Russian language - Voiced and voiceless, paired and unpaired consonants - video - TV channel “My Joy. See what “paired consonants” are in other dictionaries

In the Russian language, not all speech sounds are designated, but only the main ones. The Russian language has 43 basic sounds - 6 vowels and 37 consonants, while the number of letters is 33. The number of basic vowels (10 letters, but 6 sounds) and consonants (21 letters, but 37 sounds) also does not match. The difference in the quantitative composition of basic sounds and letters is determined by the peculiarities of Russian writing. In Russian, a hard and soft sound is denoted by the same letter, but the sounds soft and hard are considered different, which is why there are more consonant sounds than the letters with which they are denoted.

Voiced and voiceless consonants

Consonant sounds are divided into voiced and voiceless. Voiced ones consist of noise and voice, deaf ones consist only of noise.

Voiced consonant sounds: [b] [b"] [c] [v"] [d] [g"] [d] [d"] [z] [z"] [zh] [l] [l"] [ m] [m"] [n] [n"] [r] [r"] [th]

Voiceless consonants: [p] [p"] [f] [f"] [k] [k"] [t] [t"] [s] [s"] [w] [x] [x"] [ h"] [h"]

Paired and unpaired consonants

Many consonants form pairs of voiced and voiceless consonants:

Voiced [b] [b"] [c] [c"] [d] [g"] [d] [d"] [z] [z"] [g]

Voiceless [p] [p"] [f] [f"] [k] [k"] [t] [t"] [s] [s"] [w]

The following voiced and voiceless consonant sounds do not form pairs:

Voiced [l] [l"] [m] [m"] [n] [n"] [r] [r"] [th]

Voiceless [x] [x"] [ch"] [sch"]

Soft and hard consonants

Consonant sounds are also divided into hard and soft. They differ in the position of the tongue when pronounced. When pronouncing soft consonants, the middle back of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate.

Most consonants form pairs of hard and soft consonants:

Solid [b] [c] [d] [d] [h] [j] [l] [m] [n] [p] [r] [s] [t] [f] [x]

Soft [b"] [c"] [d"] [d"] [h"] [k"] [l"] [m"] [n"] [p"] [p"] [s"] [ t"] [f"] [x"]

The following hard and soft consonant sounds do not form pairs:

Solid [f] [w] [c]

Soft [h"] [sch"] [th"]

Sibilant consonants

The sounds [zh], [sh], [ch’], [sh’] are called hissing.

[g] [w] [h"] [sch"]

Whistling consonants

[z] [z"] [s] [s"] [ts]

Whistling sounds s-s, z-z, anterior lingual, fricative. When articulating hard s-z teeth exposed, the tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth, the back of the tongue is slightly curved, the lateral edges of the tongue are pressed against the upper molars, causing a groove to form in the middle. Air passes through this groove creating frictional noise.

When pronouncing soft s, s, the articulation is the same, but in addition the back of the tongue rises to the hard palate. When pronouncing sounds z-z, the ligaments are closed and vibrate. The velum is raised.

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

33 letters make up the Russian alphabet, 21 of them are consonants, but letters must be distinguished from sounds. A letter is a sign, a symbol that can be seen or written. The sound can only be heard and pronounced, and in writing it can be designated using transcription - [b], [c], [d]. They carry a certain semantic load, connecting with each other to form words.

36 consonant sounds: [b], [z], [v], [d], [g], [zh], [m], [n], [k], [l], [t], [p ], [t], [s], [sch], [f], [ts], [w], [x], [h], [b"], [z"], [v"], [ d"], [th"], [n"], [k"], [m"], [l"], [t"], [s"], [p"], [r"], [ f"], [g"], [x"].

Consonant sounds are divided into:

• soft and hard;

voiced and voiceless;

paired and unpaired.

Soft and hard consonants

The phonetics of the Russian language is significantly different from many other languages. It contains hard and soft consonants.

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

Consonant sounds are classified as hard in the following cases:

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

The softness of sound is written as an apostrophe: mole - [mol’], chalk - [m’el], wicket - [kal’itka], pir - [p’ir].

It should be noted that the sounds [ш'], [й'], [ч'] are always soft, and hard consonants are only [ш], [тс], [ж].

A consonant sound will become soft if it is followed by “b” and vowels: i, e, yu, i, e. For example: gen - [g"en], flax - [l"on], disk - [d"ysk] , hatch - [l "uk", elm - [v "yaz", trill - [tr "el"].

