Classification of vowel sounds of the Russian language. Classification of vowels and consonants

Classifying vowel sounds is much more difficult than consonants. This is due to the lack of a specific focus of formation in vowels (in § 11 we already spoke about the uniform tension of the speech organs when pronouncing vowel sounds). From an acoustic point of view, vowels are opposed to each other more clearly, but there are many lines of opposition, and it has not yet been possible to reduce them into a single harmonious system. Therefore, in linguistics they often use a classification of vowels based on articulatory features, but they also take into account the acoustic features of vowel sounds.

Special meaning To classify vowels, the tongue and lips work. Changing the position of the tongue changes the shape of the resonator (see, § 10), which is the source of a wide variety of vowels. In the work of the tongue, it is important to consider 1) the degree of its rise; 2) its location in the oral cavity, 3) the general position of the tongue. When determining the degree of tongue elevation, there are upper (Fig. 8, a, b), middle ((Fig. 8, c) and lower

Fig. 8. Profiles of tongue position during the pronunciation of Russian vowels: a _ [„); boo]; in - [o]; g - [a].

niya (Fig. 8, d) rise. When determining the place of the tongue in the oral cavity, we distinguish between its being advanced in front (Fig. 8, a), retracted back (Fig. 8, b, c), and neutral position (Fig. 8, d). Under general position the tongue is understood as its compressed, collected position (Fig. 8, a, b) or elongated, flat position (Fig. 8, d).

On this basis, it is customary to distinguish between front, middle and back vowels and upper, middle and lower vowels.

According to the work of the lips, vowels are divided into labialized, that is, those in the formation of which the lips participate, and non-labialized, pronounced without the participation of the lips, with stretched, relaxed lips. Labialized vowels are less common, but they are very typical for many languages ​​(for example, German, French). The degree of labialization also varies; in some languages ​​it is weaker. An example would be English.

The ratio of different types of vowels is shown in table. 2.

table 2

Classification of vowel sounds

The classification is based on the sounds of the Russian language (in the table they are highlighted in bold). Sounds characteristic of other languages ​​are given as examples of possible types of sounds unknown in the Russian language. Labialized other front vowels of German and French are represented by the signs th (German uber - above, over, Backer - books; French la rue - street, tu - you), o (German offnen - open, French rei - little). The sign ь conveys a weakened vowel, indefinite in shade, found in unstressed syllables (cf.: unstressed vowels in the Russian words city, choice; English along [е "1ет,] - along, above (a" bAvJ - above, at the top, butter ["лге] ​​- oil, etc.). The sign l is a back row non-labialized vowel characteristic of the English language, as in the words sote [klt] - to come, tun - barrel. A similar sound is found in the first pre-stressed syllable in Russian (er. pre-stressed vowel in the words firewood (drlva] and grass (trlva) The sign ae conveys the sound intermediate between |e] and (a), as in English words: back [bжк] - back, cap [keer] - cap; sign e - wide open (o], characteristic" of the English language (op. dog - dog, ox - bull, song ] - song).

This division is very approximate, since it does not cover all sounds and does not take into account the complexity of vowels. Its main drawback is that it establishes too sharp boundaries between individual types of vowels, which in reality does not exist. Therefore, such a table can be adopted only for the “initial stage of language learning.

At the initial stages of language learning, simplified diagrams are used, built in relation to the sounds of one language. For example, in relation to the sounds of the Russian language, a diagram in the form of a triangle is often used, arranging the signs for sounds so that they simultaneously indicate movement along a row (in the horizontal direction) and along the rise (in the vertical direction)

This scheme is very convenient in practice. In addition, it can be complicated by the inclusion of significant quantities of different intermediate types of sounds. L.V. Shcherba, for example, establishes not three, but six degrees of vowel rise. Labialized and non-labialized vowels are given side by side in this scheme. Vowels that are higher in rise are at the same time more closed; on the contrary, vowels that are lower in rise have vowels that are more open.

The highest and at the same time the most anterior sounds are the unrounded [i] and rounded (labialized) (Y). Both sounds are known, for example, in German and French(cf.: German Tier - beast and Tyg - door; French tige - stem and tu (ty: ] - you). The vowels P] [V] seem to be more moved back and less high. I - conveys open short sound, characteristic of many languages ​​(cf. the sound [Ts in German dick - thick, English city (- city), and its rounded version [v] is known in German (for example, fiinf - five).

The signs e and -e convey closed (for example, in German word Meer [those: g] - sea) and open (for example, in German denn - since) variant of unrounded vowels, and 0 and se-respectively rounded variants (cf.: French Ней [Н0]-blue and soeur -sister) of middle ones by raising vowel sounds. Low front vowels (for example, English sound in the word cat - cat) and (a) (for example, French masse - mass) do not have corresponding rounded paired sounds. The Russian stressed [a] is somewhat pulled back, so it is usually considered a middle vowel.

Among back vowels, labials are more widely represented. The highest in rise is the vowel [i], characterized by a wide variety of shades in different languages. In Italian it is a more closed sound than in Russian; in English and German the sound [i] is advanced. The vowel close to it [v] is more open (cf. German: Bube (bu:be] - boy and gesund - healthy). High-rise back non-labial vowels are very rare.

The vowels [o] (“o” closed) and [e] (“o” open) are presented in different versions in many languages ​​(for example, German Sohn -sin and Stock -stick). The vowel [e] corresponds to the non-labialized vowel [l] (cf. English dog - dog and sire [car] - cup).

