Voiced and voiceless consonants for the first. Consonant sounds of the Russian language (hard-soft, voiced-mute, paired-not paired, hissing, whistling)

In this chapter:

§one. Sound

Sound- minimum unit sounding speech. Each word has a sound shell, consisting of sounds. The sound is related to the meaning of the word. At different words and forms of the word, the sound design is different. The sounds themselves don't matter, but they perform important role: they help us to distinguish:

• words: [house] - [volume], [volume] - [there], [m'el] - [m'el']
• word forms: [house] - [lady´] - [do´ ma].

Note:

words written in square brackets, are given in transcription.

§2. Transcription

Transcription- This special system recording, displaying the sound. Symbols accepted in transcription:

Square brackets, which are the designation of transcription.

[ ´ ] - stress. The stress is placed if the word consists of more than one syllable.

[b '] - the icon next to the consonant indicates its softness.

[j] and [th] are different designations for the same sound. Since this sound is soft, these symbols are often used with an additional softness designation:, [th ']. On this site, the designation [th ’] is adopted, which is more familiar to most guys. The soft icon will be used to get you used to the fact that this sound is soft.

There are other symbols as well. They will be introduced gradually, as you become familiar with the topic.

§3. Vowels and consonants

Sounds are divided into vowels and consonants.
They have a different nature. They are pronounced and perceived differently, as well as behave differently in speech and play different roles in it.

Vowels- these are sounds, during the pronunciation of which air freely passes through the oral cavity, without encountering obstacles in its path. Pronunciation (articulation) is not focused in one place: the quality of vowels is determined by the shape of the oral cavity, which acts as a resonator. When articulating vowels work vocal cords in the throat. They are close, tense and vibrate. Therefore, when pronouncing vowels, we hear a voice. Vowels can be drawn. They can be screamed at. And if you put your hand to your throat, then the work of the vocal cords when pronouncing vowels can be felt, felt with your hand. Vowels are the basis of the syllable, they organize it. There are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels. For example: is he- 1 syllable, she is- 2 syllables, guys- 3 syllables, etc. There are words that consist of one vowel sound. For example, unions: and, a and interjections: Oh!, Ah!, Woo! other.

In a word, vowels can be in stressed and unstressed syllables.
stressed syllable one in which the vowel is pronounced clearly and appears in its basic form.
AT unstressed syllables vowels are modified, pronounced differently. Changing vowels in unstressed syllables is called reduction.

There are six stressed vowels in Russian: [a], [o], [y], [s], [i], [e].

Remember:

Words are possible that can only consist of vowels, but consonants are also necessary.
There are many more consonants in Russian than vowels.

§4. Method of formation of consonants

Consonants- these are sounds, during the pronunciation of which the air meets an obstacle in its path. In Russian, there are two types of barriers: a gap and a bow - these are the two main ways of forming consonants. The type of barrier determines the nature of the consonant sound.

gap is formed, for example, when pronouncing sounds: [s], [s], [w], [g]. The tip of the tongue only approaches the lower or upper teeth. Slotted consonants can be pulled: [s-s-s-s], [sh-sh-sh-sh] . As a result, you will hear the noise well: when pronouncing [c] - whistling, and when pronouncing [w] - hissing.

bow, The second type of articulation of consonants is formed when the organs of speech are closed. The air flow abruptly overcomes this barrier, the sounds are short, energetic. That is why they are called explosive. You won't be able to pull them. These are, for example, the sounds [p], [b], [t], [d] . Such articulation is easier to feel, feel.

So, when pronouncing consonants, noise is heard. The presence of noise hallmark consonants.

§5. Voiced and voiceless consonants

According to the ratio of noise and voice, consonants are divided into voiced and deaf.
When pronouncing voiced consonants, both voice and noise are heard, and deaf- just noise.
Deaf people cannot be spoken loudly. They cannot be shouted.

Compare words: house and cat. Each word has 1 vowel and 2 consonants. The vowels are the same, but the consonants are different: [d] and [m] are voiced, and [k] and [t] are deaf. Voice-deafness is the most important feature consonants in Russian.

voiced-deafness pairs:[b] - [n], [h] - [c] and others. There are 11 such pairs.

Pairs for deafness-voicedness: [p] and [b], [p "] and [b"], [f] and [c], [f "] and [c"], [k] and [g], [k"] and [g"], [t] and [d], [t"] and [d"], [w] and [g], [s] and [h], [s"] and [ h"].

But there are sounds that do not have a pair on the basis of sonority - deafness. For example, the sounds [p], [l], [n], [m], [th '] do not have a voiceless pair, but [c] and [h '] do not have a voiced pair.

Unpaired in deafness-voicedness

Voiced unpaired:[r], [l], [n], [m], [th "], [r"], [l"], [n"], [m"] . They are also called sonorous.

