Consonant Mutation, & verbs in general
1) Are there exceptions to the Ж, Ч, Ш, Щ consonant mutation? Most of the grammars, etc., I've seen mention mutation, but no exceptions. But, I do know, for example, that играть, whose stem ends with г, does not undergo mutation.
2) Is there a comprehensive listing of all verb types (e.g., "2nd conjug.," "verbs in -ова," etc.) and their rules, as a reference? Most of I've seen appear non-comprehensive, and/or disorganized.
Re: Consonant Mutation, & verbs in general
The stem of "играть" is игр and ends in 'р'
The exceptions...
"mutation takes place ONLY in the following verb types: -и and -е
(for the 1st person singular, –ишь conjugation verbs) and –а (for all forms, –ёшь
conjugation)." ... "Not all consonants mutate!!! л, н, р, and all "hushings" (ч, ж, ш, щ) do not mutate"
(source: http://www.russian.pomona.edu/harves/Sp ... _verbs.pdf)
Re: Consonant Mutation, & verbs in general
When you learn Russian verbs, you need to know three forms, which will give you all the consonant, stress, and vowel alternations. 1) the stem, obtained by removing the infinitive ending (-ть, -ти, -чь), 2) 1p. sg. and 3) 2p. sg.
Examples:
смотреть, смотрю, смотришь
писать, пишу, пишешь
беречь, берегу, бережёшь
совать сую, суёшь
Some verbs have vowel alternations that show up this way
петь пою, поёшь
Some dialects have tried to make these things regular:
жечь, жгу, жгёшь
just as the Standard Language has
ткать, тку, ткёшь (you would expect тчёшь)