Among the back-row vowels with a low rise, there is a labial vowel v of the very open “o” type (cf. English all [o: 1] - all) and a non-labial very back sound [a], found in French and English (cf. English bark - bark, part - part, etc.).

Examples of mixed vowels are the Russian high-rise sound [ы] and the mid-rise vowel, characteristic, for example, of the English language: girl - girl, color [kl1e] - color,

The above facts convincingly show the diversity of the vowel system in different languages ​​and its complexity.

Recently, the International Phonetic Association (IPA) has proposed a new classification of vowels, presented in the form of a trapezoid with 6 degrees of rise for front vowels and 5 for back vowels.

From an acoustic point of view, vowels differ in the degree of sonority (sonority) and the height of the resonant (and not the main, which can be the same in height for a number of vowels) tone. For the Russian language, these differences can be presented in the following table.

Table 3

Acoustic features of vowels

		Pitch
Degree of sonority		average	short
high
	And	s	U
Average. .......	uh	A	O

As you can see, the division in pitch coincides with the vowel row, and in the degree of sonority - with the rise. But here are the most common types, between which there are many transitions. In some languages, for example in Adyghe, differences in the sonority of vowels form the basis of their vocalism, i.e., the vowel system (from the Latin vocalis - voice).

Acoustically, vowels can also be pure (without nasal overtones) and nasalized (nasal), pronounced with the participation of the nasal cavity (see § 10).

It is important from an acoustic point of view to distinguish vowels by their duration (see § 9). In some languages, the length or brevity of a sound depends on a number of phonetic reasons: the position in the syllable, the influence of neighboring sounds, stress, etc. In this case, the length or brevity is not a constant feature inherent in these sounds, since the same sound It can be either long or short. This situation, for example, is in the Russian language (cf.: mama! and ma: ma!). A different position in languages ​​where long and short vowels are opposed to each other can be used to distinguish words (cf. English rich - rich and reach - to reach, sit - sit and seat - place, etc.). In some languages ​​there are not two, but three stages of vowel contrast in duration. Thus, in the Estonian language, vowels are short (for example, sada - one hundred, puri - sail), long (cf.: saada - came, puuri - cages) and extra long (saada - get, puuri - into a cage).

The number of a vowel is usually associated with some of its other features. For example, in German, long vowels are usually closed, and short vowels are open (see examples above).

Distinction by longitude in some languages, for example Estonian, may also be characteristic of consonants, which again shows the relativity of the opposition of vowels and consonants.

An essential additional feature of vowels is tension - non-tension. When the muscles of the speech organs are tense, the walls of the supraglottic cavities become hard, then the sounds acquire a clear, clear character. In the absence of such tension, vowels appear more sluggish. The degree of vowel tension varies across languages. In Russian, vowels are less tense than, for example, in French, whose vocalism is characterized by greater clarity. But even within the same language, the intensity of sounds is different. Stressed vowels in Russian are more tense than unstressed ones. There is also a difference in the pronunciation of vowels of the upper rise, when the muscles of the speech organs are more tense, and the middle and lower ones, when the tension is less, which leads to a weakening of clear acoustic features in the vowel due to the attenuation of the resonator tones. Vowels of the upper rise are always more stable, while vowels of the middle and lower rise are easier to weaken and reduce (see § 17).

Very important for the classification of vowels is their division into monophthongs and diphthongs.

Most sounds are monophthongs (from the Greek words monos - one, united and phtongos - sound), that is, monophonic, integral in composition, but along with them there are sounds that are a combination of two sounds pronounced together and always in one syllable. Such sounds are called two-vowel sounds, or diphthongs (from the Greek 1 di - twice). Diphthongs are known in many languages. The sound system of the English language is very rich in diphthongs, where diphthongs are found (time - time), - table), (е1] (boy - boy), (go - 1 go), (down - down), [Ш (here [Ие] - here) J [ee] (chair ftj "es] - chair), (poor [rie] - poor) J B English language diphthongs can, when combined with a neutral vowel, give even more complex combinations of the three main ones, pronounced in one syllable, for example: our [aie] - ours, flower [Noie] - flower, fire - fire. There are three diphthongs in the German language: (ae] [ao], [o2)] (cf.: mein - my Mai - May, Haus - house, Auge - plaz, heute - today and deutsch - German). There are no diphthongs in Russian and French.

Diphthongs are usually called true if both sounds are equivalent (for example, in Latvian: tauta - naroYa rneita - daughter), and false if the sounds are unequal. Diphthongs are called descending if their first eVYa is syllabic and the second non-syllabic. These are diphthongs in English and German languages(cf.: English boy - boys down - down; German mein - my, kaufen - buy And Diphthongs, in which the second sound is syllabic, and p(N is non-syllabic, are called ascending. Such diphthongs are in Spanish (duelo-mourning , sadness; puerta-door, thieves cuarto - fourth), Romanian and other languages. In some languages, both types of diphthongs are possible. Thus, Lithuanian diphthongs can be pronounced with a falling intonation (kaimas - tree, kaina - price, sdule - sun, viidas - face, juodas - black) and with ascending (vaikas - child, laukas - field, muilas - soap, ruduo - autumn, etc.).

Some researchers identify diphthongoids as a special category of vowels, i.e. sounds similar to diphthongs. This is the name for sounds that are not uniform throughout their pronunciation. For example, Russian [o] begins with a small element [u], and then gradually moves to [o], the sound [e] sometimes begins with an element close to [\], etc.