Voiced and voiceless, paired and unpaired sounds

Based on their sonority, consonants are divided into voiced and voiceless. Voiced consonants can be sounds created with the participation of the voice: [v], [z], [zh], [b], [d], [y], [m], [d], [l], [r] , [n].

Examples: [bor], [ox], [shower], [call], [heat], [goal], [fishing], [pestilence], [nose], [genus], [swarm].

Examples: [kol], [floor], [volume], [sleep], [noise], [shch"uka], [choir], [king"], [ch"an].

Paired voiced and voiceless consonants include: [b] - [p], [zh] - [w], [g] - [x], [z] - [s]. [d] - [t], [v] - [f]. Examples: reality - dust, house - volume, year - code, vase - phase, itch - court, live - sew.

Sounds that do not form pairs: [h], [n], [ts], [x], [p], [m], [l].

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

Table for memorizing consonants

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

Table. Consonants: hard and soft

Solid - before the letters A, O, U, Y, E Soft - before the letters I, E, E, Yu, I	Hard and soft consonants
	b	ball	b"	battle
	V	howl	V"	eyelid
	G	garage	G"	hero
	d	hole	d"	tar
	h	ash	z"	yawn
	To	godfather	To"	sneakers
	l	vine	l"	foliage
	m	March	m"	month
	n	leg	n"	tenderness
	P	spider	P"	song
	R	height	R"	rhubarb
	With	salt	With"	hay
	T	cloud	T"	patience
	f	phosphorus	f"	firm
	X	thinness	X"	chemistry
Unpaired	and	giraffe	h	miracle
	w	screen	sch	hazel
	ts	target	th	felt

Another table will help you remember consonant sounds.

Table. Consonants: voiced and voiceless

Doubles	Voiced	Deaf
	B	P
	IN	F
	G	TO
	D	T
	AND	Sh
	Z	WITH
Unpaired	L, M, N, R, J	X, C, Ch, Shch

Children's poems for better mastery of the material

There are exactly 33 letters in the Russian alphabet,

To find out how many consonants -

Subtract ten vowels

Signs - hard, soft -

It will immediately become clear:

The resulting number is exactly twenty-one.

Soft and hard consonants are very different,

But not dangerous at all.

If we pronounce it with noise, then they are deaf.

The consonant sounds proudly say:

They sound different.

Hard and soft

In fact, very light.

Remember one simple rule forever:

W, C, F - always hard,

But Ch, Shch, J are only soft,

Like a cat's paws.

And let’s soften others like this:

If we add soft sign,

Then we get spruce, moth, salt,

What a cunning sign!

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

We get a soft consonant.

Brother signs, soft, hard,

We don't pronounce

But to change the word,

Let's ask for their help.

The rider rides on a horse,

Con - we use it in the game.

All consonant sounds in the Russian language are divided according to several criteria, including the principle of voicedness and deafness. This pronunciation characteristic influences whether the voice is used when pronouncing a sound or not. Studying this topic is very important for understanding the basic principles of the phonetic system, because voiceless consonants are a very important part of it.

What is a voiceless consonant?

Voiceless consonant sounds are produced only by noise, without the participation of the voice. When pronouncing them, the vocal cords are completely relaxed, the larynx does not vibrate.

Paired and unpaired voiceless consonants

Most sounds that fall into this category have a voiced pair. What sounds these are, you can find out from the table “Voiceless consonant sounds in the Russian language.”

Thus, in the Russian language there are 11 voiceless consonants that have a voiced pair. But there are also unpaired ones - these are sounds such as [x], [x’], [h’] and [sch’].

They cannot become voiced regardless of position.

A special mnemonic phrase helps to remember all the voiceless consonants that exist in the Russian language: “Styopka, do you want shchetc?” - Ugh!". But it will not help to remember their pairing by hardness-softness, since voiceless consonants that have a pair are presented in it only in one variety - either hard or soft.

Consonant devoicing rule

In the Russian language, there are often cases when a voiced consonant is written in writing, but in speech it turns into a dull consonant. This happens, for example, when a voiced letter appears at the very end of a word, as in the word mushroom, the transcription of which will look like [flu].

