The human voice is a universal unique and unique instrument. This is usually not thought of by people who have the ability to exchange information through spoken language. Thanks to all these characteristics, the child is always aware of the presence of his parents (by ear), animals recognize by ear the voices of their owners. Polygraphs use some characteristics of the voice to confirm the truth of the statement. But it is more interesting to study the mechanisms of voice manifestation in oral speech. After all, only thanks to the correct operation of the vocal cords can a person communicate, sing, express their thoughts.
Speech Sound Functions
The kingdom of speech sounds is controlled by Phonetics. Therefore, in order not to look ignoramus in the eyes of others, you should study the rules and patterns of pronunciation. If the sound in the alphabet has a graphic image, which is also a symbol at the same time (carries a certain semantic load), then letters in the alphabet are signs designed to facilitate the recording of the sound composition of a word (according to spelling rules). However, there are pronunciation rules that often perplex schoolchildren, students, and sometimes parents.
To the question, what are vowels and consonants in Russian, you can find the answer in such a section of linguistics as phonetics. The smallest unit of expression (sound) is called a phoneme, which usually does not carry any meaning. Replacing or skipping just one sound in a word can turn its meaning into the opposite.
Designation of vowels of the Russian language in written language
All sounds of the Russian language are divided into vowels and consonants. Distinctive features are the presence of voice and noise in the formation of sound. The acoustic characteristics of the first are malleability, smoothness, lack of noise, strength and beauty of sound. The syllabic role of phonemes is highlighted using the listed features. What are the vowel sounds in the Russian language, you can consider the examples.
As all first graders rightly remark, the ratio of sounds and letters in Russian is 6 to 10.
For distinction in writing, sounds are represented by symbols in square brackets (transcription). The characteristic features of pronunciation are the arrangement of the vowel in a strong (stressed) or weak (unstressed) position, the beginning of the word.
Pronunciation of vowels
Here are the vowel sounds in the shock position: pronounced for a long time, with greater force, distinctly. Simple examples include the words: tank, side, beech, bull, bit, sir. The first four colorfully illustrate how changing the pronunciation of one sound changes the meaning of a word. It should be noted that at this position the sound does not change. Things are more complicated with weak positions.
Here are the vowel sounds in unstressed positions: pronounced briefly, with less force, indistinctly (or weakly). Consequently, sounds acquire variability in pronunciation, which differs from the previous situation considered, and this is good ground for the occurrence of spelling errors. This is due to a mismatch between the correct pronunciation of the sound and its graphic designation on the letter.
For example: bins [zakramA]; wagon [pavoska]; test [tyst'Irawat ']; sixth [shySTOY]; chocolate [shkalat].
The following examples show what vowels are in the Russian language that are never pronounced in weak positions. This is [o], [e] and in the situations defined by the rules [a]. As an example, the following words can be considered: Tsokotuha [tsikatUha]; floor [itAsh].
In a weak position, only four vowels are pronounced: [A, U, S, I]. When writing words, you should always remember that the graphic image of sounds in a weak position can be different.
Iotated letters
Such designations include vowels [E], [O], [Y], [A] and consonant [Y], however, they appear together only under certain conditions. What are the vowel sounds when iotated letters are placed after the consonants to indicate their softness, it is clear from the following examples: ball [m'ach]; pencil case [p'enal]; lazy [l'enef]. As you can see, only the vowel is pronounced, the sound [Y] softens the previous consonant. There are many other layouts of iotated letters: if they are at the beginning of a word, after vowels and dividing signs b and b. What are the vowel sounds in pronunciation? In the above cases, both a consonant and a vowel are pronounced, for example: poison [y'at], hedgehog [y'osh], huntsman [ye 'ger']; payak [pay'ats]; volume [aby'om], congress [sy'est].
Sometimes confusion arises with transcription signs and letters. In order to avoid mistakes, it should be remembered that the signs of transcription are always written in square brackets.
Instead of a conclusion
The question of what vowels are in the 4th grade of a secondary school is studied quite superficially, but in the middle link, knowledge and skills are systematized, concretized and automated. If for some reason errors began to slip, it is enough to repeat the sections "Phonetics" and "Spelling". In addition to this, there are many “cheat sheets” that are convenient to use.