Noisy voiceless noisy voiced sonorants. What are sonorant sounds: definition and examples

Sound is the smallest indivisible unit of voiced speech flow that has no meaning. The branch of linguistics called phonetics is devoted to the study of the sound structure of a language, all its manifestations and functions.

The phonetic system of the Russian language contains 42 sounds, 6 of which are vowels, and the remaining 36 are consonants. Sonorant sounds in Russian deserve special attention. As a rule, the pronunciation of some of them causes the greatest difficulties in children who are just learning to speak. To understand what sonorant sounds are, it is necessary to consider the system of sounds of the Russian language as a whole.

Each sound has the following characteristics:

• acoustic;
• articulatory;
• functional (semantic).

Acoustic characteristics

To characterize a sound in terms of acoustics is to characterize the way it sounds. This can be done by its sonority, strength and height.

Sonority allows you to separate vocal and non-vocal sounds. All noisy consonants are nonvocalic. Vocal sounds include all vowels and sonorant consonants.

In terms of strength, sounds can be consonant or non-consonant. All consonants are consonant, i.e. weak, and non-consonant, i.e. strong - all vowels.

From the position of height, the sound can be high or low, respectively. High are the front vowels, front-lingual and middle-lingual consonants. All other vowels and consonants are low sounds.

Concept of articulation

Articulation is the process of producing sounds. The human speech apparatus, with the help of which sounds are formed, is represented by a fairly large set of organs. These include the lungs, larynx, vocal cords, nasal cavity, hard and soft palate, mandible, lips and tongue. The stream of exhaled air leaves the lungs and passes through the gap formed by the vocal cords in the larynx. When the vocal cords are tense and vibrating, a voice (tone) is formed. It serves as the basis for vowels, voiced and sonorant consonants. If the vocal cords are relaxed, the voice does not form, and noise occurs, which underlies noisy consonants.

Further differentiation of sounds occurs in the oral cavity, depending on what obstacle the air stream encounters on its path.

Characteristics of vowels

The main feature of vowel sounds is that when they are formed, a stream of air, having formed a tone in the vocal cords, no longer encounters any obstacles in the oral cavity. That is, they consist of only tone (voice) without added noise.

The vowels are the sounds a, o, u, i, ы, e. The articulation of each vowel sound depends only on the position of the active organs of speech (lips, tongue, soft palate and lower jaw).

The functional feature of vowel sounds is that they form a syllable, i.e. play a syllabic role.

Characteristics of consonants

When a consonant sound is formed, the air stream encounters various kinds of obstacles on its path. When overcoming an obstacle, noise occurs. Therefore, the main difference between a consonant sound and a vowel is the presence, in addition to tone (voice), also of noise. The occurrence of a specific consonant sound depends on the location of the obstacle formation and the method of overcoming it. Thus, they are all divided depending on the ratio of tone and noise, place and method of formation.

According to the ratio of tone and noise, consonants are divided into sonorant sounds, voiced and voiceless consonants. Voiced and voiceless consonants are noisy because In their formation, noise participates either on an equal basis with the voice (voiced), or predominates over the voice (deaf).

When pronouncing a consonant sound, a barrier can be formed by the tongue or lips, therefore all consonants are divided according to the place of formation into labial and lingual.

According to the method of formation, or according to the method of overcoming an obstacle, they are occlusive, fricative, occlusive-frictional (affricates), occlusive-transitive and tremulous.

Another characteristic of consonants is palatalization (hardness/softness). Hardness/softness pairs do not have only a few consonant sounds: zh, ts (always hard) and ch, j (always soft).

Characteristics of sonorous sounds

What a sonorant sound is becomes clear from the translation of this definition. The word "sonorant" comes from the Latin sonorus. It means "resonant". Indeed, when such a sound is formed, the voice predominates, and the noise is so minimal that sonorant sounds become close to vowels. Sonorant sounds in Russian are m, m", n, n", l, l", r, r", j.

Note. The main thing that is special about sonorous sounds is that when passing through an obstacle in the oral cavity, the air that forms the sound finds a way around it. So, for example, when the sound l and its soft pair are formed, the air bypasses the bow formed by the tongue and upper teeth on the sides. Accordingly, according to the place of formation, this sound is lingual-dental. And according to the method of formation - occlusive-passage. When the sound p and its soft pair are formed, the flow of air causes the bow formed by the tongue and the hard palate to vibrate. Thus, it is lingual-alveolar according to the place of formation, and tremulous (vibrant) according to the method of formation. It is interesting that such a sonorant sound as j (th) is very similar in its formation to the vowel i. However, during its pronunciation, a significant narrowing occurs as the air flows through. Because of this, a slight noise arises, which allows us to classify this sound as a consonant. According to the place of formation, j is lingual-mid-palatal, according to the method of formation - fissural, and can only be palatalized (soft).

All sonorant sounds in the Russian language do not have a voiced/voiced pair and are only voiced. At the end of a word, deafening of sonorant sounds does not occur, as happens with other voiced consonants.

Oral and nasal sonorities

Depending on the position of the velum, different consonant sounds are formed. If the velum is lifted and pressed against the back wall of the pharynx, the passage into the nasal cavity for the air stream is closed. The sounds produced in this way are called oral sounds. Or clean. If the velum is lowered, the passage into the nasal cavity for the air stream opens, and the nasal cavity serves as an additional resonator for the formation of sound. In this way, sounds called nasal or nasal are formed.

There are only four nasal sounds in the Russian language: m, m", n, n". According to the place of formation, the m and its soft pair are labial-labial, and according to the method of formation, it is occipital. The sound n and its soft pair are lingual-dental according to the place of formation, and octocental according to the method of formation.

So, understanding what a sonorous sound is is possible only with a full understanding of the mechanism of sound formation. That is, their articulation. Knowledge of the features of sonorant consonant sounds helps to determine their place in the phonetic system of the Russian language.

Consonants

Consonant sounds: classification features

When classifying consonants, it is customary to take into account a number of features:

1) the ratio of noise and tone (noisiness / sonority),

3) hardness / softness,

4) place of education,

5) method of education.

The properties of deafness/voiceness pairing and hardness/softness pairing are specifically discussed.

Noisy and sonorant, voiceless and voiced consonants

Noisy and sonorant consonants differ in the ratio of noise and tone.