Due to the fact that voiced consonants are deafened at the end, difficulties often arise when reproducing such words in writing. However, there is an easy way to check which letter to use: you need to change the word so that the consonant appears before the vowel, for example, mushroom - mushroom. Then it will immediately become clear what needs to be written. The same applies to cases when there is a voiceless consonant at the end, and in writing it is voiced “by general rule" You can check which letter is written in the same way: krik - krik, lot - lota.

Voiced consonants located in positions at the beginning and in the middle of a word can also be deafened if they are followed by a voiceless consonant. This is easy to understand using an example: booth [booth].

What have we learned?

Voiceless consonant sounds are those sounds in the formation of which the larynx does not vibrate, that is, the voice does not participate. They consist only of noise. Most voiceless consonants have a voiced pair, but there are four unpaired sounds of this type - these are [х], [х'], [ч'] and [ш']. Due to the rule of deafening consonants during pronunciation, those consonants that are voiced in writing go into their voiceless pair. This happens if they appear at the end of a word, and also when another voiceless consonant precedes them.

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-voicing

It should be noted right away that there are only four such sounds that are unpaired in all respects. We'll talk about them at the end of the article. The majority fits into a couple based on one characteristic, but not on another. Therefore, it makes no sense to write about the consonant “unpaired” - you need to indicate on what basis.

Consonants differ in deafness and voicedness. This means that when pronouncing some of them, more voice is used (sonorant, voiced), while others use more noise (voiceless) or even just one noise (hissing).

Sonorants are very sonorous consonants, they have a lot of voice, but little noise.

Two sonorant consonants - [L] and [R] - can even, under some circumstances, form a syllable, that is, behave like vowels. Surely you have come across the erroneous spelling “theator”. It is explained precisely by the fact that [P] in this word is syllabic. Other examples are the words “Alexander”, “meaning”.

Unpaired voiced consonant sounds are just sonorant sounds. 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 unpaired voiced sounds, there are also unpaired unpaired sounds. Most of them are fizzy; Only the dull unpaired consonant sound [Ts] does not belong to hissing sounds.

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

Hardness-softness pairs

In addition to deafness and voicedness, Russian consonants form pairs based on hardness and softness.

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

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

According to hardness-softness, consonants also form pairs. But even in this case, not everything. In the Russian language there are unpaired soft and unpaired hard consonants.

Unpaired hard consonant sounds are mainly hissing sounds ([Zh], [Sh]) and [C]. They always form at the far palate.

But in the ancestor of our language, Old Church Slavonic, on the contrary, [ZH] and [SH] were always soft and did not have a hard pair. Then [K], [G] and [X] were not soft. Nowadays you can find (once the only possible) pronunciation with a soft [Zh’] [DROZH’ZH’I] or [DOZH’] (rain), but this is no longer necessary.

Unpaired soft ones are [Y’] and again hissing [H’] and [Ш’].

That is, all hissing ones are either always hard or always soft. The letter b after them does not indicate softness, it performs a grammatical function (for example, even without knowing what “baldness” is, anyone will immediately say that this is the word female, because in the masculine gender b is not placed after hissing words). Hard unpaired hissing consonant sounds in a word may have b with them, but this does not mean that they should soften. This means that we have a 3rd declension noun, an adverb or a verb.

Unpaired soft consonant sounds 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 CHK, CHN, etc. b after h is not needed.

The sounds are “completely unpaired”

In the Russian language, most consonants are either paired according to both characteristics, or paired according to one characteristic and unpaired according to another. For example, in the word [P'EN'] (stump) the sound [P'] is paired both in deafness-voicing (P' - B'), and in hardness-softness (P' - P), and the sound [N'] is paired in terms of hardness-softness (N' - N), but unpaired in deafness-voiceness.

However, there are several sounds that are unpaired in both characteristics. These are the sounds [Y'] (unpaired voiced, unpaired soft), [Ch'] (unpaired soft, unpaired deaf), [Sh'] (unpaired soft, unpaired deaf) and [Ts] (unpaired hard, unpaired deaf). Such sounds are often made in Russian language Olympiads. For example,“Guess the sound by its characteristics: unpaired hard, unpaired dull.” We already see that this is [C].

What have we learned?

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

Test on the topic

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Exercise 17, p. 10

17. Help the cat and dog put letters that represent voiced consonant sounds into one group, and letters that represent voiceless consonant sounds into another group. Connect the letters of each group with lines.

