Thursday, February 23, 2012

Post 2 on Vowel Pronunciation


The basic rule to make a "soft-indicating" Russian vowel is to combine a sound of English y with corresponding "hard-indicating" vowel. For example, to get Russian я you should say y + a as if they are one whole (ya). Here I will introduce you into five "soft" vowels of the Russian language я, е, ё, и, ю. You will also learn a rule of the Russian pronunciation called ikanie.

Я as in yahoo

This vowel is pronounced like English ya in yahoo. Practice these words:

яма ряд яхта мясо
ya-ma ryat yakh-ta mya-sa
hole row yacht meat



E as in yes

The Russian sound of e is easy, because it is close to ye in English yes. Do not confuse it with English letter e, which sounds like Russian э. Practice these words:

место лето песня весело
myes-ta lye-ta pyes-nya vye-see-la
place summer song marrily
In the word весело, an unstressed e sounds like an abbreviated Russian и. This rules is called ikanie and it also applies to unstressed я and э.

Rule #2
In unstressed positions, Russian letters Я, Е, Э are pronounced like an abbreviated Russian И.

Ё as in yolk

This letter is pronounced like yo in yolk. As you can see, ё is formed from y sound and vowel o: y + o = ё. Now practice these words:

ёж ёлка плёнка

yozh yol-ka plyon-ka

hedgehog fir-tree film, tape



Rule #3
The letter Ё is always stressed in Russian words.

И as in meet

This letter is pronounced like ee in meet. Practice these exercises:

игла Индия пикник лист
eeg-lah een-dee-ya peek-neek leest
needle India picnic leaf

Ю as in you

The letter ю denotes the same sound as the English word you. Practice these words:

юг Юпитер плюс

yook yoo-pee-tyer plyoos

south Jupiter plus sign

Quick reference on "soft-indicating" vowels


Russian letter Symbol Pronunciation
Я (stressed) ya as ya in yahoo
Я (unstressed) ee as ee in meet, but very short
Е (stressed) ye as ye in yes
Е (unstressed) ee as ee in meet, but very short
Ё (always stressed) yo as yo in yolk
Ю yoo as the word you
И (stressed) ee as ee in meet

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