Nine sounds are sonorant in the Russian language: [m], [m’], [n], [n’], [l], [l’], [r], [r’], [j]. As with all consonants, when articulating sonorants, an obstacle is created in the oral cavity. However, the frictional force of the air stream on the close/closed organs of speech is minimal: the air stream finds a relatively free exit to the outside and no noise is generated. The air rushes either through the nose ([m], [m’], [n], [n’]), or into the passage between the lateral edges of the tongue and the cheeks ([l], [l’]). The absence of noise may be due to the immediacy of the obstacle ([p], [p’]) or to the fairly wide nature of the gap itself ([j]). In any case, no noise is created and the main source of sound is the tone (voice) created by the vibration of the vocal cords.

In the formation of noisy consonants ([b], [v], [d], [d], [zh], [z], etc.), on the contrary, noise plays the main role. It occurs as a result of an air stream overcoming an obstacle. The tone component of the sound is minor and can either be absent altogether (for voiceless consonants) or complement the main one (for voiced consonants).

Voiced and voiceless consonants differ in the participation/non-participation of the tone (voice) in the formation of the consonant sound.

Tone (voice) is characteristic of the pronunciation of voiced sounds; their articulation requires the obligatory work of the vocal cords. Therefore, all sonorants are voiced: [m], [m’], [n], [n’], [l], [l’], [p], [p’], [j]. Among noisy consonants, the following sounds are considered voiced: [b], [b'], [v], [v'], [g], [g'], [d], [d'], [zh], [ g:'], [z], [z'].

Voiceless consonants are pronounced without voice when the vocal cords remain relaxed. The sounds of this type include only noisy ones: [p], [p'], [f], [f'], [t], [t'], [s], [s'], [sh], [sh :'], [k], [k'], [ts], [h'], [x], [x'].

[b] - [p] [b’] - [p’]

[v] - [f] [v’] - [f’]

[d] - [t] [d’] - [t’]

[z] - [s] [z’] - [s’]

[w] - [w] [w:’] - [w:’]

[g] - [k] [g’] - [k’]

The listed sounds are respectively either voiced doubles, or deaf paired. The remaining consonants are characterized as unpaired. TO voiced unpaired All sonorants are classified as unpaired voiceless sounds [ts], [ch’], [x], [x’].

Phonetic alternations of consonants according to deafness / voicedness. Indication of deafness/voicing of consonants in writing

Voicelessness/voice of consonants remains an independent feature that does not depend on anything in the following positions:

1) before vowels: [su]d court - [zu]d itch, [ta]m there - [da]m dam;

2) before sonorants: [layer] layer - [evil] oh evil, [tl’]ya aphid - [dl’]ya for;

3) before [in], [v’]: [sw’]ver ver - [beast’]beast beast.

In these positions, both voiceless and voiced consonants are found, and these sounds are used to distinguish words (morphemes). The listed positions are called strong in deafness/voicedness.

In other cases, the appearance of a dull/voiced sound is predetermined by its position in a word or the proximity of a particular sound. Such deafness/voiceness turns out to be dependent, “forced”. Positions in which this occurs are considered weak according to the specified criterion.

In the Russian language there is a law according to which voiced noisy stunned at the end of a word, cf.: du[b]a oak - du[n] oak, má[z']i ointment - ma[s'] ointment. In the given examples, the phonetic alternation of consonants in deafness / voicedness is recorded: [b] // [p] and [z’] // [s’].

In addition, positional changes concern situations when voiceless and voiced consonants are nearby. In this case, the subsequent sound affects the previous one. Voiced consonants in front of the deaf ones are necessarily likened to them in terms of deafness, as a result a sequence of voiceless sounds arises, cf.: ló[d]ochka boat - ló[tk]a boat (i.e. [d] // [t] before the deaf), ready[v']it prepares – ready[f't']e prepare (i.e. [v'] // [f'] before the deaf).

Voiceless consonants standing before voiced noisy consonants (except for [в], [в’]) change to voiced ones, it happens resemblance by voicing, cf.: molo[t']i´t to thresh – molo[d'b]á threshing ([t'] // [d'] before the voiced), pro[s']i´t to ask – pro[z 'b]a request (i.e. [s'] // [z'] before the voiced one).

The articulatory likening of sounds of the same nature, that is, two consonants (or two vowels), is called assimilation (from the Latin assimilatio ‘likeness’). Thus, it was described above assimilation by deafness And assimilation by voicing.

The designation of deafness/voicing of consonants in writing is associated with the use of the corresponding letters: t or d, p or b, etc. However, only independent, independent deafness / voicedness is indicated in writing. Sound features that turn out to be “forced”, positionally conditioned, are not indicated in writing. Thus, phonetically alternating sounds are written with one letter, the morphematic principle of spelling operates: in the word du[n ] du b the letter b is written, as in the test du [b ]a du b a .

An exception will be the spelling of some borrowed words (transcription[p]transcription in the presence of transcribe[b']transcribe transcribe) and prefixes in s/z (and[s]use used in the presence and[learn] study ). The graphic appearance of such examples falls under the phonetic principle of spelling. True, in the case of prefixes, it does not work completely, being combined with the traditional one: ra[sh:]evelit = ra[sh]raise stir up.

The choice of letter in dictionary words like vo[g]hall station, and[z]best asbestos is subject to the traditional principle of spelling. Their writing does not depend either on verification (it is impossible) or on pronunciation.

Hard and soft consonants

Hard and soft consonants differ in the position of the tongue.

When pronouncing soft consonants ([b’], [v’], [d’], [z’], etc.), the entire body of the tongue moves forward, and the middle part of the back of the tongue rises to the hard palate. This movement of the tongue is called palatalization. Palatalization is considered an additional articulation: it is superimposed on the main one associated with the formation of an obstruction.

When pronouncing hard consonants ([b], [v], [d], [z], etc.), the tongue does not move forward and its middle part does not rise.

Consonants form 15 pairs of sounds contrasting in hardness/softness. All of them are or hard doubles, or soft paired:

TO hard unpaired include consonants [ts], [sh], [z], and soft unpaired consonants include [ch’], [sh:’], [zh:’] and [j].

The consonants [w] and [sh:’], [zh] and [zh:’] do not form pairs, since they differ in two characteristics at once: hardness/softness and brevity/longitude.

