Thread: Alessya

Hi everyone,

Okay, the name Alessya should be pronounced like “al-es-sya”, right? I’ve been trying to say this correctly for six weeks now, but the feedback from the Alessya in question is not good!

Do I have a special problem or is it difficult for most beginners with English as native tongue to say “sya” correctly?! I can say “s” and “ya” separately (obviously), but as soon as I try to say “sya” fluently I introduce an extra unwanted sound like “si-ya”

I can say “shya”, but “sya” feels completely unnatural; and the more I try the more stilted it becomes. I can also say “al-es-ya”, but she definitely seems to want two “s” sounds in there.

Maybe this isn’t a question as such. Just wanted to see if it’s a known difficulty for beginners... or maybe someone has a tip for getting it right that will save me.

Thanks,

Simon

Originally Posted by becksie

Hi everyone,

Okay, the name Alessya should be pronounced like “al-es-sya”, right?

No. It's pronounced a-le-s'a. "S" with an apostrophe is a "soft" (a.k.a palatalized) "s". There is no "y", nor "i", between "s" and "a".

Originally Posted by becksie

I can say “shya”, but “sya” feels completely unnatural; and the more I try the more stilted it becomes. I can also say “al-es-ya”, but she definitely seems to want two “s” sounds in there.

That is rather strange. There is the single "s" there.

Originally Posted by becksie

Maybe this isn’t a question as such. Just wanted to see if it’s a known difficulty for beginners...

Yes, it's a common difficulty for all English-speakers, because there are no distinction between "hard" and "soft" consonants in English.

Originally Posted by becksie

or maybe someone has a tip for getting it right that will save me.

Живёт в белорусском полесье кудесница леса Алеся...

Thanks for the detailed help. And for the video: brilliant!... I will listen to it repeatedly until the pronunciation is imprinted onto my brain.

Cheers.

No. It's pronounced a-le-s'a. "S" with an apostrophe is a "soft" (a.k.a palatalized) "s". There is no "y", nor "i", between "s" and "a".

To be MORE exact it is pronounced [s'ä], where ä means a little bit more forward vowel than the ordinary [a] after hard consonants.
I think every time there's a discussion about soft consonants a lot is being said about the quality of the soft consonants, and nothin is said about the quality of the vowels after them, but it is important in order to pronounce correctly all the combination. Native Russian speakers are not aware of this (except those with philiogical knowledge) because this is not a so called "phonematic distinction", [ä] being only a positional variant of general "a". (And so with ü and ö)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaqTQTmFkWo


Группа Сябры

Алеся

Живёт в белорусском полесье
Кудесница леса – Алеся.
Считает года по кукушке,
Встречает меня на опушке.

Припев:
Алеся, Алеся, Алеся!
Так птицы кричат,
Так птицы кричат,
Так птицы кричат
В поднебесье.
Алеся, Алеся, Алеся.
Останься со мною, Алеся,
Как сказка, как чудо, как песня.

Боясь, что вернутся морозы,
Заплачут в апреле берёзы.
Алеся к ветвям прикоснётся,
Росою слёза обернётся.

Припев.

Живёт в белорусском полесье
Кудесница леса – Алеся,
Живёт в ожидании счастья,
А с ним нелегко повстречаться.

Припев:
Алеся, Алеся, Алеся...