Letter "y": hard or soft? This question is often asked by students who need to parse a word according to all the rules of phonetics. You will get the answer to it a little further.

General information

Before talking about what the letter “y” is (soft or hard), you should find out why the letters of the Russian alphabet are generally divided according to such criteria.

The fact is that each word has its own sound shell, which consists of separate sounds. It should be noted that the sound of this or that expression is fully consistent with its meaning. At the same time, different words and their forms have completely different sound design. The sounds themselves don't matter. However, they play an important role in the Russian language. After all, thanks to them, we can easily distinguish words. Here's an example:

• [house] - [lady´] - [do´ma];
• [m'el] - [m'el'], [volume] - [there], [house] - [volume].

Transcription

Why do we need information about what the letter "y" is (hard or soft)? During a word, it is very important to correctly display the transcription that describes its sound. In such a system, it is customary to use the following symbols:

This designation is called They must be put to designate transcription.

[´] is an accent. It is placed if the word has more than one syllable.

[b '] - a kind of comma is placed next to the consonant letter and indicates its softness.

By the way, during phonetic parsing of words, the following symbol is often used - [j]. As a rule, they denote the sound of the letter “y” (sometimes a symbol such as [y] is also used).

Letter "y": consonant or vowel?

As you know, in Russian all sounds are divided into consonants and vowels. They are perceived and pronounced differently.

• Vowel sounds are those sounds during the pronunciation of which air passes easily and freely through the mouth, without encountering any obstacles in its path. Moreover, they can be pulled, with the help of them you can scream. If you put your palm to your throat, then the work of the cords (voice) during the pronunciation of vowels can be quite easily felt. There are 6 stressed vowels in Russian, namely: [a], [e], [u], [s], [o] and [i].
• Consonant sounds are those sounds during the pronunciation of which the air meets an obstacle in its path, namely a bow or a gap. Their appearance determines the nature of the sounds. As a rule, a gap is formed when pronouncing [s], [w], [h] and [g]. In this case, the tip of the tongue approaches the upper or lower teeth. The presented consonants can be drawn (for example, [zh-zh-zh], [z-z-z]). As for the bow, such a barrier is formed due to the closing of the organs of speech. The air, or rather its flow, abruptly overcomes it, due to which the sounds are energetic and short. That is why they are called explosive. By the way, it is impossible to pull them (try it yourself: [p], [b], [t], [e]).

In addition to the above consonants, the Russian language also has the following: [m], [d], [c], [f], [g], [l], [p], [h], [c], [x] . As you can see, there are many more than vowels.

Silent and voiced sounds

By the way, many consonants form between pairs of deafness and sonority: [k] - [g], [b] - [n], [h] - [c], [d] - [t], [f] - [c], etc. In total, there are 11 such pairs in Russian. However, there are sounds that do not have pairs on this basis. These include: [th], [p], [n], [l], [m] are unpaired voiced, and [h] and [c] are unpaired voiceless.

Soft and hard consonants

As you know, consonants differ not only in sonority or, conversely, deafness, but also in softness and hardness. This property is the second most important feature of sounds.

So, the letter "y": hard or soft? To answer this question, you should consider each feature separately:

• During the pronunciation of soft consonants, the entire tongue moves slightly forward, and its middle part rises slightly.
• During the pronunciation of hard consonants, the entire tongue is literally pulled back.

It should be especially noted that many consonants form pairs among themselves according to such features as softness and hardness: [d] - [d ’], [p] - [p ’], etc. There are 15 such pairs in total. However, there are also sounds that do not have pairs on this basis. What letters of solid consonants are unpaired? These include the following - [w], [g] and [c]. As for unpaired soft ones, these are [u '], [h '] and [y '].

