What is sound? This is the minimum component of human speech. Shown in letters. In written form, sounds are distinguished from letters by the presence of square brackets at the first, which are used in phonetic transcription. The letter is o, the sound is [o]. The transcription shows differences in spelling and pronunciation. Apostrophe [ ‘ ] indicates soft pronunciation.

In contact with

The sounds are divided into:

• Vowels. They can be pulled easily. During their creation, the tongue does not take an active part, being fixed in one position. The sound is created due to changes in the position of the tongue, lips, various vibrations of the vocal cords and the force of air supply. Length of vowels – basis of vocal art(chanting, “singing smoothly”).
• The consonants a are pronounced with the participation of the tongue, which, occupying a certain position and shape, creates an obstacle to the movement of air from the lungs. This leads to noise in the oral cavity. At the output they are converted into sound. Also, the free passage of air is hampered by the lips, which close and open during speech.

Consonants are divided into:

• voiceless and voiced. Deafness and sonority of sound depend on the functioning of the speech apparatus;
• hard and soft. The sound is determined by the position of the letter in the word.

Letters representing consonants

Deaf

Voiceless in Russian: [k], [p], [s], [t], [f], [x], [ts], [sh]. The easiest way to remember is a phrase, and not a set of letters, “Styopka, do you want a cheek? Fi!” containing them all.

An example in which all consonant sounds are unvoiced: rooster, honeycomb, pin.

Voiced

When they are formed, the form of the tongue is close to the form that produces deaf, but vibrations are added. Voiced consonant sounds create active vibrations of the ligaments. vibrations deform the sound wave, and not a pure stream of air enters the oral cavity, but sound. Subsequently, it is further transformed by the tongue and lips.

Voiced consonants include: b, c, g, d, g, z, j, l, m, n, r.

When they are pronounced, tension is clearly felt in the larynx area. In addition, it is almost impossible to speak them clearly in a whisper.

A word in which all consonants are voiced: Rome, pride, ash, estuary.

Summary table of consonants (voiceless and voiced).

It is due to the change in sound that Russian speech is enriched with various words that are similar in spelling and pronunciation, but completely different in meaning. For example: house - volume, court - itch, code - year.

Paired consonants

What does pairing mean? Two letters that are similar in sound and, when pronounced, take similar positions with the tongue, are called paired consonants. The pronunciation of consonants can be divided into one-stage (lips and tongues are involved in their creation) and two-stage - the ligaments are connected first, then the mouth. Those cases when, during pronunciation, mouth movements coincide and create pairs.

Summary table of paired consonants taking into account hardness and softness

In speech, it is common not to pronounce each letter, but to “eat” it. This is not an exception only for Russian speech. This is found in almost all languages ​​of the world and is especially noticeable in English. In Russian, this effect is subject to the rule: paired consonant sounds replace (auditory) each other during speech. For example: love – [l’ u b o f’].

But not everyone has their own pair. There are some that are not similar in pronunciation to any others - these are unpaired consonants. The reproduction technique differs from the pronunciation of other sounds and combines them into groups.

Paired consonants

Unpaired consonants

The first group can be pronounced softly. The second has no analogues in pronunciation.

Unpaired consonants are divided into:

• sonors – [y’], [l], [l’], [m], [m’], [n], [n’], [r], [r’]. When they are pronounced, a stream of air hits the upper sky, like a dome;
• hissing – [x], [x’], [ts], [h’], [sch’].

The Russian language contains letters that are difficult to understand in context. Are the sounds [ch], [th], [ts], [n] voiced or unvoiced? Learn these 4 letters!

Important![h] - deaf! [th] - sonorous! [ts] is deaf! [n] – sonorous!

Unpaired consonants

Hard and soft

They are the same in spelling, but different in sound. Voiceless and voiced consonants, with the exception of hissing ones, can be pronounced hard or soft. For example: [b] was – [b`] beat; [t] current – ​​[t`] flowed.

When pronouncing hard words, the tip of the tongue is pressed against the palate. Soft ones are formed by pressing to the upper palate of the middle part of the tongue.

In speech, the sound is determined by the letter following the consonant.

Vowels form pairs: a-ya, u-yu, e-e, y-i, o-yo.

