There are many words in Russian borrowed from other languages. Getting into the Russian language, a new word obeys its orthoepic norms. So, in accordance with the laws of Russian pronunciation, before e a soft consonant is pronounced: [d "] el, but [d] ol. However, this rule does not apply to all words of foreign origin, which leads to fluctuations in the norm and the appearance of errors in speech: you can hear, for example, [te] rmin instead [term, shi[ne]l instead shi [n "] spruce.

The reason for the fluctuation of this orthoepic norm is the influence of the source language, in which the word was pronounced with a solid consonant. It often takes a lot of time to fully "learn" a new word. For example, the word dean(derived from the Latin decim - ten; originally dean - senior over ten monks) came into the Russian language long ago, but the variant hard and soft pronunciation before e: [de]kan and [d "] ekan.

Remember some words in which the consonant before e is pronounced firmly: anes t esia, d ekol t e, gro t esk, d e-gradation, d ecadance, d Christmas tree t eu, d e t active, computer t ep, m e n ed-zher, mik with ep, with service, st R ess, t esis, anti t eza, non with ens, pro t ek-tion, sw t ep, t hermos, boo t erbrod, t temp, t ennis, t ent, sha t en, extra with ence, beefsh t ex, biz n es, and n erty, and t spruce, and d antique, la h er, in t check, pass t spruce, R egby, t ember, t en d ence, fo n ethics, in d ex, in t errier, be h e, R barely with sexy.

Words from soft consonant before e: aka d emic, b bullshit, boor t series, d fuck and n emia, bru n uh, clar n uh, computer t ence, con t text, to R eat, mu h her, pa t ent, pash t no, p R essa, prog R ess, t er-min, fla n spruce, shi n spruce, es with sion, jurisprudence d sion, yachts m en.

In many cases, a variant pronunciation is allowed;

[d "] ekan and [de] kan, [d "] ekanat and [de] rope, [s"] session and [se] ssia, but [ve] lla and but [in "] ella, ag [r" ]session and additional ag[re]ssia, [d "]ep[r"]session and additional [de]p[re]ssia, ba[ss"]ein and ba[sse]ine, stra[t" ] egiya and additional strategy [te] gia, lo [te] rey and additional lo [t "] here.

Pronunciation [ch], [shn] in place of spelling ch

Competition of pronunciation options in place of spelling and graphic combination ch has a long history, the echoes of which we feel when we have to choose one or another use: boring[ch]o or boring[shn]o, skvore[ch]ik or skvore[shn]ik?

There is a gradual displacement of the old Moscow pronunciation [shn] and a convergence of the pronunciation with the spelling, so the variants of kori[shn]evy, bulo[shn]ay, gorni[shn]ay are obsolete. At the same time, it should be remembered that some words retain as a mandatory pronunciation [shn] in place of spelling n: boring, boring, on purpose, of course, scrambled eggs, birdhouse, trifling, eyeglass case(case for glasses), laundry, mustard plaster, loser, candlestick. The pronunciation [shn] is also normative in female patronymics: Kuzminichna, Fominichna, Ilyinichna.

Pronunciation [e] and [o] under stress after soft consonants and hissing

In modern speech, one often hears af yo ra, op yo- ka instead of the norm af e ra, op e ka. Why do such fluctuations occur? Long transition process [e] in [about], in writing denoted by the letter yo , in a stressed position after soft consonants before hard ones, is reflected in the state of the modern norm. In most cases, under stress in a position between a soft and hard consonant and after hissing, the sound [o] is pronounced (graphically yo). Wed, for example, resh e then - resh yo fabric, sound e building -star yo zdny, tear - tearful.

Remember the words with this pronunciation:

raznosh yo rstny, w yo forehead, no yo many, see yo weaving, from yo kshiy, w yo heart, mark yo p, start yo p, forget yo, grav yo r, shof yo r, ks yo ndz, start yo r, double yo nstvo, ist yo k-shey (blood).

However, in many words, most often borrowed, there is no transition [e] to [o] in the indicated position: op e ka(not op yo ka!) af e ra(not af yo ra!) deb e ly, grenade e r, double e German, ist e kshiy (day), w e rd, w e evil, spineless e tny, carbine e r, os e duration, wa-l e zhnik, at the same time e changeable.

