Remember the strong and weak positions of vowel consonants. Strong and weak positions of vowel phonemes

The Russian language is a difficult subject. We spell words quite differently from how they are actually pronounced. In speech, the same phonemes manifest themselves in different sound forms. Compare, for example, the words "honey" - [m" from] and "honey" - [m" idok]. It all depends on whether phonemes occupy strong positions or weak positions within a word. Let's talk about this in more detail.

Speech is a continuous stream of phonemes, in which the pronunciation of a sound is largely determined by its place in the word, adjacent vowels and consonants. AT weak position articulation undergoes significant changes. Phonemes lose some of their characteristics, begin to appear in other variants. For example, [o] in an unstressed position begins to sound like [a]: [vada], [sava]. The final [g] is pronounced like [k]: [druk], [kruk]. It is in such places that we make mistakes in writing.

AT strong position the phoneme, on the contrary, is heard distinctly and stands in its basic form. It does not depend on the position in the word, its quality is not affected by neighboring sounds. This is, for example, the phoneme [o] in the words "water", "owl". Or the sound [g] in the words "friend", "around".

Morphological principle of spelling

Why does an ordinary person, far from linguistics, need to know the strong and weak positions of phonemes? The fact is that the spelling of 90% of Russian words is regulated by the so-called morphological principle. According to him, we should not take into account phonetic alternations when we pick up a pen or type on a keyboard. Roots, suffixes, prefixes, endings are always written the same way. Vowel reduction, softening of consonants before some sounds, their voicing or stunning are not taken into account.

The conclusion follows from this: when writing, one cannot rely on hearing. Only sounds in strong positions are written as they are heard. All others need to be checked. Having determined that the phoneme is in a weak position, we begin to select a test word with the same morpheme. For example, tooth - tooth, lime - pine, hike - train, to the lamp - to the water. In the test word, the phoneme must be in a strong position, and be in the same morpheme. Otherwise, you can make a mistake.

Strong and weak positions of vowels

Already in elementary school, children know: the sound under stress is heard for a long time, clearly and does not need to be checked. We can safely write the words "som", "sam" in a notebook. This is a strong vowel position.

Quite another matter is an unstressed position. Such a vowel is in a weak position, we pronounce it shortly, with less force, indistinctly. Compare the words "soma" and "sama". They sound almost the same. In order not to make mistakes when writing them, schoolchildren are taught to select test words.

The Russian language is characterized by:

"akanye", when unstressed [a] and [o] are pronounced the same after solid consonants (for example, the words "at home", "gave");
"hiccups", in which unstressed [a] and [e] are indistinguishable after soft consonants (for example, in the words "ball" and "sword").

Vowels [and], [y] and [s] in a weak position are pronounced shorter, but do not change their quality sound. However, it is better to be careful here too. Unstressed [and], for example, can be easily confused with the phonemes [a] and [e] after soft consonants.

Consonant positions: voiceless and voiceless

Consonant sounds form pairs according to such features as "deaf-voiced" and "hard-soft". Accordingly, strong and weak positions of consonants are also determined by these two characteristics.

A strong position on the basis of "deaf-voiced" for consonants is the position:

before a vowel: tom-house, fence-cathedral;
before sonorants: firewood - grass, layer - evil;
before the letter "v": the creator is the palace.

In these cases, consonants are heard clearly and do not require verification. It is hardly possible to make a mistake in writing which do not have a pair of deafness. These include [l], [l "], [n], [n"], [p], [p "], [m], [m"], [th"]. Phonemes [x], [ c], [x "], [u"] and [h "], on the contrary, do not have a voiced paired sound. They can occupy different positions in words, retaining their main characteristics and not coinciding with other consonants during pronunciation.

When can consonants be voiced or stunned?

Now we will learn to distinguish between strong positions and weak positions of paired ones according to the voiced-deafness of phonemes. When do we run the risk of making a mistake in writing? This position:

at the end of a word, where both voiced and deaf phonemes coincide in their sound: eye - voice, oak - dull, bough - meadow;
before a paired voiced sound, when the adjacent consonant is also pronounced loudly: shave - [br] shave, give - o[dd]at;
before a deaf consonant, when a nearby sound is deafened: spoon - lo [shk] a, entrance - [ph] od.