It should be noted that the sound [zh:’] is rare. It is possible only in a limited range of words: I ride, reins, yeast, splashes, later and some others. At the same time, [zh:’] is increasingly being replaced by [zh:].

The sound [j] occupies a very special position among soft consonants. For the remaining soft consonants, the raising of the middle part of the back of the tongue to the hard palate is, as noted above, additional articulation. The consonant [j] has the indicated articulation as the main one, because There are no other barriers when pronouncing [j]. Therefore, the sound [j] is, in principle, not capable of having a paired solid.

Phonetic alternations of consonants according to hardness/softness. Indication of hardness/softness of consonants in writing. Letters b and b

The hardness/softness of consonants as an independent feature, and not one arising due to positional changes, is recorded in the following strong positions:

1) before vowels, including [e]: [lu]k bow - [l'u]k hatch, [but]s nose - [n'o]s carried, pas[t e´]l pastel - post[t 'e´]l bed;

Paired soft consonants before [e] are pronounced in native Russian words, paired hard ones - in borrowed ones. However, many of these borrowings have ceased to be recognized as rare: antenna, cafe, sausage, stress, mashed potatoes, prosthesis, etc. As a result, in commonly used words, both hard and soft pronunciation of the consonant before [e] has become possible.

2) at the end of the word: ko[n] kon - ko[n’] horse, zha[r] heat - zha[r’] fry;

3) for sounds [l], [l’], regardless of their position: vo[l]ná wave - vo[l’]ná is free;

4) for consonants [c], [s'], [z], [z'], [t], [t'], [d], [d'], [n], [n'], [ р], [р'] (in front-lingual speakers)

– in the position before [k], [k'], [g], [g'], [x], [x'] (before the back-lingual ones): gó[r]ka gorka - gó[r']ko bitterly, bá[n]ka bank - bá[n']ka bathhouse;

– in the position before [b], [b’], [p], [p’], [m], [m’] (before labials): i[z]bá izba - re[z’]bá carving;

In other cases, the hardness or softness of a consonant will not be independent, but caused by the influence of sounds on each other.

Hardness comparison observed, for example, in the case of connecting a soft [n'] with a hard [s], cf.: kó[n'] horse – kó[ns]ky horse, Spain [n']ia Spain – Spanish [ns]ky (t .e. [n'] // [n] before solid). The pair ju[n’] June – ju’[n’s]ky June does not obey the indicated pattern. But this exception is the only one.

Likening by softness is carried out inconsistently in relation to different groups of consonants and is not observed by all speakers. The only exception is the replacement of [n] with [n'] before [h'] and [w:'], cf: drum [n] drum - drum [n'ch']ik drum, go [n]ok races – gó[n' w:']ik racer (i.e. [n] // [n'] before soft).

In accordance with the old norms, one should say: l ya´[m’k’]and straps, [v’b’]it to drive in; [d'v']open the door; [s’j]eat; [s’t’]ena wall. In modern pronunciation there is no obligatory softening of the first sound in these cases. Thus, the word la´[mk’]i straps (similar to trya´[pk’]i rags, lá[fk’] and benches) is pronounced only with a hard word, other sound combinations allow for variability in pronunciation.

The designation on the letter applies only to cases of independent, and not positionally determined hardness/softness of paired consonants. At the letter level, the soft quality of the sound [n’] in the words drum and racer is not recorded graphically.

In contrast to deafness/voicedness, the independent softness of paired consonants is conveyed not by the letter corresponding to the consonant sound, but by the letter following it:

letters i, e, yu, i: l i k, l e d, l u k, l i zg;
In modern language, the letter e no longer denotes the softness of the preceding consonant. The combination of letters ... te ... cannot be read if you do not see which word it belongs to - te hundred or te st.

2) at the end of the word there is a soft sign: horse, heat, dust;

3) in the middle of the word, before the consonant, there is a soft sign: ty ma, ve s ma, ba n ka.

The independent hardness of paired consonants is conveyed by the following means:

letters s, o, u, a, e: ly ko, lodka, lu k, la ska, kara te;

at the end of the word there is no soft sign: ko n_, zha r_, dust_ l;

in the middle of a word before a consonant there is no soft sign:
t_ min, s_ looks, ba n_ ka.

The hardness/softness of unpaired consonants does not require a separate designation. The spelling i/y, e/o, yu/u, ya/a after the letters w, zh, h, shch, ts, corresponding to unpaired ones, is dictated by tradition: life, number, tsy films, burn, o zho g, shu weave, brochure, cup. The same applies to the use/non-use of the letter soft sign in a number of grammatical forms: rye, zamuzh_, ti sh, small sh_, thing, comrade_, moch, brick_.

Please note that the names of the letters b and b are insidious. The letter "hard sign" never denotes hardness; its use is associated with the separating function, i.e. indicating the presence of [j] before the following vowel sound: st eat, a[d’ju]tant adjutant.

The functions of the letter "soft sign" are broader. Firstly, it can also be used in a dividing function, but not after the prefixes: [вjý]ga blizzard, bu[l’jó]n broth. In this case, the letter ь does not indicate the softness of the consonant. Secondly, the soft sign can traditionally be written in a number of grammatical forms after letters corresponding to unpaired consonants (see above). When used in this way, the letter ь again does not convey the softness of sounds. And finally, in a number of situations the letter ь indicates the softness of consonants in a letter. This function extends to examples with independent softness of paired consonants at the end of a word and in the middle of a word before a consonant (see above).

Place and method of formation of consonants

Place of education consonant sound - a sign showing where in the oral cavity the air stream meets an obstacle.

This characteristic is given with the obligatory indication of the active (moving) and passive (stationary) organs. Thus, consonants, the articulation of which is associated with the movement of the lower lip, are labiolabial ([p], [p'], [b], [b'], [m], [m']) and labiodental ([ f], [f'], [v], [v']). Consonants formed with the active participation of the tongue are divided into anterior lingual dental ones ([s], [s'], [z], [z'], [t], [t'], [d], [d'], [ ts], [l], [l'], [n], [n']), anterior lingual anteropalatal([w], [w’], [w], [w’], [h’], [r], [r’]), midlingual midpalatal([j]), posterior lingual midpalatal([k’], [g’], [x’]) and velar lingual([k], [g], [x]). All of the listed sound groups are reflected in the table of consonants (see below).

