustle in the reeds.
  2. The hedgehog has a hedgehog, the snake has a narrowed one.
  3. Two puppies chewed cheek to cheek on a brush in the corner.

So, today we learned that consonants can be voiced and deaf and how these sounds are indicated in writing.

  1. Andrianova T.M., Ilyukhina V.A. Russian language 1. M .: Astrel, 2011. ().
  2. Buneev R.N., Buneeva E.V., Pronina O.V. Russian language 1. M .: Ballas. ().
  3. Agarkova N.G., Agarkov Yu.A. Textbook on teaching literacy and reading: ABC. Academic book / Textbook.
  1. Fictionbook.ru ().
  2. Deafnet.ru ().
  3. Samouchka.com.ua ().
  1. Andrianova T.M., Ilyukhina V.A. Russian language 1. M .: Astrel, 2011. Pp. 38, ex. 2; Page 39, ex. 6; Page 43, ex. 4.
  2. Count how many voiced consonants and how many voiceless consonants in a word unsatisfactory ? (Voiced consonants - 9 - N, D, V, L, V, R, L, N, Y, various -6, deaf consonants - 2 - T, T, various - 1.).
  3. Read the proverb: « Be able to speak in time, be silent in time. Name the letters that represent voiced consonants. (Voiced consonants denote the letters M, Y, V, R, Z, L in the proverb.)
  4. 4* Using the knowledge gained in the lesson, write a fairy tale or draw a comic book on the topic “In the city of consonants”.

Sound is the smallest unit of language, pronounced with the help of the organs of the speech apparatus. Scientists have discovered that at birth, human hearing perceives all the sounds that it hears. All this time, his brain sorts out unnecessary information, and by 8-10 months a person is able to distinguish sounds that are 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 should 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, form words.

36 consonants: [b], [h], [c], [d], [g], [g], [m], [n], [k], [l], [t], [p ], [t], [s], [u], [f], [c], [w], [x], [h], [b "], [h "], [c"], [ d "], [th"], [n"], [k"], [m"], [l"], [t"], [s"], [n"], [r"], [ f "], [g"], [x"].

The consonants are divided into:

  • soft and hard;

    • voiced and deaf;

    paired and unpaired.

Soft and hard consonants

The phonetics of the Russian language has a significant difference from many other languages. It contains hard and soft consonants.

At the time of pronunciation soft sound the tongue is pressed against the palate more strongly than when pronouncing a hard consonant sound, preventing the release of air. This is what distinguishes a hard and soft consonant from each other. In order to determine in a letter whether a consonant is soft or hard, you should look at the letter immediately after a specific consonant.

Consonants are classified as solid in such cases:

  • if letters a, o, u, uh, s follow after them - [poppy], [rum], [hum], [juice], [bull];
  • after them there is another consonant sound - [pile], [hail], [marriage];
  • if the sound is at the end of the word - [gloom], [friend], [table].

The softness of the sound is written as an apostrophe: mol - [mol '], chalk - [m'el], gate - [kal'itka], fir - [p'ir].

It should be noted that the sounds [u ’], [d ’], [h ’] are always soft, and hard consonants are only [w], [c], [g].

The consonant sound will become soft if it is followed by "b" and vowels: i, e, u, i, e. For example: gene - [g "en], len - [l" he], disk - [d "isk] , hatch - [l "uk], elm - [v" yaz], trill - [tr "el"].

Voiced and deaf, paired and unpaired sounds

According to the voicedness, consonants are divided into voiced and deaf. Voiced consonants can be sounds created with the participation of the voice: [c], [h], [g], [b], [g], [d], [m], [d], [l], [p] , [n].

Examples: [boron], [ox], [shower], [call], [heat], [head], [catch], [pestilence], [nose], [genus], [swarm].

Examples: [count], [floor], [volume], [dream], [noise], [u "uk], [choir], [king"], [ch "an].

