How to transcribe words. Phonetic transcription

Phonetic transcription in Russian- a graphic recording of the sound of a word, a type of scientific transcription.

Phonetic transcription is written in square brackets, in contrast to phonological transcription, which is written in oblique brackets.

It is widely used in school phonetic analysis of words.

This type of transcription is special kind recording of speech, which is used to record the features of its sound in writing. A sign that the reader is dealing with a transcription of spoken speech is provided by square brackets: .

When studying the sound side of a language, to convey the sound of words, one has to resort to a special phonetic letter, based on the fact that a certain symbol conveys the same sound. This type of writing is called phonetic transcription.

Transcription(from Latin transcription – rewriting) – special type a letter with the help of which spoken speech is recorded on paper.

The transcription is based on the alphabet of the language in which the speech is spoken, with the addition or modification of certain letters. So, the transcription system that we will use is based on the Russian alphabet, but the letters e, ё, й, ь, ь, я, and ъ, ь are not used to denote special unstressed vowel sounds. Separate letters from other alphabets are also used: j (iot) from Latin, ? (gamma) from Greek.

Phonetic letter does not coincide with orthographic writing, because orthographic writing does not reflect living sound processes occurring in the flow of speech, does not reflect changes in the sound system of the language, but rests on traditions. Phonetic transcription reflects changes in sounds that occur depending on position and environment.

IN writing after soft consonant sounds, instead of a, o, u, e, the letters i, e, yu and e are written, the softness of the consonant at the end of the word is indicated by a special letter b, called the “soft sign” (before the Spelling Reform of 1917-1918, this sign was called “er’ "). In transcription, the softness of a consonant is always indicated in the same way - by an apostrophe next to the soft consonant: [m "at"]. The softness of unpaired soft consonants [h"] and [sh":] is also always indicated in transcription. The only exception is the designation in the transcription of the palatal (and therefore, by definition, soft) consonant [j] - it is not customary to put an apostrophe with it.

Basic rules of transcription
In transcription:
1. A sound, word, part of a word or segment of speech is enclosed in square brackets – .
The text is written as it is pronounced.
3. Not used capital letters.
4. Punctuation rules do not apply; punctuation marks are replaced by pauses: a short pause is indicated by one vertical line - /; phrases are separated from each other by two lines – //, indicating a long pause.
5. Each sign is used to designate one sound.
6. Diacritics are used (Greek diakritikos - distinctive), which are placed above, below or near the letters. So,
a) the placement of stress is mandatory: the main one is the acute sign?, the secondary one is the gravis sign `;
b) a straight line above the letter indicates the length of the consonant - [s];
c) the softness of a consonant is indicated by an apostrophe - [m"];
d) function words, pronounced together with the significant, are connected by a chamber - [E]
e) the arc under the sign indicates the non-syllabic nature of the sound - [i].
In some cases, when necessary, other diacritics are used: dots (upper right and left of the letter) to indicate the advancement of stressed vowels forward in the vicinity of soft consonants: mya, mother, mjat;
sign ^ to convey the closed, narrow sound of vowels between soft consonants: drank - [p"ul"i].
7. In the area of ​​consonants the letter u is not used, but is designated as [w"]; in the area of ​​vowels there are no letters e, e, yu, i.
8. To indicate the sound [th], two signs are given: [j] - iot and [i] - and non-syllabic (a type of iota):
[j] – a) at the beginning of a word
b) after the separators ъ and ь
c) between two vowels before a stressed vowel.
In other cases – [i]
9. To designate voiced and voiceless consonants, their corresponding letters are used
10. Vowel sounds, depending on their position in a word, experience large changes in sound:
a) vowel sounds [i], [ы], [у] in an unstressed position do not change qualitatively, they only sound shorter than under stress, and such changes are not indicated in transcription
b) unstressed vowel sounds [a], [o], [e] change both quantitatively and qualitatively:
unstressed vowels [a], [o] at the absolute beginning of a word and in the first pre-stressed syllable after hard consonants are indicated by the sign [U] - a short sound [a].;
unstressed vowels [а], [о], [е] in the second pre-stressed and post-stressed syllables after hard consonants are indicated by the sign [ъ] - the sound is super-short [ы]
the unstressed vowel [e] in the first pre-stressed syllable after hard consonants is indicated by the sign [ые] - the sound is intermediate between [ы] and [е]
unstressed vowels [e], [a] in the first pre-stressed syllable after soft consonants are indicated by the sign [ie] - the sound is intermediate between [i] and [e]
unstressed vowels [e], [a] in the 2nd pre-stressed and post-stressed syllables after soft consonants are indicated by the sign [b] - the sound is super-short [i]

To denote the sound [g], pronounced “without explosion” in some words, and when voicing the sound [x], ["] is used - “g fricative”

Exist different systems transcriptions. Therefore, you need to choose one and consistently stick to it, so as not to destroy the emerging transcription skills.

It should also be borne in mind that in some cases transcriptions may allow options that reflect what actually exists in literary language variant pronunciation. So, depending on the pronunciation style, different vowels may sound at the absolute end of a word: in full style, with clear pronunciation, - [U], [ie], [ые], and in colloquial, with fluent pronunciation, reduced [ъ], [ь].

What is transcription used for?
1. To learn to hear your native speech and show the norms of literary pronunciation.
2. During training foreign language, especially if the spelling does not make it possible to judge the pronunciation. For example, in English language.
3. Transcription is also needed where the writing system is complex and little known to the student, especially where graphics are not intended to convey sound. For example, in hieroglyphic writing.
4. Transcription is used to record unwritten language or dialect speech.

Phonetic writing does not coincide with orthographic writing, because orthographic writing does not reflect living sound processes occurring in the flow of speech, does not reflect changes in the sound system of the language, but is based on traditions. Phonetic transcription reflects changes in sounds that occur depending on position and environment.

Once again, let's take a closer look at the Basic rules and signs of phonetic transcription:
1. The transcribed sound or segment of speech is enclosed in square brackets: oak - [dup], spoon. Speech bars are separated from each other by one vertical line, complete sentences by two. Capital letters are not used.
2. In two-syllables and many difficult words stress is placed, in monosyllabic words there is no stress: [in [el/yuna], [elephant].
3. Stressed vowel sounds [a], , [e], [u], [i], [s] are always denoted by the letters a, o, e, u, i, s.
4. The [^] symbol (“a” with a lid) is used to indicate a weakened sound close to [a], which is pronounced at the absolute beginning of a word or at the first pre-stress! syllable in place of the letters a and o after hard consonants: cucumber [^gur"ets], lampshade - [^b^zhur], water - [e^da], gardens - [s^dy (in school practice - [a] ).
5. The sign [ъ] (er) denotes a reduced sound, average between [ы] and [а], which is pronounced in many unstressed syllables, except for the first pre-stressed and absolute beginning of the word, in place of the letters a, o, e; gardener - [sj^d^here], dear - [dur^goi], groove - [zhal^bok], place - [m’est], stick - [palk], too - [tozh].
6 The sign |ie] denotes a sound intermediate between [i] and [e], which is pronounced in the first pre-stressed syllable after soft consonants in place of the letters siya: forests - [l "iesa", five - [p "iet"y] ( in school practice [and]).
The sign [ые] is used to designate a sound intermediate between [ы] and [е], which is pronounced in the first unstressed syllable after hard sibilants and c: six ~ [shyes "t"y], price - [tsyena] (in school practice - [s]).
7. The sign [b] (er) denotes a reduced sound close to [i], which is pronounced in all unstressed syllables, except the first pre-stressed one, after soft consonants in place of the letters e and i: piglet - [п"т^ч"ok ], democrat - [d"m^krat].
8. Unstressed sounds in place of the letters u, ы, and are usually designated in the same way as stressed sounds, with the signs [у], [ы], [и]: iron - [ut"uk], fisherman - [fisherman], go - [id"th].
9. The softness of a consonant sound is indicated by a comma at the top right of the letter sign: strap - [l "amk", roar - [r "jf], lion - [l "ef], buy - [kupl "y].
10. The longitude of a consonant sound is indicated by a horizontal line above the letter: bath - [van], buzzes - [zhuzhyt].
11. The sign [j] denotes the consonant sound “yot”, which is pronounced before stressed vowels: yama - jamъ], ruff - , spruce - JEL "].

