What is the meaning of a phraseological unit to an elephant? What's grain to an elephant?

What is a grain of grain to an elephant? Iron. Totally not enough, too little. Vasenka Shlyapobersky thought that one bottle for five was the same as grain for an elephant(V. Kurochkin. Freak).

Phrasebook Russian literary language. - M.: Astrel, AST. A. I. Fedorov. 2008.

See what “What is a grain to an elephant” in other dictionaries:

what an elephant's grains- adverb, number of synonyms: 1 like grain to an elephant (9) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Synonym dictionary

like grain to an elephant- adverb, number of synonyms: 9 a bun like an elephant (8) a pellet like an elephant (8) cap... Synonym dictionary

like grain to an elephant- How (what) to an elephant / pellet Completely insufficient, too little. Your threats are like pellets to an elephant... Dictionary of many expressions

spent grain- s; and. One ball of shotgun pellet. Several pellets pierced the cap. ◊ How (what) is a grain to an elephant? Too little, not enough at all. ◁ Drobinka, and; pl. genus. nok, dat. nkam; and. Decrease... encyclopedic Dictionary

elephant- noun, m., used. compare often Morphology: (no) whom? elephant, anyone? elephant, (see) who? elephant, by whom? elephant, about whom? about an elephant; pl. Who? elephants, (no) who? elephants, anyone? elephants, (see) whom? elephants, by whom? elephants, about whom? about elephants 1. An elephant is called... ... Dictionary Dmitrieva

elephant- A; m. 1. Large herbivorous mammal with a long trunk and two tusks (lives in tropical Africa and Asia). African s. Indian village 2. Fam. About a tall, fat, clumsy man. How can a bicycle withstand such an elephant? For this elephant... encyclopedic Dictionary

spent grain- y, w. One ball of shotgun pellet. A shot rang out. One pellet hit her [the eagle] in the eye, and the other shattered her beak. Chekhov, Unnecessary victory. ◊ how((or what)) for the elephant the grain is completely insufficient, too little... Small academic dictionary

few- Not enough, not enough, dissatisfied, poor, meager. One, two (one, the other) and I got it wrong. Ah, strength in a nutshell! completely exhausted. Wing. I don’t have enough money, not enough, just barely enough. It’s like the cat cried a little wine here. There is no end to the suitors: once again and... ... Synonym dictionary

ELEPHANT- ELEPHANT, ah, husband. 1. A large proboscis mammal of tropical countries with two large tusks. African s. Indian village You can’t even notice the elephant (translation: not noticing the main thing; colloquial joke). S. in a china shop (about a big and awkward man,... ... Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary

Blast furnace. "A large shaft furnace for smelting pig iron from iron ore." Used only in Russian, early name housekeeper known from XVI centuries, a little later in XVII century they pronounce blast furnace, A modern form appears in dictionaries since 1780. The word is derived from the verb heave.
Road. The word is widespread in Slavic languages, but the meaning among the Southern Slavs is changed to “gorge”, “ditch”, “ravine”. Common Slavic *dorga (dorga), according to most sources, is associated with the worddbrgati (dirgati) - “to pull”, “to drag towards oneself with jerks”, so Expensive originally could have been called a portage or forest path, a passage uprooted in the forest.
Expensive. 1. “Beloved”, “close to the heart”, 2. “expensive”, “sold or bought at a high price.” It is found among all Slavs in both meanings, the pronunciation is of course somewhat different. In the common Slavic languagedorgъ (dorgu) with the senior meaning “useful, good”. The difficulties of origin are caused by the suffix -g-, which is not typical in Slavic adjectives.
Board. “A building or carpentry material obtained by cutting a log longitudinally,” “flat on both sides, oblong and thin timber.” Another very common word among the Slavs. In Old Russian with XI century is used in the forms board, desk, and tska, different meanings: “board (wooden)”, “stone slab”, “writing tablet”, “inscription”, “document”, “receipt”. IN XV - XVI centuries tska takes on the special meaning of “metal facing plate”, “skins of fur-bearing animals sewn together”. Common Slavic worddъska (duska), most likely an old borrowing, either directly from Latin, or through the Germanic languages. In Latindiscum - “dish, disk”, probably a borrowed word used in relation to a wooden block or table.
Thorough. “The most detailed”, “based on a careful, detailed study of something.” In Russian with XVIII century, borrowing from Polish, so the adverb form originally existed thoroughly, For example " knowing thoroughly».
Achieve. “Being in motion, exhibiting activity, to reach, to reach the goal, to the limit of movement or activity.” Found in Russian, Serbian and Bulgarian. The word developed from an Indo-European root meaning “to stride, hasten, rise.”
Leisure. “Time, hours free from classes, from business, from work”, “time of rest from work.” This also includes the word idle. Found only in Russian, known since XIV century. Its origin is connected with the verb achieve, the development of the meaning is as follows: “achievement” > “success” > “opportunity” (most likely the ability to have time after finishing work) > “rest.”
Meticulous. “Penetrating into everything”, “corrosive”, “inquisitive”, “knowledgeable”, “skillful”. Only Russian. Known since XVIII century, formed from precise, derived from the Old Russian verb flow through- “to reach”, “to reach”.
Daughter. "A female person in relation to parents." This word was formed from an Indo-European root and entered the common Slavic language in the formdъkti (dukti), in Old Russian the word is used daughters, and the modern form is known only from XVIII century. Breakaway from Indo-Europeandhugeter - r- (R) at the end of a word is typical for the Slavs, in most other languages ancient form preserved, for example, in Englishdaughter, Armenian dustr, Tajik dukhtar.
Skedaddle. “Flee quickly and in disorder from your pursuers.” The word is known in other Slavic languages ​​with other meanings, usually “to scratch”, “to tear”, “to scratch”, in Russian it came into use during the Civil War, apparently borrowed from Polish.
Rubbish. “Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense.” Known since XVIII centuries, only Russian. Probably comes from a compound word formdrob- ed- en-b (drobedany), older meaning “small things”, “trifle not worth attention”.
Blinks. “Fragments of something broken”, “small parts of something”. This word is derived from the common Slavicdrobb (fractions), form rattle instead of rattle this is the phenomenon of intersyllabic assimilation, that is, the replacement of a sound with the same one. Formed in Russian, known since XVIII century.
Ancient. “Very old”, “relating to the distant past”. Adjectives ancient- “ancient” and ancient- “wooden” although they come from the same Indo-European root nest *deru-:* dreu-:* dreue-, but still differ in meaning. Common Slavic worddrevbnb (drevini) first meant “strong (like a tree, like an oak)”, then along the chain “strong” > “superior (to others)” > “preceding (to others)” > “previous, ancient.”
Nap. "Be in a state of drowsiness." In the same group nap, dense, nap, drowsy. In the Old Russian language only one form is known driemati- “doze”, all the others developed later. This common Slavic word comes from an Indo-European root, related to it is the Latindormio- “I’m sleeping” dormito - “I’m falling asleep, dozing,” which is why it has recently come into use from the tourist dictionary dormitory actually means in Russian dozing or bedroom.
Fraction. There are word forms pellets(To)A, fractional, fractionality, shotgun, shotgun, fraction, detailed, crush. In written monuments Old Russian language(With XI centuries) only words are marked crushed- “small”, crush- “to crush”, “to crumble”, crusher- “small pearls”. Word fraction becomes widely used only in XVII century. In the common Slavic languagedrobb (fractions) goes back to the Indo-European root with the meaning “to crush”, “to break”.

