We will find out which letter should be written in place of an unstressed vowel by checking in other forms and words in which, in the same significant part (prefix, root, ending, suffix), the tested vowel we are interested in is in this position under stress. For example: dial (check with the word "dialed"), mountain - mountain, mountains, in the house (in the table), earthen (oat).
What is this article about?
The general rule that governs the spelling of vowels at the root of a word has been presented above. However, there are a number of exceptions and special cases. After reading this article, you will get acquainted with the topic "spelling of vowels at the root of the word." This will help you avoid spelling mistakes. The spelling of checked, unverified, and alternating vowels will be examined in detail by us.
Unstressed vowels that are stressed
Writing the letters in the roots at the place of any unstressed vowels, according to the general rule, is established by checking forms and words with the same root, in which the vowel under test is stressed.
The following examples can be given: gardens (kindergarten, garden), water (water, water), pig (pigs), talk (conversation, talk), egg (eggs), young (youth, young, young), minx (prank), heat (heat, hot).
How should some unstressed vowels not be checked?
In some cases, the general rule governing the spelling of vowels at the root of a word cannot be applied because differences in the spelling of cognate words exist because they belong to different languages. Such are the inconsistent unstressed combinations of la, ra ( shorten, gates, head, reins, drag, cloud and others), which are always written with "a", since they are Old Slavonic words by origin ; olo, oro ( short, gate, head, furrows, drag ) correspond to such combinations in Russian roots. These words are not subject to the general law governing the spelling of unstressed vowels. The rules of Russian spelling, therefore, have their exceptions.
The unstressed vowel “o” cannot be checked by any form of imperfect form when we are dealing with the roots of perfect verbs. For example, in words late, flood, bifurcate, swallow, trample, the vowel "o" is checked with the following root words: late, trample, two, pharynx , although there are verbs: be late, flood, fork, swallow.
The general rule governing the spelling of vowels at the root of a word cannot be applied to foreign-language concepts, since the test and verified vowels in them can be related to morphemes of various origins. For example, in the word “accompaniment,” the phrase is the suffix of French origin, and in the word “accompaniment,” is the German suffix. Compare: "engagement - engage", "subscription - subscribe", as well as the words "intelligence" and "intelligentsia", formed in Latin from different root foundations.
Choosing which vowel should be written ("a" or "o") in an unstressed position, one should not use verbs with the suffix -yva- (-iva-) of an imperfect form for verification.
For example, in the roots of the words “trample”, “throw”, “be silent”, “watch” to check the corresponding unstressed vowel, one should use such forms and words as “transfer”, “throw”, “look”, “trample”, silently, "watch", "shut up", but not the verbs "trample down", "scribble", "consider", "keep silent", in which there is an alternation of "a" - "o" (learn - learn, earn - earn and etc.).
You need to be especially careful when writing words in which homonymous roots are present, in which an unstressed vowel is pronounced the same way, but is indicated in letters by different letters.
Compare: cleanliness (clean) and frequency (frequent), rinse (rinse) and rinse (weasel), for the time being (until now) and couples (pairs), fox (foxes) and forest (forest) , etc.
After paired soft and hissing consonants, the letter "e" is written both in accordance with "o" (on the letter "e") and with "e". Compare: led (led) and whiten (white), rustle (rustle), village (rural and village) and silk (silk), acorns (acorn), pearls (pearls).
Unstressed accentuated vowels
There are many words in our language in which root vowels cannot be stressed. In this case, the spelling of unstressed vowels in the root of the word should be remembered. This spelling is determined by the dictionary. Both borrowed and original Russian words are included in this list. Some of them: antagonism, native, beefsteak, badminton, lobby, briolin, bagpipes, vinaigrette, delicacy, range, demagogue, airship, initiative, dependency, cannonade, bondage, criminology, burner, koshchey, holster, waste paper, macaque, macaque obsession, optimism, opportunity, eulogy, panorama, front garden, privilege, confusion, plasticine, utilitarian, tunnel, Esperanto.
Difficult case of writing vowels in the root
In the word "velvet" in an unstressed position after the "x" the letter "a" is written (as well as "velvety", "velvet"), although in the word "velvet" under stress there is a vowel "o" (option: "velvet "). In the word “swan” in the second syllable, an unstressed vowel, transmitted by the letter “e”, corresponds to “I” and “e” under stress: swan, swan, winch . In the word "boat" "a" is written without stress, and in the word "boat" under stress - "o".
In the words "baby", "cub", "childbearing", "children", etc. without stress, the letter "e" should be used in accordance with "e" in the stressed syllable: "children" or, for example, "childhood", " childless "," children's ", etc. In the word "child", however, as well as in some colloquial variants, for example, "child" and "child", it says "and" (in "child" - shock "and").
Unstressed connecting vowels
When two or more stems are combined into one complex concept, as well as in the formation of words whose components are morphemes of an international character, a connecting vowel is used, which is transmitted by the letters "e" and "o".
After solid pairing consonants , “o” is written, and after hissing, “c” and soft pairings, as well as “j”, the letter “e” is used, for example: worldview, sound engineer, haymaking, voice recorder, employer, one-time, Moskvoretsky, hundred-ruble, ninety years old , Old Russian, navigator, public, vacuum cleaner, freshly painted, millennial, sheep breeding, mousetrap, tea drinking, oil and cheese, mud baths.
