The sound sh is paired or not. Hard and soft consonants

At home and on the street we can hear many sounds: human steps, the ticking of a clock, the sound of rain, birdsong, a car horn. However, the sounds of human speech stand apart and differ from others, because with their help you can form words. It is known that all sounds of the Russian language are divided into two groups: consonants and vowels. When forming vowels, air does not become obstructed in the oral cavity. But in the case of pronunciation of consonants, an obstacle arises in the oral cavity. So, what groups can they be, what does the expression “paired consonants” mean?

Voiceless and voiced consonants

The division into these groups is as follows: voiced consonants are pronounced with the help of noise and voice, but deaf consonants consist of noise alone. The first and second can form pairs based on deafness/voice. Correlative pairing is represented by 12 rows. For example: “d” - “t”, “g” - “k”, “z” - “s” and others. Such sounds are paired consonants. But not all consonants can be paired. They are not formed by voiced “n”, “m”, “l”, “y”, “r”, as well as unvoiced “ts”, “x”, “sch”, “ch”. In writing, sounds are indicated by corresponding letters. It's important to be careful. Paired and unpaired consonants at the end of a word or in the middle before a consonant may sound the same, but be designated by different letters. To check their spelling, it is necessary to find a word with the same root, so that after the consonant being checked there is a vowel, and the sound leaves no doubt about the spelling. For example:

gris b- gris b y, gree pp- gris pp chilly;

ro T- ro T ova (cavity), ro d- ro d ova (lock).

Consonants soft and hard

Depending on the position of the tongue when pronouncing sounds, all consonants are divided into hard and soft. These are different phonemes. Paired and unpaired consonants are distinguished. Examples of pairs: “v” - “v,” , “k” - “k,” , “r” - “r,” and others. icon ( , ) indicates the softness of the sound during transcription. Steam is not formed by soft “sch”, “ch”, “th”, and also by always hard “sh”, “zh”, “ts”. Of course, it is very important to distinguish between paired consonant sounds, hard and soft. Sometimes they even distinguish words. For example:

m ate - m ol, me l- meh l b.

IN " m el" and "me lь" highlighted consonants are soft, and in words " m ol" and "me l"- hard. Thanks to this special pronunciation, words are not confused.

When writing words, the softness of consonant sounds can be indicated in the following ways:

  • Using "b". For example: skates, elk, hit.
  • Using the letters “i”, “i”, “e”, “e”, “yu”. These are the cases: wheel, thrown, ball.

It is important to remember that in the middle of a word before a consonant, softness is not indicated by a soft sign in the following combinations: “st”, “schn”, “nt”, “rshch”, “chn”, “chk”, “nshch”, “nch”. Pay attention to the words: to LF ina, spo rshch itza, mo st iki. In the selected combinations, the first consonant is heard softly, but is written without

The letters “ya”, “e”, “e”, “yu” can represent the vowel sounds “a”, “e”, “o”, “u” + the softness of the consonant before them. In other cases (at the beginning of a word, after “ь”, “ъ”) they mean two sounds. And before the “i” sound, the consonants will always be pronounced softly.

So, one could notice that the creation of pairs is a feature that is very characteristic of the system of consonant sounds of the Russian language. Paired consonants are combined into groups and at the same time opposed to each other. They often help distinguish words.

In the Russian language, not all speech sounds are designated, 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

Consonant sounds are divided into voiced and voiceless. Voiced ones consist of noise and voice, deaf ones consist only of noise.

Voiced consonant sounds: [b] [b"] [c] [v"] [d] [g"] [d] [d"] [z] [z"] [zh] [l] [l"] [ m] [m"] [n] [n"] [r] [r"] [th]

Voiceless consonants: [p] [p"] [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"] [d] [g"] [d] [d"] [z] [z"] [g]

Voiceless [p] [p"] [f] [f"] [k] [k"] [t] [t"] [s] [s"] [w]

The following voiced and voiceless consonant sounds do not form pairs:

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

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

Soft and hard consonants

Consonant sounds are also divided into hard and soft. They 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 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.