A weak version of this sound is pronounced in all other positions, usually indicated by the sign [and] (“and non-syllabic”): moi - [moi], flock [staiъ], (In school practice, the sign [th] is used in both cases)
Transcription can be not only complete, but also selective, when not the entire word is enclosed in square brackets, but only the element in question - a sound or number of sounds. This method of transcription is used, for example, in dictionaries and reference books to indicate correct pronunciation sounds: beefsteak - beefsh[te]k\ overcoat - shi[n"e]l.

Before moving on to phonetic analysis with examples, we draw your attention to the fact that letters and sounds in words are not always the same thing.

Letters- these are letters, graphic symbols, with the help of which the content of a text is conveyed or a conversation is outlined. Letters are used to visually convey meaning; we perceive them with our eyes. The letters can be read. When you read letters out loud, you form sounds - syllables - words.

A list of all letters is just an alphabet

Almost every schoolchild knows how many letters are in the Russian alphabet. That's right, there are 33 of them in total. The Russian alphabet is called the Cyrillic alphabet. The letters of the alphabet are arranged in a certain sequence:

Russian alphabet:

In total, the Russian alphabet uses:

• 21 letters for consonants;
• 10 letters - vowels;
• and two: ь (soft sign) and ъ (hard sign), which indicate properties, but do not themselves define any sound units.

You often pronounce sounds in phrases differently from how you write them in writing. In addition, a word may use more letters than sounds. For example, “children’s” - the letters “T” and “S” merge into one phoneme [ts]. And vice versa, the number of sounds in the word “blacken” is greater, since the letter “U” in in this case pronounced [yu].

What is phonetic analysis?

We perceive spoken speech by ear. By phonetic analysis of a word we mean the characteristics of the sound composition. In the school curriculum, such analysis is more often called “sound-letter” analysis. So, with phonetic analysis, you simply describe the properties of sounds, their characteristics depending on the environment and the syllabic structure of a phrase united by a common word stress.

Phonetic transcription

For sound-letter parsing, a special transcription in square brackets is used. For example, it is correctly written:

• black -> [h"orny"]
• apple -> [yablaka]
• anchor -> [yakar"]
• Christmas tree -> [yolka]
• sun -> [sontse]

The phonetic parsing scheme uses special symbols. Thanks to this, it is possible to correctly designate and distinguish the letter notation (spelling) and the sound definition of letters (phonemes).

• The phonetically parsed word is enclosed in square brackets – ;
• a soft consonant is indicated by a transcription sign [’] - an apostrophe;
• percussive [´] - accent;
• in complex word forms from several roots, the secondary stress sign [`] - gravis is used (not practiced in the school curriculum);
• the letters of the alphabet Yu, Ya, E, Ё, ь and Ъ are NEVER used in transcription (in the curriculum);
• for doubled consonants, [:] is used - a sign of the longitude of the sound.

Below are detailed rules for orthoepic, alphabetic and phonetic and analysis of words with examples online, in accordance with general school standards of the modern Russian language. For professional linguists, the transcription of phonetic characteristics differs in accents and other symbols with additional acoustic signs vowel and consonant phonemes.

How to make a phonetic analysis of a word?

The following diagram will help you carry out letter analysis:

• You write necessary word and say it out loud several times.
• Count how many vowels and consonants there are in it.
• Indicate the stressed syllable. (Stress, using intensity (energy), distinguishes a certain phoneme in speech from a number of homogeneous sound units.)
• Divide phonetic word by syllables and indicate their total number. Remember that syllable division in is different from the rules of transfer. The total number of syllables always matches the number of vowels.
• In the transcription, sort the word by sounds.
• Write the letters from the phrase in a column.
• Opposite each letter in square brackets, indicate its sound definition (how it is heard). Remember that sounds in words are not always identical to letters. The letters "ь" and "ъ" do not represent any sounds. The letters “e”, “e”, “yu”, “ya”, “i” can represent 2 sounds at once.
• Analyze each phoneme separately and indicate its properties separated by commas:
  • for a vowel we indicate in the characteristic: vowel sound; stressed or unstressed;
  • in the characteristics of consonants we indicate: consonant sound; hard or soft, voiced or deaf, sonorant, paired/unpaired in hardness-softness and sonority-dullness.
• At the end of the phonetic analysis of the word, draw a line and count the total number of letters and sounds.

This scheme is practiced in the school curriculum.

An example of phonetic analysis of a word

Here is a sample phonetic analysis of the composition for the word “phenomenon” → [yivl’e′n’ie]. IN in this example 4 vowels and 3 consonants. There are only 4 syllables: I-vle′-n-e. The emphasis falls on the second.

Sound characteristics of letters:

i [th] - acc., unpaired soft, unpaired voiced, sonorant [i] - vowel, unstressedv [v] - acc., paired hard, paired sound l [l'] - acc., paired soft., unpaired . sound, sonorant [e′] - vowel, stressed [n’] - consonant, paired soft, unpaired sound, sonorant and [i] - vowel, unstressed [th] - consonant, unpaired. soft, unpaired sound, sonorant [e] - vowel, unstressed________________________In total, the word phenomenon has 7 letters, 9 sounds. The first letter “I” and the last “E” each represent two sounds.

Now you know how to do sound-letter analysis yourself. The following is a classification of sound units of the Russian language, their relationships and transcription rules for sound-letter parsing.

Phonetics and sounds in Russian

What sounds are there?

All sound units are divided into vowels and consonants. Vowel sounds, in turn, can be stressed or unstressed. The consonant sound in Russian words can be: hard - soft, voiced - deaf, hissing, sonorous.

How many sounds are there in Russian living speech?

The correct answer is 42.

Doing phonetic analysis online, you will find that 36 consonant sounds and 6 vowels are involved in word formation. Many people have a reasonable question: why is there such a strange inconsistency? Why does the total number of sounds and letters differ for both vowels and consonants?

All this is easily explained. A number of letters, when participating in word formation, can denote 2 sounds at once. For example, softness-hardness pairs:

• [b] - cheerful and [b’] - squirrel;
• or [d]-[d’]: home - to do.

And some do not have a pair, for example [h’] will always be soft. If you doubt it, try to say it firmly and make sure it is impossible: stream, pack, spoon, black, Chegevara, boy, little rabbit, bird cherry, bees. Thanks to this practical solution, our alphabet has not reached dimensionless proportions, and the sound units are optimally complemented, merging with each other.

Vowel sounds in Russian words

Vowel sounds Unlike consonants, they are melodic; they flow freely, as if in a chant, from the larynx, without barriers or tension of the ligaments. The louder you try to pronounce the vowel, the wider you will have to open your mouth. And vice versa, the louder you try to pronounce a consonant, the more energetically you will close your mouth. This is the most striking articulatory difference between these phoneme classes.

The stress in any word form can only fall on the vowel sound, but there are also unstressed vowels.

How many vowel sounds are there in Russian phonetics?

Russian speech uses fewer vowel phonemes than letters. There are only six shock sounds: [a], [i], [o], [e], [u], [s]. And let us remind you that there are ten letters: a, e, e, i, o, u, y, e, i, yu. The vowels E, E, Yu, I are not “pure” sounds in transcription are not used. Often, when parsing words by letter, the emphasis falls on the listed letters.

Phonetics: characteristics of stressed vowels

The main phonemic feature of Russian speech is the clear pronunciation of vowel phonemes in stressed syllables. Stressed syllables in Russian phonetics are distinguished by the force of exhalation, increased duration of sound and are pronounced undistorted. Since they are pronounced clearly and expressively, sound analysis of syllables with stressed vowel phonemes is much easier to carry out. The position in which the sound does not undergo changes and retains its basic form is called strong position. This position can only be taken by percussion sound and syllable. Unstressed phonemes and syllables remain V weak position.

• The vowel in a stressed syllable is always in a strong position, that is, it is pronounced more clearly, with the greatest strength and duration.
• A vowel in an unstressed position is in a weak position, that is, it is pronounced with less force and not so clearly.

In the Russian language, only one phoneme “U” retains unchangeable phonetic properties: kuruza, tablet, u chus, u lov - in all positions it is pronounced clearly as [u]. This means that the vowel “U” is not subject to qualitative reduction. Attention: in writing, the phoneme [y] can also be indicated by another letter “U”: muesli [m’u ´sl’i], key [kl’u ´ch’], etc.

Analysis of the sounds of stressed vowels

The vowel phoneme [o] occurs only in a strong position (under stress). In such cases, “O” is not subject to reduction: cat [ko´ t'ik], bell [kalako´ l'ch'yk], milk [malako´], eight [vo´ s'im'], search [paisko´ vaya], dialect [go´ var], autumn [o´ s'in'].