Paired voiced and deaf consonants include: [b] - [n], [g] - [w], [g] - [x], [h] - [s]. [d] - [t], [c] - [f]. Examples: true story - dust, house - volume, year - code, vase - phase, itching - court, live - sew.

Sounds that do not form a pair: [h], [n], [c], [x], [p], [m], [l].

Soft and hard consonants can also have a pair: [p] - [p "], [n] - [n"], [m] - [m"], [c] - [c"], [d] - [ d "], [f] - [f "], [k] - [k"], [h] - [h "], [b] - [b"], [g] - [g"], [ n] - [n "], [s] - [s"], [l] - [l "], [t] - [t"], [x] - [x"]. Examples: true story - white, height - branch, city - cheetah, cottage - business, umbrella - zebra, skin - cedar, moon - summer, monster - place, finger - pen, ore - river, soda - sulfur, pillar - steppe, lantern - farm, mansions - hut.

Table for memorizing consonants

To visually see and compare soft and hard consonants, the table below shows them in pairs.

Table. Consonants: hard and soft

Solid - before the letters A, O, U, S, E

Soft - before the letters I, E, E, Yu, I

Hard and soft consonants
bballb"battle
VhowlV"eyelid
GgarageG"hero
dholed"tar
hashh"yawn
TogodfatherTo"sneakers
lvinel"foliage
mMarchm"month
nlegn"tenderness
PspiderP"song
RheightR"rhubarb
WithsaltWith"hay
TcloudT"patience
fphosphorusf"firm
XthinnessX"chemistry
Unpairedandgiraffehmiracle
wscreenschhazel
ctargetthfelt

Another table will help memorize consonant sounds.

Table. Consonants: voiced and voiceless
PairedvoicedDeaf
BP
INF
GTO
DT
ANDW
WWITH
UnpairedL, M, N, R, YX, C, H, W

Children's poems for better mastering of the material

The letters are exactly 33 in the Russian alphabet,

To find out how many consonants -

Subtract ten vowels

Signs - hard, soft -

It will immediately become clear:

It turns out the number is exactly twenty-one.

Soft and hard consonants are very different,

But not dangerous at all.

If we pronounce with noise, then they are deaf.

Consonant sounds proudly say:

They sound different.

Hard and soft

Actually very light.

One simple rule to remember forever:

W, C, F - always solid,

But H, W, Y - only soft,

Like cat paws.

Let's soften the others like this:

If we add a soft sign,

Then we get spruce, moth, salt,

What a clever sign!

And if we add the vowels I, I, Yo, E, Yu,

We get a soft consonant.

Signs-brothers, soft, hard,

We don't pronounce

But to change the word

Let's ask for their help.

The rider is riding a horse

Kon - use in the game.

Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy said that there is nothing sedimentary or crystalline in the Russian language; everything excites, breathes, lives. Such "liveness" of our native language is the merit of its constituent words. But before you learn how to use them, you need to learn the letters and sounds. They will be discussed in this article.

When studying a language with a child, you need to clearly make him understand the differences between oral and writing. To do this, it is important to give him the concept of what a sound is, and what is a letter.

Sounds are what we perceive with our ears. Our brain easily separates what is related to speech from other sounds and interprets them into images. We can write the sounds of speech in letters, forming words from them.

A letter is a graphic symbol of the alphabet, thanks to which we can display on paper what we hear by ear. But, here for the child lies very great difficulty. After all, the number of sounds and letters that reproduce them on paper in different words can differ both in one direction and in the other.

How many letters and sounds in the Russian language and alphabet and their ratio

IMPORTANT: We hear sounds and can make our own speech apparatus. We can see and write letters! There are sounds in all languages. Even in those where there is no writing.

In a word like "chair" letters correspond to sounds. But, in the word "sun", the letter "L" not pronounced. Letters are also not pronounced. "b" And "b". They only slightly change the pronunciation of the words in which they are used.

There is also such a "school" word as "Compass". In which instead of sound [AND] pronounced sound [S].