When looking at the table (Appendix to the publication), be sure to pronounce the sounds given in it. The work of your own speech organs will help you understand why each sound is placed in a particular cell.

Method of consonant formation- this is a characteristic that simultaneously indicates the type of obstacle in the oral cavity and the method of overcoming it.

There are two main ways to form an obstruction - either complete closure of the speech organs, or their bringing together to the distance of the gap. This is how stop and fricative consonants are distinguished.

When articulating slots, a stream of exhaled air exits in the middle of the oral cavity, producing friction against the adjacent organs of speech: [f], [f'], [v], [v'], [s], [s'], [z], [ z'], [w], [w¯'], [zh], [zh¯'], [j], [x], [x'].

The pronunciation of stop consonants includes the moment of complete shutter of the speech organs, when the exit of the air stream to the outside is blocked. The method of overcoming the bow may be different, depending on which further division into classes is carried out.

Stop plosives involve eliminating an obstacle with a strong and short push of air that quickly comes out: [p], [p'], [b], [b'], [t], [t'], [d], [d'], [k], [k'], [g], [g'].

U stop affricates The organs of speech that are tightly adjacent to each other do not sharply open, but only open slightly, forming a gap for air to escape: [ts], [h’].

Stop nasals do not require breaking the stop at all. Thanks to the lowered palatine curtain, the air does not rush to the place of the shutter, but freely exits through the nasal cavity: [m], [m’], [n], [n’].

When the closing lateral [l] and [l’] are formed, the air also does not come into contact with the obstacle, bypassing it along its trajectory - between the lowered side of the tongue and the cheeks.

Some teaching aids describe nasal and lateral sounds as occlusive passages.

Stop tremors characterized by periodic closing and opening of the speech organs, that is, their vibration: [р], [р’].

Sometimes tremors are considered not as a type of stop, but as a separate, third type of consonant along with stops and fricatives.

Phonetic alternations of consonants according to place and method of formation. Phonetic alternations of consonants with zero sound

The place and method of formation of consonants can only change as a result of the influence of sounds on each other.

Before the anterior palatal noisy ones, the dental ones are replaced by the anterior palatal ones. Happening positional assimilation by place of formation: [with] game with game – [w sh]uba with fur coat (i.e. [s] // [w] before anteropalatal), [with] game with game – [w:' h']championat with championship ( i.e. [s] // [w:'] before the anteropalatal).

Plosives before fricatives and affricates alternate with affricates, i.e. with sounds that are closer in terms of articulation. The assimilation is carried out according to the method of formation: o[t]ygárátávát – o[tss]ypát pourátá (i.e. [t] // [ts] before the fricative).

In many cases, several features of consonants are subject to positional change at once. Thus, in the above example with the championship, the assimilation affected not only the sign of the place of formation, but also the sign of softness. And in the case of po[d] playing under the game - po[h' w:']koy under the cheek ([d] // [h'] before the voiceless, soft, anterior palatal, fricative [w:']) a similarity occurred according to all four characteristics - deafness, softness, place and method of formation.

In the examples, light[g]ok is light - light[x'k']y light, soft´[g]ok is soft – soft´[x'k']y soft, where [g] alternates with [x'], and not with [k'] before [k'], there is a dissimilarity (dissimilation) of sounds according to the method of formation. At the same time, dissimilation (dissimilation) on this basis is combined with assimilation (assimilation) on deafness and softness.

In addition to the phenomena described above, phonetic alternation of consonants with zero sound.

Usually [t] / [t'] and [d] / [d'] are not pronounced between teeth, between [r] and [h'], between [r] and [ts], and [l] does not sound before [ nc]. So, the deletion of a consonant is presented in the following combinations:

stl: happy happiness – happy happy, i.e. [T'] // ;

stn: place [t]o place – local local, i.e. [T] // ;

zdn: uez[d]a district – uezny uezdny, i.e. [d] // ;

zdts: bridle[d]á bridle – under the bridle´ under the bridle, i.e. [d] // ;Dutch [d’]dutch Dutch – Dutch are Dutch, i.e. [d’] // ;

rdts: heart [d’]échka heart – heart heart, i.e. [d’] // ;

rdch: heart [d’]échka heart – serchishko little heart, i.e. [d’] // ;

sun: só[l]sunny sun – sun sun, i.e. [l] // .

The loss of [j] is similar to this phenomenon. It occurs when the iota is preceded by a vowel, and followed by [i] or [b]: mo moya - [mai´] mine, i.e. [j] // .

Please note that not a single phonetic phenomenon associated with the similarity of consonants in place/method of formation or with the fact of their replacement by a zero sound is indicated in writing. According to the morphematic (phonological) principle of Russian spelling, positionally alternating sounds are written with one letter in accordance with the test. Example [w] fur coat is written as with a fur coat, because. there is [with] a game with a game. The unpronounceable consonant in happy happy is graphically restored on the basis of the test happiness, etc.

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According to the noise level (degree of its intensity), consonants are divided into sonorant [m], [m'], [n], [n'], [l], [l '], [p], [j] and noisy [n ], [p'], [b], [b'], [f], [f'], [t], [t'], [d], [d'], [c],[s' ], [z], [z'], [c], [h'], [w], [w'], [g], [z'], [k], [k'], [g] , [g'], [x], [x'], etc.

Noise intensity noisy consonants are significantly higher than those sonorous. This is explained by differences in the tension of the speech organs and in the strength of the air stream when pronouncing sonorant and noisy consonants.

Noisy consonants are formed when there is greater muscle tension than in sonorous ones in the place of the oral cavity where an obstacle to the air stream occurs. Therefore, the force of the air stream emerging from the oral cavity during speech when pronouncing noisy consonants is much greater than when pronouncing sonorous ones.

Voiceless and voiced Consonants are determined by the absence or presence of voice (tone) when they are pronounced. The voice occurs as a result of the fact that the vocal cords are brought together and tremble when a stream of air passes. This is how voiced consonants are formed: [p], [l], [m], [n], [j], [b], [c], [g], [d], [z], [z], etc. The difference between voiced sonorants and voiced noisy ones is that in voiced sonorants the voice significantly predominates over the noise, and in voiced noisy ones the noise predominates over the voice. Without a voice, with the help of noise alone, voiceless consonants are formed: [k], [p], [s], [t], [f], [x], [ts], [ch'], [sh], etc. When pronouncing them, the glottis is open and the vocal cords are relaxed.