Designation on the letter

Now you know the information about whether the letter "y" is hard or soft. But here a new question arises: "How is the softness of such sounds indicated in writing?" For this, completely different methods are used:

• The letters "e", "u", "ё", "i" after the consonants (not counting "zh", "sh", and "c") indicate that these consonants are soft. Let's give an example: uncle - [d'a´d'a], aunt - [t'o´t'a].
• The letter "i" after the consonants (not counting "zh", "sh", and "c") indicates that these consonants are soft. Let's give an example: cute - [m'i´ly '], sheet - [l'ist], no´tki - [n'i´tk'i].
• The soft sign ("ь") after consonants (not counting "zh" and "w") is an indicator of grammatical form. It also indicates that consonants are soft. Examples example: distance - [gave '], stranded - [m'el '], request - [proz'ba].

As you can see, the softness of consonant sounds in writing is conveyed not by individual letters, but by their combinations with the vowels "e", "yu", "ё", "ya", as well as a soft sign. That is why when experts recommend paying attention to neighboring characters.

As for the vowel "y", it is always soft. In this regard, in transcription it is usually denoted as follows: [th ']. That is, the comma symbol, indicating the softness of the sound, must always be set. [u '], [h '] obey the same rule.

Summing up

As you can see, there is nothing difficult in making any word correctly. To do this, you just need to know what vowels and consonants are, deaf and voiced, as well as soft and hard. For a better understanding of how it is necessary to arrange transcription, we will give several detailed examples.

1. The word "hero". Consists of two syllables, with the 2nd being stressed. Let's do a breakdown:

g - [g ’] - voiced, consonant and soft.

e - [and] - unstressed vowel.

p - [p] - voiced, consonant, unpaired and hard.

o - [o] - stressed vowel.

th - [th ’] - voiced, consonant, unpaired and soft.

Total: 5 letters and 5 sounds.

2. The word "trees". Consists of three syllables, with the 2nd being stressed. Let's do a breakdown:

d - [d '] - voiced, consonant and soft.

e - [and] - unstressed vowel.

p - [p '] - voiced, consonant, unpaired and soft.

e - [e´] - stressed vowel.

in - [in '] - voiced, consonant and soft

e - [y '] - voiced, consonant, unpaired and soft and [e] - vowel, unstressed;

in - [f] - deaf, and hard.

Total: 8 letters and 8 sounds.

When pronouncing voiced consonant air flow creates vibrations of the vocal cords. If the vocal cords are not involved, then the sound is considered deaf.

But in Russian, a voiced letter does not always mean a voiced sound (and vice versa: a voiceless consonant does not always mean a voiceless sound). It depends on the position of the letter in the word.

Voiced consonant often stunned at the end of a word. For example, in the word "colander" we read "k" at the end, because the sound is in a weak position. Can also be stunned before a voiceless consonant. For example, we pronounce the word "gait" as "plowing".

To determine which letter will be written correctly, the letter must be placed in a single-root word in a strong position (that is, before a vowel or consonants M, L, N, R).

For example: “boat” - “boat”, “mushroom” - “mushroom”.

table

Paired	Voiced	Deaf
	B
		F
	G
		T
	F
		FROM
Unpaired	L, M, N, R, Y (sonor)

Also paired in deafness / voicedness are pairs of soft consonants, from those indicated in the table. For example: "b' - p'", "v' - f'".

Hard and soft

In words, the same letter can denote both hard and soft sounds. This is due to the influence of subsequent consonants on softness/hardness. Before A, O, U, S, E sound hard consonants, before I, E, E, Yu, I - soft.

table

Paired Before A, O, U, S, E - solid. Before I, E, Yo, Yu, I are soft.	Solid		Soft
		b	b‘	White
	vase	in	in‘
			G‘
		d	d‘	uncle
	ash	h	h‘
		to	to‘	brick
	varnish	l	l‘
		m	m‘	peace
	our	n	n‘
		P	P‘	song
	the Rose	R	R‘
		from	from‘	blue
	cloud	T	T‘
		f	f‘	movie
	withers	X	X‘	Helsinki
Unpaired	w, w, c		h, w, y

What is sound? This is the minimum component of human speech. Shown in letters. In writing, sounds differ from letters by the presence of first square brackets used in phonetic transcription. The letter is o, the sound is [o]. Transcription shows differences in spelling and pronunciation. Apostrophe [ ‘ ] indicates softness of pronunciation.