Deaf→ h → x → w → s → t → c → k → w → p → f

Voiced→ j → l → n → r → z → m → d → b → g → g → c

• Say the sounds that can be represented by highlighted letters

h- [h’] m- [mm'], th- [th’] T- [t], [t’]

Exercise 18, p. 10

18. Read. Fill in the missing word in the sentence.

It's so cold outside -
I’m like an icicle, completely frozen.

L. Yakovlev

• Underline the letters in the highlighted word that represent voiceless paired consonant sounds.

Exercise 19, p. eleven

19. Read. Fill in the missing words that are the names of the consonant sounds.

1. A voiceless consonant is made up of noise.
2. A voiced consonant consists of noise and voice.

Exercise 20, p. eleven

20. Fill in the “house” with the missing letters indicating consonant sounds that are paired in deafness and voicedness.

• Select and write down words that end with these letters.

Exercise 21, p. eleven

21. Find in spelling dictionary textbook words with a paired deafness-voiced consonant sound at the end of the word. Write down a few words.

Alphabet t, suddenly, city, factory, pencil, class, hammer, frost, people, lunch, scarf, drawing, student, language.

Exercise 22, p. 12

22. Read. What rule are we talking about? Why are the consonants so named?

Paired consonants- the most dangerous!
Basically you check them -
Place a vowel next to it!

We are talking about the rule of spelling words with a paired deafness-voiced consonant sound at the root of the word. Such consonants are called “dangerous” because we can choose the wrong letter, denoting the paired voiced-voiced consonant sound at the root of the word before another paired consonant. These are "dangerous" places, or spelling.

Exercise 23, p. 12

23. Read. Insert the missing letters.

1. There will be bread b, there will be lunch. 2. If there was a pie, there would be an eater. 3. He who is lazy is also sleepy. 4. Ugly in face, but good in mind. 5. The bear is clumsy, and hefty.

• Orally select test words for words with missing letters.

Hle b (bread), lunch (dinners), pie (pies), eater (eaters), lazy (lazy), sleepy (sleepy), ugly (ugly), good (good), bear (bears), clumsy (clumsy) .

Exercise 24, p. 12

24. Read.

The frost creaks. The frost is angry.
And the snow is dry and hard.
And the elm was cold, and the oak was frozen.
The trees were frozen through.

G. Volzhina

• Choose the correct letter from brackets for each word and underline it. Write these words down.

Moro z, snow, elm, chill, oak, frozen, through and through.

Exercise 25, p. 13

25. Read the lines from the American song translated by Leonid Yakhnin.

Pyro old lady Fogg bakes
In the kitchen by the stove,
And the dog is a bulldog named Dog
He goes to water the flowers.
Old Lady Fogg takes the pie
And I have tea with milk,
And the dog is a bulldog named Dog -
In it next to the table.

• What do you think is true in these lines?

Is it true:
Old Lady Fogg bakes a pie
In the kitchen by the stove...
Old Lady Fogg takes the pie
And tea with milk...
The lines about the bulldog are a tall tale.

• Underline the spelling patterns in the words based on the rules you have learned.

Exercise 26, p. 13

26. Read. Write down the words, replacing the highlighted sounds with letters.

cha[sh]ka - cha sh ka uká[s]ka - ukáz ka
ló[sh]ka - spoon ka ká[s]ka - kás ka
lá[f]ka - láv ka ló[k]ti - lók ti
kó[f]ta - kofta kó[k]ti - cóg ti
shá[p]ka - hat ka ló[t]ka - boat ka
fur[p]ka - fur coat cheek[t]ka - brush

• Be prepared to prove that you spelled the words correctly.

Cha sh ka (cup), spoon ka (spoon), lav ka (bench), coffee ta - vocabulary word, you must remember, hat (cap), fur coat (fur coats), pointer (pointer), helmet (helmet), elbows (elbows), claws (claws), boat (boat), brush (brush ).

Exercise 27, p. 14

27. Read. Underline the consonants whose spelling needs to be checked.

But g ti, riddle, slippery, carrot, carrot, timid, guard, robok, slide, nail, guard, make a riddle.

• Find a test word for each word being tested. Write it down according to the example.

(Ró b ok) ro b cue, (side and it) side and ka, (zaga d yat) zaga d ka, (but G ot) but G ty, (how much h how much h cue, (carrot V ny) carrot V ka.