There are still a lot of words in Russian that are not pronounced the way they are written in letters. Therefore, it is very important for a child to learn to correctly understand this difference.

Alphabet

Language is the main invention of mankind. Moreover, for each people who created their own language, it differs in features characteristic of this people. At a certain stage in the development of a community that uses a particular people, there is a need to record speech sounds combined into words and sentences. This is how writing appeared, and at the same time the alphabet. That is, a set of all letters used in writing, standing in strict order.

The alphabet of the Russian language has 33 letters and looks like this:

The alphabet is the base of any language that everyone who learns it needs to know. Is it possible to learn to speak without knowing the alphabet? Certainly. But, in addition to being able to express your thoughts, you need to learn how to write and read. And this can not be done without knowing the alphabet.

Today, children have a lot of different aids for learning the alphabet. You can buy special flash cards, magnets, a small primer that the child can take with him on walks or trips.

In our computerized age, electronic gadgets can also be called upon to help you learn the alphabet. Type letters in text apps and name the sounds that teach them. You can connect your imagination and use graphic editors, change fonts and add fills. Create your own alphabet that will be of interest to the child. Then the training will go faster and more efficiently.

INTERESTING: Teachers came up with a very interesting and fun way to learn the alphabet. Dedicate each new day in your family to one of the letters of the alphabet. Of course, we should not forget about the rest. Bake buns in the shape of letters, make letters from plasticine with your child, draw them, collect them from counting sticks. Be sure to talk about the letter that the day is dedicated to and give examples of its use.

Vowel sounds and letters

Introducing the alphabet to a child is a very exciting activity. But, this is only one of the first steps in mastering the language. To continue the study of its elementary units, you need to learn how to divide them according to their characteristics.

Those letters that are pronounced lingeringly are called vowels.

  • There are 10 vowels in Russian "A", "E", "E", "I", "O", "U", "S", "E", "Yu", "I"
  • 6 vowels [a], [o], [y], [e], [and], [s]. Usually vowels in school curriculum should be highlighted in red.

We have already found out the difference between the elementary particles of the language.

Letters I, Yo, Yu, E - iotated. They mean one or two sounds.

From this table - this difference can be seen again:

INTERESTING: By the way, about the letter "Yo". Today it is mistakenly considered that it was introduced into our alphabet by Karamzin. But, it's not. This was done by the director of the St. Petersburg Academy, Princess Ekaterina Dashkova, on November 18, 1783 at a meeting on the occasion of the creation of the first explanatory dictionary in Russia. She suggested changing the letters "IO" to one "Yo".

Stressed and unstressed vowels

  • Stressed vowel pronounced with great force and does not change.

For example: sn e g, st ý l, sh A f

  • unstressed vowel sound pronounced with little force and undergoes changes.

For example: To ABOUT rzina (heard instead of ABOUT, sound A), m E two d (In the first unstressed vowel instead of E, is heard AND), pl E cho (vowel AND heard instead E).

IMPORTANT: The stress is not put in words with one syllable and in words with a letter Yo.

Vowels Iotated letters I, Yu, E, Yo make the consonant sound in front of them soft and create one sound: e → [e] or [i], ё → [o], yu → [y], i → [a ].

For example:

  • At the beginning of a word: hedgehog [y'ozhik]
  • In the middle of a word: shelter [at y'ut]
  • At the end of a word: gun [rouge y'o]

Hard and soft vowels directly affect consonants. For example, a consonant "P", maybe as solid (in a word "plastic bag"), and soft (in the word "cookie").