Before moving on to phonetic analysis with examples, we draw your attention to the fact that letters and sounds in words are not always the same thing.

Letters- these are letters, graphic symbols, with the help of which the content of a text is conveyed or a conversation is outlined. Letters are used to visually convey meaning; we perceive them with our eyes. The letters can be read. When you read letters out loud, you form sounds - syllables - words.

A list of all letters is just an alphabet

Almost every schoolchild knows how many letters are in the Russian alphabet. That's right, there are 33 of them in total. The Russian alphabet is called the Cyrillic alphabet. The letters of the alphabet are arranged in a certain sequence:

Russian alphabet:

In total, the Russian alphabet uses:

• 21 letters for consonants;
• 10 letters - vowels;
• and two: ь (soft sign) and ъ (hard sign), which indicate properties, but do not themselves define any sound units.

You often pronounce sounds in phrases differently from how you write them in writing. In addition, a word may use more letters than sounds. For example, “children’s” - the letters “T” and “S” merge into one phoneme [ts]. And vice versa, the number of sounds in the word “blacken” is greater, since the letter “Yu” in this case is pronounced as [yu].

What is phonetic analysis?

We perceive spoken speech by ear. By phonetic analysis of a word we mean the characteristics of the sound composition. In the school curriculum, such analysis is more often called “sound-letter” analysis. So, with phonetic analysis, you simply describe the properties of sounds, their characteristics depending on the environment and the syllabic structure of a phrase united by a common word stress.

Phonetic transcription

For sound-letter parsing, a special transcription in square brackets is used. For example, it is correctly written:

• black -> [h"orny"]
• apple -> [yablaka]
• anchor -> [yakar"]
• Christmas tree -> [yolka]
• sun -> [sontse]

The phonetic parsing scheme uses special symbols. Thanks to this, it is possible to correctly designate and distinguish the letter notation (spelling) and the sound definition of letters (phonemes).

• The phonetically parsed word is enclosed in square brackets – ;
• a soft consonant is indicated by a transcription sign [’] - an apostrophe;
• percussive [´] - accent;
• in complex word forms from several roots, the secondary stress sign [`] - gravis is used (not practiced in the school curriculum);
• the letters of the alphabet Yu, Ya, E, Ё, ь and Ъ are NEVER used in transcription (in the curriculum);
• for doubled consonants, [:] is used - a sign of the longitude of the sound.

Below are detailed rules for orthoepic, alphabetic, phonetic and word analysis with online examples, in accordance with general school standards of the modern Russian language. Professional linguists' transcriptions of phonetic characteristics differ in accents and other symbols with additional acoustic features of vowel and consonant phonemes.

How to make a phonetic analysis of a word?

The following diagram will help you carry out letter analysis:

• Write down the necessary word and say it out loud several times.
• Count how many vowels and consonants there are in it.
• Indicate the stressed syllable. (Stress, using intensity (energy), distinguishes a certain phoneme in speech from a number of homogeneous sound units.)
• Divide the phonetic word into syllables and indicate their total number. Remember that syllable division in is different from the rules of transfer. The total number of syllables always matches the number of vowels.
• In the transcription, sort the word by sounds.
• Write the letters from the phrase in a column.
• Opposite each letter in square brackets, indicate its sound definition (how it is heard). Remember that sounds in words are not always identical to letters. The letters "ь" and "ъ" do not represent any sounds. The letters “e”, “e”, “yu”, “ya”, “i” can represent 2 sounds at once.
• Analyze each phoneme separately and indicate its properties separated by commas:
  • for a vowel we indicate in the characteristic: vowel sound; stressed or unstressed;
  • in the characteristics of consonants we indicate: consonant sound; hard or soft, voiced or deaf, sonorant, paired/unpaired in hardness-softness and sonority-dullness.
• At the end of the phonetic analysis of the word, draw a line and count the total number of letters and sounds.