Exercise 28, p. 14

28. Read it. Name the fairy tales.

1. Zolushka, while running away from the palace, she lost her crystal slipper.
2. B elos tender I became very friendly with the seven dwarves.

• Fill in the missing words. Underline the letters in them that indicate paired consonant sounds in terms of deafness and voicedness.

Exercise 29, p. 15

29. Choose a single-root test word for each word. Write it down according to the example.

Du b ki - oak trees, berry ka - berries.
Dexterous is dexterous, close is close.
Spoon - spoon, pin - pin.
Pras ba - to ask, watchman - to guard.
Polite - polite, good - good.

• Underline the letters in the words whose spelling you checked.

Exercise 30, p. 15

30. Read the riddle. Fill in the missing letters and the word. Draw the answer.

I'm round, I'm smooth
And the cue tastes pleasantly sweet.
Every toddler knows
What's my name?

Exercise 31, p. 15

31. Read. Insert the missing letters.

1. Sli V ki, golu b tsy, pyro and ki, aquarius h .
2. Suddenly G, blue h ka, sapo and ki, ruba w ka.

Unnecessary words - diver, all of a sudden, since the spelling is at the end of the word, and in the rest - at the root of the word.

• Underline the extra word in each group of words. Explain your answer.

Exercise 32, p. 16

32. Read. Select the desired letter and put it into words.

B? P?
Oak, screw, mistake, button, flexible cue.
G? TO?
Iceberg, circus, easy cue, south, soft cue.
IN? F?
Island, giraffe, jacket, catch cue, beak.
D? T?
Yod, look, cage, riddle, mole.
AND? Sh?
Siskin, mitten, ruff, frog, book.
Z? WITH?
Cargo, sauce, sled, mask, tale.

Exercise 33, p. 16

33. Read. Insert the missing letters.

1. Each tree has its own fruit d. A boat floats down the river T.
2. In the boy’s hands there is a T. There is a deep stream in the village d.
3. Flowering lu is beautiful in summer G. Green lu grew in the garden bed To.
4. In the flower bed With scarlet bush h.

• What is interesting about words with missing letters? In the last sentence, underline the main clauses.

In each pair, the words are pronounced the same but spelled differently.

Exercise 34, p. 17

34. Read. Complete the tasks given in the table.

• Explain how you selected test words for words with an unstressed vowel sound and for words with a paired consonant sound in the root of the words.

We selected such test words for words with an unstressed vowel sound, so that the unstressed vowel sound would become stressed at the root. For a word with a paired consonant sound in the root of the word in terms of deafness and voicedness, we selected a cognate word so that the paired consonant sound in the root was before the vowel sound.

Exercise 35, p. 17

35. Read the riddles. Fill in the missing letters in the answers.

1. Sam hu d, the head is like a pound, as soon as it hits, it will become strong. (M o l o t o To)
2. Not snow, not ice, but sulfur bromine will remove trees. (AND Not j)

• Underline the spelling patterns in the words.

Exercise 36, p. 18

36. Read. Title the text.

January

I love you, I January!
For me you are a month I ts the best -
M O l O doy, b O lshoy, skr And puffy,
Z O l O as clear as amber b!
Sun, dream G, O drive, m O roses -
Flame white b e ryo h!

S. Kozlov

• Do you agree with the author's opinion? What does the word amber mean?

Amber is a fossilized resin, yellow-brown or golden in color.

• Which of the highlighted spellings can you not explain? Why? Underline these spellings.

We cannot explain the underlined spellings, because these are unstressed vowel sounds at the root, which cannot be verified. The spelling of such words must either be memorized or checked in a spelling dictionary.

Exercise 37, p. 18

37. Read. Insert the missing letters.

Le dark frost, big snowdrift, silvery frost, Snow Maiden, snowfall, Santa Claus, fluffy snowflakes, soft snow, skates, smooth ice, snowman.

• What theme connects these words and word combinations?

The theme of winter connects these words and combinations of words.

• Compose an oral text on this topic.

stood on the street light frost. Yesterday's snowfall covered the city in soft snow, the roofs of the houses sparkled with silvery frost. The blizzard created large snowdrifts.
The children could not stay at home. Having put on new skates, we painted patterns on the smooth ice. The kids played snowballs and made a snowman.
Fluffy snowflakes swirled merrily, like children in a New Year's round dance with Father Frost and the Snow Maiden.

Voiced and voiceless consonants

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