An exception to the rule of a strong position for “O”, when the unstressed [o] is also pronounced clearly, is represented by only a few foreign words: cocoa [kaka "o], patio [pa"tio], radio [ra"dio], boa [bo a"] and a number of service units, for example, the conjunction but.

The sound [o] in writing can be reflected by another letter “ё” - [o]: thorn [t’o´ rn], fire [kas’t’o´ r]. It will also not be difficult to analyze the sounds of the remaining four vowels in the stressed position.

It is possible to make a correct sound analysis and accurately determine the characteristics of a vowel only after placing stress in the word. Do not forget also about the existence of homonymy in our language: zamok - zamok and about the change in phonetic qualities depending on the context (case, number):

• I'm home [ya do "ma].
• New houses [no "vye da ma"].

IN unstressed position the vowel is modified, that is, pronounced differently than written:

• mountains - mountain = [go "ry] - [ga ra"];
• he - online = [o "n] - [a nla"yn]
• witness line = [sv’id’e “t’i l’n’itsa].

Such changes in vowels in unstressed syllables are called reduction. Quantitative, when the duration of the sound changes. And high-quality reduction, when the characteristics of the original sound change.

The same unstressed vowel letter can change its phonetic characteristics depending on its position:

• primarily relative to the stressed syllable;
• at the absolute beginning or end of a word;
• in open syllables (consisting of only one vowel);
• on the influence of neighboring signs (ь, ъ) and consonant.

Yes, it varies 1st degree of reduction. It is subject to:

• vowels in the first pre-stressed syllable;
• naked syllable at the very beginning;
• repeated vowels.

Note: To make a sound-letter analysis, the first pre-stressed syllable is determined not from the “head” of the phonetic word, but in relation to the stressed syllable: the first to the left of it. In principle, it can be the only pre-shock: not-here [n’iz’d’e’shn’ii].

(uncovered syllable)+(2-3 pre-stressed syllable)+ 1st pre-stressed syllable ← Stressed syllable → over-stressed syllable (+2/3 over-stressed syllable)

• vper-re -di [fp’ir’i d’i´];
• e -ste-ste-st-no [yi s’t’e´s’t’v’in:a];

Any other pre-stressed syllables and all post-stressed syllables during sound analysis are classified as reduction of the 2nd degree. It is also called a “weak position of the second degree.”

• kiss [pa-tsy-la-va´t’];
• model [ma-dy-l’i´-ra-vat’];
• swallow [la´-sta -ch’ka];
• kerosene [k'i-ra-s'i´-na-vy].

The reduction of vowels in a weak position also differs in stages: second, third (after hard and soft consonants - this is beyond curriculum): learn [uch’i´ts:a], become numb [atsyp’in’e´t’], hope [nad’e´zhda]. During letter analysis, the reduction of the vowel in the weak position in the final open syllable (= at the absolute end of the word) will appear very slightly:

• cup;
• goddess;
• with songs;
• turn.

Sound-letter analysis: iotized sounds

Phonetically, the letters E - [ye], Yo - [yo], Yu - [yu], Ya - [ya] often mean two sounds at once. Have you noticed that in all the indicated cases the additional phoneme is “Y”? That is why these vowels are called iotized. The meaning of the letters E, E, Yu, I is determined by their positional position.

When analyzed phonetically, the vowels e, e, yu, i form 2 sounds:

◊ Yo - [yo], Yu - [yu], E - [ye], I - [ya] in cases where there are:

• At the beginning of the words “Yo” and “Yu” are always:
  • - shudder [yo´ zhyts:a], Christmas tree [yo´ lach’nyy], hedgehog [yo´ zhyk], container [yo´ mcast’];
  • - jeweler [yuv ’il’i´r], top [yu la´], skirt [yu´ pka], Jupiter [yu p’i´t’ir], nimbleness [yu ´rkas’t’];
• at the beginning of the words “E” and “I” only under stress*:
  • - spruce [ye´ l’], travel [ye´ w:u], huntsman [ye´ g’ir’], eunuch [ye´ vnukh];
  • - yacht [ya´ hta], anchor [ya´ kar’], yaki [ya´ ki], apple [ya´ blaka];
  • (*to perform sound-letter analysis of the unstressed vowels “E” and “I”, a different phonetic transcription is used, see below);
• in the position immediately after the vowel “Yo” and “Yu” always. But “E” and “I” are in stressed and unstressed syllables, except in cases where these letters are located after a vowel in the 1st pre-stressed syllable or in the 1st, 2nd unstressed syllable in the middle of words. Phonetic analysis online and examples in specified cases:
  • - receiver [pr’iyo´mn’ik], sings t [payo´t], klyyo t [kl’uyo ´t];
  • -ayu rveda [ayu r’v’e´da], I sing t [payu ´t], melt [ta´yu t], cabin [kayu ´ta],
• after the dividing solid “Ъ” the sign “Ё” and “Yu” - always, and “E” and “I” only under stress or at the absolute end of the word: - volume [ab yo´m], shooting [syo´mka], adjutant [adyu "ta´nt]
• after the dividing soft “b” the sign “Ё” and “Yu” is always, and “E” and “I” are under stress or at the absolute end of the word: - interview [intyrv'yu´], trees [d'ir'e´ v'ya], friends [druz'ya´], brothers [bra´t'ya], monkey [ab'iz'ya´ na], blizzard [v'yu´ ga], family [s'em'ya´ ]

As you can see, in the phonemic system of the Russian language, stress is of decisive importance. Vowels in unstressed syllables undergo the greatest reduction. Let's continue the sound-letter analysis of the remaining iotized ones and see how they can still change characteristics depending on the environment in the words.

◊ Unstressed vowels“E” and “I” designate two sounds and in phonetic transcription and are written as [YI]:

• at the very beginning of the word:
  • - unity [yi d'in'e´n'i'ye], spruce [yil´vyy], blackberry [yizhiv'i´ka], him [yivo´], fidget [yigaza´], Yenisei [yin'is 'e´y], Egypt [yig'i´p'it];
  • - January [yi nvarskiy], core [yidro´], sting [yiz'v'i´t'], label [yirly´k], Japan [yipo´n'iya], lamb [yign'o´nak ];
  • (The only exceptions are rare foreign word forms and names: Caucasoid [ye vrap'io´idnaya], Evgeniy [ye] vgeny, European [ye vrap'e´yits], diocese [ye] pa´rkhiya, etc.).
• immediately after a vowel in the 1st pre-stressed syllable or in the 1st, 2nd post-stressed syllable, except for the location at the absolute end of the word.
  • in a timely manner [svai vr'e´m'ina], trains [payi zda´], let's eat [payi d'i´m], run into [nayi w:a´t'], Belgian [b'il'g'i´ yi c], students [uch'a´sh'iyi s'a], with sentences [pr'idlazhe´n'iyi m'i], vanity [suyi ta´],
  • bark [la´yi t'], pendulum [ma´yi tn'ik], hare [za´yi c], belt [po´yi s], declare [zayi v'i´t'], show [prayi in 'l'u´]
• after the dividing hard “Ъ” or soft “b” sign: - intoxicating [p'yi n'i´t], express [izyi v'i´t'], announcement [abyi vl'e´n'iye], edible [syi dobny].

Note: The St. Petersburg phonological school is characterized by “ecane”, and the Moscow school is characterized by “hiccup”. Previously, the iotrated “Yo” was pronounced with a more accented “Ye”. When changing capitals, performing sound-letter analysis, they adhere to Moscow norms in orthoepy.

Some people in fluent speech pronounce the vowel “I” the same way in syllables with a strong and weak position. This pronunciation is considered a dialect and is not literary. Remember, the vowel “I” under stress and without stress is voiced differently: fair [ya ´marka], but egg [yi ytso´].

Important:

The letter "I" after soft sign“b” also represents 2 sounds - [YI] in sound-letter analysis. ( This rule relevant for syllables in both strong and weak positions). Let's conduct a sample sound-letter online parsing: - nightingales [salav'yi´], on chicken legs [na ku´r'yi' x" no´shkah], rabbit [kro´l'ich'yi], no family [s'im'yi´], judges [su´d'yi], draws [n'ich'yi´], streams [ruc'yi´], foxes [li´s'yi]. But: The vowel “O” after the soft sign “b” is transcribed as apostrophe of softness ['] of the preceding consonant and [O], although when pronouncing the phoneme, iotization can be heard: broth [bul'on'n], pavilion n [pav'il'on'n], similarly: postman n, champignon n, shigno n, companion n, medallion n, battalion n, guillotina, carmagno la, mignon n and others.