IN Lately The opposition of sounds on the basis of diffuseness and compactness has become relatively widely used. Compact sounds are those in the spectra of which the distance between the first and second formants (see § 9) is insignificant, i.e., the amplification bands of frequencies characteristic of sounds are close together. Examples include Russian vowels (a), [o]. With diffuse sounds, the distance between two bands of typical frequencies, i.e., two formants, is significant. These are the Russian vowels [i], (u). Acoustic differences between compact and diffuse sounds from ­ are clearly visible on the spectrograms (Jum. § 25) of these sounds (Fig. 9). The distinction between compact and diffuse sounds is related to different shapes oral and pharyngeal resonators.

Rice. 9. Spectrograms of vowel sounds [a] - the first and [i] - the second.

The division into compact and diffuse can also be extended to consonant sounds (compact sounds are [sh], [ch'], [zh], [p], [p'], [j], etc. Diffuse sounds: [p ], [p'], [b], [v'], [f], [f'], [v], etc. Which again emphasizes the convention of contrasting vowels and consonants. In relation to the Russian language, an interesting attempt M.V. Panov created a unified classification for vowels and consonants based on acoustic features.

§ 14. Phonetic division of speech

Until now, individual sounds have been considered in their isolated pronunciation, but in a speech stream such isolation does not and cannot exist. As recent studies have shown, the flow of speech is divided not into individual sounds, but into syllables. A syllable can consist of one sound, but much more often a syllable includes several sounds (cf.: o-kno, pa-su, pa-stukh, kon-nu, etc. - in pronunciation [a-kno], [pa -su], (pa-stuh], [ka-n "u]). The fact that a syllable is the smallest pronunciation unit is recognized by everyone, but when defining a syllable and establishing the principles for its isolation, significant differences are observed. The old point of view on the syllable , as a sound combination pronounced with one exhalation push, has been refuted by the latest research 2; its inconsistency can be considered proven. Currently, two subsamples are most widespread:< хода (к пониманию слога. Одни исследователи исходят из акустической природы слога, другие при определении слога] и его выделении опираются на особенности артикуляции J Первая точка зрения наиболее отчетливо была представлена в работах датского языковеда Есперсена, который считали что слог - это сочетание более звучного элемента с менее звучным. Более звучный элемент становится слоговым, он выступает как слогообразующий звук, менее звучный является неслоговым и примыкает к более звучному. Наиболее звучными оказываются гласные, поэтому они и выступаю! в роли слогообразующих звуков (ср.: кни-га, и-ди, ро-лш и т. п.), но если в слоге нет гласного, слогообразующим становится согласный, опять-таки самый звучный, например, в чешском языке <в односложных словах krb (очаг, каминЯ krk (шея), prst (палец) и т. п. слоговым будет согласный [■ в русских сочетаниях тс, тш (призыв к тишине) слоговые являются звуки fie] и [ш], которые все же более звучны, чЩ глухой смычный [т]. Граница слога при таком понимании проходит в месте наибольшего ослабления звучности, т, е. после гласного перед согласным (ср.: при-шли, па-стух и т. п.).

The acoustic approach to the syllable is shared by many Soviet researchers. Thus, N.I. Zhinkin believes that “a syllable acoustically is nothing more than a continuous increase and decrease in the intensity of sound, perceived by the ear as an arc of loudness.”

Another approach to the syllable is presented in the works of L. V. Shcherba. L.V. Shcherba believes that syllable division is based on the increase and decrease in muscle tension. The integrity of a syllable is determined by the fact that it is pronounced in one impulse of muscular tension. The boundaries of the syllable coincide with the greatest weakening of muscular tension, that is, this is the boundary between two impulses of muscular tension. Almost both approaches coincide, since the peak of muscular tension is usually associated with the most sonorous (sonorous) sound.

Syllables can have different structures. Thus, according to the location of syllabic and non-syllabic sounds, it is customary to distinguish several types of syllables. A syllable is called uncovered if w begins with a syllabic sound, and covered if it begins with a non-syllabic sound, for example, in the word o-sa, the first syllable o is uncovered, and the second syllable is covered. A syllable ending in a syllabic sound is called open, and in a non-syllabic sound it is called closed, for example, in the word do-mov (the first syllable is open and the second is closed.

If the syllabic sound is denoted by the letter a, and the non-syllabic letter /, then the following possible types of syllables can be schematically represented:

a - uncovered, open;

ta - covered, open;

at- uncovered, closed;

tat - covered, closed.

It should be noted that there can be several non-syllabic elements. In the above examples (kni-ha, i-di, pa-stuh, he, ro-li, Czech krk) there are an open, open syllable (and in i-di); covered open syllables (kni-ga, di in i-di, pa in pa-stuh, ro-li); uncovered closed (he); covered, closed (-stuh in pa-stuh, Czech krk).

Each language has its own predominant type of syllables, which is due to the peculiarities of syllable division in different languages. The Russian language is characterized by a predominance of open syllables. This is due to the fact that in Russian the syllable division (syllable boundary) usually occurs after the sound with the greatest sonority. This feature of the structure of the Russian syllable is called the law of increasing sonority. Therefore, it is typical for the Russian language to divide into syllables by-bor, view, to-chka, a-kter, etc., and not by select, pro-motr, dot, a-ter. In Russian, the syllable boundary rarely passes between consonants. In modern French, on the contrary, the syllable boundary often passes between combinations of consonants (cf.: ac-teur, dis-irait - absent-minded, absent - absent, ad-ver-saire - opponent, etc.).

