Thread: unstressed a

What's the term of the pronunciation of an unstressed a? Like in комната, Миша, роза. Does this sound appear only in unstressed endings or..?

To me, it sounds like "uh" in "above" when unstressed, and "ah" in "father" when stressed. Just like in English.

-Fantom

What about a one-syllable word like пять. Has the pronunciation anything to do with the soft sign?

It sure does. In пять the vowel is like the A in English "cat". The surrounding palatalized consonts strongly affect the quality of the vowel.

Is an unstressed a affected in the same manner as an unstressed e?
In words like здание the e is pronounced as je and not as ji in order of the surrounding vowels and consonants.

Is it the same for a?. How about feminine nouns ending on unstressed -ия?

Originally Posted by chaika

It sure does. In пять the vowel is like the A in English "cat". The surrounding palatalized consonts strongly affect the quality of the vowel.

Like in "cat"? I've never heard anyone say that... I thought the soft T meant that the last part of the sound should sound like "ai", as in "high."

challenger, no that's not right.
do you mean you pronounce it smth like pyayt'?

it's a as in cat.

Originally Posted by chaika

challenger, no that's not right.
do you mean you pronounce it smth like pyayt'?

it's a as in cat.

Um... for all Russians? I mean, I know your dissertation was a dialectic study and all, but I've never heard it said like a in cat. Or is that "cat" with a Southern accent

in some places it's /e/, just like петь.

Maybe I need to listen more carefully...

I wasn't aware that ь did anything to ya! I only knew it affected stressed e (to "ay"), a (to "aigh," sort of), o ("oy," sort of), and э (also "ay").

Originally Posted by chaika

in some places it's /e/, just like петь.

Hm... Maybe you'll catch /e/, if you listen in depth. But I'm afraid, you advice will make people to pronounce пять like петь, what, of course, is totally wrong

семь, would it be more like s'im'?

What about unstressed a before a stressed vowel? Is it pronounced same way as unstressed at the end of a word?

Originally Posted by pranki

Originally Posted by chaika

in some places it's /e/, just like петь.

Hm... Maybe you'll catch /e/, if you listen in depth. But I'm afraid that your advice will make people pronounce пять like петь, which, of course, is totally wrong

Originally Posted by challenger

Originally Posted by pranki

Originally Posted by chaika

in some places it's /e/, just like петь.

Hm... Maybe you'll catch /e/, if you listen in depth. But I'm afraid that your advice will make people pronounce пять like петь, which, of course, is totally wrong

Oh, thank you very much! In spite of my signature people correct me so seldom!

I think I started to one time and thought... "This guy has no idea who I am, and I hardly know Russian, so..." But you're welcome. I'll go crazy correcting you now

Also, you don't have to have "that" in the sentence, but at least you don't want the comma.

I wasn't aware that ь did anything to ya! I only knew it affected stressed e (to "ay"), a (to "aigh," sort of), o ("oy," sort of), and э (also "ay").

I don't understand you. Do you mean Й? What Russian words are you thinking about? ь is only a symbol in Russian without its own sound. It indicates that the preceding consonant is palatalized (or palatal as with ж ш щ).

Compare the vowel quality in these two words
пят "heels" g.pl.
пять "five"
where the only difference is the palatalized final consonant in the second word.

(PS, pranki, will stick with Standard Literary Russian from now on! thanks. )

The quality of я will be different in пять because of the ь I think.
More like петь.

I compare it with czech pet (pjet), slovenian or serbian (pet), polish pie,c? etc...

Possibly an influence between slavic languages (maybe from russian?), and picked up the quality of pronunciation of я.

According to Maltzoff's Essentials of Russian Grammar, closed "e," for example, sounds like "ay." And you close it by softening the consonant after the vowel, which either ь or a soft vowel can do. For example, вместе sounds like "vm'ayst'e," because the softens the т, which softens the c, which closes the e.