Thread: How you write it and how you pronounce it!

Is my observation correct?:
Russian is a language that is pronounced very much the way it is written.
Exceptions seem to be when some letters are not pronounced.
The pronunciation of this one: яз is more like: йз

What do you think?

The pronunciation of this one: яз is more like: йз

I hink it's more: йиз

You're almost right. We are used to pronounce a great deal of words just as we write them, but there are a few exceptions. For an instanse:

spelling: Солнце, prononciation: Сонце (omitting the letter л)
spelling: Что, prononciation: Што (changing Ч into Ш)

Originally Posted by Oggi

Is my observation correct?:
Russian is a language that is pronounced very much the way it is written.
Exceptions seem to be when some letters are not pronounced.
The pronunciation of this one: яз is more like: йз

What do you think?

You are talking about язык and the reason for the reduction is because the я is unstressed.

Originally Posted by Chuvak

You're almost right. We are used to pronounce a great deal of words just as we write them, but there are a few exceptions. For an instanse:

spelling: Солнце, prononciation: Сонце (omitting the letter л)
spelling: Что, prononciation: Што (changing Ч into Ш)

spelling: сердце - prononciation: серце
spelling: поздно - prononciation: позно

Originally Posted by Remyisme

Originally Posted by Chuvak

You're almost right. We are used to pronounce a great deal of words just as we write them, but there are a few exceptions. For an instanse:

spelling: Солнце, prononciation: Сонце (omitting the letter л)
spelling: Что, prononciation: Што (changing Ч into Ш)

spelling: сердце - prononciation: серце
spelling: поздно - prononciation: позно

Чувствовать - first В not pronounced
Здравствуйте - first B not pronounced
Бог - pronounced Бох
Мягкий - pronounced Мяхкий

Originally Posted by TATY

Originally Posted by Remyisme

Originally Posted by Chuvak

You're almost right. We are used to pronounce a great deal of words just as we write them, but there are a few exceptions. For an instanse:

spelling: Солнце, prononciation: Сонце (omitting the letter л)
spelling: Что, prononciation: Што (changing Ч into Ш)

spelling: сердце - prononciation: серце
spelling: поздно - prononciation: позно

Чувствовать - first В not pronounced
Здравствуйте - first B not pronounced
Бог - pronounced Бох
Мягкий - pronounced Мяхкий

Typo!

Корова произносится карова.

Stressed "a" gives a sound that actually is a bit different than unstressed "a" and than unstressed "o". Unstressed "a" and unstressed "o" are probably the same.

Корова курила сигарету в мундштуке!

Originally Posted by Oggi

Is my observation correct?:
Russian is a language that is pronounced very much the way it is written.

Yes, and that's intentional - we actually bother to synchronize our spelling with pronunciation once in a while.

well there's the thing with all the звонкие шумные (at the end of the word they become глухие)

друг -druk'
пляж - pljash
кровь - krof'

these phonemes for example are pronounced in an entirely different way at the end of the word, they lose their characteristical sound

пляж - pljash

тут слышится ж.. что-то между ш и ж, не чистое ш

Originally Posted by Oggi

Is my observation correct?:

No.

Russian is a language that is pronounced very much the way it is written.

Maybe only compared to English. But that is not that big an achievement

Originally Posted by Dimitri

пляж - pljash

тут слышится ж.. что-то между ш и ж, не чистое ш

It means that you are listening to non-standard Russian.

Originally Posted by laxxy

Originally Posted by Dimitri

пляж - pljash

тут слышится ж.. что-то между ш и ж, не чистое ш

It means that you are listening to non-standard Russian.

Я слышу нормальный русский. И я слышу среднее между ш и ж

Originally Posted by groovychick

well there's the thing with all the звонкие шумные (at the end of the word they become глухие)

друг -druk'
пляж - pljash
кровь - krof'

these phonemes for example are pronounced in an entirely different way at the end of the word, they lose their characteristical sound

Not entirely differently, it's just without the vibration of the vocal cords. It's voicing/de-voicing.

Originally Posted by Seventh-Monkey

Originally Posted by groovychick

well there's the thing with all the звонкие шумные (at the end of the word they become глухие)

друг -druk'
пляж - pljash
кровь - krof'

these phonemes for example are pronounced in an entirely different way at the end of the word, they lose their characteristical sound

Not entirely differently, it's just without the vibration of the vocal cords. It's voicing/de-voicing.

Exactly. They are not completely different. And there shouldn't be an ' after the K.

Originally Posted by laxxy

Russian is a language that is pronounced very much the way it is written.

Maybe only compared to English. But that is not that big an achievement

In fact, it is quite an achievement, as it saves children precious time - they dont have to memorize too much spelling and may concentrate on more interesting activities.

Imagine trying to drive from point A to point B using a map that is 800 years old - that's trying to read using ancient spelling for you.

Originally Posted by HA

Originally Posted by laxxy

Russian is a language that is pronounced very much the way it is written.

Maybe only compared to English. But that is not that big an achievement

In fact, it is quite an achievement, as it saves children precious time - they dont have to memorize too much spelling and may concentrate on more interesting activities.

Imagine trying to drive from point A to point B using a map that is 800 years old - that's trying to read using ancient spelling for you.

No, he was saying that it's not difficult for a language to be more phonetic than English.