Observing the sound of speech, we identify larger phonetic units in it - beats.

A group of syllables united by one stress and separated from another group by a pause is called a beat. Sometimes a measure may only include one syllable. Independent words usually have their own stress, function words are often unstressed and adjacent to stressed words, but sometimes the stress is transferred to the function word, and the significant word turns out to be unstressed. If the unstressed word is one hundred before the stressed word, then it is called a proclitic, and if after the stressed word, then it is called an enclitic. For example, in the sentence Day after day, the first measure does not consist of one syllable, the second - of two, and the third - of five. In the second bar, the emphasis switched to the preposition and the word day one hundred enclitic. In the sentence In the sheaves / will be tied up / will be taken to the rig, the preposition na is a proclitic.

As you can see, the boundaries of a word and a beat may not coincide. Many researchers do not consider it necessary to distinguish a speech beat and speak of a phonetic word, a “big word” (A. N. Gvozdev), and the term “speech beat” itself is used with the meaning: “a segment of speech between two pauses.”

Not all linguists have accepted the concept of syntagma as a unit of phonetic division of speech, most justified by L. V. Shcherba, who by syntagma understood an intonational indivisible unit of speech flow (there can be no pauses within a syntagma), associated with the syntactic and semantic side of speech. For example, in the sentence In the middle of a dense forest /on a narrow lawn/ a small earthen fortification rose, 3 syntagms stand out. Research on speech formation conducted at the I. P. Pavlov Institute of Physiology confirmed the legitimacy of identifying syntagma as a special articulatory unit associated with the meaning and content of speech. The integrity of the syntagma is created by intonation means (see § 15).

Some scientists put forward the concept of a phrase as the largest phonetic unit, representing a phonetically integral part of a sentence or covering several sentences. However, there is no generally accepted precise definition of the concept of a phonetic phrase in science.

Acoustic and articulatory features of speech sounds
Vowels	Consonants
- tonal sounds
- are formed without the participation of obstacles in the path of the air stream	- are formed with the help of an obstacle (closed lips - [b], [p], the gap between the tongue and the hard palate - [x], etc.)
- do not differ in the method and place of education	- differentiated by place and method of formation
- when forming vowels, the speech organs are tensed evenly	- when forming consonants, the speech organs are most tense in the place where there is an obstacle
- air flow is weak	- the air stream is strong
- syllabicers	- cannot independently form a syllable (except for sonorant ones)
Sonorant consonants (intermediate position)
- able to form a syllable	- are formed with the help of an obstacle,
- differ in the method and place of education
- predominance of tone	- are formed with the participation of noise

There are six vowel sounds (phonemes) in the Russian language: [i], [s], [u], [e], [o], [a]. Their classification is based on articulatory features: the degree of tongue elevation, row, and participation of the lips.

According to the degree of tongue elevation(movement of the tongue from the original position to the palate) vowels are divided into vowels top lift- [i], [s], [y]; medium rise- [e], [o]; lower rise- [A].

By row(horizontal movement of the tongue - forward or backward) vowels are divided into vowels front row- [i], [e]; middle row- [s], [a]; back row- [y], [o]. Front vowels are formed as a result of the maximum movement of the tongue forward, and back vowels are formed by moving the tongue backward.

By the participation of the lips there are vowels labial, or labialized(from Latin labia - “lips”), and non-labial, or non-labialized. Labial vowels are formed with the participation of the lips: the lips are rounded and slightly pulled forward. In the Russian language there are only back labials - [u], [o].

Classification table for vowel sounds (phonemes)

Row Lift	Front	Average	Rear |
nonlabial	nonlabial	labial
Upper	And	s	at
Average	uh		O
Lower		A

But the division into three rows and three rises does not reflect the full richness of vowel sounds. So, in addition to [and] there is also a sound pronounced with a slightly greater openness of the mouth and a slightly lower rise of the tongue. This sound is called "[and] open"; in a more accurate transcription it is [and e], i.e. “[and], prone to [e].” There is “[e] closed” - a sound that differs from [e] by greater closure of the mouth and a slightly higher rise of the tongue; in a more accurate transcription it is [e and].

The vowel [ъ] is one of the most common sounds in the literary language. It is pronounced in some unstressed syllables, for example in the words passage, fall, city, region, prominence

The vowels [a], [e], [o], [u], pronounced between soft consonants, are advanced forward and upward compared to [a], [e], [o], [u]: five[p"at"], sing[Pat"], aunt[t "ot"b], tulle[t "ul"].

The vowel [e] is pronounced under stress after hard consonants: ant[e]nna, m[e]r, sh[e]st.

The classification of vowels and consonants is clearly presented in the table (separate file).

There are 37 consonant sounds (phonemes) in the modern Russian language. Their formation and classification are much more complicated than vowels.

Firstly, the quality of the consonant depends on the nature of the obstruction. It can be a closure of the active organ of speech with a passive one, a gap between the active organ and the passive, the fusion of the stop and the gap as a result of the transition from the stop to the gap, and the trembling of the active organ of speech in the path of the air stream.

The nature of the obstacle determined way of education consonant sound.

By method of education consonants are divided into stops, fricatives (fricatives), continuous (affricates), tremulous (vibrants).

