Ability to distinguish between soft and hard consonants. Obviously, you don’t need to memorize them, but learn to hear them. And for this, the child needs to be told how exactly these sounds are made - this will greatly facilitate his understanding.
Always soft and always hard consonants
Not all consonants in our language are both hard and soft. First, you need your child to remember those of them that are only hard: Zh, Sh, Ts, and also always soft: Ch, Shch, Y. To do this, you can, for example, make a memorial plaque, where the hard ones will always be drawn above blue bricks, and always soft ones - over green pillows (the choice of color is based on how these sounds are designated in the lower grades).
If the child constantly sees this picture, which you put in his workbook or hang it over it, he will quickly remember these consonants.
How vowels “command” consonants
Then you explain to your child that other consonants can be either soft or hard. But the neighboring letters will help suggest this. If after our consonant there is another consonant, then ours is hard. For example: table. What comes after the C sound? So this is a hard consonant.
Vowel sounds “command” the consonant standing in front what it should be. If these are vowels: A, O, U, E, Y, then there are only hard consonants in front of them. And if it is: I, E, Yu, I, E, then it is soft. The softness of the previous consonant is also indicated by
Educational games
To make it easier for your child to remember this, try playing with him. Invite him to place the outer side of his index finger to the palate and pronounce the syllables containing soft and hard consonants in turn. For example: TA - TYA, NA - NYA. Thanks to this, the child will be able to remember exactly how a consonant sound is produced. He will understand that when a soft consonant is formed, the tongue seems to move forward, and its back rises slightly towards the palate. But when hard consonants are pronounced, this does not happen.
Throw the ball to the child, naming a syllable with a hard consonant, and let him return the ball to you, having already pronounced it with a soft one. For example: LA - LA, LO - LE, LY - LI, etc.
At school, students are asked to distinguish hard and soft consonants using blue and green colors. Blue ones are hard and green ones are soft. Cut out a few red, blue and green squares and have them make a word mosaic. The child will display vowels in red, hard consonants in blue, and soft consonants in blue. green. For this, take small words of one or two syllables: fish, elephant, branch, chalk and so on.
Play the “chain of words” game. You pronounce a word ending with a syllable with a hard or soft consonant, and the child names the next word that begins with this syllable. Remembering to determine out loud which consonant, hard or soft, was in this syllable: winds - fish - bagels - cinema etc.
If you methodically explain to your child the difference between hard and soft consonants, this will help him navigate more easily in the future, when studying many of the features of the spelling of the Russian language. Good luck to you!
The Russian language has 21 consonants and 36 consonant sounds. Consonant letters and their corresponding consonant sounds:
b - [b], c - [c], g - [g], d - [d], g - [g], j - [th], z - [z], k - [k], l - [l], m - [m], n - [n], p - [p], p - [p], s - [s], t - [t], f - [f], x - [x ], c - [c], ch - [ch], sh - [sh], sch - [sch].
Consonant sounds are divided into voiced and voiceless, hard and soft. They are paired and unpaired. There are a total of 36 different combinations of consonants by pairing and unpairing, hard and soft, voiceless and voiced: voiceless - 16 (8 soft and 8 hard), voiced - 20 (10 soft and 10 hard).
Scheme 1. Consonants and consonant sounds of the Russian language.
Hard and soft consonants
Consonants are hard and soft. They are divided into paired and unpaired. Paired hard and paired soft consonants help us distinguish between words. Compare: horse [kon’] - kon [kon], bow [bow] - hatch [l’uk].
For understanding, let’s explain it “on the fingers”. If the consonant is in in different words means either a soft or hard sound, then the sound refers to pairs. For example, in the word cat the letter k denotes a hard sound [k], in the word whale the letter k denotes a soft sound [k’]. We get: [k] - [k’] form a pair according to hardness and softness. Sounds for different consonants cannot be classified as a pair, for example [v] and [k’] do not form a pair in terms of hardness-softness, but they do form a pair [v]-[v’]. If a consonant sound is always hard or always soft, then it belongs to unpaired consonants. For example, the sound [zh] is always hard. There are no words in the Russian language where it would be soft [zh’]. Since there is no pair [zh]-[zh’], it is classified as unpaired.
Voiced and voiceless consonants
Consonant sounds are voiced and unvoiced. Thanks to voiced and voiceless consonants, we distinguish words. Compare: ball - heat, count - goal, house - volume. Voiceless consonants are pronounced with the mouth almost closed; when pronouncing them, the vocal cords do not work. Voiced consonants require more air, the vocal cords work.
Some consonant sounds have a similar sound in the way they are pronounced, but are pronounced with different tonality - dull or voiced. Such sounds are combined in pairs and form a group of paired consonants. Accordingly, paired consonants are a pair of a voiceless and a voiced consonant.