In the section on the question of how to determine soft paired or voiced unpaired asked by the author phrase the best answer is
Always soft sounds: [th’], [h’], [sh’].
Always hard sounds: [zh], [sh], [ts]
Vowel letters: A-Z, O-Y, U-Y, Y-I, E-E.
The vowels A, O, U, Y, E in writing indicate the hardness of consonant sounds.
The vowels E, Yo, I, Yu, Ya in writing indicate the softness of consonant sounds.
For example: small - [m] is a hard sound, since after it there is the sound A.
crumpled - [m`] a soft sound, since after it there is the sound I.

Answer from 22 answers[guru]

Hello! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: how to determine soft paired or voiced unpaired

Answer from t a t[guru]
In Russian, consonants are divided into hard and soft, voiced and voiceless. In each case there are consonants that have a pair, as well as consonants that do not have a pair. Let's look at paired and unpaired consonants, and in what words they occur.

So, let's look at vowel sounds, which are divided into hard and soft. To indicate a soft vowel sound in writing, use the symbol (").

In terms of hardness and softness, most sounds form pairs:
[b] - [b"] (to be - to beat),
[p] – [p"] (dust – drank),
[v] – [v"] (howl – pitchfork),
[f] - [f "] (ready - prepare),
[d] – [d"] (water – water),
[t] – [t"] (bit – beat),
[z] – [z"] (I’m taking – taking) ,
[s] – [s"] (weight – whole),
[l] - [l "] (mol - mole),
[n] – [n"] (kon-kon) ,
[m] – [m"] (mother – knead),
[r] – [r"] (lynx – rice),
[k] - [k"] (forty - forty),
[g] – [g"] (leg – legs),
[x] - [x"] (ear - ears).

Hard unpaired consonants include the consonants [ts], [sh], [zh], and soft unpaired consonants include the consonants [ch’], [sch’], [y’]

Now, let's look at the division of vowel sounds into voiced and voiceless.

Consonant sounds formed with the participation of the voice are called voiced: [b], [v], [g], [d], [zh], [z], [l], [m], [n], [r] .
Consonant sounds formed without the participation of the voice are called voiceless: [k], [p], [s], [t], [f], [x], [ts], [h], [sh], [sch] .

Voiced and voiceless consonants form correlative pairs: [b] - [p], [g] - [k], [d] - [t], [z] - [s], [v] - [f], [zh] ] - [w], [g'] - [k'], [b'] - [p'], [c'] - [f'], [z'] - [s'], [d'] - [T'].

The sounds [l], [m], [n], [r] are always voiced; they do not have corresponding unvoiced sounds.

The sounds [x], [ts], [h] are always dull.

The Russian language has 21 consonants and 37 consonant sounds:

Consonant sounds are hard and soft, voiced and voiceless. The softness of sound is indicated as follows - ["].

Hard and soft consonants

A hard consonant sound is obtained if after the consonant there is a vowel A, O, U, Y or E:

na lo ku we fe

A soft consonant sound is obtained if after the consonant there is a vowel E, Yo, I, Yu or Ya:

be le ki nu la

The softness of consonant sounds is also indicated using the soft sign - b. The soft sign itself does not denote a sound; it is written after a consonant letter and together with it denotes one soft consonant sound:

lynx[lynx"], fire[fire"], snowstorm[v"y"uga].

Most consonant letters correspond to two sounds: hard and soft; such consonants are called paired.

Paired consonants for hardness - softness:

But there are consonant letters that correspond to only one of the sounds: hard or soft; such consonants are called unpaired.

Unpaired hard consonants(always hard): F [f], Sh [w], C [c].

Unpaired soft consonants(always soft): Ch [h"], Shch [sch"], J [th"].

In the Russian language there is a long, voiced soft sound [zh "]. It is found in a small number of words and is obtained only when pronouncing combinations of letters LJ, zzh, zhd: reins, rattle, rain.