When forming stop consonants, the active organ of speech tightly closes with the passive one and the air stream, overcoming this barrier, produces a characteristic noise. An air stream can open the bow with its force, and in this case an exhaust of air occurs, reminiscent of an explosion, or it can bypass the bow (on the sides of the obstacle, through the nasal cavity). That's why stops consonants are divided into stop plosives: [b], [b"], [p], [p"], [d], [d"1, [t], [t"], [g], [g"], [k], [k"] and occlusive passages: [m], [m"], [n], [n"], [l], [l"]. Stop-passive consonants can be differentiated by how the air stream bypasses the stop. If it bypasses the stop, exiting through nasal cavity, then arise occipital nasal consonants [m], [m"], [n], [n"]; if the air stream flows around the stop on the sides, then stop-passive lateral consonants [l], [l "] appear.

During education slotted consonants, the active organ of speech does not close, but moves closer to the passive one, forming a gap. The air stream, passing through the gap, rubs against the walls of the gap, which causes a characteristic noise. Therefore, fricative consonants are also called fricatives (from Latin. fricare- “to rub, to rub”). The fricatives in Russian are: [v], [v"], [f], [f"], [z], [z"], [s], [s"], [zh], [zh" long , soft], [w], [sh" long, soft], [x], [x"] th[j].

Slitnykh consonants, or affricate , in the Russian language there are only two sounds - [ts], [ch "]. The method of their formation combines the stop and the gap: the organs of speech, closed at the beginning of articulation, smoothly open, creating a gap. The sound [ts] according to the method of formation can be represented as fused the pronunciation of a stop [t] and a fricative [s], and the sound [h"] is like a continuous pronunciation of a soft stop [t"] and a soft fricative [w"].

Implosive(or closed) consonants contain only a stop phase. They do not have a second phase, like plosives and affricates. Implosives appear in place of plosives in front of plosives and affricates of the same place of formation and in place of affricates in front of the same affricates: O[tt] wow, oh[t"t"] damn, by[d-d] ohm, by[d"d"] Christmas tree, know[k k] ozeroga, utyu[g g] hot, o[tc] A, pla[t ts] whole (board And parade ground), pe[t"h"]often (sing And bake).

Trembling consonants, or vibrants , in Russian, these are [p] and [p"]. When they are formed, the tip of the tongue bends slightly upward and, under the influence of an air stream, vibrates and trembles, which creates a characteristic noise.

Secondly, the quality of consonant sounds depends on places of education barriers from what active and passive organs form an obstacle. According to the active body involved in creating the barrier, consonants are divided into labial And lingual. In education labial In consonants, the movable lower lip takes an active part, which can close with the upper lip or move closer to the upper teeth. There are relatively few labial consonants in the Russian language: [b], [b"], [p], [p"], [v], [v"], [f], [f"], [m], [m "]. All other consonants are lingual. lingual consonants are divided into three groups depending on which part of the tongue closes or approaches the passive organ of speech: front-lingual - [d], [d"], [t], [t"], [ts], [h"], [z], [z"], [s], [s"] , [f], [f "long soft] , [w], [sh" long soft], [n], [n"], [l], [l"] , [r], [r"] middle language - th[j]; posterior lingual - [g], [g"], [k], [k"], [x], [x"].

By passive organ involved in creating an obstacle, consonants are divided into labial, dental And palatal. The upper lip acts as a passive organ during formation labial consonants [b], [b"], [p], [p"], [m], [m"]; dental the consonants are [v], [v"], [f], [f"], [d], [d"], [t], [t"], [ts], [z], [z"] , [s], [s"], [n], [n"], [l], [l"];_ palatal consonants are divided into anteropalatal - [zh], [zh" long, soft], [w], [sh" long, soft], [h"], [r], [r"]; midpalatal - th[j], [g"], [k"], [x"]; postopalatine - [g], [k], [x]. Thus, if, for example, the consonant [b] is characterized as labiolabial, and [c] - as labiodental, this means that the obstruction in the first case is formed with the help of the lips, and in the second case - with the help of the lip and teeth .

Third, the quality of consonants depends on functioning of the vocal cords, i.e. from the participation of tone and noise in the formation of consonant sounds . According to this criterion, consonants are divided into sonorous And noisy. U sonorous tone prevails over noise. Sonorants in the Russian language include: [m], [m"], [n], [n"], [l], [l"], [r], [r"], th[j]. All other consonants are noisy. Noisy consonants are divided into two groups: voiced - [b], [b"], [d], [d"] [d], [d"], [c], [v"], [z], [z"], [g], [ w" long, soft ]. They correspond deaf - [p], [p"], [t], [t"], [k], [k"], [f], [f"], [s], [s"], [w], [w" long, soft]. The voiceless consonants [ts], [ch"], [x] do not have voiced pairs.

At L.L. Kasatkina: The sound [ts] is unvoiced, but it has a paired voiced [dz], which is pronounced in place of [ts] before the voiced consonant: pla[dz] darm, Shpi[dz] Bergen, Kone[dz] of the year. The same pair is made up of a voiceless [ch"] and a voiced [d"zh". Before a voiced noisy consonant, in place of [ch"] is pronounced [d"zh"]: me[d"zh"] scored until[d"zh"] spoke. Sound [ at] makes up a voiced pair [x] and is pronounced, for example, in the words two[at] one year old, mo[at] green, and[at]waited.

Sonorant consonants also have voiced and voiceless pairs: [m] - [m], [m"] - [m"], [r]-[r] [r"]-[r"] [l]-[l ], [l"]-[l"], etc. Voiceless sonorants can appear, in particular, at the end of a word after a voiceless consonant: meth[R] , whirlwind, meaning[l], thought [l "], dog[n"], braid[m]. Voiceless [j] - a pair of voiced sonorant [j] - is possible at the end of a word, especially in emotional speech: From there[j]! Omkro[j]! One hundred[j]!