Double vowels (I, ё, yu, e) are pronounced in one of two combinations: the sound [th] and a paired vowel from E, O, U, A, or a soft sign and a paired vowel. For example, the word jung. It is pronounced [y] [y] [n] [g] [a]. Or the word mint. It is pronounced as: [m’] [a] [t] [a]. The vowels A, O, U, E, Y do not have a double sound, therefore do not affect the pronunciation of the preceding consonant.

Difference example:

A spoon is a hatch, honey is a sea, a house is a woodpecker.

Phonetic transcription:

[Spoon] – [L’ u k], [m’ o d] – [m o r’ e], [house] – [d’ a t e l].

Pronunciation rules:

• solid ones are pronounced before A, O, U, E, Y. Abscess, side, beech, Bentley, former;
• soft ones are pronounced before Ya, Yo, Yu, E, I. Revenge, honey, whale, mashed potatoes, mint;
• hard ones are pronounced if they are followed by another consonant: death. After the consonant [s] there is a consonant [m]. Regardless of whether the M is soft, voiced or hard, the S is pronounced firmly;
• hard ones are pronounced if the letter comes last in the word: class, house;
• Consonants before the vowel [e] in borrowed words are pronounced firmly, as before [e]. For example: muffler – [k] [a] [w] [n] [e];
• always soft before b: elk, pulp.
• exceptions to the rules:
  • always solid F, W, C: life, thorns, cyanide;
  • always soft Y, H, Sh: white, black, pike.

Attention! A voiceless letter does not always represent the same sound. It depends on the position in the word.

Hard and soft sounds

Stun

The Russian language has a concept of stunning - some voiced ones sound like voiceless ones consonant sounds from a pair.

This is not a speech defect, but, on the contrary, is considered a criterion for its purity and correctness. But this rule only works with paired consonants. For example, [g] in speech is often replaced by [x]. This refers to a defect, since [g], which is close to [x], is considered a distinctive feature of the Ukrainian language. Its use in Russian speech is incorrect. The exception is the word God.

Rules and examples:

• the letter is the last in the word: tooth - [zup], ice hole - [p r o r u p’];
• after the letter there is a voiceless consonant: russula - [raw cheese).

There is a reverse process - voicing. Means that in speech voiceless ones are pronounced as their counterparts to voiced ones. Voicing is justified when they come before voiced consonants: transaction - [z d' e l k a].

Consonants, voiced and voiceless, hard and soft

Consonant sounds are voiced and unvoiced. Russian language lesson in 5th grade

In the Russian language, most consonant sounds are soft and hard, this quality is meaningful. Compare the words:

• chalk - stranded;
• bank - bathhouse;
• guest - guest

However, there are also those whose hardness is a constant quality, which means that they are always hard.

Consonant sounds: [zh]

It occurs in the following words:

• life [zhyz"n"].;
• liquid [zhitk];
• honeysuckle [zhymyls "t"];
• alive [live];
• trembles [trembles];
• guards [watches];
• buzzes [buzzes];
• red [red];
• bliss [blessed].

When comparing spelling and sound, the following conclusion can be drawn: after this consonant the letter is written And, and the sound [s] is heard. When choosing this spelling, you need to be guided by the rule: write ZHI with the letter I.

To play with a child in order to practice spelling skills, you can use, for example, the following text:

A beetle is buzzing over a honeysuckle. He lives somewhere near the ground beetle. She guards her home from him. And red hedgehogs run past the puddle. The bush is reflected in its liquid liquid - just like a living one, only upside down.

Sound [sh]

It is solid in contrast to [zh], which is voiced. This phoneme can be observed in the words:

• width [shyr"];
• sew [shyt"];
• chiffon [chiffon];
• wardrobe [shifan "yer];
• mice [mice];
• silence [t "ishyna];
• ruffs [yirshi];
• pennies [grasha];
• hurries [sp"ishyt];
• will complete [completed].

Here we are also dealing with the same tendency as in the case of the sound [zh]: after [w] the letter is written And. The rule is the same as for the previous spelling: “Write SHI with the letter I.”

To practice the skill of correctly writing such words, let's turn to dictation:

Mice rustle under the roof slopes. One of them hears the cat breathing in silence and hurries into her hole - she has babies there.

Let's sum up: the hard ones always serve as identifying features of the spelling "And after Zh and Sh."

Sound [ts]

The last sound for which hardness is a constant quality is [ts]. It presents more difficulties in terms of spelling. The spelling of vowels after this sound depends on the morpheme. Let's take examples of words with spelling at the root of words:

• digit [digit];
• compasses [compasses"];
• circus [circus];
• citron [citron];
• acacia [akatsyya];
• lecture [lektsyya];
• section [s"ektsyya];
• sanction [sanction].

