Questions tagged [произношение]

Questions about the pronunciation of words, as they are uttered by both native and non-native speakers.

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2 votes
2 answers
101 views

preposition attached to noun

In English, you could imagine or invent some situations where you enunciate every single word and leave a space between words. For example: "This - is - a - sentence. Do you understand?" In ...
  • 380
2 votes
1 answer
155 views

In the word "скорого" why is the "г" pronounced as a "V"?

I thought the letter "г" was supposed to be for the sound "G"?
3 votes
2 answers
298 views

Pronunciation of Г in regional accents

Watching a video of Russian speakers, I noticed two people who pronounced "г" as in Ukrainian, i.e. like a hard English "h". They also used аканье. As far as I know, they were ...
3 votes
3 answers
270 views

Can you pronounce “щ” as “ш + ч?” Will people still understand me if I pronounce it that way?

I know that pronunciation of щ as [шч] is outdated, but can I still pronounce it like that, and will people still understand me?
  • 31
-3 votes
1 answer
185 views

Произношение йэ, йы

Почему в произношении буква 'е' слышится скорее как йы, а не как йэ? Или это только я так слышу? Йысть/Йэсть (Есть), Йыль/Йэль (Ель) Добавляю запись с обеими вариантами произношения dropbox
1 vote
4 answers
316 views

How do you pronounce время?

I've been studying Russian for like 3-4 years and I still don't know how to pronounce this word. I see the я and I want to say ya but the more I listen to people speak the more it sounds like vremeh ...
  • 41
0 votes
4 answers
288 views

How is the slash verbalized in Russian?

How is the slash (when it is used in English to connect non-contrasting items) verbalized in Russian? I'm a native Russian speaker and nothing really comes to mind. «Тире» or «слеш», perhaps? For ...
  • 17
5 votes
2 answers
192 views

Do hard vowels after ч and щ really become their 'iotated' equivalents?

I was reading a reputable textbook (A Comprehensive Russian Grammar) to revisit my fairly shaky knowledge of pronunciation, and the book claimed that: The vowels а, о, and у are in practice ...
  • 641
-1 votes
1 answer
209 views

How is the Russian /b/ really pronounced? Бб

Is it just me or is the Russian b not pronounced the same as in English. Both have the same ipa character but my ears hear the Russian b differently - like a slight buildup of air at the front of the ...
  • 103
-3 votes
3 answers
276 views

What is the point of the "dipthong" ий?

I believe the diphthong would be /ɪ͜j/ but it just sounds like an /ɪ/ when native speakers pronounce it. For example, the word зданий has this ending and it just sounds like a one vowel finish. I'm ...
  • 103
7 votes
1 answer
1k views

History of /f/ sound in Russian

My wife is Russian and I am learning it. One thing I seem to see is that no "native" or "elementary" words seem to start with the letter ф (other than the name Fedor perhaps, and I ...
1 vote
2 answers
222 views

Proper way to pronounce в and ф

в and ф are considered a voiced-voiceless pair, but in English there is surely a difference between the 'v' and 'f' sound that is not limited to voicedness, for example, the mouth positioning is ...
  • 121
1 vote
2 answers
308 views

Pronunciation of "поздно" (late)

The word поздно (late) is pronounced as [ˈpoznə]. So the д is not spoken. I do not understand why the д vanishes here in this case. Which grammar rule tells me this?
  • 335
0 votes
1 answer
232 views

Pronunciation of "подъезд" if it would be "подьезд"?

I came across the word подъезд [pɐdˈjest]. I am aware of the fact that there is a j added, as the e comes after the ъ. However, I wondered why it is a ъ and not a ь here. How would the word be ...
  • 335
3 votes
2 answers
229 views

Pronunciation and IPA transcription of "Нева"

I learned different grammar rules. Regarding vowels I learned the rule that there is an "j" added / vowels are spoken with a j if: in the beginning of a word (like яблоко [jáblaka]) after a ...
  • 335
-1 votes
1 answer
171 views

Kaliningrad ... may it be referred to as Kalinograd?

Kaliningrad is the Russian exclave sandwiched in between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic coast. Every time I think of it I find myself saying "Kalinograd" because in English usage ...
0 votes
4 answers
225 views

How exactly do we pronounce soft vowels (е, ё, ю, я)

I do not understand the exact way of choosing between the following pronunciations : е : "yè" or "è" Ё: "yo" or "o" Я: "ya" or "a" Ю: "...
  • 109
1 vote
1 answer
381 views

How to pronounce "hard consonants" correctly?