To avoid mistakes, we must understand in which morpheme the questionable sound is located. Then find a test word where the required phoneme is in a strong position. To make it not take a lot of time, you need training. Let's select test words for the examples given above: eye - eyes, voice - voice, oak - oak, stupid - stupid, bough - bough, meadow - meadows; shave - fold, give - drive off; spoon - impose, entrance - to the left.

Consonant positions: hardness and softness

It's time to consider the strong and weak positions of consonants on such a basis as "hard-soft". There are many dangers here. The morphological principle does not always save. For example, the sounds [zh] and [w] are always hard, but we know that in some cases a soft sign is written after them (rye, hear). After a hard [c], the letter "y" (chicken) or "i" (circus) can stand.

The sounds [h "] and [u"] are always pronounced softly, but from the first grade we remember the spelling of the syllables "cha-scha" and "chu-shu". Another principle is at work here, called traditional or historical. Only a clear knowledge of the rules of the Russian language will save you from a mistake.

However, back to theory. In which case do consonants that have a pair of hardness-softness do not change their qualitative characteristics? This position:

before a vowel: [small] - [m "al", [ox] - [v "ol], [bow] - [l "uk], [life"] - [b "it"];
at the end of the word: [kon] - [kon "], [brother] - [brother"];
absolutely any for phonemes [l], [l "]: in [ln] a - in [l "n] a, after [l "z] a - in [lz] at;
before posterior lingual [g], [k], [x], [g "], [k"], [x"] and hard labial [b], [m], [p] for front lingual sounds: go [rk] a - go [r "k] o, and [zb] a - re [z "b] a;
before hard dental [s], [s], [c], [d], [t], [l], [n] for dental: ko [ns] cue - ju [n "s] cue;
before solid anterior lingual [c], [h], [t], [d], [c], [l], [r], [n], [w], [g] for sonorant anterior linguals: Jan [rs] cue - September [r "s] cue, ma [nzh] eta - de [n "f] ata.

Weak positions on the characteristic "softness - hardness"

There are positions in which hard consonants soften under the influence of neighboring sounds. They are considered weak. This position:

Before [th "]: raven - voro [n" y "o]. The exception is the consonants at the end of the prefix before [th"]: [vy" est] - entry.
Before soft teeth for sounds [c], [n], [s]: together with [s "t"] e, [s "d"] are.
Before the phonemes [h "] and [u"] for the sound [n]: drum [n "u"] ik, roll [n "h"] ik.

In general, it is very difficult to distinguish between strong positions and weak positions on the basis of "hard-soft consonant". The fact is that not all cases can be found examples. So, in Russian, before [n] we meet only solid [m]: compote, shampoo, etc. Not a single word has a sound [m "] in this position. Therefore, we cannot be completely sure whether phoneme [m] or [m "].

Absolute positions for consonants

Let's summarize. With vowel sounds, everything is clear. If they are under stress, the position is considered strong. If the stress falls on another phoneme in the word, then the position is weak. Consonants are more difficult.

For example, in the word "tooth" the sound at the end is deafened. The position on the basis of "voicedness-deafness" will be weak. But it is also strong on the soft-hard scale. When weak positions on both characteristics coincide, the phoneme is considered to be absolutely weak. It realizes itself in various variations and requires the application of spelling rules.

It happens that the consonant is in a strong position both on the basis of "voiced-deaf", and according to the characteristic "soft - hard". Often this is observed in the position before the vowel sound. This position is called absolutely strong.

Knowing the strong positions and weak positions of phonemes is necessary for every person who wants to write correctly. This will allow you to determine the "erroneously dangerous" place in the word in time and remember the corresponding rule.

If the sound is pronounced and heard distinctly, it can be meaningful, then it is in a strong position. A strong position for vowel phonemes is their position under stress. It is in this position that five vowel phonemes are distinguished: lt; and gt;, lt; egt;, lt; ogt;, lt; agt;, lt; For example: salt - [o], rivers - [e], crushed - [a].
Stressed vowels are affected by preceding and following consonants, and therefore strong vowel phonemes appear in their different allophones. Such an impact is expressed in various kinds of shifts of vowels in the zone of formation or in the acquisition by vowels of tension, of a closed nature.
The vowel [m] is an allophone of the phoneme lt; and gt;, and not an independent phoneme of the Russian literary language. This position[s] is determined by:

between [and] and [s] there is no other difference, except for the anterior-non-anterior formation zone, which depends on the softness-hardness of the preceding consonant;
and [s] cannot act in the same phonetic position: [and] appears only after a soft, and [s] - only after a hard consonant;
in cases where the initial sound [and] is in a position after a solid consonant, [s] is pronounced in its place: [and] searches - [detective], [and / zby - [v-s] zbu, [and] go - according to [d-s] gom.