Phonetic analysis of words, when the vowels “Yu” “E” “E” “I” form 1 sound

According to the rules of phonetics of the Russian language, at a certain position in words, the designated letters give one sound when:

• sound units “Yo” “Yu” “E” are under stress after an unpaired consonant in hardness: zh, sh, ts.
  • Then they represent phonemes:
  • ё - [o],
  • e - [e],
  yu - [y].
• Examples of online analysis by sounds: yellow [zho´ lty], silk [sho´ lk], whole [tse´ ly], recipe [r'itse´ pt], pearls [zhe´ mch'uk], six [she´ st '], hornet [she'rshen'], parachute [parashu't]; The letters “I” “Yu” “E” “E” and “I” indicate the softness of the preceding consonant [’]. Exception only for: [f], [w], [c]. In such cases in a striking position
  • they form one vowel sound:
  • ё – [o]: ticket [put'o´ fka], easy [l'o´ hk'iy], honey fungus [ap'o´ nak], actor [akt'o´ r], child [r'ib' o´nak];
  • e – [e]: seal [t’ul’e´ n’], mirror [z’e’ rkala], smarter [umn’e´ ye], conveyor [kanv’e´ yir];
  • I – [a]: kittens [kat'a´ ta], softly [m'a´ hka], oath [kl'a´ tva], took [vz'a´ l], mattress [t'u f'a ´ k], swan [l'ib'a´ zhy];
  • yu – [y]: beak [kl'u´ f], people [l'u´ d'am], gateway [shl'u´ s], tulle [t'u´ l'], suit [kas't 'mind].
• Note: in words borrowed from other languages, the stressed vowel “E” does not always signal the softness of the previous consonant. This positional softening ceased to be a mandatory norm in Russian phonetics only in the 20th century. In such cases, when you do a phonetic analysis of the composition, such a vowel sound is transcribed as [e] without a preceding apostrophe of softness: hotel [ate´ l'], strap [br'ite´ l'ka], test [te´ st] , tennis [te´ n:is], cafe [cafe´], puree [p'ure´], amber [ambre´], delta [de´ l'ta], tender [te´ nder], masterpiece [shede´ vr], tablet [table´ t]. Attention! After soft consonants in prestressed syllables

the vowels “E” and “I” undergo qualitative reduction and are transformed into the sound [i] (except for [ts], [zh], [sh]). Examples of phonetic analysis of words with similar phonemes: - grain [z'i rno´], earth [z'i ml'a´], cheerful [v'i s'o´ly], ringing [z'v 'i n'i´t], forest [l'i sno´y], blizzard [m'i t'e´l'itsa], feather [p'i ro´], brought [pr' in'i sla´], knit [v'i za´t'], lie [l'i ga´t'], five grater [p'i t'o´rka]

Phonetic analysis: consonants of the Russian language

There is an absolute majority of consonants in the Russian language. When pronouncing a consonant sound, the air flow encounters obstacles. They are formed by organs of articulation: teeth, tongue, palate, vibrations of the vocal cords, lips. Due to this, noise, hissing, whistling or ringing appears in the voice.

How many consonants are there in Russian speech? In the alphabet they are designated by However, when performing sound-letter analysis, you will find that in Russian phonetics consonant sounds more, namely 36.

Sound-letter analysis: what are the consonant sounds?

In our language there are consonants:

• hard - soft and form the corresponding pairs:
  • [b] - [b’]: b anan - b tree,
  • [in] - [in’]: in height - in yun,
  • [g] - [g’]: city - duke,
  • [d] - [d’]: dacha - dolphin,
  • [z] - [z’]: z von - z ether,
  • [k] - [k’]: k onfeta - to enguru,
  • [l] - [l’]: boat - l lux,
  • [m] - [m’]: magic - dreams,
  • [n] - [n’]: new - nectar,
  • [p] - [p’]: p alma- p yosik,
  • [r] - [r’]: daisy - row of poison,
  • [s] - [s’]: with uvenir - with urpriz,
  • [t] - [t’]: tuchka - t ulpan,
  • [f] - [f’]: f lag - f February,
  • [x] - [x’]: x orek - x seeker.
• Certain consonants do not have a hard-soft pair. Unpaired ones include:
  • sounds [zh], [ts], [sh] - always hard (zhzn, tsikl, mouse);
  • [ch’], [sch’] and [th’] are always soft (daughter, more often than not, yours).
• The sounds [zh], [ch’], [sh], [sh’] in our language are called hissing.

A consonant can be voiced - voiceless, as well as sonorous and noisy.

You can determine the voicedness-voicelessness or sonority of a consonant by the degree of noise-voice. These characteristics will vary depending on the method of formation and the participation of the organs of articulation.

• Sonorant (l, m, n, r, y) are the most sonorous phonemes, in them a maximum of voices and a few noises are heard: l ev, rai, n o l.
• If, when pronouncing a word during sound parsing, both a voice and noise are formed, it means that you have a voiced consonant (g, b, z, etc.): plant, b people, life.
• When pronouncing voiceless consonants (p, s, t and others), the vocal cords do not tense, only noise is made: st opka, fishka, k ost yum, tsirk, sew up.

Note: In phonetics, consonant sound units also have a division according to the nature of formation: stop (b, p, d, t) - gap (zh, w, z, s) and method of articulation: labiolabial (b, p, m) , labiodental (f, v), anterior lingual (t, d, z, s, c, g, w, sch, h, n, l, r), midlingual (th), posterior lingual (k, g, x) . The names are given based on the organs of articulation that are involved in sound production.

Tip: If you're just starting to practice spelling words phonetically, try placing your hands on your ears and saying the phoneme. If you were able to hear a voice, then the sound being studied is a voiced consonant, but if noise is heard, then it is voiceless.

Hint: For associative communication, remember the phrases: “Oh, we didn’t forget our friend.” - V this proposal contains absolutely the entire set of voiced consonants (excluding softness-hardness pairs). “Styopka, do you want to eat some soup? - Fi! - similarly, the indicated replicas contain a set of all voiceless consonants.

Positional changes of consonants in Russian

The consonant sound, just like the vowel, undergoes changes. The same letter phonetically can mean different sound, depending on the position occupied. In the flow of speech, the sound of one consonant is compared to the articulation of a consonant located next to it. This effect makes pronunciation easier and is called assimilation in phonetics.

Positional stun/voicing

In a certain position for consonants, the phonetic law of assimilation according to deafness and voicedness applies. The voiced paired consonant is replaced by a voiceless one:

• at the absolute end of a phonetic word: but [no´sh], snow [s’n’e´k], garden [agaro´t], club [klu´p];
• before voiceless consonants: forget-me-not a [n’izabu´t ka], obkh vatit [apkh vat’i´t’], Tuesday [ft o´rn’ik], tube a [corpse a].
• doing a sound-letter analysis online, you will notice that the voiceless paired consonant standing before the voiced one (except for [th'], [v] - [v'], [l] - [l'], [m] - [m'] , [n] - [n'], [r] - [r']) is also voiced, that is, replaced by its voiced pair: surrender [zda´ch'a], mowing [kaz'ba´], threshing [malad 'ba´], request [pro´z'ba], guess [adgada´t'].

In Russian phonetics, a voiceless noisy consonant does not combine with a subsequent voiced noisy consonant, except for the sounds [v] - [v’]: whipped cream. In this case, the transcription of both the phoneme [z] and [s] is equally acceptable.

When parsing the sounds of words: total, today, today, etc., the letter “G” is replaced by the phoneme [v].

According to the rules of sound-letter analysis, in the endings “-ого”, “-го” of adjectives, participles and pronouns, the consonant “G” is transcribed as the sound [в]: red [kra´snava], blue [s'i´n'iva] , white [b'e´lava], sharp, full, former, that, that, whom. If, after assimilation, two consonants of the same type are formed, they merge. In the school curriculum on phonetics, this process is called consonant contraction: separate [ad:'il'i´t'] → the letters “T” and “D” are reduced into sounds [d'd'], besh smart [b'ish: u ´much]. When analyzing the composition of a number of words in sound-letter analysis, dissimilation is observed - the opposite process to assimilation. In this case it changes

common feature

In the phonetic parsing scheme, an apostrophe [’] is used to indicate the softness of consonants.