According to deafness/voicedness, consonant sounds form pairs [p] - [b], [f] - [v], [d] - [t], [s] - [z], [sh] - [zh], etc. The sound [ts] is unvoiced, but it has a paired voiced [dz], which is pronounced in place of [ts] before the voiced consonant: pla[d]darm, Spi[d]bergen, kone[ dz ]of the year. The same pair is made up of a voiceless [ch’] and a voiced [d’zh’]. Before a voiced noisy with a vowel in place of [ch’] is pronounced [d’zh’]: on [d’zh’]base me[ d'j' ] scored, do[d’zh’] spoke. The sound [γ] makes up a voiced pair [x] and is pronounced, for example, in the words two[y] year, mo[γ ] green, and[γ] waited.

Sonorant consonants also have voiced and voiceless pairs, etc. Voiceless sonorants can appear, in particular, at the end of a word after a voiceless consonant: meth[R], vortex[r’], meaning], cape[l’], dog[n’], braid[m]. Voiceless - a pair of voiced sonorant [j] - is possible at the end of a word, especially in emotional speech: From there !; Open!; Spo[j]!

Articulatory characteristics and classification of consonant sounds by place, by method of formation, by hardness-softness (velarization and palatalization)

Place of education I of a consonant depends on which active organ does the main work and with which passive organ it closes or approaches. This is the place in the mouth where the air stream meets an obstacle. If the active organ is the lower lip, then the consonants can be

- labiolabial : [p], [p’], [b], [b’], [m], [m’] (passive organ - upper lip) and

- labiodental : [v], [v’], [f], [f’] (passive organ - upper teeth).

If the active organ is the tongue, then the characteristic of the consonant depends on which part of the tongue - anterior, middle or posterior - is involved in creating an obstruction and with which passive organ - the teeth, the anterior, middle or posterior part of the palate - the tongue approaches or closes.

Front lingual consonants there are

- dental , when the front part of the tongue is directed towards the teeth: [t], [t'], [d], [d'], [s], [s'], [z], [z'], [n], [ n'], [l], [l'], [ts], and

- anteropalatal , when it is directed to the front of the palate: [p], [p’], [w], [w’], [w], [z’], [h’].

Middle language at the same time always and midpalatal: [j], .

Rear lingual or postopalatine: [k], [g], [x], [γ], [ҥ], or mid palatal: [k’], [g’], , [γ’]. The sound [ҥ] - nasal back-lingual - is rare in the Russian language. It is pronounced in place of [n] before [k], [g], usually in cases where a consonant follows: pu[ҥ]ktyr, fr[ҥ]kskiy, ko[ҥ]gress.

Method of consonant formation- this is a characteristic of an obstacle in the oral cavity in the path of an air stream and a method of overcoming it. This obstacle comes in three types:

A narrow gap between the adjacent organs of speech,

Full of their bow and

The organ trembling in the flow of speech is active.

Therefore, all consonants are divided into slotted, stops And trembling.

Slotted(or fricatives, from lat. fricatio– ‘friction’) are formed as a result of friction of an air stream against the edges of the adjacent organs of speech, forming a narrow gap.

Slit median are formed in the middle of the adjacent organs of speech: [v], [v'], [f], [f'], [s], [s'], [z], [z'], [w], [w'] , [zh], [zh'], [j], [x], [x'], [γ], [γ'].

When articulating slotted side air flows along the sides of the oral cavity, between the sides of the tongue and the teeth: [l], [l’].

Stop consonants include the moment of complete cessation of the flow of air through the oral cavity. Depending on the nature of overcoming the stop, consonants are divided into nasals, plosives, affricates, implosives .

Nasals consonants are characterized by complete closure of the oral cavity and simultaneous lowering of the palatine curtain, as a result of which air flows freely through the nasal cavity: [m], [m’], [n], [n’], [ҥ]. Other consonants nonnasal, oral . When pronouncing them, the velum palatine is raised and pressed against the back wall of the pharynx, so that the air stream exits through the mouth.

During education plosive consonants first, there is a complete delay of the air stream and an increase in intraoral pressure as a result, and then a sharp opening of the speech organs and the breakthrough of the air stream into the resulting passage with a characteristic noise: [p], [p'], [b], [b'], [ t], [t'], [d], [d'], [k], [k'], [g], [g'].

Education affricate (or occlusive consonants, fused consonants ), like plosives, begins with a complete closure of the speech organs. But in the last phase, the closed organs do not suddenly open, but only open slightly, forming a gap for air to escape. These are, for example, [ts], [h’]. They are sometimes designated differently in transcription: [ts] as, [h’] as. This designation indicates the heterogeneity of sound. However, it is not equal to [t+s] (just as it is not equal to [t’+w’]): - one continuous sound, and [t+s] - two sounds. Combinations o are pronounced differently target And from saline, O chain And dump, O chick And backfill: in the first example of these pairs the sound is [ts] (=), in the second example there are two sounds corresponding to it. The initial and final phases of the affricate only resemble the sounds [t], [s], but do not completely coincide with them.

Implosive (or closed) consonants contain only the stop phase. They do not have a second phase, like plosives and affricates. Implosives appear in place of plosives in front of plosives and affricates of the same place of formation and in place of affricates in front of the same affricates

Trembling consonants, or vibrants, are formed by vibration, trembling of the tip of the tongue in the outgoing stream of air. Usually there is also closure and opening with the alveoli or the postalveolar part of the palate: [p], [p’]. Trembling ones are characterized by point contact of the tongue with the passive organ and the short duration of the stop, in contrast to stop consonants, in which this stop is denser and longer.

Hard and soft consonant sounds differ in the articulation characteristic of each of these groups. When soft consonants are formed, the tongue is concentrated in the front part, and when hard consonants are formed - in the back part of the oral cavity; cf.: [v’]il - [v]yg, [p’]il - [p]yl; [l’]yog- [l]og, [r’]yad - [r]ad.