Voiced consonants differ from voiceless consonants in that tone is involved in their formation, while voiceless consonants consist of only noise.

Fourth, the quality of consonant sounds depends from the position of the middle part of the back of the tongue . If it rises to the palate, a soft consonant sound is formed. In other words, the difference between, for example, [d] and [d"] is only that the middle part of the back of the tongue makes an additional movement, rising to the hard palate, when forming the sound [d"]. Soft , or palatalized (from Latin palatum - “palate”), consonants in Russian are: [b"], [p"] [v"], [f"], [m"], [d"], [t"] , [z"], [s"], [n"], [l"], [r"], [g"], [k"], [x"], th[j], [h"] [zh" long, soft], [sh" long, soft]. All soft consonants, except only hard [ts], [zh], [sh] and only soft [j], [ h"], [zh" long, soft], [w" long, soft], have hard pairs.

In the textbook L.L. Kasatkina: The sound [ts] is hard, and the soft [ts"] is pronounced, for example, in place of [t"] before [s"]: five[ts"] xia, ma[ts"] Seryozha. The sound [ch "] is soft, its hard pair is [ch], which occurs before [sh], including in place of [t], [d]: lu[h] she(cf. lu[h "]), O[h] stagger, by[h] tell jokes. The hard sound [sh] has a soft pair [sh"]: [sh"] tea, mo[w"] ny,[sh":]uka. The sound [zh] has a pair [zh"], which is almost always double, long: in[and":] And, draw[and":] and, vi[and":] at. This is how words are pronounced reins, yeast, squeal many speakers of a literary language (pronunciation [zh:] in place of [zh":] is also acceptable).

Only the sound [j] cannot have a solid pair, since in it the raising of the middle part of the back of the tongue to the middle part of the palate is the main articulation, without which no consonant sound arises at all.

Consonants may have additional articulation. If, for example, we compare the initial sounds of words garden And court, I will And doom, pelvis And ace, then you can notice the difference in their articulation. Before [a] consonants are pronounced without tense lips, and before [y] - with rounded and elongated lips. We are just getting ready to say the words court, doom, ace, and the lips have already assumed this position. Such additional articulation is called labialization (from the Latin labium - “lip”), and the consonant sounds [с°], [д°], [т°], etc. - labialized (or rounded). These sounds differ from [s], [d], [t] in articulation and hearing. (You can hear this difference if you start saying the word garden and stop after the first consonant, then start saying the word court but say only the first consonant.) In Russian, the labialization of consonants is always associated with their position before [u] or [o], as well as before labialized consonants: [с°т°ул], [с°т°л], but [stal]. There are no exceptions, so it is usually not noted in the transcription.

Speech sounds are studied in a branch of linguistics called phonetics. All speech sounds are divided into two groups: vowels and consonants. Vowel sounds can be in strong and weak positions. A strong position is a position under stress, in which the sound is pronounced clearly, for a long time, with greater force and does not require verification, for example: city, earth, greatness. In a weak position (without stress), the sound is pronounced indistinctly, briefly, with less force and requires verification, for example: head, forest, teacher. All six vowel sounds are distinguished under stress. In an unstressed position, instead of [a], [o], [z], other vowel sounds are pronounced in the same part of the word. So, instead of [o], a slightly weakened sound [a] - [vad]a is pronounced, instead of [e] and [a] in unstressed syllables, [ie] is pronounced - a sound intermediate between [i] and [e], for example: [ m"iesta], [h"iesy], [p"iet"brka], [s*ielo]. The alternation of strong and weak positions of vowel sounds in the same part of a word is called positional alternation of sounds. The pronunciation of vowel sounds depends on which syllable they are in in relation to the stressed one. In the first pre-stressed syllable, vowel sounds change less, for example: st[o]l - st[a]la. In other unstressed syllables, the vowels change more, and some do not differ at all and in pronunciation approach zero sound, for example^: transported - [p''riev'6s], gardener - [s'davot], water carrier - [v'davbs] (here ъ кь denote an unclear sound, zero sound). The alternation of vowel sounds in strong and weak positions is not reflected in writing, for example: to be surprised is a miracle; in the unstressed position, the letter is written that denotes the stressed sound in this root: to be surprised means “to meet with a marvel (miracle).” This is the leading principle of Russian orthography - morphological, providing for uniform spelling of significant parts of a word - root, prefix, suffix, ending, regardless of position. The designation of unstressed vowels, verified by stress, is subject to the morphological principle. There are 36 consonant sounds in the Russian language. Consonant sounds of the Russian language are those sounds during the formation of which the air encounters some kind of obstacle in the oral cavity; they consist of voice and noise or only noise. In the first case, voiced consonants are formed, in the second - voiceless consonants. Most often, voiced and voiceless consonants form pairs based on voicedness-voicelessness: [b] - [p], [v] - [f], [g] - [k], [d] - [t], [zh] - [ w], [h] - [s]. However, some consonants are only voiceless: [x], [ts], [ch"], [sh] or only voiced: [l], [m], [n], [r], [G]. There are also hard and soft consonants. Most of them form pairs: [b] - [b"], [c] - [c"], [d] - [g"], [d] - [d"], [z] - [z"] , [k] - [k"], [l] - [l"], [m] - [m*], [n] - [n*], [p] - [p"], [p] - [p"], [s] - [s"], [t] - [t"], [f] - [f"], [x] - [x"]. Hard consonants [zh], [sh], [ts] and soft consonants [h"], [t"] do not have paired sounds. In a word, consonant sounds can occupy different positions, that is, the location of the sound among other sounds in the word. A position in which the sound does not change is strong. For a consonant sound, this is the position before the vowel (weak), sonorant (true), before [v] and [v*] (twist). All other positions are weak for consonants. At the same time, the consonant sound changes: the voiced sound in front of the deaf becomes voiceless: hem - [patshyt"]; the deaf before the voiced becomes voiced: request - [prbz"ba]; the voiced one is deafened at the end of the word: oak - [dup]; no sound is pronounced: holiday - [praz"n"ik]; hard before soft can become soft: power - [vlas"t"].

