What is the difference between vowels and consonants and letters and sounds? What rules do they obey? How are the hardness and softness of sounds and letters indicated? You will receive answers to all these questions in this article.
General information about vowels and consonants
Vowels and consonants represent the basis of the entire Russian language. After all, with the help of their combinations, syllables are formed that form words, expressions, sentences, texts, etc. That is why quite a lot of hours are devoted to this topic in high school.
and sounds in Russian
A person learns what vowels and consonants are in the Russian alphabet already from the first grade. And despite the apparent simplicity of this topic, it is considered one of the most difficult for students.
So, in the Russian language there are ten vowel letters, namely: o, i, a, y, yu, ya, e, e, u, e. During their immediate pronunciation, you can feel how air passes freely through the oral cavity. At the same time, we hear our own voice quite clearly. It should also be noted that vowel sounds can be drawn out (a-a-a-a, uh-uh-uh, i-i-i-i-i, u-u-u-u-u and so on ).
Features and letters
Vowels are the basis of a syllable, that is, they are the ones who organize it. As a rule, Russian words have as many syllables as vowels themselves. Let's give a clear example: u-che-ni-ki - 5 syllables, re-bya-ta - 3 syllables, he - 1 syllable, o-no - 2 syllables, and so on. There are even words that consist of only one vowel sound. Usually these are interjections (A!, Oh!, Oooh!) and conjunctions (and, a, etc.).
Endings, suffixes and prefixes are very important topics in the Russian Language discipline. After all, without knowing how such letters are written in a particular word, it is quite problematic to compose a literate letter.
Consonants and sounds in Russian
Vowels and consonants letters and sounds vary significantly. And if the first ones can be easily pulled out, then the latter ones are pronounced as briefly as possible (except for hissing ones, since they can be pulled out).
It should be noted that in the Russian alphabet the number of consonant letters is 21, namely: b, v, g, d, zh, z, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, f, x, ts, h, w, shch. The sounds they denote are usually divided into dull and voiced. What is the difference? The fact is that during the pronunciation of voiced consonants, a person can hear not only the characteristic noise, but also his own voice (b!, z!, r!, etc.). As for the deaf, there is no way to pronounce them loudly or, for example, shout. They only create a kind of noise (sh-sh-sh-sh-sh, s-s-s-s-s, etc.).
Thus, almost everything is divided into two different categories:
- voiced - b, c, d, d, g, z, j, l, m, n, r;
- deaf - k, p, s, t, f, x, c, ch, sh.
Softness and hardness of consonants
Not everyone knows, but vowels and consonants can be hard and soft. This is the second most important feature in the Russian language (after voicedness and voicelessness).
A distinctive feature of soft consonants is that during their pronunciation the human tongue takes a special position. As a rule, it moves slightly forward, and its entire middle part rises slightly. As for when pronouncing them, the tongue is pulled back. You can compare the position of your speech organ yourself: [n] - [n’], [t] - [t’]. It should also be noted that voiced and soft sounds sound slightly higher than hard ones.
In the Russian language, almost all consonants have pairs based on softness and hardness. However, there are also those who simply do not have them. These include hard ones - [zh], [sh] and [ts] and soft ones - [th"], [h"] and [sh"].
Softness and hardness of vowel sounds
Surely few people have heard that the Russian language has soft vowels. Soft consonants are sounds quite familiar to us, which cannot be said about the above-mentioned ones. This is partly due to the fact that in secondary school practically no time is devoted to this topic. After all, it is already clear with the help of which vowels the consonants become soft. However, we still decided to dedicate you to this topic.
So, those letters that are capable of softening the consonants preceding them are called soft. These include the following: i, e, i, e, yu. As for letters such as a, y, y, e, o, they are considered hard because they do not soften the consonants in front. To see this, here are a few examples:
Indication of the softness of consonant letters during phonetic analysis of a word
Phonetics studies the sounds and letters of the Russian language. Surely, in high school you were asked more than once to make a word. During such an analysis, it is imperative to indicate whether it is separately considered or not. If yes, then it must be designated as follows: [n’], [t’], [d’], [v’], [m’], [p’]. That is, at the top right next to the consonant letter before the soft vowel, you need to put a kind of dash. The following soft sounds are marked with a similar icon - [th"], [h"] and [w"].
At the initial stage of learning the Russian language in 1st grade, it is necessary to learn the vowels and consonants of the alphabet. TO consonants
relate: B, V, G, D, F, Z, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, S, T, F, X, C, H, W, Shch
. Note, Y- consonant letter. TO vowel letters refer to A, E, E, I, O, U, Y, E, Y, I
. Letters b
And Kommersant
do not apply to either vowels or consonants. Vowels are pronounced with the voice and can be sung. Consonants consist only of noise; they cannot be sung. (When learning vowels and consonants, you can try to sing them.)
We offer you an online game that will help you learn the vowels and consonants of the Russian alphabet in a playful way. It is created similar to online coloring books, and can be used not only by first graders, but also to prepare for school. In the game you need to color the vowels red and the consonants blue. To color a letter, click on it. Each time you press the color changes.
Online game “Vowels and consonants”
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Category
What sounds are called consonants?
What does a consonant sound consist of?
What are the different consonant sounds?
How many consonant letters and consonant sounds are there in the Russian alphabet?
Which consonants are always hard and which are always soft?
What letters indicate the softness of a consonant?
Sounds in the pronunciation of which the air encounters an obstacle in the mouth are called consonant sounds. A consonant sound consists of noise and voice or only noise.
Consonant sounds are divided into voiced and unvoiced. Voiced ones consist of noise and voice, while deaf ones consist only of noise.