This basic tongue position is accompanied by additional articulation. When soft consonants are formed as a result of the tongue shifting forward, palatalization- raising the middle part of the back of the tongue towards the hard palate (from the Latin palatum - palate), as well as expanding and increasing the volume of the pharynx. Therefore, soft consonants, except [j], are palatalized.

In [j], the raising of the middle part of the back of the tongue to the middle part of the palate is not additional, but the main articulation, therefore [j] - palatal consonant.

When hard consonants are formed, as a result of the tongue shifting back, a narrowing occurs in the pharynx and a decrease in its volume - pharyngealization(from Greek pharinx- pharynx). Therefore, hard consonants are pharyngealized.

In addition, when forming hard consonants, there may be velarization- raising the back of the tongue towards the soft palate (from Lat. velum palat i - ‘curtain of the palate’), such consonants - velarized.

In the back-linguals [k], [g], [x], [γ], the rise of the back of the tongue to the soft palate is the main articulation, without which the back-linguals cannot be pronounced, while velarization is an additional articulation to the main focus of the consonants. Therefore, back-lingual consonants are not velarized, but velar.

Consonant sounds form pairs based on hardness/softness: [p]-[p'], [b]-[b'], [f] - [f'], [v]-[v'], [m]-[ m'], [t]-[t'], [d]-[d'], [s]-[s'], [z]-[z'], etc.

The sound [ts] is hard, and the soft [ts’] is pronounced, for example, in place of [t’] before [s’]: pya [ts']sya, lady [ts’] Seryozha. The sound [ch’] is soft, its hard pair is [ch], which occurs before [sh], including in place of [t], [d]: better(cf. lu[ h’]), o[h]stagger, joke. The hard sound [w] has a soft pair [sh’]: [sh’] tea, mo[w’] ny![sh’:]uka. The sound [zh] has a pair [zh’], which is almost always double, long: vo[zh’:]i, dro[zh’:]i, vi[zh’:]at. This is how words are pronounced reins, yeast, squeal many speakers of a literary language (pronunciation [zh:] in place of [zh’:] is also acceptable).

If, for example, we compare the initial sounds of words garden And court, I'll give And doom, pelvis And ace, then you can notice the difference in their articulation. Before [a] the consonants are pronounced without tense lips, and before [y] - with rounded and elongated lips. We are just getting ready to say the words court, doom, ace, and the lips have already taken this position. This additional articulation is called labialization(from Latin labium - ‘lip’), and consonant sounds [с°], [д°], [т°], etc. - labialized(or rounded). These sounds differ from [s], [d], [t] in articulation and hearing. (You can hear this difference if you start pronouncing the word garden and stop after the first consonant, then start pronouncing the word court, but pronounce only the first consonant.) In Russian, labialization of consonants is always associated with their position before [u] or [o], as well as before labialized consonants: [с°т°ул], [с°т°ол], but [became]. There are no exceptions, so it is usually not noted in the transcription.

Specifics of functioning and sound embodiment

Only the sound [j] cannot have a solid pair. For the remaining soft consonants, the raising of the middle part of the back of the tongue towards the hard palate is an articulation additional to the main method of formation of the consonant. In [j], the raising of the middle part of the back of the tongue to the middle part of the palate is the main articulation, without which no consonant sound arises at all.

Proficiency in oral language is very important for the social life and development of an individual. Much attention in learning a native (or foreign) language is paid to spoken language—the correct pronunciation of phonemes. There are many words that differ only in individual sounds. Therefore, special attention is paid to the functioning of the speech organs and sound production.

Sound production

Sound formation occurs as a result of human mental and speech activity. The vocal apparatus consists of the diaphragm, larynx, epiglottis, pharynx, vocal cords, nasal and oral cavity, uvula, palate (soft and hard), alveoli, teeth, tongue, lips.

The tongue and lower lip are actively involved in sound production. The teeth, palate, and upper lip remain passive.

The production of sounds (phonemes) includes:

• respiration - breathing,
• phonation - the use of the larynx and vocal folds to create phonemes,
• articulation - work for sound production.

Noisy (deaf) Russian language

There are exactly 33 letters in the Russian language, and much more sounds - 42. There are 6 vowel phonemes, consisting of a pure voice. The remaining 36 sounds are consonants.

In the creation of 16 consonant phonemes, only noise is involved, resulting from the exhaled air flow overcoming certain barriers, which are interacting speech organs.

[k, ], [p, ], [s, ], [t, ], [f, ], [x, ], [h, ], [sch, ], [k], [p], [s ], [t], [f], [x], [ts], [sh] are voiceless consonant sounds.

To learn how to determine which consonant sounds are voiceless, you need to know their main features: how and in what place they are formed, how the vocal folds participate in their production, whether there is palatalization during pronunciation.

Formation of noisy consonants

In the process of producing voiceless consonant phonemes, the interaction of various organs of the speech apparatus occurs. They can close together or form a gap.

Voiceless consonant sounds are born when the exhaled person overcomes these barriers. Depending on the type of obstacles, voiceless phonemes are divided into:

• stop plosives [k, p, t, k, p, t];
• stop fricatives (affricates) [ts, ch, ];
• fricatives (fricatives) [s, f, x, shch, s, f, x, w].

Depending on the places where barriers are formed, voiceless phonemes are distinguished:

• labiolabial [p, p];
• labiodental [f, f];
• anterior lingual dental [s, s, t, t, ts];
• anterior lingual palatodental [h, sch, w];
• velar lingual velar [k, x, k, x].

Palatalization and velarization

Noisy phonemes are classified taking into account the degree of tension in the middle of the tongue. When, during the process of sound production, the anterior and middle regions of the tongue rise to the hard palate, a palatalized consonant (soft) voiceless sound is born. Velarized (hard) phonemes are produced by raising the root of the tongue to the posterior region of the soft palate.

6 soft and 6 hard noisy voiceless phonemes form pairs, the rest do not have pairs.

Paired voiceless consonants - [k, - k], [p, - p], [s, - s], [t, - t], [f, - f], [x, - x]; [ts, ch, sh, shch, ] - voiceless unpaired consonant sounds.

Articulation

The combination of all the work of the individual organs of the speech apparatus involved in the pronunciation of phonemes is called articulation.

For speech to be understandable, you must be able to clearly pronounce sounds, words, and sentences. To do this, you need to train your speech apparatus, practice the pronunciation of phonemes.

