Unit 1

UNIT 1 1.The Accented Vowels à, î, ó, ý. Russian accented vowels sound much richer and fuller than their English equivalents. This is be-cause Russian is spoken much more vigorously than is English-there is greater muscular tension throughout the organs used in speech production: the lips, cheeks, jaw, and muscles of the throat are used much more vigorously. The character of a vowel sound depends primarily on the position of the tongue. Russian vowels are classified according to (1) what part of the tongue articulates them and (2) the height of the tongue in the mouth. According to the articulating part of the tongue, the vowels are classified into back, central and front vowels. When pronouncing the back vowels, the back part of the tongue is raised toward the back of the palate; when pronouncing the central vowels, the central part of the tongue is raised toward the central part of the palate and when pronouncing the front vowels, the central part of the tongue is raised toward the front of the palate. According to the height of the tongue in their pronunciation, the vowels are divided into open, half-open and close. In pronouncing the open vowels the tongue lies low and is spread flat in the mouth, in pronouncing the half-open vowels it is raised but not very high, while in pronouncing the close vow-els, the tongue is raised very high in the mouth cavity. Depending on what part of the tongue is raised and to what height, the size and the form of the mouth cavity (which acts as a resonator) are changed. These changes account for the different vowel quality given in the mouth cavity to the voice produced in the larynx. Note. In pronouncing the vowels î and ó, not only the position of the tongue is important, but the work of the lips as well. In articulating î, the lips are rounded, and in pronouncing ó, not only are they rounded but also slightly protruded. The lip-movements also change the size and shape of the mouth cavity and, therefore, the vowel quality of the voice. Vowel /à/ is back, close and unrounded. In pronouncing /a/ the tip of the tongue touches the lower teeth, the back of the tongue is a little bit raised. The blade of the tongue is îïóùåí and it has a small âïàäèíà in it. The accented Russian vowel /a/ is similar to the first vowel sound in the word ‘father’, but the mouth is somewhat more open. To produce the sound properly, place the tip of the tongue on the back of the lower teeth. Note. Russian accented vowels retain their purity throughout the length of the sound (and except in very emotional speech tend to be somewhat shorter than English accented vowels). English accented vowels are drawn out and change quality during the vowel, becoming diphthongs. A Russian will usually hear the ac-cented vowel in ‘home’ as two sounds, [î] + [u]. In order to keep the quality of the sound pure, make sure that your tongue and lower jaw are held tense and do not move during the sound. The following two vowels are pronounced with a great deal more lip-rounding than are the corre-sponding English sounds. Vowel /î/ is back, half-open and rounded. In pronouncing /î/ the lips are rounded and drawn for-ward. The tongue is drawn back a little bit. The accented vowel /o/ is pronounced somewhat like the vowel in ‘saw’, but the lips are rounded and protruded more than in English. The lips are more rounded at the very beginning of the sound, giving it a very slight w-like on-glide, but this must not be exaggerated to the extent that it becomes a separate element. This is the Russian vowel which speakers of English tend most to diphtongize by giving it an off-glide. Remember to keep the sound pure by keeping the tongue and lower jaw tense and motionless! Vowel /ó/ is back, close and rounded. In pronouncing /ó/ the tongue is drawn back, the tip of the tongue is lowered and does not touch the lower teeth. The back of the tongue is raised highly to the soft palate; the lips are drawn forward and rounded. The vowel /ó/ is pronounced somewhat like the vowel in ‘school’, but the lips are strongly pro-truded – you should be able to see your lips. The back part of the tongue is raised farther towards the back of the mouth than is the case in English. Vowel /ý/ is front, half-open and unrounded. In pronouncing /ý/ the tongue is drawn forward, the middle of the tongue is raised in the direction of the hard palate. The tip of the tongue touches the îñ-íîâàíèå of the lower teeth. The Russian accented /ý/ is very similar to the vowel in ‘let’ but the tongue is slightly farther back in the mouth and the student must strive for greater tension and purity than