• Softening of paired hard consonants occurs before “b”;
• the softness of the consonant sound in a syllable in writing will help determine the vowel letter that follows it (e, ё, i, yu, i);
• [ш'], [ч'] and [й] are only soft by default;
• The sound [n] is always softened before soft consonants “Z”, “S”, “D”, “T”: claim [pr'iten'z 'iya], review [r'itseen'z 'iya], pension [pen 's' iya], ve[n'z'] el, licé[n'z'] iya, ka[n'd'] idat, ba[n'd'] it, i[n'd'] ivid , blo[n'd']in, stipe[n'd']iya, ba[n't']ik, vi[n't']ik, zo[n't']ik, ve[n' t'] il, a[n't'] ical, co[n't'] text, remo[n't'] edit;
• the letters “N”, “K”, “P” during phonetic analysis of their composition can be softened before the soft sounds [ch'], [sch']: glass ik [staka'n'ch'ik], smenschik ik [sm'e ′n'sch'ik], donch ik [po'n'ch'ik], masonry ik [kam'e'n'sch'ik], boulevard [bul'va'r'sh'ina], borscht [ borsch'];
• often the sounds [з], [с], [р], [н] before a soft consonant undergo assimilation in terms of hardness-softness: wall [s't'e′nka], life [zhyz'n'], here [ z'd'es'];
• in order to correctly perform sound-letter analysis, take into account the exception words when the consonant [p] before soft dental and labial ones, as well as before [ch’], [sch’] is pronounced firmly: artel, feed, cornet, samovar;

Note: the letter “b” after a consonant unpaired in hardness/softness in some word forms performs only a grammatical function and does not impose a phonetic load: study, night, mouse, rye, etc. In such words, during letter analysis, a [-] dash is placed in square brackets opposite the letter “b”.

Positional changes in paired voiced-voiceless consonants before hissing consonants and their transcription during sound-letter parsing

To determine the number of sounds in a word, you need to take them into account positional changes. Paired voiced-voiceless: [d-t] or [z-s] before sibilants (zh, sh, shch, h) are phonetically replaced by a sibilant consonant.

• Literal analysis and examples of words with hissing sounds: arrival [pr'ie'zhzh ii], ascend [vashsh e´st'iye], izzh elta [i´zh elta], take pity [zh a´l'its: A].

The phenomenon when two different letters are pronounced as one is called complete assimilation in all respects. When performing sound-letter analysis of a word, you must denote one of the repeated sounds in the transcription with the longitude symbol [:].

• Letter combinations with a hissing “szh” - “zzh” are pronounced like a double hard consonant [zh:], and “ssh” - “zsh” - like [sh:]: squeezed, sewed, without a splint, climbed in.
• The combinations “zzh”, “zhzh” inside the root, when parsed by letters and sounds, are written in transcription as a long consonant [zh:]: I ride, I squeal, later, reins, yeast, zhzhenka.
• The combinations “sch”, “zch” at the junction of a root and a suffix/prefix are pronounced as a long soft [sch’:]: account [sch’: o´t], scribe, customer.
• At the junction of the preposition with the following word in place of “sch”, “zch” is transcribed as [sch'ch']: without number [b'esh' ch' isla´], with something [sch'ch' e'mta] .
• During sound-letter analysis, the combinations “tch”, “dch” at the junction of morphemes are defined as double soft [ch':]: pilot [l'o´ch': ik], good fellow [little-ch': ik], report [ach': o´t].

Cheat sheet for comparing consonant sounds by place of formation

• сч → [ш':]: happiness [ш': а´с'т'е], sandstone [п'ish': а´н'ik], peddler [vari´sch': ik], paving stones, calculations, exhaust, clear;
• zch → [sch’:]: carver [r’e’sch’: ik], loader [gru’sch’: ik], storyteller [raska’sch’: ik];
• zhch → [sch’:]: defector [p’ir’ibe´ sch’: ik], man [musch’: i´na];
• shch → [sch’:]: freckled [in’isnu’sch’: ity];
• stch → [sch’:]: tougher [zho’sch’: e], biting, rigger;
• zdch → [sch’:]: roundabout [abye’sch’: ik], furrowed [baro’sch’: ity];
• ssch → [sch’:]: split [rasch’: ip’i′t’], became generous [rasch’: e’dr’ils’a];
• thsch → [ch'sch']: to split off [ach'sch' ip'i′t'], to snap off [ach'sch' o´lk'ivat'], in vain [ch'sch' etna], carefully [ch' sch' at'el'na];
• tch → [ch’:]: report [ach’: o′t], fatherland [ach’: i′zna], ciliated [r’is’n’i′ch’: i′ty];
• dch → [ch’:]: emphasize [pach’: o’rk’ivat’], stepdaughter [pach’: ir’itsa];
• szh → [zh:]: compress [zh: a´t’];
• zzh → [zh:]: get rid of [izh: y´t’], kindle [ro´zh: yk], leave [uyizh: a´t’];
• ssh → [sh:]: brought [pr’in’o′sh: y], embroidered [rash: y’ty];
• zsh → [sh:]: lower [n’ish: s′y]
• th → [pcs], in word forms with “what” and its derivatives, doing a sound-letter analysis, we write [pcs]: so that [pcs] , for nothing [n'e′ zasht a], something [ sht o n'ibut'], something;
• th → [h't] in other cases of letter parsing: dreamer [m'ich't a´t'il'], mail [po´ch't a], preference [pr'itpach't 'e´n' ie] etc;
• chn → [shn] in exception words: of course [kan'e´shn a′], boring [sku´shn a′], bakery, laundry, scrambled eggs, trifling, birdhouse, bachelorette party, mustard plaster, rag, as well as in female patronymics ending in “-ichna”: Ilyinichna, Nikitichna, Kuzminichna, etc.;
• chn → [ch'n] - letter analysis for all other options: fabulous [ska´zach'n y], dacha [da´ch'n y], strawberry [z'im'l'in'i´ch'n y], wake up, cloudy, sunny, etc.;
• !zhd → in place of the letter combination “zhd”, double pronunciation and transcription [sch’] or [sht’] is allowed in the word rain and in the word forms derived from it: rainy, rainy.

Unpronounceable consonants in Russian words

During the pronunciation of an entire phonetic word with a chain of many different consonant letters, one or another sound may be lost. As a result, in the spelling of words there are letters devoid of sound meaning, the so-called unpronounceable consonants. To correctly perform phonetic analysis online, the unpronounceable consonant is not displayed in the transcription. The number of sounds in such phonetic words will be less than letters.

In Russian phonetics, unpronounceable consonants include:

• "T" - in combinations:
  • stn → [sn]: local [m’e´sn y], reed [tras’n ’i´k]. By analogy, one can perform a phonetic analysis of the words staircase, honest, famous, joyful, sad, participant, messenger, rainy, furious and others;
  • stl → [sl]: happy [sh':asl 'i´vyy"], happy, conscientious, boastful (exception words: bony and postlat, in them the letter “T” is pronounced);
  • ntsk → [nsk]: gigantic [g'iga´nsk 'ii], agency, presidential;
  • sts → [s:]: sixs from [shes: o´t], to eat up [take´s: a], to swear I [kl’a´s: a];
  • sts → [s:]: tourist [tur'i´s: k'iy], maximalist cue [max'imal'i´s: k'iy], racist cue [ras'i´s: k'iy] , bestseller, propaganda, expressionist, Hindu, careerist;
  • ntg → [ng]: x-ray en [r’eng ’e´n];
  • “–tsya”, “–tsya” → [ts:] in verb endings: smile [smile´ts: a], wash [my´ts: a], looks, will do, bow, shave, fit;
  • ts → [ts] for adjectives in combinations at the junction of a root and a suffix: childish [d’e´ts k’ii], bratskiy [bratskyi];
  • ts → [ts:] / [tss]: athlete [sparts: m’e´n], send [atss yla´t’];
  • tts → [ts:] at the junction of morphemes during phonetic analysis online is written as a long “ts”: bratz a [bra´ts: a], father epit [ats: yp'i´t'], to father u [k atz: y´];
• “D” - when parsing by sounds in the following letter combinations:
  • zdn → [zn]: late [z'n'y], star [z'v'ozn'y], holiday [pra'z'n'ik], free [b'izvazm' e′know];
  • ndsh → [nsh]: mundsh tuk [munsh tu´k], landsh aft [lansh a´ft];
  • NDsk → [NSK]: Dutch [Galansk ’ii], Thai [Thailansk ’ii], Norman [Narmansk ’ii];
  • zdts → [ss]: under the bridles [fall uss s´];
  • ndc → [nts]: Dutch [galans];
  • rdc → [rts]: heart [s’e´rts e], serdts evin [s’irts yv’i´na];
  • rdch → [rch"]: heart ishko [s’erch ’i´shka];
  • dts → [ts:] at the junction of morphemes, less often in roots, are pronounced and when parsed soundly, the word is written as double [ts]: pick up [pats: yp'i´t'], twenty [dva´ts: yt'] ;
  • ds → [ts]: factory koy [zavac ko´y], rods tvo [rac tvo´], means [sr’e´ts tva], Kislovods k [k’islavo´ts k];
• “L” - in combinations:
  • sun → [nz]: sun [so´nts e], solar state;
• “B” - in combinations:
  • vstv → [stv] literal analysis of words: hello [hello, go away], feelings about [ch's'tva], sensuality [ch'us'tv 'inas't'], pampering about [pampering o´], virgin [d'e´stv 'in:y].