Having understood how voiceless consonant sounds are formed and how to pronounce them correctly, a child or adult will master speech much faster.

Sounds [k - k, x - x, ]

Lower the end of the tongue, slightly move it away from the incisors of the lower jaw. Open your mouth slightly. Raise the back of the tongue so that it comes into contact with the border zone of the elevated soft and hard palate. Through a sharp exhalation, the air overcomes the barrier - [k].

Press the end of your tongue against your lower front teeth. Bring the middle and back parts of the tongue closer to the middle-back area of ​​the hard palate. Exhale - [k,].

In the production of phonemes [x - x, ], the speech organs are located similarly. Only between them there remains not a bow, but a gap.

Sounds [p - p, ]

Close your lips, leave your tongue freely, and move its tip slightly away from the lower incisors. Exhalation. A stream of air breaks through the lips - [p].

The lips are positioned the same way. Press the end of the tongue against the incisors of the lower jaw. Raise the middle of the tongue towards the hard palate. A sharp push of air overcomes the labial barrier - [n,].

Sounds [s - s, ]

Stretch your lips, almost close your teeth. Use the tip of your tongue to touch the front teeth of the lower jaw. Arch your tongue, lifting the middle back towards the palate. Its lateral edges are pressed against the upper chewing teeth. The air flow passes through a groove formed in the middle of the tongue. Bridges the gap between the alveolar arch and the anterior back of the tongue - [c].

The phoneme [s, ] is pronounced similarly. Only the middle of the tongue rises higher, and the front one bends more (the groove disappears).

Sounds [t - t, ]

Part your lips. Place the end of the tongue against the incisors of the upper jaw, forming a bow. A stream of exhaled air forcefully breaks through the barrier - [t].

The position of the lips is the same. Press the tip of your tongue against the lower incisors. Touch the upper alveolar arch with the front part of the tongue, creating a bow. Under the pressure of the air stream, an obstacle is overcome - [t,].

Sounds [f - f, ]

Pull in the lower lip slightly and press the upper incisors against it. Raise the back of the tongue towards the back of the soft palate. As you exhale, the air passes through a flat gap formed by the lip and teeth - [f].

Lips and teeth in the same position. Move the tip of the tongue towards the lower incisors. Raise the middle part of the tongue towards the palate. The air flow penetrates through the labial-dental fissure - [f,].

Sound [ts]

Sound is produced in two stages:

1. Stretch slightly tense lips. Press the end of the tongue against the front lower teeth. Raise the front part of the tongue, closing it with the hard palate (immediately behind the alveolar arch).
2. The air flow enters the oral cavity. Bend the tongue slightly - raise the middle part, lower the back, press the side edges to the chewing teeth. The bow turns into a gap and the air comes out - [ts].

Sound [h, ]

The formation of a phoneme consists of two phases:

1. Slightly round and protrude your lips. Press the end and front of the tongue against the hard palate and alveolar arch, creating a barrier.
2. Push out the air: at the place of the bow between the tongue and the palate there will be a gap. At the same time, you need to raise the middle of the tongue - [h,].

Sound [sh]

Pull out slightly rounded lips. Raise the end of the tongue until a narrow passage with the palate and alveolar arch is formed (1st cleft). Having lowered the middle of the tongue, raise its back part (2nd gap). Press the edges against the chewing teeth to form a cup. Exhale smoothly - [w].

Sound [sch, ]

Pull your lips out a little and round them out. Raise the end of the tongue to the alveolar arch without pressing, so that a gap remains. Raise the tongue to the hard palate (except for the front part), and press the edges against the molars of the upper jaw. Exhale slowly. The central part of the tongue goes down, creating a groove through which the air flow passes. The tongue tenses - [sch,].

In the speech stream, voiceless consonant sounds coexist with other phonemes. If a noisy phoneme is followed by a vowel, then the lips take a position for the articulation of the latter.

Comparison of noisy voiceless and voiced phonemes

Voiced phonemes are those whose formation involves both voice and noise (the latter predominates). Some voiced ones have paired sounds from among the voiceless ones.

Paired voiceless consonants and voiced sounds: [k - g], [k, - g, ], [p - b], [p, - b, ], [t - d], [t, - d, ], [ s - z], [s, - z, ], [f - v], [f, - v, ], [w - g].

Voiced and voiceless unpaired consonants:

• [y, l, m, n, r, l, m, n, r] - voiced (sonorant);
• [x, h, sch, x, ts] - noisy deaf.

Lettering for noisy phonemes

The ability to write correctly is no less important than speaking. Mastering written language is fraught with even greater difficulties, since some sounds on paper can be written with different letters or letter combinations.

When written, voiceless consonant sounds are expressed in similar letters if they are in strong positions.

By deafness-voicing: before a vowel, [v - v, ], other noisy ones (applicable to paired deaf people!).

By hardness-softness: before a vowel, [b, m, g, k, p, x, b, m, g, k, p, x, ] - for sounds [s, s, t, t, ], at the end words.

In other cases, to determine the correct letter (or combination of letters) for a voiceless consonant phoneme, certain rules of the Russian language must be applied. And sometimes you just need to remember the correct spelling of words (dictionary words).

Where does the sound come from?

The formation of any sound that a person can pronounce begins in the breathing apparatus: air enters the lungs and then leaves them towards the larynx - this process is called initiation. From the lungs, air enters the larynx, where the vocal cords are located. Depending on whether the ligaments vibrate or not, the process of phonation occurs there or does not occur. The ligaments oscillate - the sound is voiced (any vowel or voiced consonant), if they do not oscillate - the sound is dull (voiceless consonant).

From the larynx, air enters the oral cavity, in which a process occurs that determines all other characteristics of sound, except deafness/voice, - articulation, i.e., the adoption of that position by the speech organs (tongue, lips, palate, teeth, small uvula - uvula) , which is needed to produce a specific sound. So, for example, to pronounce the sound [p], we must close our lips tightly, and for the sound [k], we must touch the back palate with the back of our tongue.

Vowels and consonants

Like all other languages ​​of the world, Russian has vowels and consonants. Their total number is slightly over forty and is average (neither large nor small) compared to other languages ​​of the world. We have six times more consonants than vowels - Russian is a consonantal language (languages ​​in which the set of vowels is larger and more varied are called vocal).

