Thread: Pronunciation of ы and щ

добрый день

I'm having difficulties grasping the pronunciation of the letters ы and щ, mainly because two different sources I'm using tell me to pronounce them differently. I was hoping I could get some clarification here.

My Russian course book describes ы as sounding like the i in English 'bit,' 'but with the tip of the tongue further back.' Not sure what to make of that.
The pronunciation book that came along with my Pimsleur CDs describes the sound as 'a quick eau-ee'
When listening to the Pimsleur CDs, I can only get the impression that ы sounds like the French word oui. Thus Вы would sound something like 'Vwi' in English. Is this correct?

As for щ, my grammar book describes the letter as ш being pronounced twice, as in the English words 'Welsh sheep'
But the Pimsleur book describes it as being 'a long and enunciated ш,' like when an English person holds a finger to their mouth and says 'sshhhhhh!' when they're trying to get someone to be quiet.

Which is correct?

Спасибо

I think russian ы is like "e" in "really".

But then it would sound the same as Russian и, wouldn't it?

Originally Posted by Zwanglos

добрый день

I'm having difficulties grasping the pronunciation of the letters ы and щ, mainly because two different sources I'm using tell me to pronounce them differently. I was hoping I could get some clarification here.

My Russian course book describes ы as sounding like the i in English 'bit,' 'but with the tip of the tongue further back.' Not sure what to make of that.
The pronunciation book that came along with my Pimsleur CDs describes the sound as 'a quick eau-ee'

When listening to the Pimsleur CDs, I can only get the impression that ы sounds like the French word oui. Thus Вы would sound something like 'Vwi' in English. Is this correct?

As for щ, my grammar book describes the letter as ш being pronounced twice, as in the English words 'Welsh sheep'
But the Pimsleur book describes it as being 'a long and enunciated ш,' like when an English person holds a finger to their mouth and says 'sshhhhhh!' when they're trying to get someone to be quiet.

Which is correct?

Спасибо

Щ is easy - almost the same as in sheet, shield, sheep.

Ы is a different matter. Try to thrust your lower jaw forward as far as you can and bare your foreteeth as if you were making some evil grimace. Then try to say ea as in really without moving your tongue or changing the mimics.
The sound you will produce should be very close to Ы.

P.S. God knows I tried my best to describe that.

Maybe it helps:
http://masterrussian.net/mforum/download.php?id=314

The first record contains words "сшит" (it should be pronounced "шшит") and "щит"

The second one contains "и", "ы" and words "Димка", "Дымка":
http://masterrussian.net/mforum/download.php?id=315