Note: In some words of the Russian language, when there is a cluster of consonant sounds “stk”, “ntk”, “zdk”, “ndk” the loss of the phoneme [t] is not allowed: trip [payestka], daughter-in-law, typist, summons, laboratory assistant, student , patient, bulky, Irish, Scottish.

• When parsing letters, two identical letters immediately after the stressed vowel are transcribed as a single sound and a longitude symbol [:]: class, bath, mass, group, program.
• Doubled consonants in pre-stressed syllables are indicated in transcription and pronounced as one sound: tunnel [tane´l’], terrace, apparatus.

If you find it difficult to perform phonetic analysis of a word online according to the indicated rules, or you have an ambiguous analysis of the word being studied, use the help of a reference dictionary. Literary standards orthoepies are regulated by the publication: “Russian literary pronunciation and stress. Dictionary - reference book." M. 1959

References:

• Litnevskaya E.I. Russian language: short theoretical course for schoolchildren. – MSU, M.: 2000
• Panov M.V. Russian phonetics. – Enlightenment, M.: 1967
• Beshenkova E.V., Ivanova O.E. Rules of Russian spelling with comments.
• Tutorial. – “Institute for Advanced Training of Education Workers”, Tambov: 2012
• Rosenthal D.E., Dzhandzhakova E.V., Kabanova N.P. A guide to spelling, pronunciation, literary editing. Russian literary pronunciation. – M.: CheRo, 1999

Now you know how to parse a word into sounds, make a sound-letter analysis of each syllable and determine their number. The described rules explain the laws of phonetics in the format school curriculum. They will help you phonetically characterize any letter.

Do you know why Russian is so difficult for foreigners to learn? Especially those whose languages ​​are not at all similar to Russian? One of the reasons is that our language cannot be said to mean that words can be written the way they are heard. We say “MALAKO”, but we remember that the word must be written with 3 letters O: “MILKO”.

This is the simplest and most obvious example. And, as a rule, no one thinks about what transcription (that is, a graphic recording of sounds) of the words that are most familiar to us looks like. To learn to understand what sounds words are made of, schools and even universities perform such a task as phonetic analysis of a word.

It is not easy for everyone, but we will help you understand and successfully cope with it in class and when preparing homework.

Phonetic analysis of the word- a task aimed at parsing a word into letters and sounds. Compare how many letters it has and how many sounds it has. And find out that the same letters in different positions can mean different sounds.

Vowels

There are 10 vowel letters in the Russian alphabet: “a”, “o”, “u”, “e”, “y”, “ya”, “e”, “yu”, “e”, “i”.

But there are only 6 vowel sounds: [a], [o], [u], [e], [s], [i]. The vowels “e”, “e”, “yu”, “ya” consist of two sounds: vowel + y. They are written like this: “e” = [y’+e], “e” = [y’+o], “yu” = [y’+y], “i” = [y’+a]. And they are called iotized.

Remember that in transcription “e”, “e”, “yu”, “ya” are not always decomposed into two sounds. But only in following cases:

1. when words appear at the beginning: food [y’eda], ruff [y’orsh], skirt [y’upka], pit [y’ama];
2. when they come after other vowels: moi [moi'em], moe [mai'o], wash [moi'ut], warrior [vai'aka];
3. when they come after “ъ” and “ь”: pedestal [p’y’ed’estal], drinks [p’y’ot], drink [p’y’ut], nightingale [salav’y’a].

If “e”, “e”, “yu”, “ya” appear in a word after soft consonants, they can be confused with [a], [o], [y], [e]: ball [m'ach'] , honey [m'ot], muesli [m'usl'i], branch [v'etka]. They denote one sound in a position after consonants and under stress.

Not under stress “e”, “e”, “yu”, “ya” give the sound [i]: rows [r’ida], forest [l’isok]. In other cases, the letter “I” without stress can be pronounced as [e]: quagmire [tr’es’ina].

Another interesting thing about the relationship between “ь” and vowels: if after a soft sign in a word there is a letter “i”, it is pronounced as two sounds: streams [ruch’y’i].

But after the consonants “zh”, “sh” and “ts” the letter “i” gives the sound [s]: reeds [reeds].

The vowels “a”, “o”, “u”, “e”, “s” indicate the hardness of consonant sounds. The vowels “e”, “e”, “yu”, “ya”, “i” indicate the softness of consonant sounds.

By the way, in many words with the vowel “е” the emphasis always falls on it. But this rule does not work for borrowed words (amoebiasis) and complex words (such as trinuclear).

Consonants

There are 21 consonants in the Russian language. And these letters form as many as 36 sounds! How is this possible? Let's figure it out.

Thus, among the consonants there are 6 pairs according to the voicing of deafness:

1. [b] - [p]: [b]a[b]ushka – [p]a[p]a;
2. [v] - [f]: [v] water - [f] plywood;
3. [g] - [k]: [g]voice – [cow];
4. [d] - [t]: [d’] woodpecker - [t]ucha;
5. [f] - [w]: [f’]life – [sh]uba;
6. [z] - [s]: [z’]ima – o[s’]en.

This is interesting because paired sounds are represented by different letters. Such pairs do not exist in all languages. And in some, for example, Korean, paired unvoiced and voiced sounds are indicated by the same letter. Those. the same letter is read as a voiced or unvoiced sound depending on its position in the word.

There are also 15 pairs of hardness and softness:

1. [b] - [b’]: [b]a[b]glass – [b’]tree;
2. [v] - [v’]: [v]ata – [v’]fork;
3. [g] - [g’]: [g]amak – [g’]idrant;
4. [d] - [d’]: [d]ozh[d’];
5. [z] - [z’]: [z] gold – [z’] yawn;
6. [k] - [k’]: [k]ust – [k’]bist;
7. [l] - [l’]: [l]swallow – [l’]istik;
8. [m] - [m’]: [m]a[m]a – [m’]iska;
9. [n] - [n’]: [n]os – [n’]yuh;
10. [p] - [p’]: [p]archa – [p’]i [p’]etka;
11. [r] - [r’]: [r]lynx – [r’]is;
12. [s] - [s’]: [s] dog – [s’] herring;
13. [t] - [t’]: [t]apok – [t’]shadow;
14. [f] - [f’]: [f] camera - [f’] fencing;
15. [x] - [x’]: [x] hockey – [x’] ek.

As you can see, the softness of the sounds is ensured by the letter “b” and the soft consonants that come after the consonants.

There are unpaired consonant sounds in the Russian language that are never voiceless:

• [y’] – [y’]od;
• [l] – [l]ama;
• [l’] – [l’]eika;
• [m] – [m]carrot;
• [m’] – [m’] muesli;
• [n] – [n]osoceros;
• [n’]– [n’] bat;
• [r] – [r]daisy;
• [r’] – [r’] child.

To make it easier to remember all the voiced sounds, you can use the following phrase: “We didn’t forget each other”.

And unpaired sounds, which, in turn, are never voiced. Try reading the words from the examples out loud and see for yourself:

• [x] – [x]orek;
• [x'] - [x']surgeon;
• [ts] – [ts]apple;
• [h’] – [h’] person;
• [sch’] – [sch’] bristles.

Two phrases will help you remember which sounds remain deaf in any situation: “Styopka, would you like some soup?” - “Fi!” And “Fokka, do you want to eat some soup?”.

If you carefully read the examples given above, you probably already noticed that some consonants in the Russian language are never soft:

• [g] - [g]bug and even [g]acorn;
• [sh] - [sh]uba and [sh]ilo are read equally firmly;
• [ts] - [ts] scratch and [ts]irk - the same thing, the sound is pronounced firmly.