All of us, back in elementary school, learned to distinguish vowel sounds from consonants: vowels are those that can be sung, consonants are those that cannot be sung. In fact, we can hiss [w] for a long time, whistle [c], and if we try really hard, we can moo [m], pull [n], etc. How can this be explained? Are there other ways to distinguish between vowels and consonants?

The main difference between a vowel and a consonant is their method of formation, namely the presence or absence of an obstruction in the vocal tract. A vowel sound is one that we form by removing air from the lungs through the larynx and oral cavity, without building any barriers in the speech apparatus, but simply changing the volume of the oral cavity. A consonant is a sound that, in order to come out, must overcome some kind of barrier (closed lips, touching the teeth or palate with the tongue). But the quality of this barrier (or, in other words, narrowing) and the method of overcoming it can be different, so some consonant sounds can actually be “stretched”, for example, like [w], [c], [m] or [n].

Classification of consonants

Place of education

Since an obstruction is necessary for the formation of a consonant sound, the area of ​​the vocal tract where this narrowing occurs is where the consonant is formed. It is usually called by the two organs that form it: active and passive. Active organs include:

· the tongue, or rather its front part, i.e. the tip (then the front-lingual consonant), the middle part (mid-lingual), and the back, i.e. the root (the back-lingual consonant);

· lower lip (labial consonant).

To passive:

· palate, namely: the anterior palate - the alveoli (consonantal anteropalatine or alveolar), the middle - the hard palate (midpalatine) and the posterior - the soft palate (postopalatine);

· upper teeth (consonantal dental), since the lower ones simply do not participate in articulation;

· upper lip (labial consonant). Of course, it also moves during articulation, but only together with the lower one and much less. The lower lip can participate in the formation of sounds without the participation of the upper, for example, [v] or [f].

When combining some active and some passive articulating organs, we get a classification of consonant sounds according to the place of formation:

· labiolabial (bilabial), for example, [m], [p], [b];

· labial-dental (labiodental), for example, [v], [f];

· front-lingual dental (dental), for example, [t], [d], [s], [n], [l];

· anterior lingual anteropalatal (alveolar), for example, [w], [zh], [r];

· middle-language mid-palatal (palatal), for example, [j];

· back-lingual mid-palatal, for example, [k’], [g’], [x’];

· posterior lingual posterior palatal (velar), for example, [k], [g], [x].

Method of education

We have already talked a little about the difference between the ways of forming vowels and consonants. Vowels are formed without an obstruction in the vocal tract, and therefore in the complete absence of noise. For consonants, on the contrary, a barrier is necessary. The types of this obstacle (or narrowing) can be different, as well as the ways to overcome it.

The closest to vowels in terms of the method of formation are approximant consonants: their degree of narrowing is insignificant, and therefore noise is formed only in the absence of voice (that is, when the vocal cords do not vibrate). Approximant in Russian include consonants such as [l], [l‘] and [i̯] (“and non-syllabic”).

A significant, but not yet complete narrowing, i.e., a gap, is necessary for the formation slotted, or fricatives, consonants. According to the shape of the slot, they are divided into flat slot (for example, [w], [z], [x], [j]) and round slot (for example, [c] and [z]). We call the anterior lingual flat fissures hissing: [w], [sh'], [zh], [zh'], [h], [h'], and the anterior lingual round fissures - whistling: [s], [s'], [z ], [z'], [ts], [ts'].

The next level of constriction is a full bow, i.e., a tight contact of the active articulating organ with the passive one, which leads to blocking of the air flow. Consonants formed in this way are called stops. Depending on how the sound overcomes the resulting stop, several types of stop consonants are distinguished:

· explosive - the air rests against the bow, excess pressure is created, which leads to a sharp opening of the organs, i.e. to the so-called explosion (for example, [t], [b], [k], etc.);

Lifehack! Plosive sounds are easy to distinguish from other consonants: this is the only type of consonant that cannot be drawn out, whistled, hummed, etc. Try to draw out, for example, the sound [b] for a long time: you will not succeed, even despite its sonority. You can only gradually apply pressure to the bow, delaying the moment of explosion.

· affricates - the air rests against the bow, which under pressure does not open sharply, but simply turns into a gap. Thus, affricates, roughly speaking, consist of two sounds: a stop plosive and a fricative (for example, [ts] = [t͡s] and [ch’] = [t͡sh‘]);

· nasal - the bow is in the oral cavity, but the air is not closed, but passes through the nasal cavity due to the raising of a small tongue - the uvula (for example, [m], [n]);

Lifehack! If it is very difficult to remember which sound is nasal, you can put your hand to your nose when pronouncing it. The vibration is felt - nasal, but not felt - not nasal.

· tremulous - consist of several bows with vocal elements between them ([p]).

Sonorant and noisy consonants

Another classification applicable to consonants is dividing them into sonorous And noisy consonants. The following consonants of the Russian language are considered sonorant: [m], [m'], [n], [n'], [r], [r'], [l], [l'], [j], [i̯ ]. All other consonants are noisy. You may notice that the list of sonorants contains those consonant sounds that, as we are accustomed to thinking, are always voiced, i.e., do not have a voiceless pair. Let's try to find out how this happened.

The fact is that sonorant consonants are the middle link between vowels and noisy consonants: despite the fact that when they are pronounced, an obstacle is also formed, it does not impede the passage of air. So, with nasal consonants [m], [m'], [n] and [n'] the air leaves through the nasal cavity. When the approximant [l] and [l‘] are formed, the lateral edges of the tongue are lowered and air passes along the sides of the oral cavity (therefore these sounds are called lateral approximant, and the approximant opposed to them [th] - median). With trembling [p], the barrier is formed for too short a time, so that the noise does not have time to arise.

By the way, it would be more correct to classify the sounds [в] and [в‘] as sonorants, because when in contact with other consonants they behave exactly like sonorants, and not like noisy ones. For example, when a voiceless noisy consonant in a word is followed by a voiced noisy consonant, the second one affects the first and the voiceless one becomes voiced (for example, selection[adbor]). If the subsequent consonant is sonorant, then this does not happen (for example, separation[atryf]). Note that before voiced [в] and [в‘], voiceless noisy ones are also not voiced: girth[apkhvat], answer[atv’et]. It turns out that [v] and [v‘] are also sonorant.