Where there is this hard consonant sound in a word, we hear [s] after it, but we designate this phoneme differently. In the examples given above, spelling is regulated by the following rule: after the letter C, I is written in the root of the word. But there are exceptions in which you still need to put Y:

• chick-chick-chick;
• on tiptoe;
• chick;
• tut;
• Gypsy.

In addition to these exceptions, it is also possible to write Y in suffixes and endings:

• Sinitsyn;
• sisters;
• near the hospital;
• without water;
• from a young woman;
• at the girl's.

Play with your child to practice spelling words associated with the letter C:

A gypsy performs in the circus, he tuts at the chickens: “Tsits!” They hide in the fox's paws. The girls laugh, stand on tiptoe and greet the fox’s kindness with loud applause.

Let's summarize: the sounds in the alphabet are always Zh, Ts, Sh. The following vowels can be written with them: I, Y.

Replacing F with W

The sound [ts] is not hissing. And the other two are called exactly that. In a weak position (at the end of a word or before voiceless consonants), the sound [zh] is replaced by [w]:

• get married [zamush];
• already [ush];
• unbearable [nefterpesh];
• spoon [loshka];
• horns [rosk"i].

Dictation text on this topic, which will help you carry out interesting training work on this spelling:

This always happens when consonant, voiced, and hard sounds in a weak position are replaced by the same ones, only unvoiced.

The Golitsyn sisters got married. They can't stand it anymore. And the dowry is ready: spoons, mugs, pillows, boots, tubs, bowls, cups, ladle. And then a droshky appeared on the path, Seryozhka, Alyoshka, Proshka and Olezhka - the sisters' grooms - were riding there. Here the fairy tale ends, and they lived happily ever after.

When to place b after Ж and Ш

Due to the fact that the above consonants are always hard, they are never used to indicate softness. However, there are times when you can find it after the letters Ж and Ш:

• mouse;
• lie;
• shiver;
• brooch;
• nonsense;
• entirely;
• don't touch;
• you hear.

These examples illustrate the rule of using a soft sign to indicate the grammatical form of words:

1. 3rd cl. nouns: quiet, whim.
2. Adverb: backhand.
3. Verbs: go, put it down.

We use the following suggestions for training:

It’s just a lie that the mouse is scary: don’t touch it when you walk by, and it won’t touch it either.

If the house is quiet, and you don’t scream, don’t jump, don’t make fun, there’s some kind of catch here, you won’t understand right away. What are you doing there, and you yourself are silent?

When b is not placed after Ж and Ш

The always hard consonant sounds [zh] and [sh] are sometimes written with a soft sign, and this depends on their grammatical category. And, conversely, the absence of this letter after them also has a morphological meaning:

1. Nouns not in the 3rd letter: baby, watchman, roof covering.
2. Short adjective: good, handsome.
3. Exceptional adverbs: already, married, unbearable.

Text for training:

My baby is good, handsome and looks like his dad. He will be a pilot, he will fly higher than the rooftops, you won’t be able to keep track of him.

O and Yo after hissing and C

Hard consonant sounds always require special attention, since the pronunciation of vowels after them does not always correspond to the spelling. This applies not only to the letters I and Y, but also O and E:

• walked [walked];
• whisper [whisper];
• silk [silk];
• millstone [millstone];
• acorn [acorn];
• rustle [rustle];
• highway [shose];
• jockey [jockey "hey].

The name of this spelling is “O and Yo at the root after hissing ones.” Rule: “If you can find a word with the letter E in a word with the same root, then we write -Ё, if there is none, we write O.” Let's check:

• acorn - acorn;
• silk - silk;
• millstone - millstone;
• rustle - cannot be verified;
• jockey - cannot be verified.

In suffixes and endings after Ж and Ш the letter O is written under emphasis:

• walrus;
• big.

Without accent you need to write the letter -E:

• orange;
• pear.

After C, the letter E is never written, only O (with emphasis) or E (without emphasis).

• basement;
• church;
• end;
• wrestling;
• slate;
• glossy;
• towel;
• stigma.

Consonant letters denoting hard sounds (Zh, Sh, Ts) require a lot of attention. As you can see, a very large number of spellings are associated with them. The school curriculum provides for a test related to testing knowledge of these consonants. For example, here’s a dictation:

“One day we were out hunting and our dogs ran after us.