The sounds only consist of noise: [k], [p], [s], [t], [f], [x], [ts], [ch], [sh], [sch]. These are voiceless consonants.
Many consonant sounds form pairs by voicing -deafness: [b] — [p], [v] — [f], [g] — [k], [d] — [t], [z] — [s], [w] — [w].
To memorize voiced consonants, you can learn the phrase: “ THE LION AND THE TOAD HAVE MANY FRIENDS».
See all phrases for memorizing voiced and voiceless consonants.
Voiceless consonants are easy to remember from the phrase: “ STYOPKA, DO YOU WANT A CHECK?— Ugh!».
Consonant sounds are indicated by letters:
B,IN,G,D,AND,Z,Y,TO,L,M,N,P,R,WITH,T,F,X,C,H,Sh,SCH.
In total, the Russian language has 21 consonants.
Consonant sounds are also hard and soft.
Hard and soft sounds differ in the position of the tongue when pronounced. When pronouncing soft consonants, the middle back of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate.
Most consonant sounds form pairs based on hardness and softness:
The following hard and soft consonant sounds do not form hard-softness pairs:
| Solid | [and] | [w] | [ts] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soft | [h❜] | [sch❜] | [th❜] |
Table “Consonant sounds: paired and unpaired, voiced and voiceless, hard and soft” (grades 1-4)
Note: in elementary school, hard consonant sounds are indicated in blue, soft consonant sounds in green, and vowel sounds in red.
Hardness consonant sounds are indicated in writing by vowels A , ABOUT , U , Y , E .
Softness consonant sound is indicated in writing by vowels E, Yo, I, Yu, I, as well as the letter b(soft sign).
Compare: nose[nose] - carried[n❜os], corner[corner] - coal[ugal❜].
Unpaired voiced sounds [й❜], [l], [l❜], [m], [m❜] [n], [n❜] [р], [р❜] are called sonorous, which means “sonorous” in Latin.
The sounds [zh], [sh], [ch❜], [sch❜] are called sizzling. They got this name because their pronunciation is similar to hissing.
The sounds [zh], [sh] are unpaired hard hissing sounds.
The sounds [ch❜] and [ш❜] are unpaired soft hissing sounds.
The sounds [c], [s❜], [z], [z❜], [ts] are called whistling.
Consonant can not be stressed or unstressed.
In the Russian language, there are more consonant sounds (36) than consonant letters (21), since one letter can denote paired hard and soft sounds: for example, the letter L (el) denotes the sounds [l] and [l❜].
Attention! A consonant sound can form a syllable only with
Usually, children do not have serious difficulties understanding the difference between vowels and consonants. But we should dwell in more detail on hard and soft consonants.
How to teach children to distinguish between hard and soft consonants
The very first thing you need to teach your child: consonant sounds can be hard and soft, but not letters.
Typical error:
Children confuse sounds and letters. We remember that a sound sounds, and a letter is an icon, it is written. A letter cannot be hard or soft; only a consonant sound can be hard or soft in pronunciation.
Sometimes children can easily learn to distinguish soft and hard sounds by ear.
But it happens that this is difficult, and in this case signs will come to the rescue by which you can distinguish hard sounds from soft ones.
Distinctive features of soft and hard sounds
What sound comes after a consonant:
- If after a consonant there is a vowel a, o, u, e, s, then the consonant is hard.
- If after a consonant there is a vowel and, e, yu, i, then the consonant is soft.
Working on examples:
In the words “mama” and “nora” the consonants are hard, because they are followed by “a” and “o”.
In the words “fly” and “nanny” the consonants are soft because they are followed by “e”, “i”, “ya”.
- If another consonant sounds after a consonant, then the first consonant will be hard.
- There are sounds that can only be hard and sounds that can only be soft, no matter what sound is heard or what letter is written after them.
Always hard sounds - zh, sh, ts.
Always soft - th, h, shch.
A common way to learn these sounds is a simple technique: we write the letters that convey these sounds on a line, and emphasize “th, ch, sch.” The underscore symbolizes the cushion on which the soft sounds sit. The pad is soft, which means the sounds are soft.
Soft sign and hard sign
- If there is a consonant at the end of a word and the letter “b” after it, then the consonant is soft.
This rule is easy to apply if the child sees the written word, but it will not help if the child performs the task by ear.
Movement of the tongue when pronouncing soft and hard sounds
When pronouncing a soft sound, the tongue moves slightly forward, approaching (or touching) the palate with its middle.
When pronouncing hard sounds, the tongue does not move forward.
Table of signs of hard and soft sounds
Solid:
- Before a, o, y, e, y.
- At the end of a word before a consonant.
- F, c, w.
Soft:
- Before the vowels e, e, i, yu, i.
- If after a consonant there is a soft sign (dust, measles).
- Y, h, sch.
A picture or simply a list of thematic words is shown, and the task is given to choose words with soft or hard consonants. For example:
Voiced and voiceless consonants
There are 11 pairs of voiced/voiceless consonants in the Russian language.
The phonetic difference between voiced and voiceless consonants lies in the tension of the vocal cords. Voiceless sounds are pronounced with the help of noise, without straining the ligaments. Voiced sounds are pronounced by voice and are caused by vibration of the vocal cords, because air comes out of the larynx noisily.
Mnemonic technique for memorizing voiceless sounds:
Learn the phrase: “Styopka, do you want some cheek? - Fi! All consonant sounds here are unvoiced.
Examples of tasks for children
Tasks for training the differences between paired consonants can be compiled for each pair according to the following principle (using the example of the D/T pair):
Tasks for distinguishing a pair of consonants G/K
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