What does this term mean? This is a group of consonants (9 in total) that have pronunciation features: when they are pronounced, obstacles also arise in the oral cavity, but such that the air stream, passing through the barrier, forms only a slight noise; air passes freely through the opening in the nasal or oral cavity. Sonorants are pronounced with the help of a voice with the addition of a slight noise. Many teachers do not use this term, but everyone should know that these sounds are voiced unpaired.

Sonorants have two important features:

1) they are not deafened, like paired voiced consonants, before deaf and at the end of a word;

2) there is no voicing of paired deaf consonants before them (i.e., the position in front of them is strong in deafness-voicedness, as well as before vowels). For more information about positional changes, see .

Deaf unpaired:[c], [h "], [w":], [x], [x "].

What is the easiest way to remember lists of voiced and voiceless consonants?

Phrases will help memorize the lists of voiced and deaf consonants:

Oh, we didn't forget each other!(Here only voiced consonants)

Foka, do you want to eat a soup?(Here only voiceless consonants)

True, these phrases do not include hardness-softness pairs. But usually people can easily figure out that not only hard [s] is voiced, but soft [s"] too, not only [b], but also [b"], etc.

§6. Hard and soft consonants

Consonants differ not only in deafness-voicedness, but also in hardness-softness.
Hardness-softness- the second most important sign of consonants in Russian.

Soft consonants differ from solid special position of the language. When pronouncing hard ones, the entire body of the tongue is pulled back, and when pronouncing soft ones, it is shifted forward, while the middle part of the tongue is raised. Compare: [m] - [m ’], [h] - [h ’]. Voiced soft ones sound higher than hard ones.

Many Russian consonants form pairs of hardness-softness: [b] - [b '], [ c] - [ c '] and others. There are 15 such pairs.

Pairs by hardness-softness: [b] and [b "], [m] and [m"], [p] and [p "], [c] and [c"], [f] and [f"] , [h] and [h "], [s] and [s"], [d] and [d"], [t] and [t"], [n] and [n"], [l] and [l "], [p] and [p "], [k] and [k"], [g] and [g "], [x] and [x"].

But there are sounds that do not have a pair on the basis of hardness-softness. For example, the sounds [zh], [w], [c] do not have a soft pair, but [y '] and [h '] do not have a hard pair.

Unpaired in hardness-softness

Solid unpaired: [w], [w], [c] .

Soft unpaired: [th"], [h"], [w":].

§7. The designation of the softness of consonants in writing

Let's digress from pure phonetics. Consider practically important question: how is the softness of consonants indicated in writing?

There are 36 consonants in Russian, including 15 pairs of hardness-softness, 3 unpaired hard and 3 unpaired soft consonants. There are only 21 consonants. How can 21 letters represent 36 sounds?

For this, different methods are used:

• iotated letters e, yo, yu, i after consonants except sh, w and c, unpaired in hardness-softness, indicate that these consonants are soft, for example: uncle- [t’o´ t’a], uncle -[Yes Yes] ;
• letter and after consonants except sh, w and c. Consonants denoted by letters sh, w and c, unpaired hard. Examples of words with a vowel and: no´ tki- [n’i´ tk’i], sheet- [l'ist], cute- [cute'] ;
• letter b, after consonants except sh, w, after which soft sign is an indicator grammatical form. Examples of soft words : request- [proz'ba], stranded- [m'el'], distance- [gave '].

Thus, the softness of consonants in writing not transmitted special letters, but combinations of consonants with letters i, e, e, u, i and b. Therefore, when parsing, I advise you to pay special attention to neighboring letters after consonants.

Discussing the problem of interpretation

School textbooks say that [w] and [w ’] - unpaired in hardness-softness. How so? After all, we hear that the sound [w ’] is a soft analogue of the sound [w].
When I studied at school myself, I could not understand why? Then my son went to school. He had the same question. It appears in all the guys who are thoughtful about learning.

Bewilderment arises because school textbooks do not take into account that the sound [w ’] is also long, but the hard [w] is not. Pairs are sounds that differ in only one feature. And [w] and [w ’] - two. Therefore, [w] and [w’] are not pairs.

For adults and high school students.

In order to maintain correctness, it is necessary to change the school tradition of transcribing the sound [sh ']. It seems that it is easier for children to use one more additional sign than to face an illogical, unclear and misleading statement. Everything is simple. So that generation after generation does not rack their brains, it is necessary, finally, to show that a soft hissing sound is long.

There are two icons for this in linguistic practice:

1) superscript above the sound;
2) colon.

Usage superscript inconvenient because it is not provided by the character set that can be used with computer typing. This means that the following possibilities remain: the use of a colon [w':] or a grapheme denoting the letter [w'] . I think the first option is preferable. Firstly, at first, guys often mix sounds and letters. The use of a letter in transcription will create a basis for such confusion, provoke an error. Secondly, the guys now start learning early foreign languages. And the [:] sign, when used to indicate the length of a sound, is already familiar to them. Thirdly, a transcription with a colon [:] for longitude will perfectly convey the features of the sound. [w ’:] - soft and long, both features that make up its difference from the sound [w] are presented clearly, simply and unambiguously.

