Russian 3305/3306: Letters and Sounds. Part 2

Russian 3305/3306: Letters and Sound. Part 2

Part 1 suggests spelling problems because often there is no one-to-one correspondence between a sound and a letter. This section offers solutions for consonants.

Мягкие и твердые согласные звуки (palatalization)

Use ь to indicate palatalization of a consonant when it is the last sound / letter in the word or when the next sound / letter is also a consonant. This includes the imperative forms of many verbs (i.e., commands, requests, or adivce)
Examples: жизнь, площадь, сядь, встань, познакомь, познакомьте, маленький, мельче

To indicate palatalization of a paired consonant (парный согласный звук) when the next sound / letter is a vowel, use palatal indicators и е я ё ю.
Examples: пятка, Петя, белка, десятый
After unpaired consonant sounds, use:

After ж ч ш щ, always use и у а (never ы ю я), except in these three foreign words: брошюра, жюри, парашют.
Examples: жизнь, чудо, широкий, площадь

You will hear a stressed sound -о- after ж ч ш щ in the root, of a Russian word, but you should write write ё, except in these words: крыжћвник, шћрох, шћв, ожћг, чћкнуться, жћпа.
Examples: щёлкать, жёлтый, чёрный, чёрт, жёлудь, пришёл--but:
1) Stress may be muddled when a word has a stressed prefix, in which case -ё- becomes -е-, e.g. пришёл, вошёл, but вІшел;
2) Do not confuse these root vowels with the sound -о- in the suffix, e.g. горшок, порошок, жучок;
3) Foreign words (where spelling often reflects the original spelling) don't always follow this rule, e.g. шок, капюшћн

After ц, use ы in Russian words and in all endings. Use и in foreign words.
Examples: цыпленок, цыган, танцы, but цирк, цикл, Франциска, цивилизация, стронций
Note that in words like ситуация, организация, etc. the syllable -ци-, even though the -и- in it may look like an ending, comes from the original foreign word's root (-tion) and so is spelled with -и-. This may be easier to understand and remember if you realize that the root ends in the two sounds /iy/; only the /-a/ sound is the ending: /-ций+а/, spelled -ция.

After ж ч ш щ аt the end of the word, use:
- Nothing if the word is a masculine noun
  Examples: мяч, малыш, финиш, шалаш, нож, муж
- ь if the word is a feminine noun
  Examples: ночь, дочь, мышь, вещь, ложь
- ь if the word is a verb (infinitive, imperative, or the ты-form)
  Examples: мочь, лечь; ешь! не плачь!; пишешь, бежишь
- There are a few words that end in ч or ш, are neither nouns nor verbs, and are spelled with a soft sign at the end, e.g. лишь "only," сплошь "solidly," and вскачь "at a trot." These words are adverbs

When choosing between -о- and -e- after ж ч ш щ ц in an ending, use:
- о if the ending is stressed
  Examples: мячом, малышом, ножом, Ильичом
- е if the ending is unstressed
  Examples: финишем, мужем, Петровичем

The letter ы never occur immediately after к г х.
Examples: Кира, гимнаст, ноги, короткий

Глухие и звонкие согласные

When two consonants follow each other, and the second one unvoiced, the first is also pronounced in an unvoiced manner, e.g. трубка is pronounced as if spelled with a -п-. Similarly, when the second consonant is voiced, the first is also pronounced in a voiced manner, e.g. отдохнуть is pronounced as if spelled with -дд-. The last consonant sound of a word is always pronounced in an unvoiced manner, e.g. лук and луг sound identical.

To choose between a voiced and unvoiced consonant letter in the root, find another form of the same word or a related word where the consonant is followed by a vowel.
Examples: дуб - дуба, год - годы, трубка - трубочка, травка - трава, низкий - низенький, раб - работа

To choose between с and з at the end of a prefix, look at the first letter of the root:

If the root starts with a vowel or voiced consonant, use з
Examples: разбудить, безводный
If the root starts with an unvoiced consonant, use с
Examples: бестолковый, восход, вскрикнуть, расписание
Note: This rule implies that when the prefix ends in the sound -с- or -з-, you need to decide how to spell it. When the entire prefix consists of one sound с- or з-, always spell it with the letter с- because з- is not a Russian prefix. Be sure to analyse the word so that you know you're dealing with a prefix. For example, in здесь, здание, здоровье the sound and letter з- is part of the root.

To choose between a voiced and unvoiced consonant at the boundary between the prefix and root (other than for с vs. з described above), try to find another word with the same prefix where it is followed by a vowel.
Examples: подпись - подушка (the prefix под- means "under"), отправиться - отойти (the prefix от- means "away, away from"

Непроизносимые согласные

A consonant cluster often mutes one of the consonants. To reveal the silent consonant, find a related word that does not have the same cluster. Examples: грустный - грустить, честный - честь, местный - место, счастливый - счастье, поздно - опоздать. Sometimes you will discover that there is in fact no silent consonant, e.g. опасный - опасен, чудесный - чудесен.

Согласный звук Й

Use the letter й to indicate the corresponding sound when it is the last sound / letter in the word or when it is followed by a consonant.
Examples: сарай, дай, майка, найдут

Use а palatal indicator letter when this sound is between two vowels or at the beginning of the word.
Examples: её, знаю, маяк, музеи, ёлка, юбка, язык

When the й-sound follows a consonant, use:
- ъ (разделительный твёрдый знак) to separate a prefix from the root (or the 1^st root from the 2^nd root) that begins with е ё я ю.
  Examples: объяснение, съехать, подъезд, сверхъестественный
  Note: ь (мягкий знак) is never used between the prefix and the root; always use разделительный ъ in this position.
- ь (разделительный мягкий знак) in all other cases.
  Examples: обезьяна, Татьяна, воробьи, нальёт, чьи
Note: The words английский and по-английски are spelled with й even though you normally don't hear the sound й there. You'll know why it is there if you consider the word Англия: no letter й is necessary because the sound й is between two vowels.

Compiled by Slava Paperno. Not copyrighted. May be reproduced without asking for permission. Comments sent to sp27@cornell.edu will be appreciated.

Russian 305: Syllabus

Russian 306: Syllabus

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