This scheme is practiced in the school curriculum.

An example of phonetic analysis of a word

Here is a sample phonetic analysis of the composition for the word “phenomenon” → [yivl’e′n’ie]. In this example there are 4 vowels and 3 consonants. There are only 4 syllables: I-vle′-n-e. The emphasis falls on the second.

Sound characteristics of letters:

i [th] - acc., unpaired soft, unpaired voiced, sonorant [i] - vowel, unstressedv [v] - acc., paired hard, paired sound l [l'] - acc., paired soft., unpaired . sound, sonorant [e′] - vowel, stressed [n’] - consonant, paired soft, unpaired sound, sonorant and [i] - vowel, unstressed [th] - consonant, unpaired. soft, unpaired sound, sonorant [e] - vowel, unstressed________________________In total, the word phenomenon has 7 letters, 9 sounds. The first letter “I” and the last “E” each represent two sounds.

Now you know how to do sound-letter analysis yourself. The following is a classification of sound units of the Russian language, their relationships and transcription rules for sound-letter parsing.

Phonetics and sounds in Russian

What sounds are there?

All sound units are divided into vowels and consonants. Vowel sounds, in turn, can be stressed or unstressed. The consonant sound in Russian words can be: hard - soft, voiced - deaf, hissing, sonorous.

How many sounds are there in Russian living speech?

The correct answer is 42.

Doing phonetic analysis online, you will find that 36 consonants and 6 vowels are involved in word formation. Many people have a reasonable question: why is there such a strange inconsistency? Why does it vary? total number sounds and letters, both vowels and consonants?

All this is easily explained. A number of letters, when participating in word formation, can denote 2 sounds at once. For example, softness-hardness pairs:

• [b] - cheerful and [b’] - squirrel;
• or [d]-[d’]: home - to do.

And some do not have a pair, for example [h’] will always be soft. If you doubt it, try to say it firmly and make sure it is impossible: stream, pack, spoon, black, Chegevara, boy, little rabbit, bird cherry, bees. Thanks to this practical solution, our alphabet has not reached dimensionless proportions, and the sound units are optimally complemented, merging with each other.

Vowel sounds in Russian words

Vowel sounds Unlike consonants, they are melodic; they flow freely, as if in a chant, from the larynx, without barriers or tension of the ligaments. The louder you try to pronounce the vowel, the wider you will have to open your mouth. And vice versa, the louder you try to pronounce a consonant, the more energetically you will close your mouth. This is the most striking articulatory difference between these phoneme classes.

The stress in any word form can only fall on the vowel sound, but there are also unstressed vowels.

How many vowel sounds are there in Russian phonetics?

Russian speech uses fewer vowel phonemes than letters. There are only six shock sounds: [a], [i], [o], [e], [u], [s]. And let us remind you that there are ten letters: a, e, e, i, o, u, y, e, i, yu. The vowels E, E, Yu, I are not “pure” sounds in transcription are not used. Often, when parsing words by letter, the emphasis falls on the listed letters.

Phonetics: characteristics of stressed vowels

The main phonemic feature of Russian speech is the clear pronunciation of vowel phonemes in stressed syllables. Stressed syllables in Russian phonetics are distinguished by the force of exhalation, increased duration of sound and are pronounced undistorted. Since they are pronounced clearly and expressively, sound analysis of syllables with stressed vowel phonemes is much easier to carry out. The position in which the sound does not undergo changes and retains its basic form is called strong position. This position can only be occupied by a stressed sound and a syllable. Unstressed phonemes and syllables remain in a weak position.

• The vowel in a stressed syllable is always in a strong position, that is, it is pronounced more clearly, with the greatest strength and duration.
• A vowel in an unstressed position is in a weak position, that is, it is pronounced with less force and not so clearly.

In the Russian language, only one phoneme “U” retains unchangeable phonetic properties: kuruza, tablet, u chus, u lov - in all positions it is pronounced clearly as [u]. This means that the vowel “U” is not subject to qualitative reduction. Attention: in writing, the phoneme [y] can also be indicated by another letter “U”: muesli [m’u ´sl’i], key [kl’u ´ch’], etc.

Analysis of the sounds of stressed vowels

The vowel phoneme [o] occurs only in a strong position (under stress). In such cases, “O” is not subject to reduction: cat [ko´ t'ik], bell [kalako´ l'ch'yk], milk [malako´], eight [vo´ s'im'], search [paisko´ vaya], dialect [go´ var], autumn [o´ s'in'].

An exception to the rule of a strong position for “O”, when the unstressed [o] is also pronounced clearly, are only some foreign words: cocoa [kaka "o], patio [pa"tio], radio [ra"dio], boa [bo a "] and a number of service units, for example, the conjunction but. The sound [o] in writing can be reflected by another letter “ё” - [o]: thorn [t’o´ rn], fire [kas’t’o´ r]. It will also not be difficult to analyze the sounds of the remaining four vowels in the stressed position.

Unstressed vowels and sounds in Russian words

It is possible to make a correct sound analysis and accurately determine the characteristics of a vowel only after placing stress in the word. Do not forget also about the existence of homonymy in our language: zamok - zamok and about the change in phonetic qualities depending on the context (case, number):

• I'm home [ya do "ma].
• New houses [no "vye da ma"].