What advice would you give to children who are now studying according to generally accepted textbooks? You need to understand, comprehend, and then remember that in fact the sounds [w] and [w ’:] do not form a pair of hardness-softness. And I advise you to transcribe them as your teacher requires.

§eight. Place of formation of consonants

Consonants differ not only in the signs you already know:

• deafness-voicedness,
• hardness-softness,
• method of formation: bow-slit.

The last, fourth sign is important: place of education.
The articulation of some sounds is carried out by the lips, others - by the tongue, its different parts. So, the sounds [p], [p '], [b], [b '], [m], [m '] are labial, [c], [c '], [f], [f ' ] - labio-dental, all the rest - lingual: front-lingual [t], [t '], [d], [d '], [n], [n '], [s], [s '], [s ], [h '], [w], [g], [w ':], [h '], [c], [l], [l '], [p], [p '] , middle lingual [th '] and back lingual [k], [k '], [g], [g '], [x], [x '].

§nine. Positional changes in sounds

1. Strong-weak positions for vowels. Positional vowel changes. Reduction

People do not use spoken sounds in isolation. They don't need it.
Speech is a sound stream, but a stream organized in a certain way. The conditions in which a particular sound appears are important. The beginning of a word, the end of a word, the stressed syllable, the unstressed syllable, the position before the vowel, the position before the consonant - these are all different positions. We will figure out how to distinguish between strong and weak positions, first for vowels, and then for consonants.

Strong position one in which the sounds are not subject to positionally determined changes and appear in their main form. A strong position is distinguished for groups of sounds, for example: for vowels, this is a position in stressed syllable. And for consonants, for example, the position before vowels is strong.

For vowels, the strong position is stressed, and the weak position is unstressed.
In unstressed syllables, vowels undergo changes: they are shorter and not pronounced as clearly as under stress. This change in vowels weak position called reduction. Due to reduction, fewer vowels are distinguished in the weak position than in the strong position.

Sounds corresponding to stressed [o] and [a], after hard consonants in a weak, unstressed position, sound the same. Normative in the Russian language is recognized as "akanye", i.e. nondiscrimination O and BUT in an unstressed position after hard consonants.

• under stress: [house] - [lady] - [o] ≠ [a].
• without accent: [d a ma´] -at home´ - [d a la´] -dala´ - [a] = [a].

Sounds corresponding to stressed [a] and [e], after soft consonants in a weak, unstressed position, sound the same. The normative pronunciation is "hiccups", i.e. nondiscrimination E and BUT in unstressed position after soft consonants.

• under stress: [m'ech '] - [m'ach '] - [e] ≠ [a].
• without stress: [m'ich'o´ m] - sword´ m -[m'ich'o´ m] - ball´ m - [and] = [and].
• But what about the vowels [and], [s], [y]? Why was nothing said about them? The fact is that these vowels in a weak position undergo only quantitative reduction: they are pronounced more briefly, weakly, but their quality does not change. That is, as for all vowels, an unstressed position for them is a weak position, but for a schoolchild these vowels in an unstressed position do not represent a problem.

[ly´ zhy], [in _lu´ zhu], [n'i´ t'i] - both in strong and weak positions, the quality of vowels does not change. Both under stress and in an unstressed position, we clearly hear: [s], [y], [and] and write the letters with which these sounds are usually denoted.

Discussing the problem of interpretation

What vowel sounds are actually pronounced in unstressed syllables after hard consonants?

Performing phonetic analysis and transcribing words, many guys express bewilderment. In long polysyllabic words, after solid consonants, the sound [a] is not pronounced, as school textbooks say, but something else.

They are right.

Compare the pronunciation of the words: Moscow - Muscovites. Repeat each word several times and listen for the vowel in the first syllable. With a word Moscow everything is simple. We pronounce: [maskva´] - the sound [a] is clearly audible. And the word Muscovites? In accordance with literary norm, in all syllables, except for the first syllable before the stress, as well as the positions of the beginning and end of the word, we do not pronounce [a], but a different sound: less distinct, less clear, more like [s] than [a]. In the scientific tradition, this sound is denoted by the icon [ъ]. So, we really say: [malako´] - milk ,[harasho´ ] - well ,[kalbasa´] - sausage.

I understand that by giving this material in textbooks, the authors tried to simplify it. Simplified. But many children with good hearing, who hear clearly that the sounds in the following examples are different, cannot understand why the teacher and the textbook insist that these sounds are the same. Actually:

[in a Yes ] - water´ -[in b d’other’] - water ´ th:[a]≠[b]
[dr a wa´ ] - firewood´ -[dr b v’ino´ th’] - wood fired:[a]≠[b]

A special subsystem is the realization of vowels in unstressed syllables after sibilants. But in school course this material is not presented in most textbooks at all.