In contact with

The sounds are divided into:

• Vowels. They can be easily pulled. When they are created, 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 the air supply. vowel length - basis of vocal art(singing, "singing smooth").
• 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 the appearance of noise in the oral cavity. At the output, they are converted into sound. Also, the lips, which close and open during speech, prevent the free passage of air.

The consonants are divided into:

• deaf and voiced. The deafness and sonority of the sound depends on the operation of the speech apparatus;
• hard and soft. The sound is determined by the position of the letter in the word.

Letters representing consonants

Deaf

Deaf in Russian: [k], [p], [s], [t], [f], [x], [ts], [sh]. The easiest way to remember the phrase, and not a set of letters, “Stepka, do you want a cabbage? Phi!” containing them all.

An example in which all consonants are deaf: 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 consonants create active vibrations of the ligaments. vibrations deform the sound wave, and not a clean stream of air enters the oral cavity, but sound. In the future, it is additionally transformed by the tongue and lips.

To voiced consonants belong: b, c, d, e, g, h, d, l, m, n, p.

When they are pronounced, tension is clearly felt in the larynx. 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 (voiced and voiced).

It is precisely 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 - itching, code - year.

Paired consonants

What does parity mean? Two letters that are similar in sound, in the pronunciation of which the language occupies similar positions, are called paired consonant sounds. The pronunciation of consonants can be conditionally 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, when pronouncing, the movements of the mouth 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 to 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 consonants replace (by ear) each other during speech. For example: love - [l 'u b about f '].

But not everyone has their own pair. There are not similar in pronunciation to any others - this is 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 with softness. The second has no analogues in pronunciation.

Unpaired consonants are divided into:

• sonoras - [th '], [l], [l '], [m], [m '], [n], [n '], [p], [p ']. When they are pronounced, the air current hits the upper sky like a dome;
• hissing - [x], [x '], [c], [h '], [u '].

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

Important![h] - deaf! [th] - sonorous! [c] is deaf! [n] - sonorous!

Unpaired consonants

Hard and soft

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

When pronouncing hard, the tip of the tongue is pressed against the palate. Soft 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-i, u-u, e-e, s-i, o-e.

Two-vowel vowels (i, ё, u, 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 as [th] [y] [n] [g] [a]. Or the word mint. It is pronounced as: [m '] [a] [t] [a]. The vowels A, O, U, E, S do not have a double sound, therefore do not affect the pronunciation of the leading consonant.

Difference example:

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

Phonetic transcription:

[Spoon a] - [L 'u k], [m 'o d] - [m o r 'e], [d o m] - [d' a tel].

Pronunciation rules:

• hard ones are pronounced before A, O, U, E, Y. Abscess, side, beech, bentley, former;
• soft are pronounced before I, 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, C is pronounced firmly;
• solid are pronounced if the letter is the last in the word: class, house;
• consonants before the vowel [e] in borrowed words are pronounced firmly, as before [e]. For example: scarf - [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 J, Ch, W: white, black, pike.

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

Hard and soft sounds

Stun

The Russian language has the concept of stunning - some voiced sounds like deaf consonant sounds from a pair.

This is not a speech defect, but on the contrary, it is considered a criterion for its purity and correctness. But this rule only works with paired consonants. For example, [r] in speech is often replaced by [x]. This refers to a defect, since [r], 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], hole in the hole - [pr o r u n '];
• after the letter there is a deaf consonant: russula - [raw cheese Shk a].

There is a reverse process - voicing. means that in speech the deaf are pronounced as paired voiced. Voicing is justified when they are in front of voiced consonants: deal - [z d 'el k a].