IN unstressed position the vowel is modified, that is, pronounced differently than written:

• mountains - mountain = [go "ry] - [ga ra"];
• he - online = [o "n] - [a nla"yn]
• witness line = [sv’id’e “t’i l’n’itsa].

Such changes in vowels in unstressed syllables are called reduction. Quantitative, when the duration of the sound changes. And high-quality reduction, when the characteristics of the original sound change.

The same unstressed vowel letter can change phonetic characteristic depending on position:

• primarily relative to the stressed syllable;
• at the absolute beginning or end of a word;
• in open syllables (consisting of only one vowel);
• on the influence of neighboring signs (ь, ъ) and consonant.

Yes, it varies 1st degree of reduction. It is subject to:

• vowels in the first pre-stressed syllable;
• naked syllable at the very beginning;
• repeated vowels.

Note: To make a sound-letter analysis, the first pre-stressed syllable is determined not from the “head” of the phonetic word, but in relation to the stressed syllable: the first to the left of it. In principle, it can be the only pre-shock: not-here [n’iz’d’e’shn’ii].

(uncovered syllable)+(2-3 pre-stressed syllable)+ 1st pre-stressed syllable ← Stressed syllable → over-stressed syllable (+2/3 over-stressed syllable)

• vper-re -di [fp’ir’i d’i´];
• e -ste-ste-st-no [yi s’t’e´s’t’v’in:a];

Any other pre-stressed syllables and all post-stressed syllables during sound analysis are classified as reduction of the 2nd degree. It is also called a “weak position of the second degree.”

• kiss [pa-tsy-la-va´t’];
• model [ma-dy-l’i´-ra-vat’];
• swallow [la´-sta -ch’ka];
• kerosene [k'i-ra-s'i´-na-vy].

The reduction of vowels in a weak position also differs in stages: second, third (after hard and soft consonants - this is outside the curriculum): learn [uch'i´ts:a], become numb [atsyp'in'e´t '], hope [nad'e´zhda]. During letter analysis, the reduction of the vowel in the weak position in the final open syllable (= at the absolute end of the word) will appear very slightly:

• cup;
• goddess;
• with songs;
• turn.

Sound-letter analysis: iotized sounds

Phonetically, the letters E - [ye], Yo - [yo], Yu - [yu], Ya - [ya] often mean two sounds at once. Have you noticed that in all the indicated cases the additional phoneme is “Y”? That is why these vowels are called iotized. The meaning of the letters E, E, Yu, I is determined by their positional position.

When analyzed phonetically, the vowels e, e, yu, i form 2 sounds:

◊ Yo - [yo], Yu - [yu], E - [ye], I - [ya] in cases where there are:

• At the beginning of the words “Yo” and “Yu” are always:
  • - shudder [yo´ zhyts:a], Christmas tree [yo´ lach’nyy], hedgehog [yo´ zhyk], container [yo´ mcast’];
  • - jeweler [yuv ’il’i´r], top [yu la´], skirt [yu´ pka], Jupiter [yu p’i´t’ir], nimbleness [yu ´rkas’t’];
• at the beginning of the words “E” and “I” only under stress*:
  • - spruce [ye´ l’], travel [ye´ w:u], huntsman [ye´ g’ir’], eunuch [ye´ vnukh];
  • - yacht [ya´ hta], anchor [ya´ kar’], yaki [ya´ ki], apple [ya´ blaka];
  • (*to perform sound-letter analysis of the unstressed vowels “E” and “I”, a different phonetic transcription is used, see below);
• in the position immediately after the vowel “Yo” and “Yu” always. But “E” and “I” are in stressed and unstressed syllables, except in cases where these letters are located after a vowel in the 1st pre-stressed syllable or in the 1st, 2nd unstressed syllable in the middle of words. Phonetic analysis online and examples in specified cases:
  • - receiver [pr’iyo´mn’ik], sings t [payo´t], klyyo t [kl’uyo ´t];
  • -ayu rveda [ayu r’v’e´da], I sing t [payu ´t], melt [ta´yu t], cabin [kayu ´ta],
• after the dividing solid “Ъ” the sign “Ё” and “Yu” - always, and “E” and “I” only under stress or at the absolute end of the word: - volume [ab yo´m], shooting [syo´mka], adjutant [adyu "ta´nt]
• after the dividing soft “b” the sign “Ё” and “Yu” is always, and “E” and “I” are under stress or at the absolute end of the word: - interview [intyrv'yu´], trees [d'ir'e´ v'ya], friends [druz'ya´], brothers [bra´t'ya], monkey [ab'iz'ya´ na], blizzard [v'yu´ ga], family [s'em'ya´ ]

As you can see, in the phonemic system of the Russian language, stress is of decisive importance. Vowels in unstressed syllables undergo the greatest reduction. Let's continue the sound-letter analysis of the remaining iotized ones and see how they can still change characteristics depending on the environment in the words.

