The Russian language as a whole is characterized by the opposition of hard and soft consonants (cf .: small and crumpled, at home and Dyoma). There is no such opposition in many European languages. When borrowing, a word usually obeys the pronunciation norms of the Russian language. So, before the "e" in Russian, a soft consonant usually sounds ( m e ate, no). Many foreign words begin to be pronounced in the same way: m b etr, r ebus... The pronunciation of hard consonants is usually retained by all foreign surnames: Chopin [pe], Voltaire [te]. Pronunciation of a hard consonant before "e" is also typical for bookish, little-used words ( apartheid [te]. demarche [te]). The type of consonant before the "e" also has a certain meaning. For example, the combination "de" is more often pronounced with a soft consonant. and the combination "te" - with a solid. A well-known role is played by the source of borrowing. For example, the final stressed syllable in words from French usually pronounced with a hard consonant ( pastel [te], curé [re], corrugation [re]). But there are also exceptions, for example, the word overcoat pronounced with a soft "n". Here is a small group of words in which pronunciation errors are often observed.

The correct pronunciation of the hard consonant before the "e" in the following words: Atelier, atheist, jewelry, business, businessman, steak, brandy, broodershaft, Bundeswehr, sandwich, bra, water polo, breeches, gangster, corrugation, grotesque, disintegration, decadent, dequalification, neckline, detective, dumping, denunciation, determination de facto, de jure, decryption, identical, impresario, inert, index, interval, integration, intensity, intervention, interview, cartel, square, cabaret, condensate, container, cortege, computer, curé, laser, lottery, madeira, mademoiselle, manager, travel bag, nonsense, pastel, panel, panther, producer, rugby, relay, sweater, thesis, timbre, trend, pace, awning, masterpiece, chimpanzee, plug, esthete.

In words diet, project, caries the sound [j] is not pronounced, that is, they sound like [d b ieta], [project], [kar b ies].

The consonant before the "e" is pronounced softly: academy, certificate, benefit, take, brunet, bookmaker, accounting, bill, gazelle, haberdashery, hegemon, debit, debate, debut, degenerate, devaluation, degradation, disinfection, demagogue, democrat, demi-season, dismantling, deposit, dispatch, despot defect, hyphen, deficit, deformation, dividend, ikebana, investor, intellectual; congress, air conditioner, coffee, cream, patent, presentation, progress, revue, raglan, register, reserve, raid, flight, rail, x-ray, referee, term, overcoat, effect.

In general, the pronunciation of hard and soft consonants in loan words is a very flexible norm. As a rule, when borrowing, the word is pronounced for some time with a strong consonant. As it is mastered by the language, it loses the "touch" of a foreign, "alien", hard pronunciation is gradually replaced by the pronunciation of a soft consonant (in accordance with the spelling). Sometimes this process is very fast. For example, schoolchildren in urban schools, where the computer is no longer perceived as something exotic, usually pronounce the word a computer with a soft "t", but such a pronunciation has not yet become a general literary norm.

At the same time, in some cases, pronunciation of both hard and soft consonants is equally acceptable. For example, the pronunciation of "e" and "e" is allowed in the words: aggression, misinformation, decade, dean, creed, claim and some others.

Attention should also be paid to the social significance of the pronunciation of hard and soft consonants in borrowed words. If the pronunciation of a hard consonant is still the norm, then the pronunciation of a soft consonant can be perceived as a manifestation of a low human culture (compare: chimpanzee, copper, spruce) at the same time, pronouncing a hard consonant in a word where pronunciation of a soft consonant has already become the norm , can be perceived as a manifestation of philistinism, pseudo-intelligence. This is how, for example, the pronunciation of the type shi [ne] l, k [re] m, ko [fe], bru [ne] t, aka [de] miya, [te] ma is perceived.

Pronunciation of [e] and [o] under stress after soft consonants and sibilants

In Russian, in a position between a soft and a hard consonant, under stress is usually pronounced "o" (graphically "e"): sister - sisters, wife - wives... However, in whole groups of words, such alternation is not observed. These are many borrowed words ( bluff, scam and others), words that came to us from the Old Church Slavonic language. For example, nouns in -ie are usually of Old Slavonic origin, and words with -ё are of Russian, therefore, the following parallels can be distinguished: being - being, life - life ... There is no alternation in the position between two soft consonants, cf .: ice, but - ice.

CHECK YOURSELF:

1. Carefully read the following words, paying attention to their correct pronunciation and stress:

a) Whitish, faded, glitter, voyager, millstone, gutter, bile, kioskier, maneuver, nonsense, sweep, loan, receiver, polygamy, bucket, bucket, xenz, kneeling, imprinted, wool, retired, imports, imports , marker, taper, chronicler, stuntman, knowledgeable, starter, officer.

b) Obstetrician, custody, scam, being, living, stout, snapdragon. grenadier, carabinieri, suspect, sharpness, settledness, stooped, bigamist, polygamist, bluff, expired, pole, baton, hornet, spineless, fashion designer, dispensary, minuscule, croupier, porter, spearhead.