The possibility of variant pronunciation of some words testifies to the fluctuation of this orthoepic norm. It should be borne in mind that the main, most preferred options are yo: white yo syy, bl yo cool, w yo lie, w yo personal, man yo vr, man yo vrenny, pobl yo whip. Options with e ri-words are fixed as permissible, that is, less desirable in use: whitish, faded, bile, bilious, maneuver, maneuverable, fade.

Pronunciation of hard and soft consonants

The distinction in the pronunciation of consonants, paired in hardness-softness, has a phonemic meaning, since in Russian hard and soft consonants distinguish the sound shells of words (cf. was - true story, brother - take, etc.). The pronunciation of soft consonants differs from the pronunciation of the corresponding hard consonants by "iot" articulation, which consists in the fact that the middle part of the back of the tongue rises high to the corresponding part of the palate.

At the end of a word and before some consonants, as well as before vowels [a], [o], [y], the hardness and softness of the consonants are clearly distinguished. The softness of consonants in these positions is indicated in writing: at the end of a word and before some consonants - the letter b (cf. ripple - ripple, treasure - treasure, blow - hit, jackdaw - pebble, housekeeper - save, etc.) , and before the vowels [a], [o], [y] - with the letters i, e, u (cf. mother - knead, knock - bale, nose - carried). The use of the letter b after the hissing [w], [w], [h], [u] does not affect the pronunciation of these consonants, since it has a morphological meaning, indicates the shape of the words (cf. knife - multiply, ours - give, bream - thing, weaver - jump, cry - cut, etc.).

1. The softness of consonants, indicated in writing(b and letters i, e, e, u): brother - take, jackdaw - pebbles, shaft - sluggish, nose - carried, tuk - bale - [brother - brother "], [galk - gal" k), [val - in "al], [nose - n" os], [tuk - t" uk].

The final labials, in accordance with the spelling, are pronounced softly: flail - chain, shelter - blood, slave - ripples - [cep - cep "], [krof - krof"], [rap - r" ap "].

Soft labials before i, yo, yu are pronounced without additional articulation of softness: five, knead, chalk, led, engraving, mashed potatoes - [n "ät"], [m "ät"], [m "ol], [v" ol ], [grav "ur", [n "ype].

Softness [m] in the words seven, eight is preserved in complex numerals: seven - seventy - seven hundred, eight - eighty - eight hundred - [with "em" - with "em" ds "ut - s" and e m "hot], [ vos "bm" - vos "bm" d "bs" ut - ws "and e m" sot).

2. Softness of consonants, not indicated in writing. In a position before consonants, the hardness and softness of consonants often have a dependent, assimilative character, i.e. depends on the hardness and softness of the subsequent consonant. The softness of consonants in this case is not indicated on the letter.

The softening of hard consonants in front of soft ones depends on various conditions: which consonants they are, which soft consonants they are in front of, in which part of the word there is a combination of consonants, to which style of speech this or that word belongs:

a) inside the word before the sound [j], consonants soften in some cases: fish, leaves, judge, guest

b) dental consonants [s], [s], [d], [t] before soft dental and labial are pronounced softly: mushroom, sadness - [sad "t"], [sad "t"], wall, song -, [p "ê" s "nj]. In a number of words, softening is variable: ripe, star, hard, door

c) the consonant [n] before soft [d], [t], [n] (less often before [h], [s]), as well as before [h], [u] is pronounced softly: cantik, bandit, equestrian, pensioner, claim, chick

d) the consonant of the prefix c- and the preposition consonant with it, as well as the final consonants of the prefixes on z and the prepositions consonant with them before soft dental and dividing b are pronounced softly: loafer, idle, products, from the case, remove - [b "and e z "d" êln "jk], [b" and e z "-del], [from "d" êl "and b], [from "-d" el], [from "jat]. In other cases, softness is variable: removed, from it - [s "n" al] and [sn" al], [s "-n" and e in] and [s-n" and e in];

1. A certain kind of difficulty may arise when pronouncing consonants before E in foreign words.

Some book words and words of a terminological nature are pronounced with a hard consonant before E: in [te] rvyu, tone [ne] l, sin [te] z, [te] st, [manager] dzher, [te] zis, coc \ te \ yl.

In modern Russian, the main trend in the pronunciation of borrowed words is the transition from a hard pronunciation to a soft one. Some words that were previously only pronounced hard now allow soft pronunciation: artery, vaudeville, devaluation, deduction, deodorant, dismantling, criterion, panther.

