how to pronounce a palatalized r (рь)

Would someone please describe how to pronounce the palataized r in words such as говорю, река, and ряд? I can hear the difference between the palatalized and unpalatalized r, but I am not sure how to correctly. It seems to me that it can't be pronounced in the same way one would normally pronounce a soft consonant--by putting your tongue against the roof of your mouth--since that would make it nearly impossible to produce a trill.

Batman doesn't need to speak Russian properly. He speaks the international language of whoop-arse, after all...

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Originally Posted by brucewayne

Would someone please describe how to pronounce the palataized r in words such as говорю, река, and ряд? I can hear the difference between the palatalized and unpalatalized r, but I am not sure how to correctly. It seems to me that it can't be pronounced in the same way one would normally pronounce a soft consonant--by putting your tongue against the roof of your mouth--since that would make it nearly impossible to produce a trill.

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There is like a very slight y sound just after the Р. This is one of the most difficult sounds for English speakers. You must make sure you don't end up saying e.g. риека or рьека.

no way on God's green Earth anyone going to explain this to you in written words. You got to hear it. Take a couple lessons from a NATIVE SPEAKER. (not from the Causasus, either -- Russians are always making fun of how they can't say palatalized consonants either!)

How bout a recordning? :wink: