Thread: Voiced/Devoiced

Hello all,

I signed up a while ago, but then went off the idea of learning. Recently, though, I purchased some Russian learning software for cheap that I thought would inspire me to dedicate myself a bit more. In any case, it turns out I need to get my grammar up to scratch before I can really use the program, so that's what I've been trying to do.

I did a search for this topic, but only found threads that provided information that was a little too advanced for me. I've got the alphabet pretty well down pat, however, I'm only beginning to learn the rules. I've been going through a grammar site linked to from MasterRussian.com, and have got to this page:

http://www.alphadictionary.com/rusgrammar/pronounc.html

I'm a little confused with the whole voicing/devoicing part. Specifically:

Whenever two or more of the consonants in Table 3 occur within a phonological word (a word or cluster of words sharing a single accent), the final consonant determines the voicing for all. In other words, if the final consonant is voiced, all will be voiced, if the final consonant is voiceless, all will be voiceless.

Can anyone rephrase this sentence? I think I understand what it's saying, but I don't understand how to apply it.

Also, how does one tell where the accent is in a word?

Thanks for help in advance, and hello to you all!

A voiced consonant makes your vocal chords vibrate. In english, some voiced consonants are "b, d, z, v, and g". Their voicless counterparts are "p, t, s, f, and k" repsectively. Notice that for the pairs, the mouth is put into the same position, except in the first set, the vocal chords are used, and in the latter set, the vocal chords aren't used.

Therefore, we can take the word автобус(bus) and apply those rules. The вт consonant cluster is actually going to be pronounced аФтобус. This is becayse the last consonant is a т and it is voicless. Thus, all the other consonants in the cluster will take their voiceless counterpart too.

As for where stress is in a word. You have to hear it, or read it with stress marks. There is no way to predict stress, as it shifts randomly.

Originally Posted by Darobat

This is becayse the last consonant is a т and it is voicless. Thus, all the other consonants in the cluster will take their voiceless counterpart too.

Ahh, perfect explanation, thankyou! I understand now. Another question, though - how do I then determine

a word or cluster of words sharing a single accent

- is it just practice?

examples:

к дому [gdomu]

из конторы [iskantory]

перед сном [p'ir'itsnom]

added:
and then there's always

отец был [at'edzbyl]
where what I wrote as "dz" is not really two separable sounds but the voiced version of Ц, one phoneme.