Voiced and voiceless consonants

Consonant sounds can be divided into voiceless and voiced.

Voiceless consonants are those sounds in the pronunciation of which the voice is not used, they consist only of noise, for example: the sounds [s], [w], [h"].

Voiced consonants are those sounds whose pronunciation uses a voice, that is, they consist of voice and noise, for example: the sounds [r], [zh], [d].

Some sounds form a pair: voiced - voiceless, such sounds are called paired.

Paired consonants according to deafness - voicing:

Unpaired voiced consonants: J, L, M, N, R.

Unpaired voiceless consonants: X, C, Ch, Shch.

Hissing and whistling consonants

The sounds [zh], [sh], [ch"], [sch"] are called hissing consonant sounds. The sounds [zh] and [sh] are unpaired hard hissing consonant sounds:

bug[bug], jester[jester]

The sounds [ch"] and [sch"] are unpaired soft hissing consonant sounds:

siskin[ch"izh], shield[shield]

The sounds [z], [z"] [s], [s"], [ts] are called whistling consonant sounds.

Letter and sound Y

The letter Y (and short) means the sound [th"]: paradise [paradise"]. The letter Y is written:

  1. At the beginning of the words: iodine, yogurt.
  2. In the middle of words, before consonants: husky, T-shirt, coffee pot.
  3. At the end of the words: paradise, may, yours.

The sound [th"] is more common than the letter Y, since it appears in words where there is no letter Y, but there are vowels Ya, E, Yu and E. Let's consider in what cases the sound [th"] occurs in words that do not contain the letter Y:

  1. The vowels Ya, E, Yu and Yo are at the beginning of the word: pit [th "ama]
  2. The vowels I, E, Yu and E come after the vowels: blowing [blow it]
  3. The vowels Ya, E, Yu and Yo come after the hard separating sign (Ъ): entry [vy"ezd]
  4. The vowels Ya, E, Yu and Yo come after the soft separating sign (b): it's pouring [l"th"from]
  5. The vowel I comes after the soft separating sign (b): hives [st "y"]

Consonant is formed during the passage of exhaled air into the oral cavity overcoming obstacles created by the tongue, lips, teeth, and palate. All consonant sounds are made up of noise that is created when they do so. In some consonant sounds, in addition to noise, the voice is involved, which is created by the vibration of the vocal cords.

Comparison with vowel sounds. Vowel sounds consist only of voice (tone), and consonants can contain voice, but necessarily contain noise. When vowels are formed, exhaled air passes freely through the oral cavity, and when consonant sounds are formed, the air overcomes obstacles created by the speech organs.

Classification of consonants.

Each consonant has characteristics that distinguish it from other consonant sounds. Consonants are different from each other

  • according to the degree of participation of voice and noise: sonorant (in education the voice predominates with a small amount of noise), noisy voiced (consist of noise and voice) and noisy voiceless (consist only of noise);
  • at the place of noise formation, depending on where and by what organs of speech the barrier is formed, which the flow of exhaled air overcomes (labial, lingual, etc.).

Consonant sounds differ in a number of characteristics, but are most clearly opposed to each other in terms of sonority/dullness and hardness/softness, which is important when distinguishing words by ear: pond - rod; chalk - stranded.

To indicate consonant sounds in writing - 21 consonant letters: b, c, d, d, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, f, x, c, h, w, sch.

But there are much more consonant sounds - 36: [b], [b'], [v], [v'], [g], [g'], [d], [d'], [zh], [ z], [z'], [y'], [k], [k'], [l], [l'], [m], [m'], [n], [n'], [ p], [p'], [p], [p'], [s], [s'], [t], [t'], [f], [f'], [x], [x '], [ts], [h'], [w], [w'].

The reason for this discrepancy is that the softness of paired consonant sounds is indicated not by a consonant letter, but by a vowel letter (E, E, Yu, Ya, I) or b.

Voiced and voiceless consonants.

  • Voiced
    • are formed with the help of voice and noise.
    • letters L, M, N, R, J denote the most voiced consonant (sonorant) sounds that are formed in a predominant voice and slight noise: [m], [n], [l], [r], [m'], [n'], [l'], [p'], [th']. They do not form voiced/voiceless pairs - always voiced.
    • B, C, D, D, F, G - noisy voiced [b], [v], [g], [d], [g], [z], [b'], [v'], [g'], [d'], [zh'] , [z'], consist of noise and voice, have paired sounds in terms of voicedness/voicelessness.
  • Deaf (noisy deaf)
    • pronounced only from noise (without voice):
    • P, F, K, T, Sh, S - [p], [p'], [f], [f'], [k], [k'], [t], [t'], [w], [s], [s'] - deaf, have paired voiced sounds;
    • X, C, Ch, Shch - [x], [x'], [ts], [ch'], [sch'] - always deaf, do not have paired voicedness/deafness.

In speech, sounds can be replaced under the influence of neighboring sounds in a word. It is important to know the strong and weak positions of consonant sounds in a word in order to spell them correctly.

In weak positions, which depends on the position of the sound in the word, a change in consonant sounds in terms of voicedness/voicelessness may occur: voiced paired consonants change to the corresponding paired deaf ones (voiced), and the voiceless paired consonants change to the corresponding paired voiced consonants (voiced). These changes in sounds are usually not reflected in writing. A weak position is a sign of spelling.

Strong positions in voicedness/voicelessness

(as we hear, so we write):

  • before vowels: owl [owl], forests [l’esa];
  • before sonorants [l], [l’], [m], [m’], [n], [n’], [r], [r’], [th’]: light [sv'et] - ringing [ringing], change [sm'ena] - betrayal [ism'ena], break off [atlamat'] - bummer [bummer], take away [atn'at'] - tray [padnos], remedy [medicine] – zrazy [zrazy] etc.;
  • before [in], [in’]: yours [yours] - two [two], your [your’] - ringing [ringing];
  • for paired voiced consonants, the strong position is before voiced consonants: building [buildings];
  • for paired deaf people - before deaf consonants: bowl [bowl].

Weak position in terms of voicedness/voicelessness:

  • at the end of a word: mushroom [flu] - flu [flu], fruit [raft] - raft [raft], code [cat] - cat [cat], genus [mouth] - mouth [mouth];
  • voiced paired consonants are deafened before voiceless consonants: low [low], booth [booth];
  • voiceless paired consonants are voiced before paired voiced consonants (except [в], [в’]): passed [zdal], threshing [malad’ba], light [light];

Hard and soft consonants.

Soft sounds differ from hard sounds in that when pronouncing them, the tongue performs an additional action: its middle part rises to the hard palate.

Strong positions in hardness/softness:

  • before vowels: nose - carried, they say [mol] – chalk [m’el];
  • at the end of a word: chalk [m'el] - chalk [m'el'], blow - hit, corner - coal;
  • for sounds [l], [l’] regardless of position: shelf [shelf] – polka [shelf];
  • for sounds [s], [s'], [z], [z'], [t], [t'], [d], [d'], [n], [n'], [r] ,[p'] before [k], [k'], [g], [g'], [x], [x'], [b], [b'], [p], [p'] , [mm'] : bank [bank] - bathhouse [ban'ka], blizzard [blizzard] - earring [ser'ga], hut - carving.

Weak position on hardness/softness:

  • Changes in consonant sounds in hardness/softness can be caused by the influence of sounds on each other.
  • the hard sound changes to a paired soft sound before soft consonants (usually z, s, n, p before any soft consonant):
    • n –> n’, p –> p’ before h’, sch’: drummer [drum’sh’ik], lamplighter [fanar’sh’ik];
    • s –> s’ before n’, t’: song [p’es’n’a], bone [kos’t’];
    • з –> з’ before n’, d’: life [zhyz’n’], nails [gvoz’d’i];
    • in some other combinations: door [d’v’er’], ate [s’y’el];
  • a soft consonant before a hard one becomes hard: horse - horse

If dull and voiced sounds are indicated using letters, then hard and soft sounds are indicated by other means.