Remember that in some borrowed words and names “zh” is still soft [zh’]: jury [zh’]juri, Julien [zh’]julien.

Similarly, there are consonants in the Russian language that are never pronounced firmly:

• [th’] – [th’] ogurt;
• [h’] – [h’]chirp and [h’]asy – the sound is equally soft;
• [sch'] - [sch']cheek and [sch']fingers - similar: no matter what vowel comes after this consonant, it is still pronounced softly.

Sometimes in some textbooks the softness of these sounds is not indicated by an apostrophe during transcription - since everyone already knows that these sounds are not hard in the Russian language. It is also often customary to denote “sch” as [w’:].

Remember also that the consonants “zh”, “sh”, “ch”, “sch” are called hissing.

Phonetic analysis plan

1. First you need to spell the word correctly in terms of spelling.
2. Then divide the word into syllables (remember that there are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels in it), designate the stressed syllable.
3. The next point is the phonetic transcription of the word. You don’t have to transcribe the word right away - first try saying it out loud. If necessary, speak several times until you can say with certainty which sounds need to be recorded.
4. Describe all vowel sounds in order: identify stressed and unstressed sounds.
5. Describe all consonant sounds in order: identify paired and unpaired sounds by voicedness/dullness and hardness/softness.
6. Count and write down how many letters and sounds there are in the word.
7. Note those cases in which the number of sounds does not correspond to the number of letters and explain them.

In written phonetic analysis, sounds are written from top to bottom in a column, each sound is enclosed in square brackets -. At the end, you should draw a line and write down the number of letters and sounds in the word.

Special transcription characters

Now about how to correctly designate sounds during transcription:

• [ " ] – this is how the stressed vowel in the main stressed syllable is designated (O"sen);
• [`] - this is how a side (minor) sub-stressed vowel sound is designated: usually such a sub-stressed syllable is located at the beginning of a word, found in compound words and words with the prefixes anti-, inter-, near-, counter-, super-, super-, ex -, vice- and others (`aboutE'many);
• [’] – a sign of softening a consonant sound;
• [Λ] – transcription sign for “o” and “a” in the following cases: position at the beginning of a word, the first pre-stressed syllable in the position after a hard consonant (arka [Λrka], king [krol’]);
• – a more “advanced” transcription sign for recording iotated sounds; you can also use [th’].
• [and e] – something in between [i] and [e], used to denote the vowels “a”, “e”, “e” in the first pre-stressed syllable in the position after a soft consonant (blend [bl'i e sleep]) ;
• [ы и] – something between [ы] and [е] or [ы] and [а], used to denote the vowels “e”, “e” in the first pre-stressed syllable in the position after a hard consonant (whisper [shi e ptat '];
• [ъ] – transcription sign for the vowels “o”, “a”, “e” in positions after a hard consonant in a pre-stressed and post-stressed syllable (milk [milk]);
• [b] – transcription sign for the vowels “o”, “a”, “ya”, “e” in the position after a soft consonant in an unstressed syllable (mitten [var'shka]);
• [–] – a sign indicating the absence of sound in the place of “ъ” and “ь”;
• [ ‾ ]/[ : ] – transcription signs (you can use one or the other of your choice - it will not be a mistake) to indicate the length of consonants (to be afraid [bΛй'ац:ъ]).

As you can see, everything is very difficult with the transcription of letters into sounds. In the school curriculum, as a rule, these complicated and more exact signs transcriptions are not used or are used little. Only with in-depth study of the Russian language. Therefore, it is allowed to use the sounds [a], [o], [u], [e], [s], [i] and [th’] in phonetic analysis instead of “and with the overtone e” and other complex designations.

Transcription rules

Don't forget also about following rules transcriptions of consonants:

• voicing of voiceless consonants in position before voiced ones (bending [zg’ibat’], mowing [kΛz’ba]);
• deafening of voiced consonants in the position at the end of a word (ark [kΛfch’ek]);
• deafening of a voiced consonant in a position in front of a voiceless one, for example, a voiced “g”, which can turn into voiceless sounds [k] and [x] (nails [nokt’i], light [l’ohk’iy’]);
• softening of the consonants “n”, “s”, “z”, “t”, “d” in the position before soft consonants (kantik [kan’t’ik]);
• softening of “s” and “z” in the prefixes s-, iz-, raz- in the position before “b” (remove [iz’y’at’]);
• unreadable consonants “t”, “d”, “v”, “l” in combinations of several consonant letters in a row: in this case, the combination “stn” is pronounced as [sn], and “zdn” - as [zn] (district [uy 'ezny']);
• combinations of letters “sch”, “zch”, “zsch” are read as [sch’] (accounts [sch’oty]);
• combinations “chn”, “cht” are pronounced [sh] (what [shto], of course [kΛn’eshn]);
• infinitive suffixes -tsya/-tsya are transcribed [ts] (bite [kusats:b]);
• the endings of -ogo/-him are pronounced through the sound [v] (yours [tvy’evo]);
• in words with double consonants, two transcription options are possible: 1) double consonants are located after the stressed syllable and form a double sound (kassa [kas:b]); 2) double consonants are located before the stressed syllable and give a regular consonant sound (million [m'il'ion]).

Now let's look at the phonetic transcription of words using examples. For recording we will use a simplified system of transcription of consonant sounds.

Examples of phonetic transcription of words

1. departure
2. ot-e"zd (2 syllables, stress falls on the 2nd syllable)
3. [aty'e "st]
4. o - [a] – vowel, unstressed
   t- [t] – consonant, voiceless (paired), hard (paired)
   ъ – [–]
   e - [th’] - consonant, voiced (unpaired), soft (unpaired) and [e] - vowel, stressed
   z - [s] – consonant, voiceless (paired), hard (paired)
   d - [t] – consonant, voiceless (paired), hard (paired)
5. 6 letters, 6 sounds
6. The letter “e” after the separating “b” gives two sounds: [th"] and [e]; the letter “d” at the end of the word is deafened to the sound [t]; the letter “z” is deafened to the sound [c] in the position before the voiceless sound.

One more example:

1. grammar
2. gram-ma"-ti-ka (4 syllables, stress falls on the 2nd syllable)
3. [gram:at"ika]
4. g – [g] – consonant, voiced (paired), hard (solid)
   p – [p] – consonant, voiced (unpaired), hard (paired)
   mm – [m:] – double sound, consonant, voiced (unpaired), hard (paired)
   a – [a] – vowel, stressed
   t – [t’] – consonant, voiceless (paired), soft (paired)
   k – [k] – consonant, voiceless (paired), hard (paired)
   a – [a] – vowel, unstressed
5. 10 letters, 9 sounds
6. Double consonants “mm” give a double sound [m:]

And last:

1. became
2. sta-no-vi"-lis (4 syllables, stress falls on the 3rd syllable)
3. [stanav'i"l'is']
4. s – [s] – consonant, voiceless (paired), hard (paired)
   t – [t] – consonant, deaf (paired), hard (paired)
   a – [a] – vowel, unstressed
   n – [n] – consonant, voiced (unpaired), hard (paired)
   o – [a] – vowel, unstressed
   in – [v’] – consonant, voiced (paired), soft (paired)
   and – [and] – vowel, stressed
   l – [l’] – consonant, voiced (unpaired), soft (paired)
   and – [and] – vowel, unstressed
   s – [s’] – consonant, voiceless (paired), soft (paired)
   b – [–]
5. 11 letters, 10 sounds
6. The letter “o” in an unstressed position produces the sound [a]; the letter “b” does not denote a sound and serves to soften the consonant preceding it.

Instead of an afterword

Well, did this article help you understand the phonetic analysis of words? It is not so easy to correctly write down the sounds that make up a word - there are many pitfalls hidden along this path. But we tried to make the task easier for you and explain all the slippery aspects in as much detail as possible. Now such a task at school will not seem very difficult to you. Don't forget to teach your classmates and show them our helpful instructions.

Uses this article when preparing for lessons and passing the State Exam and Unified State Exam. And be sure to tell us in the comments what examples of phonetic analysis of words you are asked at school.

blog.site, when copying material in full or in part, a link to the original source is required.

Sounds belong to the section of phonetics. The study of sounds is included in any school curriculum in the Russian language. Familiarization with sounds and their basic characteristics occurs in the lower grades. More detailed study sounds from complex examples and takes place in nuances in middle and high schools. This page provides only basic knowledge according to the sounds of the Russian language in a compressed form. If you need to study the structure of the speech apparatus, the tonality of sounds, articulation, acoustic components and other aspects that go beyond the scope of the modern school curriculum, refer to specialized manuals and textbooks on phonetics.