2. Mark the words in which [e] is pronounced after a soft consonant under stress.

Genesis, fable, eponymous, publicized, stunned, grenadier, time difference, connected, loaded, coarse-haired.

3. Divide the words given below into two groups depending on whether the consonant is pronounced hard or soft.

Ampere, anesthesia, antenna, beige, steak, brunet, sandwich, dean, demon, depression, chapel, caravel, card index, cafe, cupcake, stranded, modern, museum, short story, Odessa, hotel, pastel, patent, pioneer, resonance, rail, sausage, superman, tavern, thematic, plywood, music library, brown-haired, overcoat.

4. Highlight the words in which the consonant before the E is pronounced firmly.

Antithesis, anapest, grotesque, aesthetics, effect, genetics, tennis, pool, phoneme, benefit performance.

In a position before the sound [e], denoted in the letter by the letter e, in borrowed words, both soft and hard consonants are pronounced. Lack of softness is more often characteristic of dental [d], [t], [h], [s], [n] and sound [p]. However, the consonant is pronounced softly before e in words academy,cream,press, Museum,tenor and many others. See below for lists of such words.

Words with hard-spoken consonants before e

adept [de]

detective [dete]

adequate [te]

anesthesia [ne, te]

annexation [ne] [ add. not]

antiseptic [se]

atheism [te]

atheist [teh]

take-take [blah, blah]

business [ne]

businessman [ne] [ add. not, me]

getter [te]

grotesque [teh]

landing stage [de, der]

devaluation [de] [ add. de]

degradation [te]

degression [te]

dehumanization [te]

disability [te]

disavow [te]

disintegration [dezynthe]

disinformation [deza] [ add. desi]

disorganization [de] [ add. de]

disorientation [de] [ add. de]

decahedron [de]

dequalification [de]

neckline [de, te]

low-cut [ add. de]

decompensation [de]

decor [te]

delicacy [te]

demarche [te]

demos [te]

dumping [te]

dendrologist [de]

denomination [de]

denunciation [de]

dermis [te]

desegregation [te]

detective [dete]

detector [dete]

determinism [dete]

de facto [te]

deflector [de]

deflation [te]

decibel [de]

decimeter [de]

de-escalation [te]

de jure [de, re]

indexing [de]

computer [teh]

condensate [de]

capacitor [de]

consensus [se]

confidential [te] [ add. de]

corps de ballet [de]

cosecant [se]

crater [te] [ add. those]

creed [re] [ add. re]

crepe de chine [de] [ add. re]

laser [ze]

manager [ne] [ add. mae, ne]

management [ne] [ add. mae, ne]

minstrel [re] [ add. ne]

simulate [te]

nonsense [seh]

orchid [de]

pantheon [te]

panther [te] [ add. those]

parterre [te]

reverence [ie] [ add. not]

pretentious [teh]

providential [te]

producer [seh]

protege [te]

prosthesis [te]

patronage [te]

rendezvous [te]

requiem [re, uh]

renome [me] [ add. re, mae]

secant [se]

St. Bernard [se]

sentence [te] [ add. se]

sepsis [se]

setter [se, te]

synthesis [te]

sonnet [ne] [ add. not]

stress [re]

teza (anti-) [tee]

thesaurus [te]

thesis (anti-) [te]

timbre [te]

tempera [te]

tendency [te, te]

tender [te, te]

tennis [te]

tshirt [te]

thermos [te]

terms [te]

terracotta [te]

tercet [te]

third [te]

tete-a-tete [thetatet]

tetrahedron [te]

track [re] [ add. re]

phoneme [ne]

phonetics [ne]

maid of honor [re]

meatball [te]

Chicherone [ne]

showman [mae]

psychic [seh]

Words with soft consonants before e

academy [not te]

takes [not bere]

degenerate

tasting [ de and de]

deduction [ add. te]

disinfection, disinfect

deodorant [ de and de]

decade [ add. te]

decadent [ add. decade]

recitation

declaration

decoration

demilitarization [ add. te]

demi-season

dismantling [ add. te]

depression [ add. de, re]

leatherette

definition [ add. te]

hyphen [ add. te]

deformation [ add. te]

dividend

kinescope

competent

competence

congress [ add. re]

congressman [ add. re, mae]

context

correct

cream [ add. re]

compartment, but: coupe [ pe]

legionary

mixer [ add. seh]

policeman

mystery

cologne

policeman

press conference

pressing

progression [ add. re]

register [ add. es]

referent

safe [ add. se]

sexology [ add. se],but: sex [seh]

cervelat [ add. se]

service [ add. se]

session [ add. se]

athlete [rc]

therapist [ add. te]

Terminator

thermonuclear [ add. te]

terror [ add. te]

fashionable [ add. ne]

shrapnel

express [ add. re]

expression [ add. re]

epidemic

essence

jurisprudence

1. Certain difficulties may arise when pronouncing consonants in foreign words before E.

Some bookish words and words of a terminological nature are pronounced with a hard consonant before the E: in [te] rvyu, tone [ne] l, sin [te] z, [te] st, [mene] jer, [te] zis, kok \ te \ yl.