Indication of softness of paired consonants:

  • letters I, E, Yo, Yu : lethargic - cf. val, ser - sir, drove - cart, hatch - bow;
  • before the letter AND consonants are always soft (except F, W, C): feast, peace, sieve;
    after Zh, Sh, Ts (they are always hard) it is pronounced [s], not [i]: fat [zhir], zhito [zhyta], cone [bump].
  • soft sign b:
    • at the end of a word: stump, stand - cf. camp, steel - became, heat - heat, reality - was, all - weight, shallow - chalk;
    • softness of the consonant [l’] before any other consonant: herring, July, polka;
    • softness of a consonant preceding a hard consonant: earlier, only (cf. talk), bitterly (cf. slide), bathhouse (cf. bank), radish - rarely, zorka - vigilantly, pebble - jackdaw, coals - corners, hemp - foam;
    • The softness of a consonant that comes before other soft ones ([g'], [k'], [b'], [m']) is indicated by the soft sign b only if, when the word is changed, the second consonant becomes hard, but the first remains soft: earrings (soft [p'] before soft [g']) - earring (soft [p'] before hard [g]), eight - eighth, lights - lights. But, bridge [mos’t’ik] - without b, because bridge [bridge] - [c] hard before hard [t], tail - tail, sprout - growth.
  • Softness of consonants Ch, Shch is not indicated before other consonants, because Ch, Sh are always soft: stove maker, kidney, power, assistant.

Hardness is indicated

  • absence of a soft sign in strong positions,
  • writing after the consonant the vowels A, O, U, Y, E
  • in some borrowed words there is a hard consonant before E: [fanEt'ika].

Other consonant changes

  • Simplification of a consonant group of 3-4 letters (unpronounceable consonant): with lnc e [with nc e], tro stn ik [tra s'n‘ik], se rdc e [s'e rc uh], hello vstv wow [healthy stv ui’], le stn itza [l'e s'n' itza] and etc.
  • Assimilation (assimilation) of consonants according to the place of formation: sch astier [ sch‘ast’y’e], gru zch ik [gru sch' ik], US it [ w yt’], szh at [ and at’], get rid of [and and: yt’] and etc.
  • Change —yes, yes in verbs ending in [ tsa]:We there is[We tsa], my tsya[my'e tsa] and etc.
  • Change th – [pcs]/ [h’t]: Thu oh [what], Thu customs[shtoby], not Thu o [not huh A] and etc.
  • Double consonants: va NN a [va n: a], tra ss a [tra With: a], mi ll ion [m'i l'and he] and etc.

Sounds can change in several ways at once: counting [pach’sch’ot] - sch->[sch’], d+[sch’]->[ch’sch’].

Spelling consonants.

  • At the root of the word:
    • verifiable
    • unpronounceable
    • unverifiable
  • Consonants at the end of prefixes:
    • on z (s);
    • for the remaining consonants
  • Consonants (except n) in suffixes of nouns and adjectives
    • -schik (-chik);
    • -sk- and -k-;
  • The letters -n- and -nn- in suffixes.

References:

  1. Babaytseva V.V. Russian language. Theory. 5th - 9th grade: textbook for in-depth study. studied Russian language. / V.V. Babaytseva. — 6th ed., revised. — M. Bustard, 2008
  2. Kazbek-Kazieva M.M. Preparation for Russian language Olympiads. 5-11 grades / M.M. Kazbek-Kazieva. – 4th ed. – M.J. Iris-press, 2010
  3. Litnevskaya E.I. Russian language. A short theoretical course for schoolchildren. - MSU, Moscow, 2000, ISBN 5-211-05119-x
  4. Svetlysheva V.N. Handbook for high school students and applicants to universities / V.N. Svetlysheva. — M.: AST-PRESS SCHOOL, 2011