Thread: живёт

Pimsleur has me confused on a couple of words. I know that there are a few Russian words that are pronounced a little different than their spelling would suggest. Example: сегодня (the г sounds like a в).

When they say the words живёт and живете, they really sound like they're saying the в like a г. It's very distinct, and I have listened over and over again.

Another strange word is где. Pimsleur always makes it sound like "гдзе", and I know this is wrong.

Can anybody shed some light on this please?

I believe it's just an individual pronunciation of a person whose voice has been recorded on the tape.

I myself never heard such a pronuntiation of these words.

Originally Posted by Leof

I believe it's just an individual pronunciation of a person whose voice has been recorded on the tape.

I myself never heard such a pronuntiation of these words.

What about "сегодня"?

Сегодня must be said like севодня.

Что is most likely being said like што, бог like бох, and конечно like канешно (канешна), but the two words which made you doubt must be said as they are written.

Though живёте sounds between живёте and жевёте, and где has a half-evident trace of з in it, because your tongue and teeth have to do the similar movement.

I never had any trouble with these words in Pimsleur. It sounds like you should get a new pair of headphones.

When they say the words живёт and живете, they really sound like they're saying the в like a г. It's very distinct, and I have listened over and over again.

They sound perfectly like a в to me, when I listen to the CD!!

Originally Posted by DDT

I never had any trouble with these words in Pimsleur. It sounds like you should get a new pair of headphones.

They sound perfectly like a в to me, when I listen to the CD!!

DDT, I have listened about a hundred times to this word in several different lessons. The в in живёт sounds just a little bit like a г. Just enough to maybe cause two people to hear different sounds. But when they say живёте...there's no doubt about it. Perhaps you have a different edition that I have...perhaps my speakers are faulty...perhaps one of us needs our hearing checked (probably me)...or perhaps one of us is losing his mind (again, probably me).

Anyway, the main point is that no matter what I think i hear, it should be жиBёте. And that was my question. Thanks for clearing it up.

You are welcome!


PS: As far as I tried to say жигёте aloud I got жгёте instead.

Originally Posted by Leof

Сегодня must be said like севодня.

Rather сиводня.

(А то ещё не дай бог "сьеводня" получится. )


P.S. Frankly speaking, "где" can sound like гдзе, because of the softness of д here. It is not so awful.

I had this one lady in my Russian class, who always said где as, "гъде" and it sounded retarded to me.

Originally Posted by DDT

and it sounded retarded to me.

+1

A couple of people in my class can't, or won't pronounce consonant clusters properly and insert some kind of vowel or schwa. Like they'll say въкуско. The problem is it renders вход and выход indistinguishable when they say them.

There's one woman who pronounces где, гъджэй

Originally Posted by DDT

I had this one lady in my Russian class, who always said где as, "гъде" and it sounded retarded to me.

I can't imagine how would it sound like

Originally Posted by kamka

Originally Posted by DDT

I had this one lady in my Russian class, who always said где as, "гъде" and it sounded retarded to me.

I can't imagine how would it sound like

У меня не получается произнести гьде. Я не могу вспомнить ни одного слова с "гь" в нём.
http://sayandpost.com/5muqhcqlx4.mp3

Originally Posted by Lampada

I can't imagine how would it sound like

У меня не получается произнести гьде. Я не могу вспомнить ни одного слова с "гь" в нём.
http://sayandpost.com/5muqhcqlx4.mp3

не "ь" а, "Ъ"

Не забывайте, что живёт etc. произносятся с Ы, то есть жывёт, хотя пишется И после шипящих.

I suggest you take a few lessons with a real, live native speaker. Oh, shucks, even a nonnative speaker like me can say /v/ where it is supposed to be. Your ears are certainly playing tricks on you if you hear a /g/ there!!

Speaking of /g/, in genitive singular nonfeminine adjectives with the ending spelled -ого and -его the г is always pronounced /v/ in Standard Russian (oops, grammar terms! I forgot you don't know what I am talking about).

There are a handful of words like сегодня, итого where the г is pronounced /v/.

In a few liturgical words г is pronounced very differently, and, remembering a discussion somewhere about how you pronounce the name of the composer Bach and the Scottish word 'loch', I'm not going to even try. Господь, Господи, Бога.

Originally Posted by Lampada

Originally Posted by kamka

Originally Posted by DDT

I had this one lady in my Russian class, who always said где as, "гъде" and it sounded retarded to me.

I can't imagine how would it sound like

У меня не получается произнести гьде. Я не могу вспомнить ни одного слова с "гь" в нём.
http://sayandpost.com/5muqhcqlx4.mp3

We are using ъ to indicate a schwa or some kind of short indestinct vowel sound (as it used to be in Russian, and still is in Bulgarian).

Originally Posted by chaika

Не забывайте, что живёт etc. произносятся с Ы, то есть [color=red]

In a few liturgical words г is pronounced very differently, and, remembering a discussion somewhere about how you pronounce the name of the composer Bach and the Scottish word 'loch', I'm not going to even try. Господь, Господи, Бога.

Liturgical words??

The most common three words in which Г is pronounced X are

Бог, мягкий, лёгкий [Бох, мяхкий, лёхкий]

I hope Господь, Господи, Бога aren't also given as examples, because the Г is a Г in all three of them, unless you are a Ukrainian :P

Originally Posted by TATY

We are using ъ to indicate a schwa or some kind of short indestinct vowel sound (as it used to be in Russian, and still is in Bulgarian).

so, basically they just produce a short "ы" sound after the "г"?

Originally Posted by kamka

Originally Posted by TATY

We are using ъ to indicate a schwa or some kind of short indestinct vowel sound (as it used to be in Russian, and still is in Bulgarian).

so, basically they just produce a short "ы" sound after the "г"?

Well not namely a short ы. Basically a schwa. In English we don't have such consonant clusters, so people will often erroneously insert a vowel sound between certain consonants to facilitate pronunciation.

Originally Posted by TATY

Originally Posted by kamka

Originally Posted by TATY

We are using ъ to indicate a schwa or some kind of short indestinct vowel sound (as it used to be in Russian, and still is in Bulgarian).

so, basically they just produce a short "ы" sound after the "г"?

Well not namely a short ы. Basically a schwa. In English we don't have such consonant clusters, so people will often erroneously insert a vowel sound between certain consonants to facilitate pronunciation.

thanks, I think I get it now