What vowels are actually pronounced in unstressed syllables after soft consonants?

I have the greatest sympathy for the guys who study from textbooks offered on the spot BUT,E, O after soft consonants, hear and translate the sound “and, prone to e” in transcription. I consider it fundamentally wrong to give schoolchildren as the only option the outdated pronunciation norm - “ekanye”, which is much less common today than “hiccups”, mainly among very elderly people. Guys, feel free to write in an unstressed position in the first syllable before the stress in place BUT and E- [and].

After soft consonants in other unstressed syllables, except for the position of the end of the word, we pronounce a short faint sound, resembling [and] and denoted as [b]. Say the words eight, nine and listen to yourself. We pronounce: [vo´ s'm '] - [b], [d'e´ v't '] - [b].

Do not confuse:

Transcription marks are one thing, but letters are quite another.
The transcription sign [ъ] denotes a vowel after hard consonants in unstressed syllables, except for the first syllable before stress.
The letter ъ is a solid sign.
The transcription sign [ь] denotes a vowel after soft consonants in unstressed syllables, except for the first syllable before stress.
The letter b is a soft sign.
Transcription signs, unlike letters, are given in square brackets.

end of word- special position. It shows clearing of vowels after soft consonants. System unstressed endings is a special phonetic subsystem. In her E and BUT differ:

Building[heel n’i’e] - building[building´ n’i’a], me´ nie[mn’e´ n’iy’e] - me´ nia[mn’e´ n’iy’a], mo´ re[mo´ r'e] - seas[mo´ r'a], vo´ la[vo´ l'a] - at will[na_vo´ l'e]. Keep this in mind when doing phonetic parsing of words.

Check:

How does your teacher require you to designate unstressed vowels. If he uses a simplified transcription system, that's okay: it's widely accepted. Just do not be surprised that you really hear different sounds in an unstressed position.

2. Strong-weak positions for consonants. Positional changes of consonants

For all consonants without exception, the strong position is position before a vowel. Before vowels, consonants appear in their basic form. Therefore, when making a phonetic analysis, do not be afraid to make a mistake characterizing a consonant standing in strong position: [country house] - country house,[t'l'iv'i´ zar] - TV set,[s’ino´ n’im] - synonyms,[b'ir'o´ zy] - birches,[karz "and´ us] - baskets. All consonants in these examples are before vowels, i.e. in a strong position.

Strong positions in voicelessness:

• before vowels: [there] - there,[ladies] - ladies,
• before unpaired voiced [r], [r '], [l], [l '], [n], [n '], [m], [m '], [d ']: [dl'a] - for,[tl'a] - aphid,
• Before [in], [in ']: [own'] - mine,[ringing] - ringing.

Remember:

In a strong position, voiced and deaf consonants do not change their quality.

Weak positions in deafness-voicedness:

• in front of pairs for deafness-voicedness: [weak tk’y] - sweet,[zu´ pk'i] - teeth.
• before deaf unpaired ones: [apkhva´ t] - girth, [fhot] - entrance.
• at the end of a word: [zoop] - tooth,[dup] - oak.
  

Positional changes of consonants according to deafness-voicedness

In weak positions, consonants are modified: positional changes occur with them. Voiced ones become deaf, i.e. deafened, and the deaf - voiced, i.e. voiced. Positional changes are observed only in paired consonants.

Stunning-voicing of consonants

Voiced stunning occurs in positions:

• in front of paired deaf people: [fsta´ v’it’] - in become,
• at the end of a word: [clat] - treasure.

Voicing of the deaf happens in position:

• before paired voiced: [kaz'ba´] - to with bba´

Strong positions in hardness-softness:

• before vowels: [mat'] - mother,[m'at'] - crush,
• at the end of a word: [out] - out,[out'] - stink,
• before labial-labial: [b], [b '], [n], [n '], [m], [m '] and back-lingual: [k], [k '], [g], [g' ], [x[, [x'] for sounds [s], [s'], [s], [s'], [t], [t'], [d], [d'], [n ], [n'], [r], [r']: [sa´ n'k'i] - Sa´ nks(born pad.), [s´ ank'i] - sled,[bu´ lka] - bu´ lka,[bu´ l'kat'] - boo' lkat,
• all positions for sounds [l] and [l ’]: [forehead] - forehead,[pal'ba] - firing.

Remember:

In a strong position, hard and soft consonants do not change their quality.

Weak positions in hardness-softness and positional changes in hardness-softness.

• before soft [t '], [d'] for consonants [c], [h], which are necessarily softened:, [z'd'es'],
• before [h '] and [w ':] for [n], which is necessarily softened: [by´ n'h'ik] - donut,[ka´ m'n'sh': ik] - bricklayer.