- paired consonants: b-p, v-f, g-k, d-t, z-s, zh-sh.
- unpaired consonants: l, m, n, r, y, c, x, h, shch.
Sonorant, noisy and sibilant consonants
Sonorants are voiced unpaired consonant sounds. There are 9 sonorant sounds: [y’], [l], [l’], [m], [m’], [n], [n’], [r], [r’].
Noisy consonant sounds are voiced and unvoiced:
- Noisy voiceless consonants (16): [k], [k"], [p], [p"], [s], [s"], [t], [t"], [f], [f "], [x], [x'], [ts], [h'], [w], [w'];
- Noisy voiced consonant sounds (11): [b], [b'], [v], [v'], [g], [g'], [d], [d'], [g], [z ], [z'].
Hissing consonant sounds (4): [zh], [ch’], [sh], [sch’].
Paired and unpaired consonants
Consonant sounds (soft and hard, voiceless and voiced) are divided into paired and unpaired. The tables above show the division. Let's summarize everything with a diagram:
Scheme 2. Paired and unpaired consonant sounds. To be able to do phonetic analysis, in addition to consonant sounds, you need to know
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.
If you ask what can be soft, probably everyone will immediately say: bread, sofa, scarf, pillow. But stone, ice, wood are hard. Yes, but it turns out that the sounds of Russian speech, consonants, can be hard and soft.
Say the words several times in turn: CAT - WHALE.
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.
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]
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:
[b] | [b’] |
[V] | [V'] |
[G] | [G'] |
[d] | [d’] |
[h] | [z’] |
[To] | [To'] |
[l] | [l’] |
[m] | [m’] |
[n] | [n’] |
[P] | [P'] |
[R] | [R'] |
[With] | [With'] |
[T] | [T'] |
[f] | [f’] |
[X] | [X'] |
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’].
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 it will come to the rescue soft sign. Even his name suggests - a sign soft, for soft consonants.
How to act when writing words:
- I hear a hard consonant sound - I write after it in place of the vowel sound the letters: A, O, U, Y, E.
- I hear a soft consonant sound before a vowel sound - I denote 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.
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Preparation for Russian language exams:
The most necessary from the theory:
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- A a a
- B b b b b
- In in ve
- G g g
- D d d e
- E e e
- Yo yo yo
- Zhe zhe
- Z ze ze
- And and and
- Thy and short
- K k ka
- L l el
- Mm um
- N n en
- Ooo
- P p pe
- R r er
- S s es
- T t teh
- U u u
- F f ef
- X x ha
- Ts ts tses
- Ch h wh
- Sh sh sha
- Shch shcha
- ъ hard sign
- s s
- b soft sign
- Uh uh
- Yu yu yu
- I I I
| 42 sounds | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 vowels | 36 consonants | ||||
| [a] [i] [o] [y] [s] [e] | Doubles | Unpaired | |||
| Drums | Unstressed | Voiced | Deaf | Voiced | Deaf |
| [b] [b"] [in] [in"] [g] [g"] [d] [d"] [and] [z] [z"] | [n] [n"] [f] [f"] [k] [k"] [t] [t"] [w] [s] [s"] | [th"] [l] [l"] [mm"] [n] [n"] [r] [r"] | [x] [x"] [ts] [h"] [sch"] |
||
| Doubles | Unpaired | ||||
| Solid | Soft | Solid | Soft | ||
| [b] [V] [G] [d] [h] [To] [l] [m] [n] [P] [R] [With] [T] [f] [X] | [b"] [V"] [G"] [d"] [z"] [To"] [l"] [m"] [n"] [P"] [R"] [With"] [T"] [f"] [X"] | [and] [ts] [w] | [th"] [h"] [sch"] |
||
How do letters differ from sounds?
Sound is elastic vibrations in any medium. We hear sounds and can create them, among other things, with the help of the speech apparatus (lips, tongue, etc.).
A letter is a symbol of the alphabet. It has a capital (excl., ь and ъ) and lowercase version. Often a letter is a graphic representation of the corresponding speech sound. We see and write letters. To ensure that the writing is not affected by the peculiarities of pronunciation, spelling rules have been developed that determine which letters should be used in the word in question. The exact pronunciation of a word can be found in the phonetic transcription of the word, which is shown in square brackets in dictionaries.
Vowels and sounds
Vowel sounds (“glas” is the Old Slavonic “voice”) are the sounds [a], [i], [o], [u], [s], [e], in the creation of which the vocal cords are involved, and on the way no barrier is erected to the exhaled air. These sounds are sung: [aaaaaaa], [iiiiiiiii] ...