Consonants and letters

Consonants are called such because of the inclusion of consonants in their composition. There are 36 consonants in Russian:

Soft sounds are marked with an apostrophe.
And 21 consonants:

Consonants and sounds soft and hard: table

Consonants, like vowels, can be either hard or soft. For example, in the word "River", beech "R" soft, but "Hand"- solid. In general, several factors influence the softness and hardness of sounds in a word. For example, the location of a sound in a word. Soften the sounds of iot vowels ( "E", "Yo", "YU" And "I") and diphthongs that come after consonants. For example:

  • "White"
  • "Love"
  • "Friday"

Also softens the sounds of the letter "AND", and its antipode "Y", on the contrary, makes the sound hard. Important role plays the presence of a soft sign at the end of the word:

  • "Linen" And "laziness"

A soft sign can soften the sound, even if it is inside a word:

  • "Skates"

Voiceless and voiced consonants in Russian: table

Consonants can be voiced or voiceless. Voiced are obtained with the participation of the voice in the formation of sound. Whereas in the formation of a deaf sound, the voice practically does not play its creative role.

Voiced consonants are formed when an air stream passes through the oral cavity and the vocal cords vibrate. This results in consonants such as:

To make it easy to remember deaf consonants, remember the expression: STEPKA DO YOU WANT A PIECE? - FI!

If you delete all vowels from this expression, only deaf consonants remain.

Paired and unpaired hard and soft consonants: table

By hardness-softness, most sounds form pairs:

Paired and unpaired voiced and deaf consonants: table

In Russian, it is customary to distinguish pairs of deaf-voiced consonants:

The remaining consonants are unpaired:

Sometimes there is a "forced" deafness or sonority of a consonant sound. This is due to the position of the sound in the word. A common example of such a forced state is the words: pond [rod] And booth [butka].

Sonorant- voiced unpaired consonants. There are only 9 of them: [th’], [l], [l’], [m], [m’], [n], [n’], [r], [r’]

Noisy consonants - there are voiced and deaf:

  1. Noisy voiceless consonants(16): [k], [k'], [p], [n'], [s], [s'], [t], [t'], [f], [f'], [ x], [x'], [c], [h'], [w], [w'];
  2. Noisy voiced consonants(11): [b], [b'], [c], [c'], [d], [g'], [e], [e'], [g], [h], [h '].

Summary table of commonly used soft and hard letters and sounds in Russian:

Hissing consonants

Consonants "AND", "SH", "H" And "SCH" are called hissing. These letters bring some zest to our language. At the same time, they make it very difficult. While studying these letters, the child should know the rules:

  • "ZhI" — "SHI" write with "AND"
  • "CHA" — "ShA" with a letter "A"
  • "CHU" — "SHU" with a letter "U"

Letters "AND" And "H" are voiced, and the other two ( "SH" And "SCH") deaf. An important feature of these sounds is that it is impossible to pronounce from without opening the mouth. Compare their pronunciation with the pronunciation "M" or "N". To pronounce hissing consonants, there must be a gap between the lips through which air will escape, creating an acoustic accompaniment to these sounds.

The letter "and short" denotes the consonant sound th

Letter "Y" or "And short" found in almost all Slavic alphabets, as well as in those non-Slavic alphabets where the Cyrillic alphabet is used. In the Russian alphabet, this letter occupies the 11th place. It was formed from the vowel "AND" and voiced consonant J.

It is interesting that in the 18th century, when the civil type was introduced (as opposed to the church type), all superscript characters disappeared from it. And the letter "Y" missing an important part. At the same time, the sound that was designated by this letter “did not suffer” from such reforms. Return "Y" in the letter succeeded under Peter I. But, at the same time, it was not returned to the alphabet. This was done only in the 20th century.

Today, more and more philologists attribute sound "Y" to sonorant consonants. That is, to such sounds that are located between vowels and consonants, but still refers to a consonant. In addition, it is always considered soft.

Which letters have multiple sounds?

Ribbon of letters and sounds for elementary school

Very good help in learning the Russian language in various manuals. One of these benefits is "Summer of Letters". It helps to understand the difference between letters, develop children's reading skills faster, and facilitate phonetic parsing words.

Even at first glance "Tape of Letters" carries a minimum of information, this is far from the case. This manual can be used not only at school, but also at home. Parents can self-teach their child literacy with this tool.