Consonants voiced and voiceless hard and soft

Consonants are voiced and voiceless. Russian language lesson in 5th grade

In Russian, not all speech sounds are indicated, but only the main ones. There are 43 basic sounds in Russian - 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 do not match. The difference in the quantitative composition of the main sounds and letters is determined by the peculiarities of Russian writing. In Russian, hard and soft sounds are denoted by the same letter, but soft and hard sounds are considered different, which is why there are more consonant sounds than the letters they are denoted by.

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 "] [u"]

Paired and unpaired consonants

Many consonants form pairs of voiced and voiceless consonants:

Voiced [b] [b "] [c] [c "] [g] [g "] [d] [d "] [s] [s"] [f]

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]

Deaf [x] [x "] [h "] [u"]

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 to the hard palate.

Most consonants form pairs of hard and soft consonants:

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

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

The following hard and soft consonants do not form pairs:

Solid [w] [w] [c]

Soft [h "] [u"] [th"]

Hissing consonants

The sounds [w], [w], [h ’], [u ’] are called hissing.

[w] [w] [h "] [u"]

Whistling consonants

[s] [s "] [s] [s "] [c]

Whistling sounds s-s, s-z anterior-lingual, slotted. When articulating hard s-z, 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, which causes a groove to form in the middle. Air flows through this groove creating frictional noise.

When pronouncing soft s, z, the articulation is the same, but additionally the back of the tongue rises to the hard palate. When pronouncing sounds, the z-z ligaments are closed and vibrate. The palatine curtain is up.

We all want our children to write beautifully and competently. The ability to write without errors in Russian is not easy even for native speakers. Such a skill seems to confirm the knowledge and education of a person, and it is acquired at school. Every year, parents of future first-graders anxiously wait for the start of the school year and worry about their child's readiness for a new school life.

So many new knowledge and tasks await them ahead! And no matter how excellent and experienced the teacher may be, the child often needs the help of parents. For example, a first-grader will approach his mother with a request to name words in which all consonants are solid, and you will have to remember everything that you remember about it from school. It’s not always so easy to remember what you once learned in elementary school.

It is to help the parents of first graders that this article, where we recall and streamline what a first grader will have to learn and firmly learn about consonants and vowels in words. This topic is very important for the subsequent development of grammar and phonetics of the Russian language by children, without this literate writing cannot be achieved in the future.

• One of the important basic skills that subsequently determines the literacy of the child, his success in mastering the Russian language, is the ability to hear and understand its sounds. Here, parents should clearly bring to their children the difference between the concepts of “letter” and “sound”, teach them to distinguish one from the other.
• It is no secret that sometimes adults themselves consider it possible to replace one word with another in a conversation with a child, which does not interfere with adults, but confuses the baby. He must firmly remember that the sound is what is heard, and the letter is what is written, and they do not always coincide.
• The next thing that the little schoolboy has to learn is what kind of brick sounds words are made up of and how they are transmitted when writing.
  This is what 1st grade teaches. The student will learn that the Russian language divides these sounding speech bricks into 2 large groups - vowels and consonants.

A child can easily learn vowels: they can be sung or shouted. But the consonant is not so simple! Often similar, but different consonants in writing are denoted by the same letter, and you need to learn to distinguish them according to certain signs.

According to their sound, consonants can be hard or soft, voiced or deaf. Voiceless consonants are those that are created when, on exhalation, air meets an obstacle in the form of a tongue, lips, or teeth. Voiced will be those where a voice joins this.

This table below introduces the consonants of these two groups..

Children learn to distinguish between voiceless and voiced consonants quite quickly. But how to determine whether hard or soft consonants in a word can be more difficult to learn.
Meanwhile, it is necessary that the child in the word feel all the consonants, this determines subsequent literate writing. It is important that, as well as voiced / deaf, he clearly distinguishes between a hard or soft sound he meets.

