Russian language is one of the most difficult. There are many rules in it that help you check your spelling. However, there are many exceptions to these rules. This includes, for example, unverifiable root consonants. Let's talk about how to avoid mistakes when writing them.
Morpheme principle
The spelling of the words of the Russian language studies such a section of linguistics as spelling. It is based on the morpheme principle. Sometimes it is also called morphological. The essence of the principle is that all morphemes (i.e., significant parts of words) are written the same way, although they are pronounced differently.
This is necessary for a correct understanding of written language. After all, the word is built from morphemes, like a constructor from details. Each part of it contains lexical or grammatical information. With its distortion, the general meaning is lost.
To make it clearer, we give examples:
- The words "meadow", "meadows" sound differently, but the root is spelled the same in them. If you neglect this, then it is easy to confuse "meadow" with the lexeme "onion".
- In the words “run in”, “jump” we write the prefix “in”, not paying attention to its pronunciation. In both cases, it indicates the direction of movement inward of something.
- The words "sage" and "sloth" have the same suffix "ec", although it sounds differently. This morpheme indicates a person with some quality.
- The ending in the words “table”, “forest” indicates the grammatical meaning of the words: masculine, singular, instrumental. In both cases, we write it uniformly.
Spelling of roots
To share the words by composition, children study in the first or second grade, depending on the program. Almost immediately, work with spelling begins. The teacher explains that there are weak and strong positions of sounds. They are studied gradually: first for vowels, then for consonants. Phonemes in a strong position are written as they are heard. For vowels, this position is stressed, for consonants - in front of the vowel or sonor, as well as phonemes [v], [v '].
In other cases, students are taught to select test words. Orthograms located in the root are examined in detail: unstressed vowels, consonants, deaf and voiced, and also unpronounceable. To test the sound in a weak position, children should pick up a related word, where it stands in a strong position. For example: at home - a house, a stack - stacks, the sun - the sun. At this stage, students first come across words that include unverifiable vowels and consonants. For example: milk, and on a bus, ryu to zak, ho kk her.
Foreign borrowing
How did unverifiable consonants in the root of words appear? To find out, take a look at the etymological dictionary. It contains information about the origin of individual lexemes and morphemes, their historical changes.
Many of the words we are considering are borrowed from other languages. For example, “backpack”, “scale” came from German, “station”, “excavator”, “image” from English, “asphalt”, “transport” from French. Their spelling is connected with the laws of another language.
So, to explain the presence of a dull consonant "t" in the words "football", "basketball", you can through an appeal to the English language. In it, they were formed from the merger of the tokens "foot" (leg), "basket" (basket) + "ball" (ball). "Gangster" is formed in English from "gang" (gang). That is why an unpronounceable consonant appears in it. The unverifiable word "X-ray" is derived from the name X-ray. That was the name of the scientist who discovered the x-ray radiation.
Words with double consonants are borrowed from Latin (apparatus, appetite) German (assistant, group), French (ballad, newsletter), Italian (villa, column), English (hockey) and other languages. Accordingly, it is impossible to select related words in Russian.
Original Russian and Slavic tokens
Unverified root consonants can also result from historical changes. Over time, tokens begin to sound different, subject to various phonetic processes. Words from which they were formed cease to be used, or their meanings diverge. How many of us will realize that the unpronounceable consonant in the greeting "hello" can be checked with the word "health"?
"Sense" is formed from the pro-Slavic root of "chu" and the suffix "". The letter “in” was inserted by our ancestors so that the vowels “u” and “b” lost in the modern language do not merge. The word "ladder" is semantically associated with the lexeme "climb". "Peer" was formed from the adjective "eat" (the same age), which is no longer used. "Breakfast" came from the ancient "morning" (morning meal). Gradually, the original “u” turned into a “in.” There are many such examples. Acquaintance with them helps to understand and remember the spelling of unverifiable vowels and consonants in the root of the word.
Let's turn to the dictionary
As part of the school curriculum, there is neither time nor opportunity for serious etymological research. To find out how unverified vowels and consonants are written, children are encouraged to look into the spelling dictionary. There are alphabetically listed tokens of the Russian language in their normative spelling.
Subsequently, students should memorize the most common words by heart. For this purpose, in Russian language textbooks they are given in small groups, starting from the first grade. A graduate must remember writing about 500 tokens. Here, for example, 10 words with an unchecked consonant in the root, studied in grade 2:
- bus;
- car;
- all of a sudden;
- railway station;
- Tuesday;
- tomorrow;
- breakfast;
- cosmonaut;
- stairs;
- passenger.
And this is not the whole list.
Vocabulary memorization
To work in the classroom, a notebook is cut in half. This is a dictionary where children, under the guidance of a teacher, write down studied lexemes, highlighting spelling colors. Dictations on vocabulary words are periodically arranged to check the quality of their memorization.
Class work alone is not enough to firmly grasp the spelling of consonants at the root of the word. Understanding this, teachers ask children to repeat tokens at home. High school students cope with the task on their own. Younger students who do not yet have self-study techniques need the help of their parents.
Learning vocabulary algorithm
Experienced educators use the following sequence of actions:
- Explain the meaning of the token. You can resort to the help of an explanatory dictionary.
- Loud spelling reading with a clear pronunciation of all the "dangerous" places as they are indicated on the letter.
- Write down the word several times with colored pencils while pronouncing it.
- Do this again by hiding all the samples.
- Check yourself. If there are errors, return to prescribing.
Unconventional techniques
Remembering unverifiable consonants in the root of words can turn into an interesting game. Here are a few tricks that students happily use:
- Drawing pictures, turning "problematic" letters into drawings (for example, in the word "alley" double consonants are depicted as firs).
- Hanging the resulting cards around the house. Passing by, the student involuntarily remembers the graphic image.
- Making sentences and stories with vocabulary words: "Our class slowly rode a trolleybus along the highway and ate a kilogram of croissants."
- Writing the studied tokens with a pen in the air with eyes closed.
- "Visual dictation." You need to write large words on strips of paper. An adult shows one of them for one second. The child writes down everything that he remembered.
Spelling consonants at the root of the word is not an easy task requiring systematic work. But it can also be turned into an exciting lesson, if you use the techniques of effective memorization and your own imagination.