# Forum Learning Russian Language Getting Started with Russian  identifying stressed and unstressed vowels

## georgegll

im new to russian and one thing that i dont quite understand yet is how to identify if a vowel is stressed or unstressed. i read in a different article online that one way is to look at the syllable it accompanies. if the syllable is long, it is stressed.
but is that it?

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## gRomoZeka

> if the syllable is long, it is stressed.

 Er.. I don't get how a syllable can be "long". 
They probably mean that the sound of the stressed vowel is longer than that of the unstressed one.  

> how to identify if a vowel is stressed or unstressed

 You just have to learn every word, that it.  ::  Pretty much like in English (or is there a system in English language? I'm not sure).

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## Оля

Actually there are not short and long vowels in Russian. All vowels in Russian are short.

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## georgegll

so just learn all the words. thats it? but wouldnt this affect my pronunciation?
my friend from uzbekistan can help me with pronunciation. should i just keep learning new words then have him correct me on the pronunciation of them?
thanks in advance for your help.  ::

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## chaika

Like English spelling, Russian stress is pretty erratic. You will find some basic types. Namely: 
stress fixed on the same syllable throughout all conjugational forms.
A. fixed on a stem syllable
B. fixed on the ending (desinence)
Among the others there are some patterns, but lots of exceptions. Short neuter nouns, for example, will often have stem stress in the singular and desinence stress in the plural. окно is an example of this. 
Lots of old fem. words show the pattern of desinence stress in the singular EXCEPT for the accusative, and then some bouncing around in the plural forms. рука is an example of this. 
I'd say in general the more syllables a word has, the more likely is it to have fixed stress. No stress moving around in достопримечáтельность. =:^) 
The best thing to do if you are in the mood for it and after you have had a year or two of Russian with a person who speaks it, not just you yourself, is to get a pronouncing dictionary like *Русское литературное произношение и ударение; словарь-справочник*, под ред. Р.И. Аванесова и С.И. Ожегова. There you will learn things like the masc. sg. past tense родился has the stress on the я (it is the only such verb)! Probably not any more, but my Russian studies were back in the 1960s. 
Russian and the other two East Slavic languages do not have any meaningful syllabic length. O-o-оля, памагиииите! 
GO-bama!!

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## paulb

From one student to another, a few tips: 
1 Most student oriented literature (text books, dual language editions) will have stresses marked for you. Practice reading them out loud. As I'm sure you have already noticed, vowel stress makes a huge difference in pronunciation. 
2 As you learn vocabulary, be sure to learn which syllable is stressed, at least in the basic dictionary form (infinitive, masculine singular) 
3 Don't stress yourself out too much. If you are speaking Russian and giving it your best effort, people will happily assist you. Don't be afraid to sound foolish. You'll learn well by making mistakes. 
4 I almost forgot to mention that the Vocabulearn audio tapes/CDs are a great way to learn vocab and you'll get to listen to a native speaker. Good if you can play it while driving around. And they are cheap if you can find them used.

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## belka

> Short neuter nouns, for example, will often have stem stress in the singular and desinence stress in the plural. окно is an example of this.

 Confused now... I thought it was окн*о* in the singular?

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## chaika

Sorry for the confusion. I was too focused on the singular/plural. The correct example here is поле, with stem stress in sg. and des. stress in pl.

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