About hard and soft consonants

In order for a first grader to learn to distinguish which consonant sounds in terms of hardness and softness denote letters in a syllable, we draw his attention to the fact that the softness or hardness of consonant sounds is determined by the vowels behind them.

• When we see or hear vowels a, u, e, o, s after consonant sounds, then these are words with hard consonants;
• When the consonants are followed by e, e, yu, and, i, they are soft.

It is best to consolidate the understanding of this rule with examples. For this, pairs of words are taken, where syllables with hard and soft consonants are in the same position, which helps children better understand the difference in their pronunciation and remember this rule.

Table with examples of writing sounds in soft and hard use:

In a combination of two consonants in a row, the first will be hard, even when the second is soft. For example, in Kamchatka, the sound M is hard, and Ch is soft. But it happens that there is no vowel behind the consonant, but you have to pronounce a combination of two (or even three) consonants.

Then you need to know the following rule:

1. Most of the sounds have 2 pronunciations - hard or soft, depending on the vowels that follow them. They are called - paired consonants. But in Russian there are consonants that do not have a pair, they are always hard or always soft.
2. The always hard ones include C and hissing Zh, Sh. These are all solid consonants;
3. Only soft consonants include the sound th and hissing Ch, Shch. If these soft consonants are followed by hard vowels (a, o, y, etc.), they still remain soft.

How hardness / softness is indicated in writing

There are no special icons for conveying in writing how a given letter sounds hard or soft. The softness of consonants is transmitted only when transcribed with a special apostrophe. Hardness is not indicated in any way. At the same time, it is not difficult to learn which consonants denote letters in syllables, it is enough to remember these rules.

The sound of soft and hard consonants in writing is indicated by two methods:

• With the help of vowels that follow the consonant. Softness is denoted by the letters e, e, u, i, following the consonant, and all the rest are hard;
• In the second case, the function of designating hardness / softness is played by a soft and hard sign.

Summarize

Consonant sounds in Russian are divided into several large groups - voiced / deaf and soft / hard. In both of these groups there are sounds that have a consonant pair and those that are unchanged. Therefore, in each of these large groups, paired and unpaired consonants are also distinguished.

Paired Before A, O, U, S, E	Solid	Soft
	beech	b	b'	run
	shaft	in	in'	temple
	year	G	G'	guide
	House	d	d'	day
	Hall	h	h'	Earth
	bark	to	to'	whale
	scrap	l	l'	a fox
	poppy	m	m'	measure
	nose	n	n'	carried
	a park	P	P'	feast
	ruble	R	R'	rice
	catfish	from	from'	hay
	tone	T	T'	shadow
	background	f	f'	hair dryer
	halva	X	X'	halva

Unpaired

L, M, N, R, Y Sonorant

X, C, H, W

We fix by playing

In order for children to better remember and hear the difference in sounds in the language, it is necessary to consolidate what they learned at school with games.

1. Write three words. The players take turns writing each other a word, to which they need to add two more, where there are consonants paired with the given one. For example, bark - mountain - weight;
2. Or the leader gives the task: write three words where all consonants are of the same type;
3. Catch! The leader pronounces a word or syllable and throws the ball to the children. At the same time, it stipulates in advance under what conditions to catch, and which not. For example, we catch voiced ones, deaf ones do not. We catch hard, soft - no.
4. sing along! The leader sings soft syllables, and the children answer with the opposite. For example: la-la-la in response to la-la-la, ha-ha-ha - hee-hee-hee, etc.;
5. make a list. Here the child is given the task of making a list of dishes for the holiday, or things for the trip, where in the words all consonants are soft or vice versa;
6. Sound charging. Each sound has its own movement. A word with a dull sound - we raise our hands, voiced - we bounce, etc.

By this principle, you can come up with new games or adapt already known ones. This allows children to show their own creativity and understanding of the past.