What is sound?

Sound, like words and sentences, is the basic unit of language. However, the sound does not express any meaning, but reflects the sound of the word. Thanks to this, we distinguish words from each other. Words differ in the number of sounds (port - sport, crow - funnel), a set of sounds (lemon - estuary, cat - mouse), a sequence of sounds (nose - sleep, bush - knock) up to complete mismatch of sounds (boat - speedboat, forest - park).

What sounds are there?

In Russian, sounds are divided into vowels and consonants. The Russian language has 33 letters and 42 sounds: 6 vowels, 36 consonants, 2 letters (ь, ъ) do not indicate a sound. The discrepancy in the number of letters and sounds (not counting b and b) is caused by the fact that for 10 vowel letters there are 6 sounds, for 21 consonant letters there are 36 sounds (if we take into account all combinations of consonant sounds: deaf/voiced, soft/hard). On the letter, the sound is indicated in square brackets.
There are no sounds: [e], [e], [yu], [ya], [b], [b], [zh'], [sh'], [ts'], [th], [h] , [sch].

Scheme 1. Letters and sounds of the Russian language.

How are sounds pronounced?

We pronounce sounds when exhaling (only in the case of the interjection “a-a-a”, expressing fear, the sound is pronounced when inhaling.). The division of sounds into vowels and consonants is related to how a person pronounces them. Vowel sounds are pronounced by the voice due to exhaled air passing through tense vocal cords and freely exiting through the mouth. Consonant sounds consist of noise or a combination of voice and noise due to the fact that the exhaled air encounters an obstacle in its path in the form of a bow or teeth. Vowel sounds are pronounced loudly, consonant sounds are pronounced muffled. A person is able to sing vowel sounds with his voice (exhaled air), raising or lowering the timbre. Consonant sounds cannot be sung; they are pronounced equally muffled. Hard and soft signs do not represent sounds. They cannot be pronounced as an independent sound. When pronouncing a word, they influence the consonant in front of them, making it soft or hard.

Transcription of the word

Transcription of a word is a recording of the sounds in a word, that is, actually a recording of how the word is correctly pronounced. Sounds are enclosed in square brackets. Compare: a - letter, [a] - sound. The softness of consonants is indicated by an apostrophe: p - letter, [p] - hard sound, [p’] - soft sound. Voiced and voiceless consonants are not indicated in writing in any way. The transcription of the word is written in square brackets. Examples: door → [dv’er’], thorn → [kal’uch’ka]. Sometimes the transcription indicates stress - an apostrophe before the stressed vowel.

There is no clear comparison of letters and sounds. In the Russian language there are many cases of substitution of vowel sounds depending on the place of stress of the word, substitution of consonants or loss of consonant sounds in certain combinations. When compiling a transcription of a word, the rules of phonetics are taken into account.

Color scheme

In phonetic analysis, words are sometimes drawn with color schemes: letters are painted different colors depending on what sound they mean. The colors reflect the phonetic characteristics of sounds and help you visualize how a word is pronounced and what sounds it consists of.

All vowels (stressed and unstressed) are marked with a red background. Iotated vowels are marked green-red: green color means a soft consonant sound [й‘], red means the vowel that follows it. Consonants with hard sounds are colored blue. Consonants with soft sounds are colored green. Soft and hard signs are painted gray or not painted at all.

Designations:
- vowel, - iotated, - hard consonant, - soft consonant, - soft or hard consonant.

Note. The blue-green color is not used in phonetic analysis diagrams, since a consonant sound cannot be soft and hard at the same time. The blue-green color in the table above is only used to demonstrate that the sound can be either soft or hard.

Nov 25

What are the rules of phonetic transcription for students studying the Russian language in depth?

Phonetic transcription - 1) is a system of signs and rules for their combination, intended for recording pronunciation; 2) transcription is also called the writing of a word or text according to transcription rules.

The process of recording speech using transcription is called transcription.

Phonetic transcription is used to record spoken speech.

Phonetic transcription at school

1. Transcription is enclosed in square brackets.

2. In transcription, it is not customary to write capital letters and use punctuation marks when transcribing sentences. Pauses between segments of speech (usually coinciding with punctuation marks) are indicated by a double slash // (significant pause) or single / (shorter pause).

3. In words consisting of more than one syllable, emphasis is placed: [z’ima] - winter. If two words are combined with a single stress, they make up one phonetic word, which is written together or using a league: to the garden - [fsat], [f_sat].

4. The softness of a consonant sound is indicated by an apostrophe: [s’el] - sat.

5. Consonant sounds are written using all the corresponding letters, except ш and й.

Special superscript or subscript symbols can be placed next to the letter. They indicate some features of the sound, for example: o [n’] - an apostrophe denotes soft consonants: [n’obo] - palate;

The longitude of the sound is indicated by a superscript: [van¯a] - bath, [kas¯a] - cash register.

The letter u corresponds to the sound, which is conveyed by the sign [sh’] u[sh’]elye - gorge, [sh’]shetina - stubble.

The sounds [sh’], [th], [h] are always soft. Note. For sounds [й], [ч] it is not customary to indicate softness with an apostrophe, although in some textbooks it is indicated.

The sounds [zh], [sh], [ts] are always hard. Exceptions: soft [zh’] sounds in the words: jury - [zh’]yuri, Julien - [zh’]julien, Jules - [zh’]yul.

The letters ъ (hard sign) and ь (soft sign) do not indicate sounds, i.e. There are no such signs in the transcription for consonants: [razyom] - connector, [tr’ieugolnyy] - triangular.

6. Recording vowel sounds

Stressed vowels are transcribed using six symbols: and - [i] - [p'ir] pir, y- [s] - [ardor] ardor, u - [u] - [ray] ray, e - [e] - [ l"es] forest, o - [o] - [house] house, a- [a] - [garden] garden.

The letters e, e, ya, yu denote double sounds [ye], [yo], [ya], [yu]: [ya]bloko - apple, water[yo]m - pond, [yu]g - south, [ ye]l - spruce. The letter after the soft dividing sign also denotes the double sound [yi]: voro [b’yi] - sparrows.

Unstressed vowels [i], [s], [a] are not necessarily used in place of similar letters - you should listen carefully to the pronunciation of the word: fashion[s]ler - fashion designer, d[a]ska - board, [i]kkusantsant - excursionist , [a] search - search.

Phonetic transcription in manuals for in-depth study of the Russian language.

1. Some textbooks use additional signs to indicate vowel sounds: [Λ], [ie], [ые], [ъ], [ь].

In place of the letters o, and in the first pre-stressed syllable and the absolute beginning of the word, the sound [Λ] is pronounced: [vΛda] - water, [Λna] - she.

In place of the letters e and i in unstressed syllables after soft consonants, a vowel is pronounced, middle between [i] and [e], but closer to [i], it is designated [ie] (called “i, inclined to e”): [l 'iesa] - forests, [r'ieb'ina] - mountain ash.

In place of the letter e after the hard hissing [zh], [sh], [ts] is pronounced [ye] (“s, inclined to e”): zh[ye]lat - wish, sh[ye]ptat - whisper, ts[ е]na - price. Exception: dance - dance.

The sound [ъ] (“er”) is pronounced after hard consonants in the first pre-stressed and post-stressed syllables and is denoted by the letters a (locomotive [pravos]), o (milk [m’lako]), e (yellowness [zhalt “izna]).

The sound [ь] (“er”) is pronounced after soft consonants in the first pre-stressed and post-stressed syllables and is denoted by the letters e (transition [p'r'ihot]), i (ordinary [p'davoj]), and (hour [chsavoj]) .

2. The Latin letter j denotes the consonant “yot” in transcription, which sounds in the words block - apple, vodom - pond, vor[b»ji] - sparrows, zyk - tongue, sara[j] - barn, ma[j]ka - T-shirt, teapot - teapot, etc.

Sample phonetic transcription for school.

[bal’shaya plosh’at’ / na_katoray raspalazhy’las’ tse’rkaf’ / was completely zan’ita dl’ i´nym’i r’idam’i t’il’e´k //]

A sample phonetic transcription for advanced students of the Russian language at school.

The large area on which the church was located was completely occupied by long rows of carts.

[bl’sháj flat’ / n’_kotórj rassp’l’zhy’ls’ tse’rk’f’ / was completely know’etá d’i´n’m’ r’iedam’i t’iel’e´k //]