Phonetics.Basic concepts.System of sounds.Syllables.Syllabification

Phonetics - (Greek phone - sound) - the study of the sound system of a language, a section of linguistics that studies the sound means of language (sounds, stress, intonation). A special section of phonetics - orthoepy - describes a set of norms of literary pronunciation. Orthoepy occupies a special place among linguistic disciplines. She studies those units of language that have no meaning, but they determine the existence of significant units of language.

Thus, morphology, syntax, and lexicology study linguistic units that have lexical meaning. Phonetics studies linguistic units that do not have a lexical meaning, but serve to distinguish between units of grammar and vocabulary. At the same time, some linguistic phenomena are on the border of phonetics and grammar, since it is impossible to correctly determine the basis of a word without knowing the phonetic laws.

Depending on the objectives of the study, phonetics is distinguished:

Private and general;

Descriptive and historical;

Comparative;

Experimental;

Sociophonetics.

Particular phonetics studies the sound system of a particular language, general phonetics studies general patterns. Descriptive studies the phonetic system of a language at a certain period of its development. Historical studies the changes that have occurred in the sound system of a language throughout its history. Comparative studies the phonetic structure of several languages. Sociophonetics studies the pronunciation features of individual population groups. Experimental studies language through experiments.

Speech is a stream of sounds and it seems to be continuous. The flow can be divided into separate parts. Division may be different. If this division is based on grammatical design, then we are talking about division into sentences, words and morphemes. With phonetic division, the following units are identified: text, phrase, speech beat or syntagm, phonetic word, syllable and sound.

Text is only the initial value of the phonetic division of speech, because speech is not phonetic, but communicative in nature. The text also has phonetic characteristics: limited by pauses. Pause at the beginning and end of the text. Phrases stand out from the text by intonation. A phrase is a piece of text that has logical stress (|| – pause). A phrase is a phonetic unit, a sentence is a grammatical unit. There is one phonetic phrase in a complex sentence.

Phrases are divided into speech beats or syntagms. Syntagms are distinguished by intonation, but at the border of the syntagma an unfinished intonation is heard.

On the shore of desert waves || he stood || doom of the great hill

The division of a speech stream into syntagms is always determined by meaning, so options are possible.

We must learn to work and rest.

A phonetic word is characterized by stress. Phonetic stress is a complex of sounds or a segment of a sound chain. There may be no pauses between words. In this case, a phonetic word can correspond to the first lexical word or several words.

That same night || wide boat || departed from the hotel.

3 speech beats, 2 phonetic words each.

A syllable is a push of speech exhalation. Sound is the minimal element of speech flow.

Classification of vowels and consonants

Sound from an acoustic point of view is the vibration of air particles. The source is the vibration of sound chords. From the point of view of articulation, vowels and consonants of speech are distinguished.

Articulation is a set of actions of the organs of pronunciation at the moment of sound. The main difference is this. Consonants - when formed, air overcomes an obstacle, thus, vowels are characterized by the flow of voice, and consonants by the presence of voice and/or noise.

Vowels are tone sounds. A musical tone voice is involved in their formation. Noise is not taken into account. The difference in vowels is determined by the different structure of the speech organs.

In modern Russian there are 6 vowels [a] [o] [e] [u] [s] [i].

by place of education

The difference between vowels that cause the tongue to move horizontally is taken into account:

Front vowels - during articulation the tongue is strongly moved forward [i] [e]

Middle vowels - the tongue is slightly moved back [ы] [а]

Back vowels [у] [о]

by the degree of elevation of the tongue vertically relative to the palate

High vowels [i] [ы] [y]

Middle vowels [e] [o]

Low vowels [a]

The upper vowels will be closed or narrow compared to the middle vowels, while the lower vowels will be open or wide. Middle vowels are closed compared to the lower ones, and open compared to the upper ones.

by participation or non-participation of lips

The presence or absence of lavialization - stretching or rounding of the lips.

Lavialized [y] [o]

Unlavalised (all others)

The division into 3 rows and the rise does not reflect the full richness of the SRY. In unstressed syllables ch. pronounced with varying degrees of reduction - change, shortening of vowel sounds in an unstressed position. Unstressed vowels are pronounced less clearly. Some vowels are not distinguished.

Consonants are classified according to 4 criteria:

Sanitary and noisy

Sanoric - consonants in the formation of which the voice and slight noise are involved [r] [n] [m] [l]

Noisy deaf people - only noise [p] [f] [k] [t] [s] [w] [ts] [x]

A characteristic feature of the Russian consonant system is the presence of pairs of sounds that are correlated by sonority-voicelessness, hardness-softness. Correlativity lies in the fact that in some phonetic conditions they differ as two sounds, but in other conditions they do not differ.

Rose - dew, once - grew.