Positions without stress are weak for vowel phonemes. Weak vowel phonemes appear in these positions. At the same time, it is necessary to distinguish between the weak vowel phonemes of the first prestressed syllable and the weak vowel phonemes of the remaining unstressed syllables, since they are characterized by a different composition of allophones.
Let's compare the weak vowel phonemes lt;ogt;, lt;egt;, lt;agt; in the first pre-stressed syllable: glass [stkkan], home [dkmdy], nickel [p'ietak \, spring [v'iesndy]. The comparison shows that the weak vowel phoneme lt;agt; is realized in the allophone [l] after a hard consonant and in the allophone [ne] after a soft consonant. Thus, the vowels [l] and [u3] are allophones of one weak vowel phoneme.
Weak vowel phonemes lt;цgt; and lt;ygt; in the first prestressed syllable they are realized in the same allophones as the strong phonemes lt;цgt; and lt;уgt;. For example: lt; ygt ;: [player], [wine], [dive "at '], [syrdk], [s'in'et ']; lt; ygt ;: [fell], [trigger], [l 'ubdy], [kur "ypG], [l'ub'yt '].
In other unstressed syllables, weak vowel phonemes lt;оgt;, lt;еgt;, lt;аgt; are realized in allophones [b] after hard and [b] after soft consonants. For example: in the second pre-stressed syllable: urban [grktska], gardener [sjdkvdt], timber truck [l'sAvds], rebellion [m't'iezha], translation [p'r'ievdt]. In a stressed syllable: I gave out [vydl], the city [gdrat], I will stretch [vyt'nu], I will take out [take out].
In other unstressed syllables, the phonemes lt; and gt; and lt;ygt; the same as under stress.
The procedure for determining the main variant of the vowel phoneme:

determine what position the vowel occupies in the word;
if the position is weak, then it is necessary to choose such a related word or its form in which the vowel will be in a strong position, i.e. under stress. For example: [dragd] - [ddrak], on [v'ietra] - [v'bt'r], [strkna] - [countries].

Phonemes fall into different pronunciation conditions (positions). Position is the conditions for the realization of a phoneme in speech. These conditions include: direct phonetic environment (sound combinations), place in the word (beginning, end, inside a morpheme, at the junction of morphemes), position in relation to stress. In some pronunciation conditions, phonemes do not change their sound, while in others they do. Depending on the position in which the phonemes are located, he differentiates the forms to varying degrees. For example, the phonemes /a/, /o/, being stressed, distinguish words: ladies, house, and, being in an unstressed position, they lose the following ability: Houses[dΛma] (cf. lady[lady]) .

There are positions of maximum differentiation (strong positions) and positions of minimal differentiation (weak positions). These positions of phonemes are differentiated depending on whether the phoneme "retains" or "loses" its "face". A strong position is a position favorable for the phoneme to perform its functions, a position in which the largest number of phonemes is distinguished (opposed) and forms are differentiated to the greatest extent. The phoneme appears here in its basic appearance, retains its difference from all other phonemes, which allows it to perform its functions in the best possible way. In this position, there is no coincidence of phonemes, which leads to indistinguishability of forms.

A strong position is such a position in which all phonemes included in this opposition are possible. Thus, the position before a vowel is a strong position for consonant phonemes in Russian, since both voiced and deaf consonant phonemes are possible in this position: [t]om, [d]om. A weak position is a position in which not all phonemes included in this opposition are possible. So, in Russian, the end of a word is a weak position for the opposition voiced / deaf, since voiced consonants are impossible here: ko [t], code [cat].

A strong position for the vowels of the Russian language is the position under stress.

A strong position for consonants (on the basis of deafness / voicedness) in Russian is a position before vowels, sonorants and sound [v]: [t] ohm - [d] ohm; [p]ar - [b]ar; [n] right - [b] right; [h] loy - [s] loy; [T] believe - [d] believe etc.

For hard and soft consonants in Russian, a strong position is the position of the end of the word and the position before vowels (except [e]): es [t] - es [t ']; bra [t] - bra [t ']; ko [n] - ko [n ']; [m] al - [m '] yal; [n] os - [n ']`es etc.