Remember:

In a number of positions today, both soft and hard pronunciation is possible:

• before soft front lingual [n '], [l '] for front lingual consonants [c], [h]: snow -[s'n'ek] and, piss off -[z’l’it’] and [zl’it’]
• before soft anterior lingual, [h ’] for anterior lingual [t], [d] - lift -[pad’n’a´ t ’] and [padn’a´ t’] , take away -[at’n’a´ t’] and [atn’a´ t’]
• before soft anterior lingual [t "], [d"], [s "], [s"] for anterior lingual [n]: vi´ ntik -[v'i´ n "t" ik] and [v'i´ nt'ik], pension -[p’e´ n’s’iy’a] and [p’e´ ns’iy’a]
• before soft labials [c '], [f '], [b '], [n '], [m '] for labials: write in -[f "p" isa' t '] and [fp" is' at '], ri´ fme(dat. pad.) - [r'i´ f "m" e] and [r'i´ fm "e]

Remember:

In all cases, in a weak position, positional softening of consonants is possible.
Writing a soft sign with positional softening of consonants is a mistake.

Positional changes of consonants according to the features of the method and place of formation

Naturally, in the school tradition it is not customary to state the characteristics of sounds and the positional changes that occur with them in all details. But general patterns phonetics must be mastered. Without this, it is difficult to do phonetic analyzes and complete test tasks. Therefore, below is a list of positionally determined changes in consonants according to the features of the method and place of formation. This material is a tangible help for those who want to avoid errors in phonetic parsing.

Assimilation of consonants

The logic is this: the Russian language is characterized by the likeness of sounds if they are similar in some way and at the same time are close.

Learn the list:

[c] and [w] → [w:] - sew

[h] and [g] → [g:] - compress

[s] and [h ’] - at the root of words → [w':] - happiness, account
- at the junction of morphemes and words → [w':h'] - comb, dishonest, with what (a preposition followed by a word is pronounced together, like one word)

[s] and [w':] → [w':] - split

[t] and [c] - in verb forms→ [c:] - smiles
- at the junction of prefix and root → [cs] - sleep

[t] and [ts] → [ts:] - unhook

[t] and [h’] → [h’:] - report

[t] and [t] and [w’:]←[c] and [h’] - Countdown

[d] and [w ':] ← [c] and [h '] - counting

Distinguishing consonants

Dissimilarity is a process positional change opposite to likeness.

[g] and [k '] → [x'k '] - easy

Simplifying consonant clusters

Learn the list:

vstv - [stv]: hello, feel
zdn - [zn]: late
zdts - [sc] : under the bridle
lnts - [nts]: sun
NDC - [nc]: Dutch
ndsh - [nsh:] landscape
ntg - [ng]: x-ray
RDC - [rc]: a heart
rdch - [rh']: heart
stl - [sl ']: happy
stn - [sn]: local

Pronunciation of groups of sounds:

In the forms of adjectives, pronouns, participles, there are letter combinations: wow, him. AT place G they pronounce [in]: him, beautiful, blue.
Avoid spelling. say the words him, blue, beautiful right.

§ten. Letters and sounds

Letters and sounds are different purpose and different nature. But these are comparable systems. Therefore, the types of relationships need to be known.

Types of ratio of letters and sounds:

1. A letter denotes a sound, such as vowels after hard consonants and consonants before vowels: weather.
2. The letter has no sound value of its own, for example b and b: mouse
3. The letter stands for two sounds, for example, iotized vowels e, yo, yu, i in positions:
   • the beginning of a word
   • after vowels,
   • after the separation b and b.
4. The letter may indicate the sound and quality of the preceding sound, such as iotized vowels and and after soft consonants.
5. The letter may indicate the quality of the preceding sound, for example b in words shadow, stump, firing.
6. Two letters can represent one sound, often a long one: sew, squeeze, rush
7. Three letters correspond to one sound: smile - ts -[c:]

test of strength

Check your understanding of the contents of this chapter.

Final test

1. What determines the quality of a vowel sound?

   • From the shape of the oral cavity at the moment of pronouncing the sound
   • From the barrier formed by the organs of speech at the moment of pronouncing the sound

2. What is called reduction?

   • pronunciation of vowels under stress
   • pronouncing unstressed vowels
   • special pronunciation of consonants

3. At what sounds does the air stream encounter an obstacle in its path: a bow or a gap?

   • Vowels
   • Consonants

4. Can voiceless consonants be pronounced loudly?

5. Are the vocal cords involved in the pronunciation of voiceless consonants?

6. How many pairs form consonants according to deafness-voicedness?

7. How many consonants do not have a deafness-voiced pair?

8. How many pairs do Russian consonants form according to hardness-softness?

9. How many consonants do not have a pair of hardness-softness?

10. How is the softness of consonants conveyed in writing?

    • Special icons
    • Letter combinations

11. What is the name of the position of the sound in the flow of speech, in which it appears in its basic form, without undergoing positional changes?