There are a lot of tasty things in the forests in autumn: pine cones, pears, honeysuckle berries, blackberries, acorns. Animals eat up at this time and get fat.

Now we are in the deepest part of the forest, we hear dogs barking and run to that place. There we see a fox hole. The dogs dug up the entrance and pulled her out. We drove the dogs away. The fox's red fluffy outfit is slightly wrinkled, but it is still silky and smooth. There are yellow circles around the eyes. The chest is white, the legs are black. Nice foxes!

We let the poor fellow go, she quickly darted into the bushes, and the sister fox was gone."

Consonant sounds sound different in different words. Somewhere it’s hard, and somewhere it’s soft. In this lesson we will learn to distinguish between soft and hard consonant sounds and to indicate the softness of consonant sounds in writing with the letters I, E, E, Yu, I and b. Let's find out which consonants form hard-soft pairs, and which are only hard or only soft.

Compare the first consonants. When pronouncing the sound in the word KIT, the middle part of the tongue rises to the palate, the passage through which air flows narrows, and a sound is obtained, which scientists conventionally call soft. And the opposite sound was called - solid.

Let's complete the task. You need to put the vegetables in two baskets. In the first place we put those whose names contain some soft sounds, in the second those in whose names all consonant sounds are hard. Beets, turnips, eggplant, cabbage, onions, tomatoes, onions, pumpkin, cucumber.

Let's check. In the first basket they put: beets(sound [v’]), turnip(sound [r’]), tomato(sound [m’]),cucumber(sound [r’]). Second: cabbage, pumpkin, eggplant, onion .

It is important to listen to the sounds of spoken words. If you say the word NOS otherwise - with a hard first sound, we get a completely different word - NOSE.

Let's listen and watch the movement of our tongue:

row - sound [p’] - rad - sound [p]

hatch - sound [l’] - bow - sound [l]

Rice. 3. Bow ( )

crumpled - sound [m’] - small - sound [m]

Sounds can be written (conventionally) using icons. Musical sounds are written in notes, and speech sounds are written in letters, but in special square brackets - in transcription. In order not to confuse hard and soft sounds when reading the transcription, scientists agreed to show the softness of the sound with an icon very similar to a comma, only they put it on top.

Most consonant sounds form pairs based on softness and hardness:

Some consonants are only hard or only soft. They do not form pairs in terms of hardness/softness:

Only hard consonants: [zh], [w], [ts]. Only soft consonants: [th’], [h’], [sch’].

Let's complete the task: indicate the paired sound.

[z] - ? [and] - ? [R'] - ? [h’] - ? [With'] - ? [l] - ? Let’s check the correctness of the task: [z] - [z’]; [r’] - [r]; [s’] - [s]; [l] - [l’]. [zh], [h’] - unpaired sounds in terms of softness and hardness.

In writing, the hardness of consonant sounds is indicated by the vowels A, O, U, Y, E, and the softness of consonant sounds is indicated by the vowels E, Yo, I, Yu, Ya.

There are words with soft consonant sounds at the end of words or in the middle of words before other consonant sounds. Listen to the words: salt, horse, notebook, coat, ring, letter. Then a soft sign will come to the rescue. Even his name suggests - a sign soft, for soft consonants.

Let's make a reminder of how to act when writing words:

I hear a hard consonant sound - after it I write the letters in place of the vowel sound: A, O, U, Y, E.

I hear a soft consonant sound before a vowel sound - I indicate its softness with vowels: E, Yo, I, Yu, Ya.

I hear a soft sound at the end of a word or before a consonant sound - I show softness b.

Rice. 5. Hard and soft consonants ()

So, today we learned that consonant sounds can be soft and hard, and the softness of consonant sounds in writing in Russian is indicated by the letters i, e, e, yu, i and ь.

1. Andrianova T.M., Ilyukhina V.A. Russian language 1. M.: Astrel, 2011. ().
2. Buneev R.N., Buneeva E.V., Pronina O.V. Russian language 1. M.: Ballas. ()
3. Agarkova N.G., Agarkov Yu.A. Textbook on teaching literacy and reading: ABC. Academic book/textbook.