So, as you saw, the general rule governing the spelling of unstressed vowels in the root of the word has several nuances. Spelling of connecting vowels, for example, is a special case.
Spelling alternating vowels at the root of the word
In the Russian language there are roots in which it is impossible to be guided by the general rule when writing on the spot certain unstressed vowels of the corresponding letters, since it obeys tradition. Let us therefore consider separately the spelling of alternating vowels at the root of the word. The following roots can be distinguished, in which alternating vowels are present.
1. With the letters "o" and "a"
mountain-gar. In the place of the unstressed, “o” is written here, although under the stress we have “a”, for example: to burn, burn, burn, burn, burned, tanned, combustible, but: tan, burning, burning, burning. The exceptions are (in which “gar” without stress): burnt, burnt, burnt (together with a burnt version ), burnt .
zor-zar The rule governing the spelling of an unstressed vowel at the root of the word is as follows. "A" is written in the position of an unstressed vowel: lightning, dawn, light, glow, illumination, light, light-bulb (bird) ; under stress there can be “o” and “a”: radiant, glow, dawns, luminous, dawn, dawn, dawn, dawn.
braid In these roots “a” is written, when “a” follows after it, in other cases - “o”: touch, touch, touch, touch, but touch, touch, touch (vowel under stress does not occur).
clan clan. The spelling of the roots of these is as follows: "o" is written in the position of an unstressed vowel, for example: bow, bow, bow, bow, bow, deviate, declination, bow ; "o" and "a" - under the stress: bow, bow, adamant, inclined to bow, bow, bow.
crop speck. “O” - without emphasis in words with a certain meaning, namely “to cover with spray, drops”: sprinkling (from sprinkling), sprinkling, sprinkled, sprinkle, sprinkle ; in words with the meaning "to cover with dots, small dots" - the letter "a": staining, speckled, interspersed . Under stress only "a" is written: speckled, speckled, interspersed, speckled, speckled, interspersed.
lag-log-log. The spelling of an unstressed vowel in the root of the word is as follows: in place of some unstressed vowel located before “g”, “a” should be used, and “o” before “g”, for example: tax, state, apply, assume, urgent, decompose , vagina, postponement, term, adjective, but: state, lay, lay, postpone, attach, propose, position, exposition, versification, sentence, deferred, taxable. Under stress is always written "o": pledge, tax, false, laid, put . In the word "canopy", where there is a root "-log-", it does not stand out already in the modern language, therefore it is written "o" without stress before "g".
poppy piss The spelling of these roots is as follows: before “k”, the letter “a” is written in place of the unstressed, in words with the following meaning: “immerse in liquid, dip”: dip, dip, dip ; the letter "o" - in those of them that have the meaning of "becoming wet": to soak, get wet, get wet, soak , in derivatives of the word "wet" (sputum, wet, wood louse) and in the meaning "to dry with something, moisture-absorbing ": get wet, get wet, blotter, blotter. The letter "o" is always written before the "h": wet, wet, soaked, wet. Such is the spelling of the vowels in the root in these cases.
2. The letters "e" and "and" in the roots
flash (t, c) - blist-brilliance. The letters "and" and "e" are written in the position of an unstressed vowel: before "st" - "and" at the next stressed "a", for example: shines, shine, shine, shine, shine, shine , in other cases - "e" : glistens, glistens, glistens, brilliant, baubles, glitter , etc. Under stress - "e" and "e": glisten, glitter, glitter, glisten, glimpse, glitter, glitter . The spelling of the unstressed vowels of the root of the word "brilliant (t, k) / brilliance / blist, therefore, is regulated by a very definite rule.
weight In the verb “to hang” ( hanging, hanging ) in the place of an unstressed vowel it is written “and”, in derivatives of it (to hang, hang , etc.), as well as in prefixed verbs in which there is a common part “to hang”: to hang, hang, hang, etc. (under stress: hang, hang); the letter "e" - in such words as a sign, hang, hinged, suspended, in weight (under stress: hang, hang, hang ). Such is the spelling of the vowels in the root in these cases.
Post sizzling
After "h", "g", "u", "w" are not written the letters "s", "u", "i", but, respectively, "and", "y", "a", for example: farewell, seagull, squint, miracle, sew, fat.
Exceptions: jury, brochure, pshut, parachute, fishe and other words of foreign origin.
This rule also does not apply to their own foreign names ( Jules, Jules , etc.), as well as to letter abbreviations and abbreviated words in which any combination of letters is possible ( Mezhurburo , etc.).
Under the stress in the root after hissing is written “e (e)”, in pronunciation the corresponding sound is “o”, if in another form of this word or in related words “e” is written ( yellow - yellow, black - black ); "o" is written in the absence of such relations. Compare:
a) party, string, chewed, cheap;
b) artichoke, pulp, dzhonka, zhor.
The spelling "o" is possible in words that are borrowed after hissing, in an unstressed syllable, for example: juggler, jockey, chauvinism, chocolate, driver, Scottish, highway.
Vowels after "c"
The letters "u" and "i" after "ts" can be written only in their own non-Russian names (surnames, geographical names, etc.). For example: Qianshan, Zurich, Tsavlovsky, Zurup.
After “c”, “o” is written in the stressed syllable, if the sound “o” is pronounced: base, base, base.
In the root after "c" is written not "s", but "and": cybic, cyanide, civilization, cicada, chicory, cycle, circus, quote, number , etc.
Exceptions: chicken, gypsies, tsyts, tiptoe and co -root.