in the English vowel. In the pronunciation of this vowel the lips are neutral, and are not rounded as in the two preceding vowels. Front Central Back Articulating part of tongue Height of tongue in mouth È (Û) Ó Close Ý Î Half-open À Open Ex.1.Listen and repeat. à - î, à - ý, à - ó ý - à, ý - î, ý - ó î - à, î - ý, î - ó ó - à, ó - î, ó - ý Russian consonants Consonants in Russian are classified according to (1) the place of the obstruction to the outgoing breath, (2) the manner of forming the obstruction and (3) the work of vocal cords. According to the place of obstruction to the outgoing breath, Russian consonants are divided into bilabial, labio-dental, dental, palato-dental, medio-palatal and back-palatal. In pronouncing the bila-bial consonants (ï, á, ì), the obstruction is formed by the upper and lower lips pressing together. In pronouncing the labio-dental consonants (â, ô), the outgoing breath passes between the lower lip and the upper teeth. In pronouncing the dental consonants (ò, ä, ç, ñ etc.), the tip of the tongue is pressed against, or brought close to, the upper teeth. In pronouncing the palato-dental consonants (æ, ø, ù, ÷), the tip and the center of the tongue are pressed against, or brought close to, the upper teeth and the front of the palate respectively. The dental and palato-dental consonants are also called forelingual. In pronouncing the medio-palatal consonant (é), the obstruction is formed between the center of the tongue and the center of the palate. The medio-palatal consonant is also called medio-lingual. In pro-nouncing the back-palatal consonants (ê, ã, õ), the obstruction is formed between the back of the tongue and the back of the palate. The back-palatal consonants are also called back-lingual. The Bilabial Stop Consonants /ï/ and /á/ Stop consonants are those in whose production the air stream is stopped off entirely for a moment and then released. Bila-bial consonants are those which are articulated by the two lips. The Russian consonant /ï/ is similar to the corresponding English sound, but does not have the rela-tively strong aspiration which the English sound usually has at the beginning of words. There is a lit-tle puff of empty air which accompanies the opening of lips in English. At first it may be difficult to avoid this type of pronunciation, since you are probably not aware of it in your native speech. In order to avoid aspiration: (1) Lessen the strength of the air stream from the lungs. Use good deep breathing from the diaphragm, but don’t push the air stream too hard. (2) Pay more attention to the quality of the vowel sound than to the consonant, striving for vigor and fullness in the following vowel; try to eliminate the little puff of empty air. Now practice the following sylla-bles, striving to make the vowels as full and rich as you can: Ex.2. Listen and repeat. Note that Russian vowel sounds are joined to constant sounds smoothly, with no jerkiness and no catch in the throat. This is true also of the beginning of words whose first sound is a vowel. The onset is smooth, without the catch in the throat which exists in some languages you may have studied. ïà – ïî – ïó – ïý At the end of words in English one can just close the lips, without letting the stream of air escape for the /p/. In Russian the /ï/ must be released at the end of words. Ex.3.Listen and repeat. àï - îï - óï - ýï The Russian consonant /á/ is pronounced as /ï/ except it is pronounced with voice. Remember the importance of having the vocal cords vibrate vigorously throughout the length of the sound – other-wise Russians will be unable to distinguish between /ï/ and /á/ in your speech. Many speakers of English pronounce only semi-voiced consonants, with the vocal cords beginning to vibrate only in the middle of the sound. For Americans the real difference is not between voiced and voiceless conso-nants, but between lax and tense pronunciation, with tense consonants being pronounced with aspira-tion at the beginning of words. Unconsciously we hear aspiration, but we think we hear a voiced-voiceless contrast. If ‘poison curls’ is pronounced without the usual aspiration, most Americans will think they hear ‘boys and girls’. Now pronounce the following syllables, remembering to increase the tension in the throat without at the same time increasing the strength of the air-stream. Don’t open your lips until the vocal cords are vibrating. Ex.4. Listen and repeat. Áà – áî- áó- áý The Russian Labio-Dental Fricative consonants /ô/ and /â/ Labio-dental consonants are those produced by contact of the upper teeth with the lower lip. Fricative