Weak position – this is a position unfavorable for the phoneme to perform its functions, i.e. a position in which a smaller number of phonemes is distinguished (opposed) than in a strong position and forms differ to a lesser extent, since phonemes have limited capabilities to perform their distinctive function. In this position, the coincidence of phonemes occurs, which leads to indistinguishability of forms and to a violation of semantic discrimination. For vowels, the weak position is the position in an unstressed syllable. In this position, two or more phonemes coincide in one sound (either as a result of reduction or under the influence of neighboring sounds).

For voiceless/voiced consonants in Russian, the weak position is the position of the end of the word, where they do not differ, coinciding in one sound.

In a weak position, the elimination of differences between phonemes takes place - the neutralization of phonological oppositions. For example, the phonological opposition of the voiced phoneme /з/ and the voiceless phoneme /с/ is neutralized at the end of the word: cf. goats - goats[braid] and braids - braids[braid]. The phonemes /з/ and /с/ at the end of the word coincided in one sound [s]. A phoneme that appears in a weak position is proposed by some scholars to be called an "archiphoneme".

A weak position for voiceless/voiced consonants in Russian is also the position “before” noisy ones. In this position, assimilation occurs in deafness / sonority. Wed ask - request[proz'b]; tell a fairy tale .

For hard / soft consonants in Russian, a weak position is the position before [e], which excludes the possibility of using hard consonants that are paired in hardness / softness: window - in the window[in Λkn'e]. The position before [j] is also weak: raven - crow [varn'jo].

In Russian phonetics, several types of allophones are distinguished depending on the nature of the function they perform, their place in the word, proximity to other sounds, stress and unstress:

1) Variations (or shades of the phoneme, according to L.V. Shcherba), these are allophones that appear in a strong position under conditions of positional conditioning. For vowels, for example, this is the position under stress in the neighborhood of soft consonants. Wed /a/ phoneme variations in words fifth, five. Variations are such positional modifications of phonemes that do not lose their distinctive function and are practically identical to the main form of the phoneme, therefore they are sometimes called "sound synonyms" of the main form of the phoneme.

2) Variants that appear in a weak position of a phoneme under conditions of its positional conditioning. Variants are such modifications of a phoneme that coincide with another phoneme, coinciding with it in its quality. Acting as a substitute for two (or more) phonemes, the variant partially loses its ability to distinguish between the meanings of words, being a “sound homonym” of the matching phonemes. (See examples with matching /a/ and /o/ in unstressed position or /z/ and /s/ at the end of a word).

How to determine which phoneme the variant in the weak position belongs to? Some scientists believe that it is necessary to change the word so that in the same morpheme this variant appears in its main form, i.e. would be in a strong position. Wed Houses[dΛma] - house. It is concluded that the word Houses[dΛma] is represented by the phoneme /o/.

In the case when the variant appears only in a weak position, i.e. when it does not alternate with a sound in a strong position (when the stress is fixed or the word is unchanged), for example, in the word dog[sΛbak], it is believed that the sound (in this case [Λ]) is a variant of one of the phonemes included in the hyperphoneme, i.e. "over-one" of different phonemes (in this case, the phonemes /o/ and /a/). The hyperphoneme in the above case is denoted as o/a.

Phonemes perform a distinctive (distinctive) function. Distinctive function includes perceptual (recognition) and significative (semantic) functions. Perceptual (from lat. perception– ‘perception’) the function of a phoneme is the function of bringing the exponents of words and mophemes to perception. It makes it possible to identify words or morphemes. In the realm of perceptual function, sound elements are linked by contrast relationships.

Significative (from lat. Significare– ‘denoting’) phoneme function – it is a semantic function, i.e. function of distinguishing significant elements of the language. In the sphere of the significative function, sound elements are connected by the relation of opposition.

Performing these functions, phonemes can act in a strong and weak position. Distinguish:

1) perceptually strong positions;

2) perceptually weak positions;

3) significatively strong positions;

4) significatively weak positions;

1) In a perceptually strong position, the phoneme appears in its basic form (by which it is determined).

2) In a perceptually weak position, the phoneme appears in its allophones - in variations.

3) In a significatively strong position, the phoneme appears in its main form.

4) In a weak significative position, the phoneme appears in its allophones - in variants.