◊ Unstressed vowels“E” and “I” designate two sounds and in phonetic transcription and are written as [YI]:

• at the very beginning of the word:
  • - unity [yi d'in'e´n'i'ye], spruce [yil´vyy], blackberry [yizhiv'i´ka], him [yivo´], fidget [yigaza´], Yenisei [yin'is 'e´y], Egypt [yig'i´p'it];
  • - January [yi nvarskiy], core [yidro´], sting [yiz'v'i´t'], label [yirly´k], Japan [yipo´n'iya], lamb [yign'o´nak ];
  • (The only exceptions are rare foreign word forms and names: Caucasoid [ye vrap'io´idnaya], Evgeniy [ye] vgeny, European [ye vrap'e´yits], diocese [ye] pa´rkhiya, etc.).
• immediately after a vowel in the 1st pre-stressed syllable or in the 1st, 2nd post-stressed syllable, except for the location at the absolute end of the word.
  • in a timely manner [svai vr'e´m'ina], trains [payi zda´], let's eat [payi d'i´m], run into [nayi w:a´t'], Belgian [b'il'g'i´ yi c], students [uch'a´sh'iyi s'a], with sentences [pr'idlazhe´n'iyi m'i], vanity [suyi ta´],
  • bark [la´yi t'], pendulum [ma´yi tn'ik], hare [za´yi c], belt [po´yi s], declare [zayi v'i´t'], show [prayi in 'l'u´]
• after the dividing hard “Ъ” or soft “b” sign: - intoxicating [p'yi n'i´t], express [izyi v'i´t'], announcement [abyi vl'e´n'iye], edible [syi dobny].

Note: The St. Petersburg phonological school is characterized by “ecane”, and the Moscow school is characterized by “hiccup”. Previously, the iotrated “Yo” was pronounced with a more accented “Ye”. When changing capitals, performing sound-letter analysis, they adhere to Moscow norms in orthoepy.

Some people in fluent speech pronounce the vowel “I” the same way in syllables with a strong and weak position. This pronunciation is considered a dialect and is not literary. Remember, the vowel “I” under stress and without stress is voiced differently: fair [ya ´marka], but egg [yi ytso´].

Important:

The letter “I” after the soft sign “b” also represents 2 sounds - [YI] in sound-letter analysis. (This rule is relevant for syllables in both strong and weak positions). Let's conduct a sample of online sound-letter analysis: - nightingales [salav'yi´], on chicken legs [na ku´r'yi' x" no´shkah], rabbit [kro´l'ich'yi], no family [s'im 'yi´], judges [su´d'yi], draws [n'ich'yi´], streams [ruch'yi´], foxes [li´s'yi]. But: Vowel “O” after a soft sign “b” is transcribed as an apostrophe of softness ['] of the preceding consonant and [O], although when pronouncing the phoneme, iotization can be heard: broth [bul'o´n], pavilion n [pav'il'o´n], similarly: postman n , champignon n, chignon n, companion n, medallion n, battalion n, guillot tina, carmagno la, mignon n and others.

Phonetic analysis of words, when the vowels “Yu” “E” “E” “I” form 1 sound

According to the rules of phonetics of the Russian language, at a certain position in words, the designated letters give one sound when:

• sound units “Yo” “Yu” “E” are under stress after an unpaired consonant in hardness: zh, sh, ts. Then they represent phonemes:
  • ё - [o],
  • e - [e],
  • yu - [y].
  Examples of online analysis by sounds: yellow [zho´ lty], silk [sho´ lk], whole [tse´ ly], recipe [r'itse´ pt], pearls [zhe´ mch'uk], six [she´ st '], hornet [she'rshen'], parachute [parashu't];
• The letters “I” “Yu” “E” “E” and “I” indicate the softness of the preceding consonant [’]. Exception only for: [f], [w], [c]. In such cases in a striking position they form one vowel sound:
  • ё – [o]: ticket [put'o´ fka], easy [l'o´ hk'iy], honey fungus [ap'o´ nak], actor [akt'o´ r], child [r'ib' o´nak];
  • e – [e]: seal [t’ul’e´ n’], mirror [z’e’ rkala], smarter [umn’e´ ye], conveyor [kanv’e´ yir];
  • I – [a]: kittens [kat'a´ ta], softly [m'a´ hka], oath [kl'a´ tva], took [vz'a´ l], mattress [t'u f'a ´ k], swan [l'ib'a´ zhy];
  • yu – [y]: beak [kl'u´ f], people [l'u´ d'am], gateway [shl'u´ s], tulle [t'u´ l'], suit [kas't 'mind].
  • Note: in words borrowed from other languages, the stressed vowel “E” does not always signal the softness of the previous consonant. This positional softening ceased to be a mandatory norm in Russian phonetics only in the 20th century. In such cases, when you do a phonetic analysis of the composition, such a vowel sound is transcribed as [e] without a preceding apostrophe of softness: hotel [ate´ l'], strap [br'ite´ l'ka], test [te´ st] , tennis [te´ n:is], cafe [cafe´], puree [p'ure´], amber [ambre´], delta [de´ l'ta], tender [te´ nder], masterpiece [shede´ vr], tablet [table´ t].
• Attention! After soft consonants in prestressed syllables the vowels “E” and “I” undergo qualitative reduction and are transformed into the sound [i] (except for [ts], [zh], [sh]). Examples of phonetic analysis of words with similar phonemes: - grain [z'i rno´], earth [z'i ml'a´], cheerful [v'i s'o´ly], ringing [z'v 'i n'i´t], forest [l'i sno´y], blizzard [m'i t'e´l'itsa], feather [p'i ro´], brought [pr' in'i sla´], knit [v'i za´t'], lie [l'i ga´t'], five grater [p'i t'o´rka]

Phonetic analysis: consonants of the Russian language

There is an absolute majority of consonants in the Russian language. When pronouncing a consonant sound, the air flow encounters obstacles. They are formed by organs of articulation: teeth, tongue, palate, vibrations of the vocal cords, lips. Due to this, noise, hissing, whistling or ringing appears in the voice.

How many consonants are there in Russian speech?

