Search:

You mean my ear and tongue? :)

My ear can differentiate, for example, "э-э-э" and "е-е-е", pronounced even without any consonant, not "йе-е-е" or "ме-е-е". (Though sometimes it maybe something...

Why? Is it written in the Constitution? :D
You must understand that the language is primary and those "rules" are secondary. Those rules are just a kind of agreement between some guys (maybe only...

Facts? Look, there is a border between facts and opinions and I feel like those statements are very far on the territory of opinions, no matter of who say it and where is it written. You stated here...

OMG, I feel like you play with too delicate matters. Difference between Ukrainian Г and southern Russian Г... :shock: Remember that local pronunciation is a statistical value and there is no sense...

Why?
Try to soften ш and you will get щ. Try to soften ж and you will get sound жь which is not used in Russian but still is pronouncible. Try to harden ч and you will get a sound like тш, which is...

Yes, and:
ч, щ are always soft
й is neither soft nor hard.

Actually щ is a soft variant of ш.