Paired deaf-voiced noisy consonants consist of 12 pairs of phonemes: lt;пgt; - lt; bgt ;, lt; p’gt; - lt;b’gt;, lt;fgt; - lt;vgt;, lt;f’gt; - lt; in’gt ;, lt; tgt; - lt;dgt;, lt;t'gt; - lt; d’gt ;, lt; cgt; - lt;зgt;, lt;с’gt; - lt; s’gt ;, lt; shgt; - lt;zhgt;, lt;w’gt; - lt; w’gt ;, lt; kgt; - lt;гgt;, lt;к'gt; - lt;g‘gt;.
Within each correlative series, strong and weak positions are distinguished and, consequently, strong and weak phonemes appear.
Strong positions are:

before vowels: [there], [you], [body], [spit];
before sonorants: [layer] - [evil], [cr'iv] - [gr'iv];
before the phonemes lt; вgt;, lt; в'gt;: [tvkr'e'ts] - [dvAr'ets]:
before lt;jgt;: - .

The fact that consonant phonemes on the basis of deafness-voicedness differ not only before vowels and sonorant consonants close to them in acoustic-phonological terms, but also before lt;vgt; and lt;]gt;, is explained historically.
Weak positions in deafness-voicedness are:

position at the end of the word: ponds - [rod], rods - [rod]; I can - [mock], get wet - [mock]:
noisy consonants before noisy ones (except [v]): cork - [propk], spoon - [loshk], bunch - [sv'ask], summary - [svotk], shop - [lafk], mowing - [kkz'ba] , threshing - [mlkd'ba] (that is, if there is assimilation in deafness or sonority, then this is always a weak position).

The procedure for determining the main variant of the consonant phoneme:

determine the position of the consonant sound in the word;
if the position is weak, then it is necessary to choose a word or its form in which the consonant sound in this morpheme will be in a strong position. For example: e[w] - hedgehog: [w] = lt; ra [sp ’] isat - ra [zm] yt: [s] = lt; zgt;.

Consonant phonemes, correlative in softness-hardness, can be in strong and weak positions.
Strong positions in softness-hardness for all consonants are as follows:

at the end of the word: [dan] - [dan '], [say] - [say '], [coal] - [coal '], [heat] - [heat '], [vz'at] - [vz'at ']:
position before strong vowels lt;agt; and lt;оgt;: - [s’at ’], [say] - [m’ol]: before strong and weak phonemes lt;уgt; and lt; and gt ;: [court] - [s'uda], [bow] - [l'uk], [soap] - [m'il], [pytit '] - [p'itat ']: before the weak vowel phoneme lt; agt;, which in the first pre-stressed syllable sounds like [l] after hard consonants and [ie] after soft ones, and in other pre-stressed and stressed ones like [b] and [b]: glass - [stlkan], pull - [t'ien'y]: pamper - [bblvat '], issued - [vydl'i], stretched out - [vyt'nu]:
phoneme lt;lgt;, lt;l’gt; before any consonant phoneme: [pAln'by] - [val'n'ey]; [kolk] - [skdl'k]; [bolt] - [volt];
anterior lingual before posterior lingual and hard labials: [gbrk] - [gdr'k]; [wash away] - [p'is'mo];
all unpaired in softness-hardness lt;

Weak positions, in which hard and soft paired consonants do not differ, are:

position before lt;egt;, where all consonants are soft and therefore their softness is positionally determined: [s'et'], [p'et'], [b'eliy], [v'er], [d'el] , [l'es\,
before consonants, unpaired in hardness-softness, i.e. lt; - [false people], article -, friends - [druz'ia], weeds - [bur] an]. In this position, paired hard and soft consonants are not distinguished. The hard ones are in front of the hard ones, the soft ones are in front of the soft ones;
in front of all pairs in softness, except for lt; lgt ;. Before labial and dental consonants, dental and labial consonants do not differ in softness-hardness. Hard ones are pronounced before hard ones, dental ones sound softly before soft ones, and labial ones sound hard: [moan], [rope], [yard], [provt], [s't'ep "], [z'v'er'], [pr'is], [vb'irat '].