In the alphabet they are designated by 21 letters. However, when performing sound-letter analysis, you will find that in Russian phonetics consonant sounds more, namely 36.

Sound-letter analysis: what are the consonant sounds?

In our language there are consonants:

• hard - soft and form the corresponding pairs:
  • [b] - [b’]: b anan - b tree,
  • [in] - [in’]: in height - in yun,
  • [g] - [g’]: city - duke,
  • [d] - [d’]: dacha - dolphin,
  • [z] - [z’]: z von - z ether,
  • [k] - [k’]: k onfeta - to enguru,
  • [l] - [l’]: boat - l lux,
  • [m] - [m’]: magic - dreams,
  • [n] - [n’]: new - nectar,
  • [p] - [p’]: p alma- p yosik,
  • [r] - [r’]: daisy - row of poison,
  • [s] - [s’]: with uvenir - with urpriz,
  • [t] - [t’]: tuchka - t ulpan,
  • [f] - [f’]: f lag - f February,
  • [x] - [x’]: x orek - x seeker.
• Certain consonants do not have a hard-soft pair. Unpaired ones include:
  • sounds [zh], [ts], [sh] - always hard (zhzn, tsikl, mouse);
  • [ch’], [sch’] and [th’] are always soft (daughter, more often than not, yours).
• The sounds [zh], [ch’], [sh], [sh’] in our language are called hissing.

A consonant can be voiced - voiceless, as well as sonorous and noisy.

You can determine the voicedness-voicelessness or sonority of a consonant by the degree of noise-voice. These characteristics will vary depending on the method of formation and the participation of the organs of articulation.

• Sonorant (l, m, n, r, y) are the most sonorous phonemes, in them a maximum of voices and a few noises are heard: l ev, rai, n o l.
• If, when pronouncing a word during sound parsing, both a voice and noise are formed, it means that you have a voiced consonant (g, b, z, etc.): plant, b people, life.
• When pronouncing voiceless consonants (p, s, t and others), the vocal cords do not tense, only noise is made: st opka, fishka, k ost yum, tsirk, sew up.

Note: In phonetics, consonant sound units also have a division according to the nature of formation: stop (b, p, d, t) - gap (zh, w, z, s) and method of articulation: labiolabial (b, p, m) , labiodental (f, v), anterior lingual (t, d, z, s, c, g, w, sch, h, n, l, r), midlingual (th), posterior lingual (k, g, x) . The names are given based on the organs of articulation that are involved in sound production.

Tip: If you're just starting to practice spelling words phonetically, try placing your hands on your ears and saying the phoneme. If you were able to hear a voice, then the sound being studied is a voiced consonant, but if noise is heard, then it is voiceless.

Hint: For associative communication, remember the phrases: “Oh, we didn’t forget our friend.” - this sentence contains absolutely the entire set of voiced consonants (excluding softness-hardness pairs). “Styopka, do you want to eat some soup? - Fi! - similarly, the indicated replicas contain a set of all voiceless consonants.

Positional changes of consonants in Russian

The consonant sound, just like the vowel, undergoes changes. The same letter phonetically can represent a different sound, depending on the position it occupies. In the flow of speech, the sound of one consonant is compared to the articulation of a consonant located next to it. This effect makes pronunciation easier and is called assimilation in phonetics.

Positional stun/voicing

In a certain position for consonants, the phonetic law of assimilation according to deafness and voicedness applies. The voiced paired consonant is replaced by a voiceless one:

• at the absolute end of a phonetic word: but [no´sh], snow [s’n’e´k], garden [agaro´t], club [klu´p];
• before voiceless consonants: forget-me-not a [n’izabu´t ka], obkh vatit [apkh vat’i´t’], Tuesday [ft o´rn’ik], tube a [corpse a].
• doing a sound-letter analysis online, you will notice that the voiceless paired consonant standing before the voiced one (except for [th'], [v] - [v'], [l] - [l'], [m] - [m'] , [n] - [n'], [r] - [r']) is also voiced, that is, replaced by its voiced pair: surrender [zda´ch'a], mowing [kaz'ba´], threshing [malad 'ba´], request [pro´z'ba], guess [adgada´t'].

In Russian phonetics, a voiceless noisy consonant does not combine with a subsequent voiced noisy consonant, except for the sounds [v] - [v’]: whipped cream. In this case, the transcription of both the phoneme [z] and [s] is equally acceptable.

When parsing the sounds of words: total, today, today, etc., the letter “G” is replaced by the phoneme [v].

According to the rules of sound-letter analysis, in the endings “-ого”, “-го” of adjectives, participles and pronouns, the consonant “G” is transcribed as the sound [в]: red [kra´snava], blue [s'i´n'iva] , white [b'e´lava], sharp, full, former, that, that, whom. If, after assimilation, two consonants of the same type are formed, they merge. In the school curriculum on phonetics, this process is called consonant contraction: separate [ad:'il'i´t'] → the letters “T” and “D” are reduced into sounds [d'd'], besh smart [b'ish: u ´much]. When analyzing the composition of a number of words in sound-letter analysis, dissimilation is observed - the opposite process to assimilation. In this case, the common feature of two adjacent consonants changes: the combination “GK” sounds like [xk] (instead of the standard [kk]): light [l'o′kh'k'ii], soft [m'a′kh' k'ii].

Soft consonants in Russian

In the phonetic parsing scheme, an apostrophe [’] is used to indicate the softness of consonants.