2. As a rule, remember: in all borrowed words, the sounds [k], [g], [x] and [l] before E are softened according to the laws of Russian phonetics: \ k "e \ ks, s [x" e \ ma, [g "e \ nesis, suf [l" e], ba [g "e] t. In most cases, the soft pronunciation of consonants becomes the main one, and the variant with a hard pronunciation becomes obsolete and is characterized by dictionaries as acceptable, for example: aggression[r "e and additional re], dean[d "e and additional de], depression[d "e, p" e and add. de, re], hyphen[d "e and additional deh], congress[r "ei additional re], progress[r "e and additional re], express[p "e and additional re].

Of particular note are the pronunciations of compound words (abbreviations): they are pronounced as the names of the letters that make them up are pronounced: VAT [en de es], FSB [ef es ba], CIS [es en ge]. Pronounce proper names correctly: Lodeynoye Pole(district center of the Leningrad region) [d] is pronounced softly Lo [d "e \ ynoe, not [de]; Oh [d "e] ss, not O[de]ss, as we sometimes hear.

However, many foreign names and surnames, as well as geographical names, are pronounced with a firm consonant: \De]kart, Wol[te]r, Gyo[te], Ma[ne\, Ro[de]n, Ba[de]n-Ba[de]n, Manhat[te]n and others. The norm regarding borrowed names developed in the 19th century and is associated with the habit of pronouncing proper names as they sound in the original language.

3. It is necessary to distinguish between sounds [e] and [o] after soft consonants. Remember: a) only [e] pronounced in the words: af e ra, be e, foreign e nny, ist e kshiy, op e ka and etc.; b) only [about] pronounced in the words: zat ë kshiy, newborn ë ny, sharp ë , prin ë sshiy and etc.

Pronunciation options can also be noted: equal ( white e syy and white ë syy, resh e woven and resh ë woven), semantic ( n e bo - n ë bo, yellow e zka - yellow ë zka), normative-chronological ( midwife e r - Akush ë R(outdated), hopeless ë zhny - hopeless e zhny(obsolete) and others).

Pronunciation of the combination CHN. The combination of CHN requires special attention, because. mistakes are often made in its pronunciation.

In modern Russian, the combination CHN is pronounced in most cases as [Ch"N], especially in words of book origin: al [h "n] th, anti \ h "n \ th, por [h" n \ th, removable [h "n] th, interpersonal [h" n] ostny, commander [h" n] th, matrix [ h "n] th and etc.

In some cases, the same word can be pronounced differently depending on the figurative meaning that appears in stable combinations: heart disease and friend heart [shn] th, kopee [h "n] th coin and kopee [shn \ th soul.

Back at the beginning of the 20th century, many words with the combination [CHN] were pronounced with [shn], and not [h "n]: bulo [shn] th, weekday [shn] yy, youthful [shn \ yy, brusni [shn] yy etc., in the modern language such pronunciation is characterized as obsolete or even colloquial.

Now the pronunciation of this combination corresponds to the spelling [h "n]. Only in some words should only [shn] be pronounced: kone[shn] o, boring [shn] o, naro[shn] o, yai[shn] \ ica, square [shn] ik, laundry [shn] th, very [shn] ik, bitter [shn] ik, empty [sh] th. The same pronunciation is preserved in female patronymics: Ilyini[shn]a, Lukini[shn]a, Nikiti[shn]a, Savvi[shn]a, Fomini[shn]a. This is a traditional deviation from the general norm, which is legalized by dictionaries, so it should be followed in your speech.

The pronunciation of the combination Th. Combination thu usually pronounced as it is written, for example: ma thu a, by thu about thu and and etc.; but only combination [PCS] pronounced in a word what and its derivatives (with the exception of the lexeme something). In the word nothing double pronunciation is allowed.