    • Strong position
    • Weak position

12. What sounds have strong and weak positions?

    • Vowels
    • Consonants
    • All: both vowels and consonants

Right answers:

1. From the shape of the oral cavity at the moment of pronouncing the sound
2. pronouncing unstressed vowels
3. Consonants
4. Letter combinations
5. Strong position
6. All: both vowels and consonants

In contact with

As you know, speech sounds can be divided into vowels (pronounced only by voice) and consonants (noise is involved in their pronunciation). Many consonants can be paired according to their characteristics, but not all.

Paired and unpaired consonants according to deafness-voicedness

We must immediately make a reservation that there are only four such sounds that are unpaired in all respects. We will talk about them at the end of the article. The majority, on one basis, is included in the pair, but on the other - not. Therefore, it makes no sense to write about the consonant "unpaired" - it is necessary to indicate on what basis.

Consonants differ in voicelessness-voicedness. This means that when pronouncing some of them, more voice is used (sonorous, voiced), while others use more noise (deaf) or even one noise at all (hissing).

Sonorants are very voiced consonants, they have a lot of voices, but little noise.

Two sonorous consonants - [L] and [P] - can even form a syllable under some circumstances, that is, behave like vowels. Surely you have met the erroneous spelling "teator". It is explained precisely by the fact that [P] in this word is syllable-forming. Other examples are the words "Alexander", "meaning".

Unpaired voiced consonants are just sonorants. There are five of them:

Sometimes [Y] is not classified as sonorant, but it still remains voiced unpaired. Let's look at the table.

It shows that, in addition to voiced unpaired, there are also sounds that are unpaired deaf. Most of them are hissing; only the deaf unpaired consonant sound [Ts] does not belong to hissing ones.

In this article, we consider only Russian speech sounds. In other languages, the distribution in pairs may be different. For example, in Tibetan there is a voiceless pair to the voiced [L].

Pairs of hardness-softness

In addition to deafness-voicedness, Russian consonants form pairs according to hardness-softness.

This means that some of them are perceived as softer by ear. Then we usually somehow denote it in writing: for example, we write a soft sign or one of the vowels E, Yo, Yu, Ya.

Oral speech is primary (it is clear to anyone that it appeared before written language), so it is wrong to say: “The sound [H ’] in the word HORSE is soft, because it is followed by b.” On the contrary, we write b because H' is soft.

By hardness-softness, consonants also make up pairs. But in this case, not all. In Russian, there are unpaired soft and unpaired hard consonants.

Unpaired solid consonants are mainly hissing ([Ж], [Ш]) and [Ц]. They always form in the distant palate.

But in the ancestor of our language, Old Slavonic, on the contrary, [Ж] and [Ш] were always soft and did not have a hard pair. Then [K], [G] and [X] were not soft. Currently, you can meet the (once the only possible) pronunciation with a soft [F '] [DROZH'ZH'I] or [DOZH '] (rain), but this is now optional.

Unpaired soft ones are [Y '] and again hissing [H '] and [Sch '].

That is, all sibilants are either always hard or always soft. The letter b after them does not indicate softness, it performs a grammatical function (for example, without even knowing what “bald” is, anyone will immediately say that this word female, because in the masculine gender after hissing b is not put). Solid unpaired hissing consonants in a word can have b with them, but this does not mean that they should be softened. This means that we have a noun of 3 declensions, an adverb or a verb.

Unpaired soft consonants in a word make you want to put b after them, which is often not required. Therefore, it makes sense to remember that in combinations of CHK, CHN, etc. b after h is not needed.

Sounds "completely unpaired"

In Russian, the majority of consonants are either paired on both grounds, or paired on one ground and unpaired on another. for example, in the word [P'EN '] (stump) the sound [P '] is paired both in deafness-voicedness (P '- B '), and in hardness-softness (P '- P), and the sound [N '] is paired in hardness-softness (H' - H), but unpaired in deafness-voicedness.

However, there are several sounds that are unpaired in both ways. These are the sounds [Y '] (unpaired voiced, unpaired soft), [H '] (unpaired soft, unpaired deaf), [Щ '] (unpaired soft, unpaired deaf) and [C] (unpaired hard, unpaired deaf). Such sounds are often made in Russian language olympiads. For example,"Guess the sound according to the characteristic: unpaired solid, unpaired deaf." We already see that it is [C].

What have we learned?

From the article about paired and unpaired consonants, we learned that in Russian there are both paired and unpaired consonants. Paired consonants differ in deafness-voicedness and in hardness-softness.

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In Russian, deaf and voiced consonants are separated. The rules for writing letters denoting them begin to be studied already in the first grade. But even after graduating from school, many still cannot write words without errors, where there are deaf and voiced consonants. This is sad.

Why do you need to write voiceless and voiced consonants correctly in Russian

Some people treat the culture of writing superficially. They justify their ignorance in this area with such a common phrase: “What difference does it make, as it is written, it’s still clear what it’s about!”