• Softening of paired hard consonants occurs before “b”;
• the softness of the consonant sound in a syllable in writing will help determine the vowel letter that follows it (e, ё, i, yu, i);
• [ш'], [ч'] and [й] are only soft by default;
• The sound [n] is always softened before soft consonants “Z”, “S”, “D”, “T”: claim [pr'iten'z 'iya], review [r'itseen'z 'iya], pension [pen 's' iya], ve[n'z'] el, licé[n'z'] iya, ka[n'd'] idat, ba[n'd'] it, i[n'd'] ivid , blo[n'd']in, stipe[n'd']iya, ba[n't']ik, vi[n't']ik, zo[n't']ik, ve[n' t'] il, a[n't'] ical, co[n't'] text, remo[n't'] edit;
• the letters “N”, “K”, “P” during phonetic analysis of their composition can be softened before the soft sounds [ch'], [sch']: glass ik [staka'n'ch'ik], smenschik ik [sm'e ′n'sch'ik], donch ik [po'n'ch'ik], masonry ik [kam'e'n'sch'ik], boulevard [bul'va'r'sh'ina], borscht [ borsch'];
• often the sounds [з], [с], [р], [н] before a soft consonant undergo assimilation in terms of hardness-softness: wall [s't'e′nka], life [zhyz'n'], here [ z'd'es'];
• in order to correctly perform sound-letter analysis, take into account the exception words when the consonant [p] before soft teeth and labials, as well as before [ch’], [sch’] is pronounced firmly: artel, feed, cornet, samovar;

Note: the letter “b” after a consonant unpaired in hardness/softness in some word forms performs only a grammatical function and does not impose a phonetic load: study, night, mouse, rye, etc. In such words, during letter analysis, a [-] dash is placed in square brackets opposite the letter “b”.

Positional changes in paired voiced-voiceless consonants before hissing consonants and their transcription during sound-letter parsing

To determine the number of sounds in a word, you need to take them into account positional changes. Paired voiced-voiceless: [d-t] or [z-s] before sibilants (zh, sh, shch, h) are phonetically replaced by a sibilant consonant.

• Literal analysis and examples of words with hissing sounds: arrival [pr'ie'zhzh ii], ascend [vashsh e´st'iye], izzh elta [i´zh elta], take pity [zh a´l'its: A].

The phenomenon when two different letters are pronounced as one is called complete assimilation in all respects. When performing sound-letter analysis of a word, you must denote one of the repeated sounds in the transcription with the longitude symbol [:].

• Letter combinations with a hissing “szh” - “zzh” are pronounced like a double hard consonant [zh:], and “ssh” - “zsh” - like [sh:]: squeezed, sewed, without a splint, climbed in.
• The combinations “zzh”, “zhzh” inside the root, when parsed by letters and sounds, are written in transcription as a long consonant [zh:]: I ride, I squeal, later, reins, yeast, zhzhenka.
• The combinations “sch”, “zch” at the junction of a root and a suffix/prefix are pronounced as a long soft [sch’:]: account [sch’: o´t], scribe, customer.
• At the junction of the preposition with the following word in place of “sch”, “zch” is transcribed as [sch'ch']: without number [b'esh' ch' isla´], with something [sch'ch' e'mta] .
• During sound-letter analysis, the combinations “tch”, “dch” at the junction of morphemes are defined as double soft [ch':]: pilot [l'o´ch': ik], good fellow [little-ch': ik], report [ach': o´t].

Cheat sheet for comparing consonant sounds by place of formation

• сч → [ш':] : happiness [ш': а´с'т'е], sandstone [п'ish': а´н'ik], peddler [vari´sch': ik], paving stones, calculations, exhaust, clear;
• zch → [sch’:]: carver [r’e’sch’: ik], loader [gru’sch’: ik], storyteller [raska’sch’: ik];
• zhch → [sch’:]: defector [p’ir’ibe´ sch’: ik], man [musch’: i´na];
• shch → [sch’:]: freckled [in’isnu’sch’: ity];
• stch → [sch’:]: tougher [zho’sch’: e], biting, rigger;
• zdch → [sch’:]: roundabout [abye’sch’: ik], furrowed [baro’sch’: ity];
• ssch → [sch’:]: split [rasch’: ip’i′t’], became generous [rasch’: e’dr’ils’a];
• thsch → [ch'sch']: to split off [ach'sch' ip'i′t'], to snap off [ach'sch' o´lk'ivat'], in vain [ch'sch' etna], carefully [ch' sch' at'el'na];
• tch → [ch’:]: report [ach’: o′t], fatherland [ach’: i′zna], ciliated [r’is’n’i′ch’: i′ty];
• dch → [ch’:]: emphasize [pach’: o’rk’ivat’], stepdaughter [pach’: ir’itsa];
• szh → [zh:]: compress [zh: a´t’];
• zzh → [zh:]: get rid of [izh: y´t’], kindle [ro´zh: yk], leave [uyizh: a´t’];
• ssh → [sh:]: brought [pr’in’o′sh: y], embroidered [rash: y’ty];
• zsh → [sh:]: lower [n’ish: s′y]
• th → [pcs], in word forms with “what” and its derivatives, doing a sound-letter analysis, we write [pcs]: so that [pcs] , for nothing [n'e′ zasht a], something [ sht o n'ibut'], something;
• th → [h't] in other cases of letter parsing: dreamer [m'ich't a´t'il'], mail [po´ch't a], preference [pr'itpach't 'e´n' ie] etc;
• chn → [shn] in exception words: of course [kan'e´shn a′], boring [sku´shn a′], bakery, laundry, scrambled eggs, trifling, birdhouse, bachelorette party, mustard plaster, rag, as well as in female patronymics ending in “-ichna”: Ilyinichna, Nikitichna, Kuzminichna, etc.;
• chn → [ch'n] - letter analysis for all other options: fabulous [ska´zach'n y], dacha [da´ch'n y], strawberry [z'im'l'in'i´ch'n y], wake up, cloudy, sunny, etc.;
• !zhd → in place of the letter combination “zhd”, double pronunciation and transcription [sch’] or [sht’] is allowed in the word rain and in the word forms derived from it: rainy, rainy.