Vowel sounds are designated by the letters a, e, e, i, o, u, y, e, yu, i. The letters e, e, yu, i are called iotized. They denote two sounds, the first of which is [th"], when
- are first in phonetic word e le [th" e ́l"e] (3 letters, 4 sounds) e shche [th" and ш"о́] (3 letters, 4 sounds) e f [th" o ́sh] (2 letters, 3 sounds) Yu la [th" u ́l"a] (3 letters, 4 sounds) i block [th" a ́blaka] (6 letters, 7 sounds) i ichko [th" and ich"ka] (5 letters, 6 sounds)
- follow after the vowels birdie d [pt "itsy" e ́t] (7 letters, 8 sounds) ee [yiy" o ́] (2 letters, 4 sounds) kayu ta [kai" u ́ta] (5 letters, 6 sounds) blue [with "in" a] (5 letters, 6 sounds)
- follow after ь and ъ е зд [вй" е ́ст] (5 letters, 5 sounds) rise m [fall" о ́м] (6 letters, 6 sounds) lyu [л"й" у ́] (3 letters, 3 sounds ) wings [wing "th" a] (6 letters, 6 sounds)
The letter and also denotes two sounds, the first of which is [th"], when
- follows after ь nightingale [salav "й" and ́] (7 letters, 7 sounds)
In a word, vowel sounds that are emphasized during pronunciation are called stressed, and those that are not emphasized are called unstressed. Stressed sounds are most often both heard and written. To check what kind of letter you need to put in a word, you should select a word with the same root in which the desired unstressed sound will be under stress.
Running [b"igush"] - running [b"ek] mountain [gara] - mountains [mountains]
Two words united by a single accent make up one phonetic word.
To the garden [fsat]
There are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels. The division of a word into syllables may not correspond to the division during hyphenation.
e -e (2 syllables) to -chka (2 syllables) o -de -va -tsya (4 syllables)Consonants and sounds
Consonant sounds are sounds that create an obstruction in the path of exhaled air.
Voiced consonants are pronounced with the participation of the voice, and voiceless consonants are pronounced without it. The difference is easy to hear in paired consonants, for example, [p] - [b], when pronounced, the lips and tongue are in the same position.
Soft consonants are pronounced with the participation of the middle part of the tongue and are indicated in transcription by an apostrophe " what happens when consonants
- are always soft [th"], [ch"], [sch"] ai [ai" ] (2 letters, 2 sounds) ray [ray" ] (3 letters, 3 sounds) bream [l "esch" ] (3 letters, 3 sounds)
- follow before the letters e, e, i, yu, i, b (excl., always hard [zh], [ts], [sh] and in borrowed words) mel [m "el"] (4 letters, 3 sounds) aunt [t"ot"a] (4 letters, 4 sounds) people [l"ud"i] (4 letters, 4 sounds) life [zh yz"n"] (5 letters, 4 sounds) circus [ts yrk] (4 letters, 4 sounds) neck [sh eyya] (3 letters, 4 sounds) tempo [t emp] (4 letters, 4 sounds)
- come before soft consonants (some cases) pancake [bl"in" ch"ik]
Otherwise, consonant sounds will predominantly be hard.
Sibilant consonants include the sounds [zh], [sh], [h"], [sch"]. Speech therapists rule their pronunciation penultimately: the tongue must be strong and flexible to resist exhaled air and be held against the roof of the mouth in the shape of a cup. The last ones in line are always vibrating [p] and [p"].
Do schoolchildren need phonetics?
Without dividing into vowels, consonants, stressed and unstressed, of course, it is impossible. But the transcription is clearly too much.
Speech therapists are required to know phonetic analysis of words, and it can probably be useful to foreigners.
For students (from 1st grade!) who have not yet mastered the rules of spelling, a fairly in-depth study of phonetics only hinders, confuses and contributes to incorrect memorization of the spelling of words. It is “back” that the child will associate with the pronounced “run”.
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.
- Andrianova T.M., Ilyukhina V.A. Russian language 1. M.: Astrel, 2011. ().
- Buneev R.N., Buneeva E.V., Pronina O.V. Russian language 1. M.: Ballas. ()
- Agarkova N.G., Agarkov Yu.A. Textbook for teaching literacy and reading: ABC. Academic book/textbook.
Additional web resources
- Hypermarket of knowledge ()
- Russian language: short theoretical course. ()
- Logosauria: site for children's computer games. ()
Make it at home
- Andrianova T.M., Ilyukhina V.A. Russian language 1. M.: Astrel, 2011. Pp. 35, ex. 6, Page 36, ex. 3.
- Count how many soft consonants are in a word train? (The word electric train has 3 soft consonant sounds ([l’], [r’], [h’]).
- 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.