In fact, spelling errors indicate a low level of personality culture. You can't count yourself developed person not knowing how to write correctly in their native language.

There is another fact that testifies in favor of the rule of error-free spelling. After all, deaf and voiced consonants are sometimes found in words that are oral in speech are homophones. That is, they sound the same, but are spelled differently. Incorrect use of a letter in them is fraught with loss or change in the meaning of the context.

For example, the words "pond" - "rod", "cat" - "code", "horn" - "rock" are just included in this list.

shameful loss

Schoolchildren in the Russian language lesson can be told a funny episode from life. It should be based on the fact that several children did not know how to correctly write in words the letters denoting voiced and unvoiced consonants.

And it happened during the school team game "Treasure hunters". In its rules, it was noted that you need to move along the route indicated in the notes. Moreover, the place where the next letter was hidden was not indicated exactly. The note contained only a hint of him.

Here the teams received the first letters with the following text: "Road, meadow, stone." One group of guys immediately ran towards the lawn, found a stone there, under which the letter was hidden. The second, having mixed up the words-homophones "meadow" and "bow", ran to the garden. But, of course, they did not find any stone among the brightly green rows.

You can change history in such a way as if an illiterate scribbler wrote notes. It was he who, giving instructions to the members of his team, instead of the word "meadow" used "bow". Not knowing how paired voiced and deaf consonants are written, the “literate” misled the guys. As a result, the competition was cancelled.

The rule for writing dubious paired consonants for deafness-voicedness

In fact, checking which letter should be written in a particular case is quite simple. Paired voiced and deaf consonants raise doubts about writing only when they are at the end of a word or there is another deaf consonant behind them. If one of these cases takes place, you need to choose a single root or change the form of the word so that a vowel follows the dubious consonant. You can also use the option where the letter being checked is followed by a voiced consonant.

Mug - mug, snow - snow, bread - bread; rez - carved, sweat - sweaty.

Didactic game "Connect the word to be checked with the test word"

In order to have time to do more during class, you can conduct a game in which skills are consolidated without writing down. Its condition will be a task in which children are asked only to connect the test words with the traits being tested. It takes less time, and the work done will be extremely effective.

The game will become more interesting if it is carried out in the form of a competition. To do this, make up three options for tasks, where two columns are used. One contains test words. In the other, it is necessary to enter those in which voiced and deaf consonants are in a dubious position. Examples of words may be as follows.

First column: bread, ponds, snow, onion, meadows, twig. Second column: bow, bread, meadow, twig, snow, pond.

To complicate the task, you can include in the column with test words those that are not suitable for verification, that is, they are not the same root as those whose spelling is in doubt: snacks, servant, octopus.

Table of consonants by voiced-deafness

All consonants are divided according to several parameters. During the phonetic analysis of a word at school, characteristics such as softness-hardness, sonority or deafness are indicated. For example, the sound [n] is a consonant, solid, sonorous. And the sound [n] differs from it in only one characteristic: it is not voiced, but deaf. The difference between the sounds [p] and [p '] lies only in softness and hardness.

Based on these characteristics, a table is compiled, thanks to which it is possible to determine whether the sound has a pair of softness-hardness. After all, some consonants are only soft or only hard.

There are also voiced and unvoiced consonants. The table presented here shows that some sounds do not have a pair for this trait. For example, these are

• d, l, m, n, r;
• x, c, h, u.

Moreover, the sounds of the first row are voiced, and the sounds of the second are deaf. The rest of the consonants are in pairs. It is they who make it difficult to write, since a dull sound is often heard where a letter is written, denoting a voiced consonant.

Checks require only paired consonants - voiced and deaf. The table reflects this point. For example, the sound "b", falling into final position or being in front of another deaf consonant, he himself is "stunned", turning into "p". That is, the word "hornbeam" (wood species) is pronounced and heard as [grab].

The table shows that these sounds are paired in sonority-deafness. These can also be called “c” - “f”, “g” - “k”, “d” - “t”, “g” - “w” and “h” - “s”. Although the sound “x” can be added to the pair “g” - “k”, which often sounds in a stunned position in place of “g”: soft - soft[m'ahk'y], easy - easy[l'ohk'y].

Didactic game-lotto "Doubtful consonants"

So that classes in which the spelling of voiced and deaf consonants is studied do not turn into a tedious routine, they should be diversified. Teachers and parents can prepare for a didactic game special small cards with pictures and words that contain dubious consonant sounds. A doubtful consonant can be replaced by dots or asterisks.

In addition, larger cards should be made, in which there will be only letters denoting consonants paired by voiced-deafness. Cards with pictures are laid out on the table.

At the signal of the leader, the players take them from the table and cover with them the letters on a large card that are missing in their opinion. Whoever closes all the windows before others and without errors is considered the winner.