Pronunciation of double consonants. It is necessary to correctly pronounce double consonants in Russian and borrowed words. The following recommendations should be followed here: 1) double consonants in Russian words at the junction of morphemes are usually preserved in pronunciation, for example: be zz clean, centuries erh, to nn oh, be ss ovestny etc.; the same in prefixed passive participles: conceived nn oh, except nn oh, defuse nn th etc. In non-prefixed participles, one sound is pronounced n : wound nn th in the leg, the heat nn fried potatoes; the exception is those cases where words like purchase nn oh, brooch nn ouch, yes nn th etc. are used as adjectives; 2) in borrowed words and in Russian words with foreign morphemes, the double consonant is usually pronounced for a long time if it comes after the stressed syllable: va nn a, ka ss a, ha mm ah, cape ll a, ma nn a (celestial) etc. A double consonant is not pronounced in cases where it stands: a) before a stressed syllable: a ss ambleya, co pp respondent, mi ll yard, gra mm atika, and kk reditive; b) at the end of a word: meta ll, gra mm, gri pp ; c) before a consonant: grue pp ka, cla ss ny, program mm ny etc. In some words, variant pronunciation is allowed, for example: a nn aly, and nn otation, and ss imitation, di ff uzia, ka ss eta and etc.

Pronunciation of vowels and consonants in borrowed words. Certain difficulties are caused by the pronunciation of vowels and consonants in borrowed words: 1) in some words of foreign origin (including in proper names), an unstressed sound is preserved about , For example: wet about, credit about, with about no, fl about ber, Z about la and etc.; at the same time, in most well-learned words, akanye is observed: R about man, ar about checkmate, to about comfort etc. In some cases, variant pronunciation of unstressed about : in about calism, p about Asia and etc.; 2) in place of letters uh, e after vowels in foreign words, a sound is pronounced [e](no previous [th]): about e kt, piru uh t, by uh zia, audi e nation and etc.; 3) labial consonants before e in most cases pronounced softly ( b engali, b enefis, P elerin, in spruce in no etc.), but in some cases labial before e stay solid: b eta, business m en, Kar m yong, sho P en etc. Dental consonants t, d, h, s, n, r more often than others retain firmness before e (en t enna, ge n ethics, polo n ez, fo n ema, gro t esk, d e t active etc.), but only soft teeth are pronounced before e in words: bulletin t en, clar n no, t enor, f n era, shi n spruce, o d essa etc. In many words before e possible variant (hard and soft) pronunciation of consonants: d ekan, pre t enzia, t therapy, t error, t rivers and etc.

Accentological norms (stress norms). stress - highlighting a syllable in a word by various means: intensity (in Czech), duration (in Modern Greek), tone movement (in Vietnamese and other tonal languages). In Russian, the stressed vowel in a syllable is distinguished by its duration, intensity, and tone movement. In many languages, setting stress does not cause any difficulties, because. their accent is fixed. In Polish, Latin, the stress falls on the penultimate syllable, in French - on the last; in English - on the first syllable. Russian accent is various places , since it can fall on any syllable, for example, on the first - etc a fork, On the second - walls a , on the third - beauties a etc. Diversity allows you to distinguish between grammatical forms of words: st e us - walls s, R at ki - hand and, us s pat - embankment a be etc. Stress in Russian can be characterized as mobile and fixed. motionless is called such an accent that falls on the same part of the word: G about hospital, g about hospital, g about hospital, g about hospital, oh about hospital - the stress is attached to the root; ringing Yu, ringing and m, ringing and those ringing and shh, ringing and t, ringing I t - the stress is attached to the ending. An accent that changes place in different forms of the same word is called mobile : start a t, n a started, started a; right, right a you are right a; could at, m about chew, m about gut; Mon I t, p about understood, understood a.

Within the literary norm, there are a significant number of stress options. There are, for example: 1) equal options (interchangeable in all cases, regardless of style, time, etc.): hw a vet and rusty e be, tv about horn and creation about G, b a rust and barges a ; t e fteli and teft e whether; at the same time e exactly and at the same time e no and etc. There are about 5000 such words in Russian. 2) unequal: a) semantic (differ in meaning): jokes a (blades) and acute about that(witty expression); tr at sit(afraid) - coward and be(to run); burial at feminine(placed in transport) - dip e ny(lowered into the water); b) stylistic (refer to different language styles), in particular bookish and colloquial ( points a be and b a catch, great danes about R and d about dialect), common and professional ( to about mpas and comp a with, and scar and sparks a, a languid and at about many; excited about and excitation at born); in) normative-chronological (manifested in the time of their use), for example, modern and obsolete: apartments e nts and apart a cops, steal and nsky and Ukrainian a indian.

A certain difficulty is the setting of stress in derivative forms of words. Here you should be guided by some rules.