In modern Russian, the main trend in the pronunciation of borrowed words is the transition from a hard version of pronunciation to a soft one. Some words that were previously only pronounced firmly are now allowed and soft pronunciation: artery, vaudeville, devaluation, deduction, deodorant, dismantling, criterion, panther.

2. As a rule, you should remember: in all borrowed words, the sounds [k], [g], [x] and [l] before E are softened according to the laws of Russian phonetics: \ k "e \ ks, s [x" e \ ma, [g "e \ nezis, suf [l" e], ba [g "e] t. In most cases, the soft pronunciation of consonants becomes the main one, and the variant with firm pronunciation is deprecated and characterized by dictionaries as valid, for example: aggression[p "e and add. re], dean[d "e and additional de], depression[d "e, r" e and add. de, re], hyphen[d "e and additional de], congress[p "ei add. re], progress[p "e and add.re], express[p "e and additional re].

Particularly noteworthy is the pronunciation of compound words (abbreviations): they are pronounced the way the names of the letters that make up them are pronounced: VAT [en de es], FSB [ef es be], CIS [es en ge]. Proper nouns should be pronounced: Lodeynoye Pole(regional center of the Leningrad region) [d] pronounced softly Lo [d "e \ ynoe, and not [de]; O [d "e] ssa, and not O [de] ssa, as we sometimes hear.

However, many foreign names and surnames, as well as place names, are pronounced with a strong consonant: \ De] kart, Vol [te] r, Ge [te], Ma [ne \, Ro [de] n, Ba [de] n-Ba [de] n, Manhat [te] n and others. The norm in relation to borrowed names was formed back in the 19th century and is associated with the habit of pronouncing proper names as they sound in the original language.

3. It is necessary to distinguish between the sounds [e] and [o] after soft consonants. It should be remembered: a) only [NS] pronounced in words: af e ra, be e, foreign e nny, ist e kshiy, op e ka and etc.; b) only [O] pronounced in words: zat ë kshiy, newborn ë nny, sharp points ë , pri ë sshiy and etc.

Pronunciation options can also be noted: equal ( white e soy and white ë soy, resh e stinky and resh ë stinky), semantic ( n e bo - n ë bo, yellow e zka - yellow ë zka), normative-chronological ( midwife e p - akush ë R(outdated), hopelessness ë zhny - hopelessness e tight(outdated), etc.).

Pronunciation of the combination of CHN. The combination of CH requires special attention since mistakes are often made in its pronunciation.

In modern Russian, the combination CHN is pronounced in most cases as [CH "N], especially in words of book origin: al [h "n] th, anti \ h" n \ th, poro [h "n \ th, take off [h" n] th, between [h "n] ostny, commander [h" n] th, matrix [ h "n] th and etc.

In some cases, the same word can be pronounced differently depending on figurative meaning, which appears in stable combinations: heart [h "n] th disease and friend heart [shn] th, kopeck [h "n] th coin and kopeck [shn \ th soul.

Back at the beginning of the 20th century, many words with the combination [ЧН] were pronounced with [шн], and not [h "n]: bulo [shn] th, weekdays [shn] th, young [shn \ th, cows [shn] th etc., in modern language such pronunciation is characterized as outdated or even colloquial.

Now the pronunciation of this combination corresponds to the spelling [h "n]. Only in some words should only [shn] be pronounced: horse [shn] o, sku [shn] o, naro [shn] o, yai [shn] \ itza, skvore [shn] ik, laundry [shn] aya, oche [shn] ik, bitter [shn] ik, empty [shn] th. The same pronunciation is preserved in female patronymics: Ilyini [shn] a, Lukini [shn] a, Nikiti [shn] a, Savvi [shn] a, Fomini [shn] a. This is a traditional departure from general norm, which is legalized by dictionaries, so it should be adhered to in your speech.

Pronunciation of the combination TH. Combination NS usually pronounced the way it is written, for example: ma NS a, by NS enie, about NS and and etc.; but only a combination [PCS] pronounced in a word what and its derivatives (with the exception of the lexeme something). In the word nothing double pronunciation is allowed.