Unpronounceable consonants in Russian words

During the pronunciation of an entire phonetic word with a chain of many different consonant letters, one or another sound may be lost. As a result, in the spelling of words there are letters devoid of sound meaning, the so-called unpronounceable consonants. To correctly perform phonetic analysis online, the unpronounceable consonant is not displayed in the transcription. The number of sounds in such phonetic words will be less than letters.

In Russian phonetics, unpronounceable consonants include:

• "T" - in combinations:
  • stn → [sn]: local [m’e´sn y], reed [tras’n ’i´k]. By analogy, one can perform a phonetic analysis of the words staircase, honest, famous, joyful, sad, participant, messenger, rainy, furious and others;
  • stl → [sl]: happy [sh':asl 'i´vyy"], happy, conscientious, boastful (exception words: bony and postlat, in them the letter “T” is pronounced);
  • ntsk → [nsk]: gigantic [g'iga´nsk 'ii], agency, presidential;
  • sts → [s:]: sixs from [shes: o´t], to eat up [take´s: a], to swear I [kl’a´s: a];
  • sts → [s:]: tourist [tur'i´s: k'iy], maximalist cue [max'imal'i´s: k'iy], racist cue [ras'i´s: k'iy] , bestseller, propaganda, expressionist, Hindu, careerist;
  • ntg → [ng]: x-ray en [r’eng ’e´n];
  • “–tsya”, “–tsya” → [ts:] in verb endings: smile [smile´ts: a], wash [my´ts: a], looks, will do, bow, shave, fit;
  • ts → [ts] for adjectives in combinations at the junction of a root and a suffix: childish [d’e´ts k’ii], bratskiy [bratskyi];
  • ts → [ts:] / [tss]: athlete [sparts: m’e´n], send [atss yla´t’];
  • tts → [ts:] at the junction of morphemes during phonetic analysis online is written as a long “ts”: bratz a [bra´ts: a], father epit [ats: yp'i´t'], to father u [k atz: y´];
• “D” - when parsing by sounds in the following letter combinations:
  • zdn → [zn]: late [z'n'y], star [z'v'ozn'y], holiday [pra'z'n'ik], free [b'izvazm' e′know];
  • ndsh → [nsh]: mundsh tuk [munsh tu´k], landsh aft [lansh a´ft];
  • NDsk → [NSK]: Dutch [Galansk ’ii], Thai [Thailansk ’ii], Norman [Narmansk ’ii];
  • zdts → [ss]: under the bridles [fall uss s´];
  • ndc → [nts]: Dutch [galans];
  • rdc → [rts]: heart [s’e´rts e], serdts evin [s’irts yv’i´na];
  • rdch → [rch"]: heart ishko [s’erch ’i´shka];
  • dts → [ts:] at the junction of morphemes, less often in roots, are pronounced and when parsed soundly, the word is written as double [ts]: pick up [pats: yp'i´t'], twenty [dva´ts: yt'] ;
  • ds → [ts]: factory [zavac ko´y], rods tvo [rac tvo´], means [sr’e´ts tva], Kislovods k [k’islavo´ts k];
• “L” - in combinations:
  • sun → [nz]: sun [so´nts e], solar state;
• “B” - in combinations:
  • vstv → [stv] literal analysis of words: hello [hello, go away], feelings about [ch's'tva], sensuality [ch'us'tv 'inas't'], pampering about [pampering o´], virgin [d'e´stv 'in:y].

Note: In some words of the Russian language, when there is a cluster of consonant sounds “stk”, “ntk”, “zdk”, “ndk” the loss of the phoneme [t] is not allowed: trip [payestka], daughter-in-law, typist, summons, laboratory assistant, student , patient, bulky, Irish, Scottish.

• When parsing letters, two identical letters immediately after the stressed vowel are transcribed as a single sound and a longitude symbol [:]: class, bath, mass, group, program.
• Doubled consonants in pre-stressed syllables are indicated in transcription and pronounced as one sound: tunnel [tane´l’], terrace, apparatus.

If you find it difficult to perform phonetic analysis of a word online according to the indicated rules, or you have an ambiguous analysis of the word being studied, use the help of a reference dictionary. Literary norms of orthoepy are regulated by the publication: “Russian literary pronunciation and stress. Dictionary - reference book." M. 1959

References:

• Litnevskaya E.I. Russian language: short theoretical course for schoolchildren. – MSU, M.: 2000
• Panov M.V. Russian phonetics. – Enlightenment, M.: 1967
• Beshenkova E.V., Ivanova O.E. Rules of Russian spelling with comments.
• Tutorial. – “Institute for Advanced Training of Education Workers”, Tambov: 2012
• Rosenthal D.E., Dzhandzhakova E.V., Kabanova N.P. Handbook of spelling, pronunciation, literary editing. Russian literary pronunciation. – M.: CheRo, 1999

Now you know how to parse a word into sounds, make a sound-letter analysis of each syllable and determine their number. The described rules explain the laws of phonetics in the format school curriculum. They will help you phonetically characterize any letter.