sounds are those in whose production the air is not stopped off completely, but in which there is a narrowed passage which causes air stream to produce a hissing or rushing sound. The Russian fricative sounds /ô/ and /â/ are similar to their English counterparts except that they are pronounced with slight lip-rounding. Remember to strive for full voicing when pronouncing the voiced consonant /â/. Ex.5 Listen and repeat. Ôà- ôî- ôó- ôý ôý – âý ôî – âî Àô - îô - óô - ýô ôó – âó ôà – âà Âà – âî – âó – âý The Russian Dental Stop Consonants /ò/ and /ä/ Dental consonants are those pronounced with the tongue touching the teeth. The Russian dental consonants differ from the corresponding English sound in that the Russian sounds are pronounced by the tongue against the upper teeth, while the English sounds are produced against the alveolar ridge, the ridge of flesh just behind the upper teeth. To produce the Russian sounds properly, place the tip of the tongue against the lower teeth and the blade of the tongue (a por-tion just behind the tip) firmly against the back of the upper teeth; the middle and back portions of the tongue must remain low. The area of contact of the blade of the tongue with the upper teeth is not large, but it must be very firm. In pronouncing /ò/ especially at the beginning of words, try to avoid aspiration by paying attention to the following vowel sound. At the end of words remember always to release the /ò/. When pro-nouncing /ä/ remember the need for full voicing from the very beginning of the sound. Ex.6 Listen and repeat. Òà – òî – òó – òý äà – äî – äó – äý òî – äî – òà - äà Àò – îò – óò – ýò òý – äý – òó – äó òóäà The Dental Fricative Consonants /c/ and /ç/ The Russian dental fricative sound /c/ is similar to the Russian /ò/ in that it is pronounced farther for-ward in the mouth than the corresponding English sound. The tip of the tongue should touch the lower teeth slightly, while the blade of the tongue is brought near the upper teeth. The middle and back parts of the tongue must be kept low. The Russian /ç/ is pronounced similarly except it is voiced. Strive for full voicing of /ç/. Ex.7. Listen and repeat. Ñà – ñî – ñó – ñý ñà – çà ñó - çó Çà – çî – çó – çý ñî – çî ñý – çý Àñ – îñ – óñ – ýñ ÑÎÑ! ÑÎÓÑ In the following syllables your English speech habits will tempt you to turn /â/ into /ô/. This is due to the type of consonant assimilation which exists in English. (Assimilation is the process through which a sound becomes similar to a nearby sound in some way.) Compare the last sounds in ‘bats’ and ‘bags’. The last letters are written the same, but are pronounced differently /s/ or /z/, depending on whether they follow a voiceless or a voiced consonant. Russian does not have the sort of consonant assimilation in which the first consonant determines the quality of the second, so you will need to practice to avoid this habit in Russian. Ex.8. Listen and repeat. Ñâà –ñâî The Velar Stop Consonants /ê/ and /ã/ Velar consonants are produced at the back part of the tongue at the velum, the soft area of the rear portion of the roof of the mouth, which separates the mouth from the nasal cavity. Remember to avoid aspiration of the unvoiced consonant /ê/ and to release it at the end of words. Strive for full voicing of the voiced consonant /ã/. Ex.8. Listen and repeat. 1.Êà – êî – êó – êý àê – îê – óê – ûê êó - ãó Ãà – ãî – ãó – ãý êà – ãà – êî – ãî êý – ãý ÊÓ- ÊÓ 2.The following word may seem difficult at first since it begins with a cluster of consonants which never occurs at the beginning of words in English Êòî(=”who”) Be careful not to insert a superfluous vowel between the two consonants. The trick is to pronounce the two consonants at particularly the same instant, not as separate stop consonants, each with its own release; instead release the /ê/ at the back of the mouth and the /ò/ at the upper teeth at the same time. The Velar Fricative Consonant /õ/ The velar fricative /õ/ is pronounced at the same place in the mouth as /ê/. In English you do not have a fricative sound protruded at this part of the mouth. Make certain that the air is not shut off completely, but is allowed to escape freely through a narrow passage between the back part of the tongue and the back part of the roof of the mouth. (Do not let the fact that this sound is often tran-scribed as kh in English mislead you into beginning the Russian sound with a stoppage of the air as for /ê/.) Ex.9. Listen and repeat. While practicing this exercise remember to strive for a smoothly produced fricative sound, without a sharp stop-like attack at the beginning of the sound. Õà – õî – õó – õý àõ – îõ – óõ – ýõ õà-õà-õà The “Flap” or “Trilled” Consonant /ð/ The “Flap” or “Trilled” Consonant /ð/ is very similar to the consonant in the middle of ‘better’. The tip of the tongue vibrates against the alveolar ridge (just behind the upper teeth), but a bit farther for-ward than you pronounce /t/ in English. The flap sound differs from the /t/ in a word such as ‘tall’ in that the latter is a controlled articula-tion. Although one is not conscious of it in normal speech, he can consciously control the various stages of its pronunciation and make the sound longer by delaying the release. In the case of the flap sound it is impossible to control the sound once the muscular impulse has been set off, and the contact cannot be made longer - this is a ballistic articulation. As when one throws a ball, the tongue is hurled with such force that it cannot be stopped until it bounces off the alveolar ridge. (The impulse can be repeated, but each individual “throw” is uncontrollable once it has been initiated.) The number of times the tongue tip strikes the alveolar ridge varies from speaker to speaker and depends upon the preciseness of speech at a given moment and the position within a word. Ex.11. Listen carefully during the exercise and imitate the native speakers as closely as possible. (It is better to attain one good tap than to overdo it attempting a multiple trill unless the latter comes easily for you.) Be careful when pronouncing this sound not to let the tip of the tongue turn up toward the roof of the mouth- make certain it is aimed directly at the alveolar ridge behind the upper teeth. ðà – ðî – ðó – ðý ðà – ðàê àð - îð – óð – ýð ðîò - òîðò àð – äàð ðó - ðóïîð The hard consonant /ë/ The closest English equivalent to the Russian hard /ë/ is the sound at the end of such words as ‘fall’, but the Russian sound is even “darker” in coloration. To produce the Russian sound correctly you must place the tip of the tongue very firmly on the back of the upper teeth, at the same time raising the back part of the tongue toward the back portion of the roof of the mouth, where the vowel /ó/ is pronounced. (It is the raising of the back part of the tongue which gives the sound its “dark” colora-tion.) Since both the tip and the back of the tongue are raised, the middle portion of the tongue forms a saddle. The tongue is much tenser than in the corresponding English sound. The English “dark” /l/ occurs only at the end of words or before other consonants, while the Russian consonant occurs in all positions, including the beginning of words. To avoid confusing the Russian sound with the corresponding English sound, make certain that the contact of the tip of the tongue is firm and the back of the tongue is very far toward the back of the mouth. Ex.12. Listen and repeat. Ëà, ëî, ëó, ëý, àë, îë, óë, ýë Àëà-ëà, îëî-ëî, ýëý-ëý, óëó-ëó Ãëà-êëà-õëà, ãëî-êëî-õëî Ãëîòàòü, ëàïîòü-ëîïàòü, Ëàðà, ëàìïà, ëàñêà, âëàãà, Êàëóãà, ëóïà, áëîõà, ïëîõîé, ãëóáîêî GRAMMAR Grammatical Gender A noun is a word which denotes a person, place, thing, action, or condition. Russian has three gen-ders, traditionally called “masculine”, “feminine”, and “neuter”. Russian gender is not a logical cate-gory. All three genders contain words of both animate and inanimate categories. Gender in Russian is determined by the ending of the noun in its written form. Masculine: Nouns referring to male beings and inanimate nouns with no ending (“zero ending”) and having as their last letter a consonant (îí-words). Feminine: Nouns referring to female beings and inanimate nouns with the ending –a/-ÿ (îíà-words). Neuter: Nouns with the ending -î/-å (îíî-words). A pronoun is a word which can substitute for a noun (pro + noun). The pronouns îí, îíà, îíî, îíè replace nouns within their own class. Thus, îí can be the equivalent of both ‘he’ and ‘it’, and îíà the equivalent of both ‘she’ and ‘it’. The plural pronoun îíè substitutes for all plural nouns or for more than one noun. (A gender dis-tinction is generally made only in the singular.) ♂Îí -Ø ♀ Îíà -à ☺ Îíî -î ÒîìØ ÄîìØ ìîñòØ Àííà Ìàìà íîòà Îêíî ìîëîêî Ex.13. Read the words. Match them according to their genders. The Intonation of Russian Declarative Sentences- Intonation Contour 1 (IC- 1) Intonation refers to the melody of a sentence, the meaningful rises and falls in voice pitch. In both English and Russian a falling intonation contour is an indication of completeness of expression. In both languages statements which are pronounced without any special emotional overtones are char-acterized by falling tone, but there is an important difference