Thread: the letter "x"

how do you pronounce the word "xлeб" which means bread? actually... how do you pronounce "x" period?

like the spaniah sound 'je' (you did say you knew spanish didnt you?) if im confused and that wasnt i can only say its someting you need to hear, i would bet at leat five pounds you could find recorded russian sounds from a link on this site

Like in word "hear"

No :P

ok then how would you pronounce the russian word for bread... and also... how do you pronounce "где"

где is pronounced like "gdye"
The Х sound does not exist in English, but I believe it is the Spanish J sound.

Originally Posted by Tu-160

Like in word "hear"

It might also sound like "kh" combination of sounds.

"hear" or "хлеб"?

Yes, you can say it sounds like in "hear". You are right

i wanna know how to say "хлеб"

how do you say "e" when it is unstressed

Originally Posted by Brandon8

i wanna know how to say "хлеб"

You say it like this:

khlyehp

Just read that as you would normally read in English.

Originally Posted by Brandon8

how do you say "e" when it is unstressed

Unstressed e sounds like an abbreviated Russian и. This rules is called ikanie and it also applies to unstressed я and э.

Examples: весело (the second e sounds like a short и)

P.S. и is pronounced like ee in meet.

Следующий вопрос будет "почему в конце "П"?"

Yeah, I guess so

Asnwer: Because some so-called 'voiced' consonants change to their 'unvoiced' equivalents at the end of the words. Here's the table:

voiced -> unvoiced
----------------------
б -> п
в -> ф
г -> к
д -> т
з -> с

thats exactly like german... except for the "3" becoming "c"

The letter х is pronounced like the ch in German Bach, Achtung, etc... (But not like in ich, for example.)

"X" is pronounced like the Scots "loch", or German "ach"

"x" is really easy, just like "h" in "hard", but very strong and loud,

for example, when you spit, you're like "hhhhhhhhhhhh(get your mucus out of throat into mouth).... then spit"

Originally Posted by awjln

"x" is really easy, just like "h" in "hard", but very strong and loud,

for example, when you spit, you're like "hhhhhhhhhhhh(get your mucus out of throat into mouth).... then spit"

It's not though. That's a hebrew or arabic H, which is a really harsh sound. Russian Х isn't that harsh, and not eveen pronounced in the throat.

X is velar, mucus doesn't live around that part of the mouth :P
H is glottal which is much further down the vocal tract.