According to the place of noise formation (labial and lingual)

labiolabial [m] [p] [b]

labiodental [f] [v]

front-lingual:

dental [c] [z] [l] [n] [t] [d] [c]

anterior palatal [w] [g] [r] [h]

middle language [th]

back lingual [k] [g]

According to the method of noise generation

Closing (explosive) – [p] [t] [k] [g] [d]

Precatative (frictional) – [f] [v] [s] [z] [w] [g] [x]

Africates – [ts] [h] [sch]

Occlusive [n] [m] [l]

Trembling [r]

By the presence or absence of softening (hard and soft)

without paired soft w, c, w

Phonetic units. Sound.

1. Sound is the minimum unit of sounding speech. The word hand has 4 sounds.

3. A syllable is a segmental phonetic unit - a combination of several sounds, one of which is certainly a vowel.

Open syllable- the one that ends with a vowel sound: go-lo-va, ra-ma, yu-lA.

Closed - at the end there is a consonant sound: sleep, kar-kass, bol-tik.

Covered– begins with a consonant: SA-dy, mo-yu, ya-rmar-ka.

Uncovered– begins with a vowel: o-sen, ar-ka.

Transfer rules:

1. There are as many syllables as there are vowel sounds.

2. The border between words in the middle of a word usually passes after a vowel sound: law, ta-bu-re-tka.

3. If between vowel sounds in a word there is a combination of several consonants, then the entire combination of consonants, as a rule, goes to the next syllable

There are 2 exceptions to the last rule:

1) the sonorant consonant “yot”, being in the middle of the word between a vowel and a consonant, always goes back to the previous syllable: may-ka, sing-te, tay-na, catch-mal;

2) the remaining 8 sonorant sounds (r, r/, l, l/, m, m/, n, n/) behave somewhat differently in this position. If they are found before noisy consonants, they always go back to the previous syllable, while the noisy sound is added to the next syllable: maar-ka, gal-ka, ram-pa, i-yun-skiy. If sonorant sounds are located before some other sonorant sound, then the entire combination of consonants, as a general rule, goes to the subsequent syllable: vo-lna, ko-rma, Marya.

4. The establishment of boundaries between syllables can be affected by the selection of significant parts of the word in a word, as a result of which variants of syllable separation appear. for example, at the junction of a prefix and a root (if the prefix ends with a consonant sound, and the root begins with it), the boundary between syllables can be drawn both according to the phonetic rules of layer separation, and taking into account the separation of the prefix and the root: raz-break and raz-bit; to tell and suggest.

Vowel sounds in the Russian language are contrasted according to four characteristics: the degree of sonority, the degree of advancement of the tongue (row), the degree of elevation of the tongue (rise) and the participation of the lips (labialization).

1. The degree of sonority of a vowel sound is determined by the degree of tension of the vocal cords during their formation and is associated with the position of the sound in relation to the stress. According to the degree of sonority, vowels of complete and incomplete formation are distinguished. When fully formed vowels are formed, the vocal cords are tensed to the maximum, the sound is pronounced with maximum strength and duration. When forming vowels of incomplete formation (reduced), the vocal cords are tensed to a lesser extent.
2. The row of vowel sounds depends on the degree of horizontal advancement of the tongue in the oral resonator (movement forward - backward). According to the degree of horizontal advancement of the tongue, vowels of the front row [i, e], middle row [ы, а] and back row [у, о] are distinguished. The articulation of front and back vowels is characterized by the movement of the tongue into the front and back zones, respectively. When forming middle vowels, the tongue occupies a middle position in the oral resonator. The shape of the tongue can be different.
3. According to the degree of elevation of the tongue to the palate, vowels of the upper rise [i, ы, у], middle rise [e, o] and lower rise [a] are distinguished. The articulation of high vowels is accompanied by a maximum rise of the back of the tongue towards the palate. When forming low vowels, the tongue rests on the lower jaw, and when forming middle vowels, the tongue occupies a middle position.

The simplest vowel chart is:
Table 1.

Climb	Front	Average	Rear
Upper	And	s	at
Average	uh		O
Lower		A

But the division into three rows and rises does not reflect the entire articulatory diversity of speech sounds. Thus, in the flow of speech in an unstressed position in the first pre-stressed syllable after a soft consonant, in place of the phonemes lt;еgt;, lt;аgt; the sound [and] is pronounced “[and] with the overtone [e]”, in the second pre-stressed syllable - [b] “short reduced er” - places [m’iEsta] and place [m’est’’]. After hard consonants in the first pre-stressed syllable, in place of the phonemes lt;аgt;, lt;оgt; the sound is pronounced - “close to [a]”, and in the second pre-stress - [ъ] “short reduced er” - at home [d/\ma] and at home [dom]. After hard hissing and c, [ыЭ] is pronounced “[ы] with an overtone [e]” - to feel sorry [zhyElet]. The vowel sounds [ыЭ], [иЭ], [Л], [ъ], [ь] occur only in unstressed positions. But shades of sounds also appear in the stressed position, for example, in the word mjat the phoneme lt; agt; between soft consonants is realized in the sound [a] advanced forward and upward throughout the sound.
Shades of sounds can be considered as special sounds, and then the table of vowels can be supplemented. See the table of vowel sounds and the order of their characteristics in the “Guidelines for independent work.”

More on the topic Classification of vowel sounds of the Russian language:

1. Questions for tests and exams in sections of the discipline “Modern Russian Language” Demonstration versions of exam papers Section “Phonetics”