Thread: Distinguishing Between Letters

Hello forums,
I know all of the Russian alphabet, but I'm stuck on some of the letters' pronunciation. Can you please help me distinguish between И and Й, and Ш and Щ? Thank you.

Й is like Y as in Yes or Toy
И is like EE as in bee

as for Ш vs Щ you have to go much further into phonetics to learn the difference.
The thing is that your SH as in SHore is neither Ш nor Щ; it's like in between them and you have to learn the correct articulation of the Russian sounds to feel the difference.

Originally Posted by Medved

Й is like Y as in Yes or Toy
И is like EE as in bee

as for Ш vs Щ you have to go much further into phonetics to learn the difference.
The thing is that your SH as in SHore is neither Ш nor Щ; it's like in between them and you have to learn the correct articulation of the Russian sounds to feel the difference.

Just to clarify, the main difference between И and Й is that Й is held shorter than И, right? It is a little confusing, but I guess practice makes perfect.

Originally Posted by Missionary

the main difference between И and Й is that Й is held shorter than И, right?

[й] is a consonant. It doesn’t form a syllable. [и] is a vowel, and it forms a syllable.
[й] creates more noise than [и] does when being pronounced.

Originally Posted by Missionary

Can you please help me distinguish between И and Й, and Ш and Щ?

Have you already get accustomed with palatalization (so called ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ consonants) and with the letter ‘ь’ (‘soft sign’)? Can you hear the difference in the pairs ‘п’—‘пь’, ‘м’—‘мь’, ‘с’—‘сь’ etc.?
If so, you can assume that ‘щ’ is ‘шь’.

Originally Posted by Soft sign

[й] is a consonant. It doesn’t form a syllable. [и] is a vowel, and it forms a syllable.
[й] creates more noise than [и] does when being pronounced.


Have you already get accustomed with palatalization (so called ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ consonants) and with the letter ‘ь’ (‘soft sign’)? Can you hear the difference in the pairs ‘п’—‘пь’, ‘м’—‘мь’, ‘с’—‘сь’ etc.?
If so, you can assume that ‘щ’ is ‘шь’.

I've learned about palatalization, and I'm practicing it right now. By the way it's got, not get. Благодарю.

Originally Posted by Missionary

I've learned about palatalization, and I'm practicing it right now.

I suppose it is one of the most difficult features in Russian phonetics.

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Originally Posted by Missionary

By the way it's got, not get.

Thank you for the correction. I’m trying to improve my English, and your corrections are important to me.
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Originally Posted by Soft sign

I suppose it is one of the most difficult features in Russian phonetics.

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Thank you for the correction. I’m trying to improve my English, and your corrections are important to me.
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Your English is already really good, keep it up!