Extracurricular activities in the Russian language

Winning options for developing interest in this area of ​​science are evenings, competitions, KVNs. They are held outside school hours for everyone.

It is very important to create an exciting scenario for such an event. Special attention should be devoted to developing tasks that will be both useful and exciting. These activities can be done with students of all ages.

Interesting tasks can also be those that contain an element literary creativity. For example, it is useful to suggest to the guys:

Make up a story about how the sounds "t" and "d" quarreled;

Think of as many single-root words as possible for the word "horn" in one minute;

Write short quatrain with rhymes: meadow-bow, twig-pond.

Consonant alternation in Russian

Sometimes, contrary to the laws of spelling, some letters in words are replaced by others. For example, "spirit" and "soul". Historically (etymologically) they are of the same root, but they have different letters at the root - "x" and "w". The same process of alternating consonants is observed in the words "burden" and "wear". But in last case the sound "sh" alternates with the consonant "s".

However, it should be noted that this is not an alternation of voiced and deaf consonants that make up a pair. This is a special type of replacement of one sound by another, which occurred in ancient times, at the dawn of the formation of the Russian language.

The following consonants alternate:

• s - f - g (example: friends - be friends - friend);
• t - h (example: fly - I'm flying);
• c - h - k (example: face - personal - face);
• s - w - x (examples: forester - goblin, arable land - plow);
• w - d - railway (example: leader - driver - driving);
• h - st (example: fantasy - fantastic);
• u - sk (example: polished - gloss);
• u - st (example: paved - pave).

Often, alternation is called the appearance in the verbs of the sound “l”, which is in this case beautiful name"el epenteticum". Examples are the pairs of words “love - love”, “feed - feed”, “buy - buy”, “count - graph”, “catch - catch”, “ruin - destroy”.

The Russian language is so rich, the processes taking place in it are so diverse that if the teacher tries to find exciting options for working in the classroom both in the classroom and outside the classroom, then many teenagers will plunge into the world of knowledge and discoveries, will really become interested in this school subject.

A lot of trouble with letters, that's the kind of people they are.

Sounds change without asking, and they pretend to be different.

How much trouble these letters and sounds bring to children! Learn the letters, and then also remember when and what sound they represent! And the sounds of these oh-oh-oh, how many. How to remember everything voiced and voiceless consonants?

Everything, it turns out, is very simple, if you properly set up the child.

Oh, I already wrote. But consonants are not only hard and soft, but also voiced - deaf. And they bring so much trouble in the form of mistakes to children! How to teach a child to correctly identify?

Just memorizing voiced and deaf consonants is a losing business. Even if the child remembers, it will be very difficult for him to apply this knowledge. But if the child understands how voiced and deaf sounds are obtained, learns to hear them and identify them by signs, then it will be easy for him to remember.

Let's take a look at ourselves first voiced and voiceless consonants.

In Russian, consonants are divided into voiced and deaf, depending on the participation of the voice in the pronunciation of the sound. How to define it? Pronounce a single consonant sound and put your hand to your throat. If the vocal cords vibrate, then this is ringing sound. If not, then deaf. Check with your child and say the sounds B - P, M or X. Did you notice?

Voicedness or deafness can be defined differently. Cover your ears with your palms and pronounce the consonant sound. Did you hear a voice or noise? If a voice is heard, then the sound is sonorous, if the noise is deaf.

And so you can easily and simply determine voiced or voiceless consonant. At first, this method is very good. But if the child continues like this, then it will take a lot of time. The child will not have time to complete the work in the lesson. Therefore, it is necessary that the child remember the consonants voiced and deaf.

And here we need to remember that the brain can perceive information in different ways - through hearing, sight or sensations. This means that in order for the child to remember the information, it is necessary to influence all the systems of the child.

Determining the voicedness and deafness of consonants by ear, we have already included hearing in the work. Putting a hand to the throat, we connected the sensations. Now we need to connect and vision. To do this, you need to make a plate or drawing, where to designate voiced and deaf consonants with some symbols.

Voiced and voiceless consonants are paired and unpaired. So, when compiling such a scheme or tablet, it is necessary to place paired consonants side by side. You can use any symbols that remind the child that the sound is voiced or deaf. So in this scheme, voiced consonants are indicated by a bell, and deaf ones by headphones.

Draw a similar sign with your child. Let him independently place the letters near the desired symbol, and you only control and direct the actions of the child. Remember that a person will remember well only what he did on his own.

Play the resettlement of letters on floors or houses with the desired symbol several times and the child will perfectly remember voiced and deaf consonants. Hang this sign in a prominent place and periodically return to it, ask the child to tell, show, name some sounds.

So, playing, repeating the already familiar properties of sounds and letters, you will help your child learn the basics of the Russian language without difficulty, memorize voiced and voiceless consonants.

Have questions? Write in the comments to get an answer.

In the meantime, get a portion of positive and watch a wonderful cartoon. We will learn from this resilient monkey to find the good in everything.