In addition to strong and weak positions identified within each of the correlative rows, there are positions that are simultaneously strong both for deaf-voiced and hard-soft consonant phonemes. Such a strong position for all consonants at the same time is the position before the vowel phonemes lt; agt;, lt; ogt;, lt; ygt;, lt; and gt;. Such a position is called absolutely strong, and the phonemes appearing in it are called absolutely strong.
There is also an absolutely weak position, in which consonants do not differ either in hardness-softness or in deafness-voicedness. Such a position, for example, is the position in front of the phoneme lt;цgt;, where, apart from the phoneme lt;lgt;, neither deafness-voicedness, nor hardness-softness is distinguished: catchers - [laftsy], incisors - [r'ie stsy], mowers -
[KASTS].
The positions in which absolutely weak phonemes appear are primarily those before lt;цgt;, lt;h'gt;, lt;sh'gt;.
Phoneme lt;]gt; is defined as a sonorant fricative (fricative), midlingual soft consonant phoneme. She appears in the Russian literary language in two allophones - in the consonant allophone and in the non-syllable vowel allophone [th]. The consonant allophone of this phoneme is observed in the position before the stressed vowels: pit - ym], apple - Tsablek], mine -, yours - [tpvluo].
Allophone [th] appears in the position: before unstressed vowels - my - [myu]; after an unstressed vowel - war - [vayna]; before consonants - like - [like], washing - [moyk]; at the end of the word: my - [my].

Speech sounds are studied in the section of linguistics called phonetics.
All speech sounds are divided into two groups: vowels and consonants.
Vowels can be in strong and weak positions.
A strong position is a position under stress, in which the sound is pronounced clearly, for a long time, with greater force and does not require verification, for example: city, land, greatness.
In a weak position (without stress), the sound is pronounced indistinctly, briefly, with less force and requires verification, for example: head, forest, teacher.
All six vowels are distinguished under stress.
In an unstressed position, instead of [a], [o], [h], other vowels are pronounced in the same part of the word.
So, instead of [o], a slightly weakened sound [a] - [wad] a is pronounced, instead of [e] and [a] in unstressed syllables, [ie] is pronounced - a sound that is middle between [i] and [e], for example: [ m "iesta] , [h "iesy] , [n "iet" brka] , [s * ielo] .
The alternation of strong and weak positions of vowels in the same part of the word is called positional alternation of sounds. The pronunciation of vowel sounds depends on which syllable they are in relation to the stressed one.
In the first pre-stressed syllable, vowels change less, for example: st [o] l - st [a] la.
In the remaining unstressed syllables, the vowels change more, and some do not differ at all and in pronunciation approach zero sound, for example ^: transported - [n "riev" 6s], gardener - [sdavot], water carrier - [vdavbs] (here ъ to ь denote an obscure sound, zero sound).
The alternation of vowels in strong and weak positions is not reflected in the letter, for example: to be surprised is a miracle; in an unstressed position, the letter that denotes the stressed sound in this root is written: to be surprised means “to meet a diva (miracle)”.
This is the leading principle of Russian orthography - morphological, providing for the uniform spelling of significant parts of the word - root, prefix, suffix, ending, regardless of position. The morphological principle is subject to the designation of unstressed vowels, checked by stress.

There are 36 consonants in Russian.
The consonant sounds of the Russian language are such sounds, during the formation of which the air meets some kind of barrier in the oral cavity, they consist of a voice and noise, or only of noise.
In the first case, voiced consonants are formed, in the second - deaf. Most often, voiced and deaf consonants form pairs according to voicing-deafness: [b] - [p], [c] - [f], [g] - [k], [d] - [t], [g] - [ w], [h] - [s].
However, some consonants are only deaf: [x] , [ts] , [h "], [w] or only voiced: [l] , [m] , [n] , [p] , [G] . There are also solid and soft consonants. Most of them form pairs: [b] - [b "], [c] - [c"], [g] - [g "], [d] - [d "], [h] - [h "], [k] - [k "], [l] - [l "], [m] - [m *], [n] - [n *], [n] - [n"], [p] - [p "], [s] - [s"], [t] - [t"], [f] - [f"], [x] - [x"]. Solid do not have paired sounds consonants [w], [w], [c] and soft consonants, [h "], [t"].
In a word, consonant sounds can occupy different positions, that is, the location of a sound among other sounds in a word.
The position in which the sound does not change is strong. For a consonant sound, this is the position before the vowel (weak), sonorant (true), before [in] and [in *] (twist). All other positions are weak for consonants.
At the same time, the consonant changes: the voiced before the deaf becomes deaf: hem - [patshyt "]; the deaf before the voiced becomes voiced: request - [prbz" ba]; voiced at the end of the word is stunned: oak - [dup]; the sound is not pronounced: holiday - [praz "n" ik]; hard before soft can become soft: power - [vlas "t"].