in the way this fall takes place in the two languages. In normal friendly speech in English there is usually a rise above normal pitch level on the strongest syllable of the sentence, followed by a drop to a low pitch. I can’t see from here. If the strong accent of the sentence is on the very last syllable, the rise and fall of the tone occur within the one syllable, which is drawn out even more than is usual for accented vowels. John’s going home. To native speakers of Russian this rise in tone before the drop makes the sentence sound non-neutral, and they will understand the sentence as having some special emotional connotation. In speaking of intonation, “low pitch”, “mid pitch”, and “high pitch” are to be understood in relative terms. Each speaker has a normal level of “mid pitch”, which is used in non-emotional speech, and it is contrast with this level that low pitch and high pitch are perceived within the speech of that par-ticular speaker. The Russian non-emotional (neutral) declarative sentence intonation contour consists of a more or less sharp fall in pitch on the accented syllable of the most important word of the sentence (the word which conveys the most important new information). Note that the fall is confined within one syllable and the vowel of that syllable will be lengthened slightly. All syllables preceding the strong accent will be at the speaker’s mid level. Ýòî äîì. If there are any syllables following the fall in pitch, they remain at a low level. Ýòî ìàìà. The fall in tone may be more or less sharp, but in Russian this makes no difference in the meaning or “tone” conveyed. To an American an abrupt fall in tone may seem to indicate gruffness or indiffer-ence which is not intended by the Russian. It turns out, therefore, that what is neutral in English is non-neutral in Russian and vice versa. It is important for the student to strive to imitate the correct Russian intonation as closely as possible. It is precisely in matters of intonation that inter-cultural misunderstanding can easily occur-even if the message gets across, the receiver of the message may interpret the feelings and attitudes of the speaker. In this introductory course the type of intonation will be indicated by a small superscript number, which will replace the accent mark for that word. In the following exercise note that all of the sentences are read smoothly, and with no pauses be-tween words. Note also that when two vowels come together on the borderline between words, they are joined smoothly and with no catch in the throat to separate them. Ex.20. Listen, repeat, read. Russian Voiced and Voiceless Consonants. Changes in Voiced and Voiceless Consonants. It is very important to learn to distinguish Russian voiceless consonants from their voiced counter-parts (the former are uttered without vibration of the vocal cords, the latter, with such a vibration). Some consonants go in pairs consisting of a voiceless consonant and its voiced counterpart. Others do not go in pairs and are pronounced either only as voiceless consonants or only as voiced ones. The voiced consonants á, â, ã, ä, æ, ç are pronounced voicelessly (i.e. = ï, ô, ê, ò, ø, ñ) in final position (at the end of a word). The voiced consonants á, â, ã, ä, æ, ç when followed by (one of) their voiceless counterparts ï, ô, ê, ò, ø, ñ are pronounced voicelessly (regressive assimilation) and vice versa: voiceless before voiced is voiced (except that there is no assimilation before the letter â). Ex.21.Read. Pay attention to the pronunciation of consonants. The Russian High Central Vowel /û/ Although most speakers of English do not have a sound just like /û/ in their speech, it is not diffi-cult to master with a little concentrated practice. The closest English equivalent is the vowel in ‘kill’, but the middle and back part of the tongue are higher and farther back in Russian, similar to the posi-tion of the Russian vowel /ó/. However for /ó/ the lips are rounded, while for /û/ the lips must be kept spread and not rounded. Try saying /è/ and then moving the tongue back in the mouth without rounding the lips. Then practice saying /ó/ and then producing /û/ by unrounding and spreading the lips (as in the pronunciation of /è/). The unaccented /û/ is pronounced more laxly, but does not lose its basic quality. Note that what is written as è at the beginning of a word is pronounced as /û/ when it comes immidiately after a word ending in a consonant such as í, ê. Now practice the exercise on this vowel, remembering to keep the lips spread during the production of the vowel sound. Ex.22. Listen and repeat.