Learning the Russian language begins from birth. It is then that a small person hears the first sounds, which over time adds up into words, phrases and sentences. Then the child goes to school, where these familiar from childhood sounds are classified and divided into
vowels and consonants. How easy is it to remember the basics of the Russian language and not to confuse anything, to learn how many vowels in the Russian language, and how many consonants? Find out together!
As you know, in our Great and Mighty 33 letters are 10 vowels and 23 consonants. Vowels are those sounds that are made exclusively with the lips and tongue. The air flow during the pronunciation of such sounds does not meet obstacles in the oral cavity, so vowel sounds are always clear, they can be sung. But their classification is not so simple. The basis of this division are two groups of vowels: ordinary and iotated. Common vowels include a, o, and, y, e, s. To iotated - I, y, e, e. Thus, to the question, how many vowel sounds are in Russian, the answer will be 6 ordinary and 4 iotated sounds.
Iotated vowels are those that in three positions simultaneously indicate two sounds: [j] and [a] / [y] / [o] / [e]. Such positions are those when one of the iotated vowels comes first in a word, after a vowel, or after a soft or hard sign. Then the
vowel sound is double.
Sounds and letters in the Russian language are sometimes very unusual. So, a word can have 5 letters and 6 sounds. An example of such a word is a berry. If we make a phonetic analysis, we have the following result: [yagoda].
Consonants are also divided into several categories: voiced, deaf, hissing, and sonorous.
Dumb consonants pair with voiced voices. In other words, when a voiced consonant is at the end of a word or before a deaf consonant, it is pronounced as the corresponding deaf. There are 6 such pairs: wsh, vf, dt, bp, gk, ss.
It is easy to guess what sounds are called hissing. Those that pronounce air through the mouth in such a way that a hiss is obtained. The letters l, m, n, r are related to sonor consonants .
Some sounds and letters of the Russian language have certain features. One of the unique letters of the Great and Mighty is e. This element of the alphabet differs from other vowels at least in that it is always stressed. Often a letter is replaced with a letter in e. This tradition appeared not so long ago, but it gradually eradicates the vowel e from the Russian alphabet.
So, the classification of vowels and consonants in the Russian alphabet at first glance may seem confusing and incomprehensible. But, knowing its main points, you can easily understand the structure of native speech. First of all, it is necessary to learn how many vowels in the Russian language, and how many consonants, into which groups they are divided. Remember that a thorough study of any language begins with some basic information taught at school. But in order not to depend on the school curriculum and to independently learn our Great and Mighty, you need to learn the alphabet, its letters and their basic properties, to know how many vowels in Russian, and how many consonants.