In Russian, the consonants that are not soft (except к, г, х) are harder than in English. What makes them harder is that the back of the tongue is kept high and back. Another exception is "l"...
  • 113
2 votes
2 answers
208 views

Произношение слова «случай» - это принцип или исключение?

Произношение слова «случай» звучит как «случий». Если я бы знал как его написать, я бы написал «случий» или «случьяй», потому что знаю, что безударное «я» звучит как «и». Но безударное «а» звучит как «...
  • 175
4 votes
2 answers
298 views

Which one is correct: За нас/Про нас/Для нас

I find the use of ‘for’ in Russian a bit confusing as there are several possible options. So I’d like know the appropriate use of the following: За/Про/Для, with some examples of possible. Which one ...
0 votes
2 answers
279 views

The pronunciation of а vowel followed by "я"?

I am a newbie using Memrise (memrise.com - a Russian language app) to build a vocabulary and my pronunciation, so please forgive me if this is a stupid question. Тhe word, бояться, is pronounced in ...
  • 11
2 votes
2 answers
350 views

Do Russians pronounce "Арбатская" and "Орбацкая" the same?

A Russian language exchange partner of mine boasted that unlike words in the English language, Russian words are spelt and pronounced basically the same. In response, I asked him about Арбатская and ...
  • 11.2k
0 votes
1 answer
131 views

Pronunciation of е in different words

So from what I have learnt so far, нет is pronounced "nyet" and Привет is "privyet". But in телефон it is "telefon", why is е used in this case and not э and why is it ...
11 votes
3 answers
632 views

What is Smerdyakov complaining about in the following passage of The Brothers Karamazov?

I'm reading The Brothers Karamazov in the standard French translation of the novel and Henri Mongault, the translator, mentions in one of his notes that he left out the following bit of dialogue (the ...
  • 507
3 votes
2 answers
251 views

How should the final "о" in "эхо" be pronounced?

In Wiktionary I see [ə] (in full: [ˈɛxə]), but what I hear in various samples is not fully a fully reduced schwa but something more like the semi-reduced pronunciation [ɐ] of <а> and <о>, or ...
  • 400
5 votes
3 answers
271 views

Pronunciation of цель (and stressed -е- as /e/ in general)

What is the proper pronunciation of цель? For context, my choir is working on a Russian piece, and the transliteration we have is inconsistent and unreliable. I have been reading through Russian ...
3 votes
2 answers
464 views

Pronunciation of "дождь"

My dictionary (Большой универсальный словарь русского языка) indicates that дождь can be pronounced in two ways /doʂtʲ/ as it is written or /doɕ:/ as if it were written дощ. Does that hold true for ...
  • 507
1 vote
1 answer
579 views

Pronunciation of ж

According to my good old Russian learning textbooks, the sound ж in Russian is retroflex (/ʐ/), that is to say it should be pronounced with the tip of the tongue pushed against the palate. Now, in my ...
5 votes
1 answer
662 views

How prevalent is the sound /ʑ:/ in Russian?

The sound /ʑ:/ is known as the voiced alveolo-palatal sibilant fricative and, roughly speaking, is the average of /z/ as in zebra and /ʒ/ as in vision. Russian speakers can understand /ʑ:/ as the ...
  • 11.2k
2 votes
2 answers
201 views

Pronunciation of /a/ after soft consonant or /j/

According to the Russian phonology wiki (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_phonology) : The pronunciation of unstressed /o ~ a/ is as follows: (...) When a soft consonant or /j/ precedes, ...
1 vote
2 answers
222 views

Homophones after vowel reduction

I tried to learn some Russian some 30 years ago and it's super rusty now but I'm trying to help my son who's taking it at school and is getting a bit discouraged by how daunting it is. While revising ...
  • 507
8 votes
4 answers
712 views

Why is the 'г' in "мягкий" pronounced like a 'х'?

According to these consonant assimilation rules, the letters г and к form a voiced/voiceless pair, and the final consonant in the cluster voices or devoices the preceding consonant. If these rules ...
  • 303
12 votes
8 answers
5k views

Why do Russians sometimes spell "жирный" (fatty) as "жырный"?

