Thread: Ya and ye

Are unstressed ya and ye pronounced as "ee," or as ya and ye? I've seen conflicting things...

The unstressed я and е are almost like a very soft "yi". It's to explain pronunciations over the internet, so it might be more helpful to buy a book with an audio CD, if you haven't already.

the way I understand it, unstressed ya is a like the a in father.
unstressed e is like e in net.

But then, why are there words like russkaya? Why is the "ya" sound in words like that?[/b]

guys -- buy a book! This is straight out of Russian 101 or maybe 102. Hire a tutor and you will get an unequivocal answer that does not depend on who answers and what transliteration they are using.

The short answer is - it depends on where the я is located. The long answer you'll find in the textbook.

PS mp510 is wrong on both counts.

Originally Posted by chaika

guys -- buy a book! This is straight out of Russian 101 or maybe 102. Hire a tutor and you will get an unequivocal answer that does not depend on who answers and what transliteration they are using.

The short answer is - it depends on where the я is located. The long answer you'll find in the textbook.

That's why I asked on another thread if my book was outdated. The pronunciation it gives isn't exactly what I see elsewhere.

Ok, I've consulted Essentials of Russian Grammar by Nicholas Maltzoff, and there's still one thing I'm not clear on about unstressed ya. What is it at the end of a word??? I've been listening to words that end in it like "nedelya" and "russkaya," and still can't make it out. It is pronounced like "ya," only without much stress, or is it like unstressed yas in other places of words? Or is it an indetermine sound halfway between "ya" and "ye"? And do Siberians pronounce it differently than Muscovites?

Originally Posted by challenger

Ok, I've consulted Essentials of Russian Grammar by Nicholas Maltzoff, and there's still one thing I'm not clear on about unstressed ya. What is it at the end of a word??? I've been listening to words that end in it like "nedelya" and "russkaya," and still can't make it out. It is pronounced like "ya," only without much stress, or is it like unstressed yas in other places of words? Or is it an indetermine sound halfway between "ya" and "ye"? And do Siberians pronounce it differently than Muscovites?

I think it depends on whether the preceding sound is a vowel or a consonant. I think trying to use transliteration is a big mistake. You have to use Russian alphabet when you are studying Russian. The next thing I would recommend is to learn how to pronounce basic syllables such as ма, па, ба, ля, дя, вя, мя, etc. They have to sound as a single. The common error English speakers make is to separate the sounds, e.g. pronouncing мья instead of мя.

There are no differences in pronouncing...except maybe some country people...

Originally Posted by Eugene

There are no differences in pronouncing...except maybe some country people...

What do you mean there is no difference? No difference in how я sounds in неделя and русская? Say the words slowly... In русская it sounds as РУССКАйА. Нам это в школе даже объясняли, но я сейчас, конечно, правил никаких не помню. Давно все это было....

Originally Posted by Eugene

There are no differences in pronouncing...except maybe some country people...

Oh, I got it after I looked at your location You were probably answering the last question about the difference between Moscow and Siberian pronounciation... Right?

Most books will something like:

Unstressed Е sounds like и (more like the i in bit, but remember it is still a soft vowel!)
Unstressed Я sounds like и (more like the i in bit, but remember it is still a soft vowel!) except when it is in the last sylable, where it sounds like Я.
Also if it starts a word, unstressed Я sounds more like йи. (yi)
язык sounds like yi-zyk.



mp510 is talking about the difference between jotated and unjotated, which is something completely different.

I would have typed it in Russian, but on this computer there is no Russian font installed. I have one w/ Russian font, but that one has no audio

So at the end of the word it's pronounced "ya"... thank you!

The reason I asked about Siberian/Moscow pronunciation is that I've noticed that Siberians seem to reduce "o" when unstressed, but not "a" or "i". Is that right, or is it just a country thing? Is "Siberian country" pronunciation viewed as uneducated?

Originally Posted by challenger

The reason I asked about Siberian/Moscow pronunciation is that I've noticed that Siberians seem to reduce "o" when unstressed, but not "a" or "i". Is that right, or is it just a country thing? Is "Siberian country" pronunciation viewed as uneducated?

Unless you are preparing yourself to a spying carrer all of this is irrelevant. I don't think there is any substantial difference in how people speak in Siberia and let's say in Moscow. It's more about the choice of words and phrasing I think... But the TV culture is wiping out all the major differences. Note, I am not talking about some remote villages where you can hear all sorts of dialects. With regards to the "o" sound specifically there is one region (Vologda) where they always make it "o" whether stressed or not, but Vologda is not in Siberia if I remember my geography

Well, I just wanted to blend in, but not for spying