Thread: bl

O.K. I have all of the cyrillic alphabet down besides two letters: bl and the one that looks like a W with a tail.
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bl

I everywhere I go it says that this sounds like the i in big or a combo of it and the i in some other word. I live in a town in the Norhtern part of the U.S. where words sre pronounced much differently than other places, so someof these word sound nothing alike to me. The i in big makes sense to me, can I pronounce it like this and still be pronouncing it properly?
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W with a tail

Everywhere I go says this sounds like a combination of a sh and a ch sound. Is this like like the last sound in Porsche?
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Muchly appreciated guys.

Originally Posted by SashaT

O.K. I have all of the cyrillic alphabet down besides two letters: bl and the one that looks like a W with a tail.
===============================================
bl

I everywhere I go it says that this sounds like the i in big or a combo of it and the i in some other word. I live in a town in the Norhtern part of the U.S. where words sre pronounced much differently than other places, so someof these word sound nothing alike to me. The i in big makes sense to me, can I pronounce it like this and still be pronouncing it properly?
===============================================
W with a tail

Everywhere I go says this sounds like a combination of a sh and a ch sound. Is this like like the last sound in Porsche?
===============================================

Muchly appreciated guys.

There are about 1000 threads about this.

But to put it simply. Neither sounds exist in English. bI is harder to pronounce. It's best just to listen, and try and make the sound.

Neither Ш nor Щ is the same as the English sh sound.
And Щ is TRANSLITERATED as shch, but has no english Ch sound in it.
Ш is always hard, and is pronounced the lower jaw pushed slighty forward. bI is also pronounced with the jaw in the same position.

If you put your mouth in the position to pronounce Ш and try and say И you make Ы. But that won't hekp you much, since you can't make a proper Ш yet.
Щ is always soft. When you pronounce it your mouth should be wider, almost like you are smiling. For Ш your mouth should be more closed.

At the beginners' level, the best thing you can do to make Ш and Щ sound different is to note the following:
Since Ш is always hard, and Щ is always soft,

шя is pronounced ша
шё is pronounced шо
ши is pronounced шы
шю is pronounced шу
ше is pronounced шэ
шь is pronounced ш

ща is pronounced щя
щэ is pronounced ще
що is pronounced щё
щу is pronounced щю
щы is pronounced щи

Everything I have heard makes the ы sound like a mix of "oo" and "ee"
-Fantom

If you're American,
say "dick" and pull your mouth apart horizontally a little more.

Very interesting to say "dick" this way. What a nice word you have chosen for that! I myself tried to say it using the recommendations, but it sounds neither proper nor natural. Try saying [ы] in the position of [и] with the bulk of the tongue lifted a bit.

I can pronounce Ы after most letters. But I still have trouble saying the sound by itseld. Like when you say the letter name. And after R.

Originally Posted by TATY

But I still have trouble saying the sound by itseld.

That's not easy even for Russians. Probably the reason why words don't begin with it.

Oh, there are surnames of the Tartar, or may be of another nationality, I do not know for sure, beginning with Ы.

Ысманов, for example.

Originally Posted by Rtyom

Oh, there are surnames of the Tartar, or may be of another nationality, I do not know for sure, beginning with Ы.

Ысманов, for example.

Hmm, but I don't think the sound Ы exists in the Tatar language, and the symbol Ы is just used to represent another i sound.

Originally Posted by Friendy

Originally Posted by TATY

But I still have trouble saying the sound by itseld.

That's not easy even for Russians. Probably the reason why words don't begin with it.

So, in English schools when they teach kids English they have those posters of the alphabet with each letter of the alphabet on them, then a word that it being with. Like A = Apple, B = Ball, C = Cat.

What do they do for Ы in Russian.

Originally Posted by TATY

Originally Posted by Rtyom

Oh, there are surnames of the Tartar, or may be of another nationality, I do not know for sure, beginning with Ы.

Ысманов, for example.

Hmm, but I don't think the sound Ы exists in the Tatar language, and the symbol Ы is just used to represent another i sound.

Yes, you are right, but did you think of us practicing those unwonted names?

Originally Posted by TATY

Originally Posted by Friendy

Originally Posted by TATY

But I still have trouble saying the sound by itseld.

That's not easy even for Russians. Probably the reason why words don't begin with it.

So, in English schools when they teach kids English they have those posters of the alphabet with each letter of the alphabet on them, then a word that it being with. Like A = Apple, B = Ball, C = Cat.

What do they do for Ы in Russian.

In our schools we have the same. In defiance of expectations there are no pictures for the letters Ъ, Ы, Ь. They are just written "bare", if it can be said so. Actually, Ъ and Ь are not letters; they are signs.

It's not hard at all to pronounce Ы by itself for native Russian speakers. Just as easy as О or И. However no Russian word starts with Ы.
In Romanian, for an instance, there are many words starting with

That's not easy even for Russians. Probably the reason why words don't begin with it.

Для меня есдинственная разница между "ы" и "и" - только в том, что "и" смягчает предыдущую согласную, а "ы" - нет. Соответственно, нет необходимости начинать слова с буквы "ы".

You have to listen and repeat!

Слушайте ему здесь.

I am native Russian speaker.

Originally Posted by Darobat

Слушайте ему здесь.

It sounds like a noise of some electric mechanism.

"Слушайте ему"? Может быть, "его"?

Originally Posted by chaika

If you're American,
say "dick" and pull your mouth apart horizontally a little more.

Works good. Thanks.

bl only appears after other letters. All russian books make that pretty clear (at least the ones i have).

Originally Posted by TATY

So, in English schools when they teach kids English they have those posters of the alphabet with each letter of the alphabet on them, then a word that it being with. Like A = Apple, B = Ball, C = Cat.

What do they do for Ы in Russian.

They have the same problem we have: X = ?

In most of the posters/banners/books that I can recall off the top of my head, X is always described as "X as in foX". There are few English words that begins with X, and I think that young children would have a hard time understanding what is meant by xenon, xylem, xylene, xerox, xiphoid or xenophobia. Possibly the only other way out is to use Xmas as an example.