Thread: unstressed е

I am little confused about the pronunciation of an unstressed е.
in мамe (instr. of мамa) I heard the e pronounced as je.
why not ji as in тебя?

when should I pronounce an unstressed e as je/e and not ji/i?

Also i have noticed that in words such as razvlechenije it sounds the same as razvlechenija. Is this how it's supposed to be or is my ear not hearing right?

Originally Posted by jz12

...

when should I pronounce an unstressed e as je/e and not ji/i?

The prononciation of е will depend on whether it precedes or follows the stressed letter in a word.

Originally Posted by basurero

Also i have noticed that in words such as razvlechenije it sounds the same as razvlechenija. Is this how it's supposed to be or is my ear not hearing right?

No they are not the same.

Originally Posted by Spiderkat

Originally Posted by jz12

...

when should I pronounce an unstressed e as je/e and not ji/i?

The prononciation of е will depend on whether it precedes or follows the stressed letter in a word.

Is that so?

Originally Posted by challenger

Is that so?

Will you pronounce меня myenya or meenya, and в машине vmashinye or vmashine?

Originally Posted by jz12

I am little confused about the pronunciation of an unstressed е.

IMHO the prononsation unstressed e mostly depends on a speaker. I noticed that my kids prefer to say mostly "ee" though my wife and me usually say "ye".

in мамe (instr. of мамa) I heard the e pronounced as je.
why not ji as in тебя?

Maybe becouse there is no syllables after е. If you say the word маменьке (EDIT: Shame on me TATY it is really DAT/PREP of маменька, arch. dim. of мама) you may say ee or ye... as you wish. BTW I say in both cases ye.

when should I pronounce an unstressed e as je/e and not ji/i?

If you are not sure say ye.

Ιsn't Маме the prep. and dat. of Мама?

The trick is where the unstressed e occurs. If it is word final, it may well be that it is pronounced /e/ as in о маме, о трамвае. But within a word when unstressed /i/ will always be OK and probably the norm.

Second,
>ji as in тебя
this is not right. if you heard that you would see тъебя or тьибя. In other words, there is not a consonant /j/ after the /t/. But we both know you are hearing /t'ib'

Originally Posted by Spiderkat

Originally Posted by challenger

Is that so?

Will you pronounce меня myenya or meenya, and в машине vmashinye or vmashine?

I thought the pronunciation difference was because in машине the е was at the end of the word.

Originally Posted by challenger

I thought the pronunciation difference was because in машине the е was at the end of the word.

Maybe it wasn't a good example. How about ремесленнический.

Originally Posted by Spiderkat

How about ремесленнический.

И чё? ремесленнический, римесленнический, римеслиннический, ремеслиннический... and so on and so forth. All of them sounds ok to me. But as I said I pronounce unstressed ye as ye.

also тебя and меня?

Originally Posted by Spiderkat

Originally Posted by challenger

I thought the pronunciation difference was because in машине the е was at the end of the word.

Maybe it wasn't a good example. How about ремесленнический.

Well, in that word, as far as I understand it, the third e softens the л, which softens the с, which closes the second e, causing it to sound like "ay." But you were saying something about whether it comes before or after the stress. I haven't heard anything about that. Are we talking about the same thing?

Originally Posted by challenger

Well, in that word, as far as I understand it, the third e softens the л, which softens the с, which closes the second e, causing it to sound like "ay." But you were saying something about whether it comes before or after the stress. I haven't heard anything about that. Are we talking about the same thing?

Well, it seems that it would depend on the speaker whether the unstressed е is pronounced ye or ee. I just thought that it would sound more like ye than ee when following the stress in a word.

Originally Posted by Spiderkat

Originally Posted by challenger

Well, in that word, as far as I understand it, the third e softens the л, which softens the с, which closes the second e, causing it to sound like "ay." But you were saying something about whether it comes before or after the stress. I haven't heard anything about that. Are we talking about the same thing?

Well, it seems that it would depend on the speaker whether the unstressed е is pronounced ye or ee. I just thought that it would sound more like ye than ee when following the stress in a word.

Whether it's jotated depends on whether it's connected to a consonant or at the beginning of the word.

I meant prepositional of мама

unstressed e is in standard language /i/ when it occurs between two palatalized consonants. This phenomenon is called и

[quote=chaika]unstressed e is in standard language /i/ when it occurs between two palatalized consonants. This phenomenon is called и

Have I understood it right when to pronounce je/ 'e?

амeрикaнскоe - am'irikanskaje
нeмeцкоe - n'im'etskaje
читaeт - czitajit