Additional web resources

1. Hypermarket of knowledge ()
2. Russian language: short theoretical course. ()
3. Logosauria: site for children's computer games. ()

Make it at home

1. Andrianova T.M., Ilyukhina V.A. Russian language 1. M.: Astrel, 2011. Pp. 35, ex. 6, pp. 36, ex. 3.
2. Count how many soft consonants are in a word electric train? (The word electric train has 3 soft consonant sounds ([l’], [r’], [h’]).
3. Using the knowledge gained in the lesson, make up puzzles or charades with words where the softness and hardness of a sound changes the meaning.

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

Voiced and voiceless consonants

Consonants are divided into voiced and voiceless. Voiced sounds are made up of noise and voice, deaf sounds are made up of noise only.

Voiced consonants: [b] [b "] [c] [c "] [g] [g "] [d] [d "] [h] [h "] [g] [l] [l "] [ m] [m"] [n] [n"] [r] [r"] [th]

Deaf consonants: [n] [n "] [f] [f "] [k] [k "] [t] [t "] [s] [s "] [w] [x] [x"] [ h"] [h"]

Paired and unpaired consonants

Many consonants form pairs of voiced and voiceless consonants:

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

Deaf [n] [n "] [f] [f "] [k] [k "] [t] [t "] [s] [s "] [w]

The following voiced and voiceless consonants do not form pairs:

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

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

Soft and hard consonants

Consonants are also divided into hard and soft. They differ in the position of the tongue during pronunciation. When pronouncing soft consonants, the middle back of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate.

Most consonants form pairs of hard and soft consonants:

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

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

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

Solid [f] [w] [c]

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

Sibilant consonants

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

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

Whistling consonants

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

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

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

“Tell me how to teach with a child consonants hard and soft, voiced and unvoiced?” - a mother recently asked, apparently, a first-grader.

Answer: no way.

There is no need to teach your child hard and soft consonants, voiced and voiceless. We need to teach the child to hear them and identify them based on various signs. It’s simply impossible to learn! It is necessary for the child to first understand how voiced and voiceless, hard and soft consonants are made, and after understanding comes knowledge.

How do we teach a child to distinguish consonant sounds?

Let's start with hard and soft consonants.

In Russian, not all consonants can be both hard and soft. Therefore, first the child must remember the consonants Zh, Sh, Ts, which are always hard, and Ch, Shch, Y, which are always soft.

Give your child such a reminder, pay attention to the child that the letters CH, Ш, И sit on the pillows because they are always soft. If the child has this reminder before his eyes, it will be easier for him to remember these letters. You can print it out and hang it above the table where your child studies. You can write it on cardboard and put it in a notebook on writing or the Russian language.

But the rest of the consonants can be either hard or soft. And neighboring letters will help determine the hardness and softness of a consonant.

An interesting option for memorizing hard and soft consonants was suggested by our reader Irina: “I figured out how to remember for my children three always hard sounds, (“Zh”, “Sh”, “C”), i.e. those that never soften.

Iron, Washer and Cement - Which will be harder? What's the secret?

There are always three soft sounds: “Ch”, “Shch”, “Y”. Here's a funny tongue twister: Bangs Tickle Y-Y-Y. ("th" will play the sound of laughter)"

If after the defined consonant there is another consonant, then it is hard. For example, in the word “song” after S there is N and we mark S as a hard consonant. Despite the fact that in the Russian language there is a concept of assimilation, when sounds are likened to one another, as in this case, in elementary school we do not go into such jungles of phonetics.

If there is a vowel sound after a consonant, then it is very easy to determine hardness and softness. All vowel letters are commanders and they command the previous consonant what sound to be - hard or soft. The only exceptions are the 6 letters that we talked about earlier. Make this reminder to your child and let it help him distinguish between hard and soft sounds.

And, of course, it is necessary to teach the child to hear hard and soft sounds, to distinguish between them by ear. There are many development exercises for this. And the well-known game can be modified to suit our task and give the child the task of determining hard or soft first consonant in a word.

At first, you need to select words that begin with a consonant: stump, pony, crayfish, river, bow, hatch... Then you can complicate the task and select words where the consonant is not the first sound. Since there are several consonants in a word, you need to discuss with your child which consonant you will determine - the first or the last. The child needs to identify by ear the desired consonant in a word and hear its hardness or softness. And this is already a difficult task. For example: o d it came and went d Uvanchik. The first consonant is D, but in these words it denotes sounds of different softness.

Apply all these methods at once and the child will learn to identify without problems. About voiced and deaf next time.

If you have questions, write in the comments.