RulesofReadinginRussian

Vowels
Stress
InRussian,everywordhasonestressedsyllable.InordertospeakRussianproperlyitisnecessaryto
knowwheretoputthestressinthewords.Insomecasesincorrectstressleadstothechangeof
meaningorgrammaticalvalueoftheword.StressinRussianisnotfixed,itmayfallonanysyllableand
normallyitisnotindicatedwithanaccentmark,Thebestwaytolearnthestressistomemorizeitby
listeningandrepeatingafteranativespeaker.
Listenandrepeat(stressedvowelismarkedwithbold):
(athome)(houses)
(hands)(ofahand)
(wines)(fault)
(torture)(flour)
(wittyremark,ajoke)(sharpness)
VowelReduction
InRussian,unstressedvowelsarenotpronouncedasdistinctlyasstressedvowels.Thealterationofa
vowelinanunstressedpositioniscalledreduction.Asaresultofreduction,somelettersdenotingvowel
soundsarereadinadifferentmannerthantheyarereadinthealphabet.
Stressedislike[ah]infather
Unstressedislike[]inphotography
SressedOislike[oh]incoffee
Unstressedislike[a]or[uh]L
Stressedislike[ye]inyellow
Unstressedislike[yi]
Stressedislike[ya]inyacht
Unstressedislike[yi]
Exception:Intheendingsofnouns,adjectivesetc.,inunstressedpositionthelettershouldbereadas

[ya]
,,,,noalterationinunstressedposition.
Summary:
1)Eachwordhasonestressedsyllable.StressintheRussianlanguagefollowsnorules.
2)Alterationofvowelsinunstressedposition:
>[]
>[]
E,>[yi]

Consonants
HardandSoft

Allconsonantsoundsaredividedintohardandsoft.Mostsoundscomeinpairs"hardvs.soft",i.e.their
pronunciationdiffersonlybysoftness.Thereare15pairsofconsonants"hardvs.soft".Bothhardand
softsoundineachpairrepresentedbythesameletter.
Thesoundissoftiftheletterisfollowedby:
,,,,or
Otherwise,aconsonantsoundishard.
Listenandrepeat:
(mother)(tojam,torumple)
(aboat)(ice)
(fish)(rise)
(sir)(aheart)
(plot)(ajudge)
(game,round)(amalehourse)
Note:,arealwayshard,soturn,,into,,,respectivelywhenreading.
Listenandrepeat:
(fat)
(parachute)
(awoman)
(wool)
(tyres)
(redhaired)

VoicedandVoiceless:

MostofRussianconsonantscomeinvoice/voicelesspairs:

Voicedconsonantsarepronouncedwithvibrationofvocalcords,whileunvoicedconsonantsare
pronouncedwithlittleornovibrationofvocalcords.
Listenandrepeat:
(tower)(plowedfield)
!(Out!)(background)
(sorry)(shawl)
(cat)(goth)
(sadness)(board)
(hare)(roll,bread)
Devocalization

Russianletters,,,,,turnintothevoicelesssounds[],[],[],[],[],[]before
unvoicedconsonants,attheendofthewordandbeforefinal
Listenandrepeat:
(anoak)
(aseam)
(afriend)
(honey)
(finch)
(gas)
(cork)
(bench)
(Ihaveahaircut)
(vodka)
(aspoon)
(abrain)
(footwear)

Vocalization

Vocalizationisanoppositeprocesscomparedtodevoicing.Itmeansthatletters,,,,and,the
basicmeaningsofwhichareunvoicedconsonants,maydesignatevoicedsounds(hardandsoft).
Vocalizationoccursincaseswhentheselettersarefoundbeforeletters,,,,denotingvoiced
sounds.Notethatif,,,,andarefoundbefore,vocalizationdoesnotoccur.
Examples:
(todo)
(football)
BUT:(aquarter,threemonths)

Summary:
Soundsaresoftenedwhenfollowedby,,,,or
Beforeunvoicedconsonants,attheendofthewordandbeforefinalletters,,,,,are
turnedtounvoicedsounds
Whenfoundbeforeletters,,,,,letters,,,,andareturnedvoicedconsonants
RulesofReadinginBrief:
Eachwordhasonestressed syllable.StressintheRussianlanguagefollowsnorules.
Alterationofvowelsin
unstressedposition:
>[]
>[]
E,>[yi]

Soundsaresoftenedwhenfollowedby,,,,or
Beforeunvoicedconsonants,attheendofthewordandbeforefinalletters,,,,,
areturnedtounvoicedsounds
When foundbeforeletters,,,,,letters,,,,andareturnedvoiced
consonants
Whenreading:
1)checkthestress,
2)reduceunstressedvowels,
3)softenconsonantsiftheyarefollowedby,,,,or,
4)devocalizevoicedconsonantattheendofthewordorbeforeunvoicedconsonants,
5)vocalizeunvoicedconsonantsbeforevoicedconsonants.