What is sound? This is the minimum component of human speech. Shown in letters. In writing, sounds differ from letters by the presence of first square brackets used in phonetic transcription. The letter is o, the sound is [o]. Transcription shows differences in spelling and pronunciation. Apostrophe [ ‘ ] indicates softness of pronunciation.

In contact with

The sounds are divided into:

  • Vowels. They can be easily pulled. When they are created, 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 the air supply. vowel length - basis of vocal art(singing, "singing smooth").
  • The consonants 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 the appearance of noise in the oral cavity. At the output, they are converted into sound. Also, the lips, which close and open during speech, prevent the free passage of air.

The consonants are divided into:

  • deaf and voiced. The deafness and sonority of the sound depends on the operation of the speech apparatus;
  • hard and soft. The sound is determined by the position of the letter in the word.

Letters representing consonants

Deaf

Deaf in Russian: [k], [p], [s], [t], [f], [x], [ts], [sh]. The easiest way to remember the phrase, and not a set of letters, “Stepka, do you want a cabbage? Phi!” containing them all.

An example in which all consonants are deaf: rooster, honeycomb, pin.

voiced

When they are formed, the form of the tongue is close to the form that produces deaf, but vibrations are added. Voiced consonants create active vibrations of the ligaments. vibrations deform sound wave , and not a clean stream of air enters the oral cavity, but sound. In the future, it is additionally transformed by the tongue and lips.

To voiced consonants belong: b, c, d, e, g, h, d, l, m, n, p.

When they are pronounced, tension is clearly felt in the larynx. 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 (voiced and voiced).

It is due to the change in sound that Russian speech is enriched different words close in spelling and pronunciation, but completely different in meaning. For example: house - volume, court - itching, code - year.

Paired consonants

What does parity mean? Two letters that are similar in sound, in the pronunciation of which the language occupies similar positions, are called paired consonant sounds. The pronunciation of consonants can be conditionally divided into one-stage (lips and tongues are involved in their creation) and two-stage - the ligaments are connected first, then the mouth. Those cases when, when pronouncing, the movements of the mouth 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 to 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 consonants replace (by ear) each other during speech. For example: love - [l 'u b about f '].

But not everyone has their own pair. There are not similar in pronunciation to any others - this is 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 with softness. The second has no analogues in pronunciation.

Unpaired consonants are divided into:

  • sonoras - [th '], [l], [l '], [m], [m '], [n], [n '], [p], [p ']. When they are pronounced, the air current hits the upper sky like a dome;
  • hissing - [x], [x '], [c], [h '], [u '].

The Russian language contains letters that are difficult to understand in the context. Are the sounds [h], [th], [c], [n] voiced or deaf? Learn these 4 letters!

Important![h] - deaf! [th] - sonorous! [c] is deaf! [n] - sonorous!

Unpaired consonants

Hard and soft

They are spelled the same but sound different. Voiceless and voiced consonants, with the exception of hissing, can be pronounced hard or soft. For example: [b] was - [b`] beat; [t] current - [t`] current.

When pronouncing hard, the tip of the tongue is pressed against the palate. Soft 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-i, u-u, e-e, s-i, o-e.

Two-vowel vowels (i, ё, u, 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 jung. It is pronounced as [th] [y] [n] [g] [a]. Or the word mint. It is pronounced as: [m '] [a] [t] [a]. The vowels A, O, U, E, S do not have a double sound, therefore do not affect the pronunciation of the leading consonant.

Difference example:

A spoon is a hatch, honey is a sea, a house is a woodpecker.

Phonetic transcription:

[Spoon a] - [L 'u k], [m 'o d] - [m o r 'e], [d o m] - [d' a tel].

Pronunciation rules:

  • hard ones are pronounced before A, O, U, E, Y. Abscess, side, beech, bentley, former;
  • soft are pronounced before I, 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, C is pronounced firmly;
  • solid are pronounced if the letter is the last in the word: class, house;
  • consonants before the vowel [e] in borrowed words are pronounced firmly, as before [e]. For example: scarf - [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 J, Ch, W: white, black, pike.