Pronunciation of double consonants. It is necessary to pronounce double consonants correctly in Russian and loan words. Here you should adhere to the following recommendations: 1) double consonants in Russian words at the junction of morphemes are usually preserved in pronunciation, for example: be zz good, cc erh, to nn oh, ba ss bred etc.; the same thing in the prefixed passive participles: conceive nn th, except nn oh, neutral nn th etc. In non-prescriptive participles, one sound is pronounced n : wound nn in the leg, heat nn oiled potatoes; the exception is those cases when words like buying nn oh, brochet nn oh yes nn th etc. are used as adjectives; 2) in borrowed words and in Russian words with foreign morphemes, a double consonant is usually pronounced for a long time if it comes after the stressed syllable: in a nn a, ká ss a, d mm a, cape ll a, má nn a (heavenly) etc. A double consonant is not pronounced when it stands: a) before a stressed syllable: a ss ambley, co pp espondent, mi ll yard, gra mm atika, and kk reditive; b) at the end of a word: meta ll, gra mm, gri nn ; c) before a consonant: gru nn ka, kla ss ny, program mm ny etc. In some words, variant pronunciation is allowed, for example: a nn ala, and nn otation, and ss imilating, di ff Uzia, ka ss eta and etc.

Pronunciation of vowels and consonants in borrowed words. Certain difficulties are caused by the pronunciation of vowels and consonants in borrowed words: 1) in some words of a foreign language origin (including in proper names), an unstressed sound is preserved O , for example: vet O, credit O, with O no, fl O ber, Z O la and etc.; at the same time, in the majority of well-mastered words, there is akane: R O man, ar O checkmate, to O mfort etc. In some cases, a variant pronunciation of unstressed O : v O calism, n O ezia and etc.; 2) in place of letters NS, e after vowels in foreign words, a sound is pronounced [NS](without preceding [th]): about e kt, piru NS t, by NS zia, audi e ntion and etc.; 3) labial consonants before e in most cases pronounced softly ( b yengali, b enephis, NS elerina, v spruce v no etc.), but in some cases labial before e remain firm: b eta, business m en, kar m yong, sho NS yen etc. Dental consonants t, d, z, s, n, r more often than others, they remain firm before e (an T enna, ge n ethics, polo n ez, fo n ema, gro T esk, d e T ektiv etc.), but only soft teeth are pronounced before e in words: bulle T yen, clare n no, T enor, fa n era, shi n spruce, oh d essa etc. In many words before e possible variant (hard and soft) pronunciation of consonants: d yekan, pre T benzia, T therapy, T error, T rivers and etc.

Accentological norms(stress norms). Stress - highlighting a syllable in a word by various means: intensity (in Czech), duration (in modern Greek), tone movement (in Vietnamese and other tonal languages). In Russian, a stressed vowel in a syllable is distinguished by its duration, intensity and tone movement. In many languages, stressing does not cause any difficulties, because the stress in them is fixed. In Polish, Latin, the stress falls on the penultimate syllable, in French - on the last; in English - the first syllable. Russian accent is miscellaneous , since it can fall on any syllable, for example, on the first - NS a vilo, On the second - walls a , on the third - beauties a etc. The diversity allows you to distinguish between the grammatical forms of words: st e us - walls NS, R at ki - hands and, US NS sleep - embankment a be etc. Stress in Russian can be characterized as mobile and motionless. Motionless such an stress is called that falls on the same part of the word: G O sleeping, g O sleep, g O sleeping, g O spital, oh g O sleeping - the stress is attached to the root; ringing NS, ringing and m, ringing and those ringing and shh, ringing and t, ringing I am T - the stress is attached to the ending. The stress that changes place in different forms of the same word is called mobile : start a t, n a chal started a; right, pr a you are right a; could at, m O eat, m O gut; mon I am t, n O nyal, got it a.

Within the literary norm, there are a significant number of stress options. There are, for example: 1) equal options (interchangeable in all cases, regardless of style, time, etc.): hw a to blow and rusty e be, tv O horn and creature O G, b a rust and barges a ; T e fteli and teft e whether; at the same time e exactly and at the same time e nno and etc. There are about 5000 such words in Russian.2) unequal: a) semantic (differ in meaning): witticisms a (blades) and sharp O that(witty expression); tr at sit(afraid) - coward and be(to run); burial at married(placed in transport) - submerged e nny(dipped in water); b) stylistic (refer to different language styles), in particular book and colloquial ( balls a be and b a catch, Great Danes O R and d O dialect), common and professional ( To O mpas and comp a with, and skra and sparks a, a languid and at O mny; excited O and exc at expected); v) normative-chronological (appear in the time of their use), for example, modern and outdated: apartment e nty and apart a cops, ukra and nskiy and ukr a insky.

A certain difficulty is the setting of stress in derived forms of words. Some rules should be followed here.