I noticed that Russians sometimes incorrectly spell жирный as жырный, even despite that the rule "spell жи and ши with и" is one of the most basic Russian orthography rules. I also see that ...
  • 11.2k
2 votes
0 answers
50 views

How do I tell if a 'г' sounds like a 'g' or a 'v' [duplicate]

г normally sounds like a g, such as где. Sometimes though it can sound like a v, such as нового. How do I tell which one is the correct one?
0 votes
0 answers
39 views

Pronunciation of существительное [duplicate]

In Google Translate, in the Wiktionary audio recording and in some Forvo audio recordings of the word "существительное", I am unable to hear the ending E (/iə/ in unstressed syllables like the last ...
-1 votes
2 answers
240 views

Pronunciation of unstressed ю ( /jʊ/ )

I have learned that an unstressed ю is pronounced /jʊ/. However, I cannot hear the /j/ in "Я читаю" (ref: Google Translate) as clearly as I hear in the English word "yes" (https://en.m.wiktionary.org/...
6 votes
2 answers
905 views

Pronunciation of "солнце"

Why isn't the consonant л pronounced in "солнце" ( it is pronounced ['sont͡sə]] instead of [ˈsolnt͡sə] ) ? Is that a result of a pronunciation rule or is it an exception?
2 votes
3 answers
477 views

Pronunciation of "мужчина"

Why is мужчи́на pronounced /mʊɕːˈinə/ instead of /mʊʂtɕˈinə/ ? I am already considering that ж is pronounced ш because it is voiced and it is followed by an unvoiced consonant (ч), also known as ...
0 votes
1 answer
166 views

Pronunciation of кафе

Why the consonant "ф" in "кафе" is not soft (= palatalized), given that it is before the soft vowel "e"? Do loanwords usually break pronunciation rules?
2 votes
1 answer
469 views

Pronunciation of /ʂ/, /ʐ/ and/ɕ/

I am trying to correctly pronounce ш (/ʂ/), ж (/ʐ/) and щ (/ɕɕ/), so I must learn the 3 related phonems: /ʂ/, /ʐ/ and /ɕ/. I am familiar with the phonems /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ from English and, as all these ...
8 votes
3 answers
2k views

Can Russians naturally pronounce "попал в бесперспективняк"?

Let's suppose you are having a casual conversation with a friend and talking quickly and want to say, "Попал в бесперспективняк." Will you be able to pronounce this flawlessly and without changing the ...
  • 11.2k
11 votes
6 answers
4k views

Russian pronunciation of /etc (a directory)

Abstracting from the fact that it is usually pronounced as in English, how /etc (https://www.tldp.org/LDP/sag/html/etc-fs.html) should be pronounced in Russian? I was under the impression that, as it ...
  • 113
0 votes
3 answers
156 views

Is the word "вечер" pronounced like "ˈvʲet͡ɕɨr" even though the IPA for it is "ˈvʲet͡ɕɪr"?

Is the word "вечер" pronounced like "ˈvʲet͡ɕɨr" or "ˈvʲet͡ɕər" even though the IPA for it is "ˈvʲet͡ɕɪr"?
-1 votes
2 answers
121 views

What is the IPA for the Russian word “разные”?

Do you know what the IPA for the Russian word “разные” is?
1 vote
2 answers
310 views

Why is the IPA for the Russian word "здание" is /ˈzdanʲɪje/ although people pronounce it like /ˈzdanʲɪjə/?

Why is the IPA for the Russian word "здание" is /ˈzdanʲɪje/ although people pronounce it like /ˈzdanʲɪjə/? Do Russians pronounce the IPA letter "e" like "ə" if it is at the end of the words?
2 votes
2 answers
224 views

Pronunciation with the endings ие and ия

Example: эпидемия If you listen to everything on forvo.com and the voice they left on wiki they all sound like эпидемя like the й is not even there, is there a reduction rule for this? Even in the ...
  • 1,023
1 vote
1 answer
271 views

Difference of pronunciation between ɐ and ə

Due to the bad example they give in the table shown above i cannot tell the difference between the two. about and bud both sound exactly the same to me and to anyone i ask (i am a native in the u.s). ...
  • 1,023
2 votes
2 answers
137 views

Effect of palatalization on a consonant before и

I have been studying the different effects that happen to vowels when a preceding consonant becomes palatalized and i am having trouble figuring out the exact sound of и when there is a palatalized ...
  • 1,023
-1 votes
2 answers
481 views

Why is the Russian informal phone greeting "алё" equivalent to the Turkish one?

I recently discovered that the Russian informal phone greeting, алё, precisely coincides with the Turkish one. When you hear "алё," you absolutely cannot tell whether it is a Russian or a Turk who is ...
  • 11.2k
0 votes
0 answers
122 views

Why is по pronounced "po" but по русски is pronounced pa-ruski? Or am I saying one of them wrong? [duplicate]

Literally, the very first thing in Russian that I learned was the phrase "я не очень хорошо говорю по русски" so I know that по русски is pronounced pa ruski, but I was adding a pronunciation for the ...