You have now learnt to pronounce all the Russian letters when they are true to their sound in the alphabet. However, as in English, the sound of a Russian letter is affected by: the sounds of the letters that surround it, by its position in the word, and by its position in the sentence. First, let's study how a consonant is affected by the sounds that surround it.
The Hard Sound of Consonants
The sounds which you have already learnt for the Russian consonants are known as hard sounds.
Meaning of Hard Sounds
The consonants have a hard sound: at the end of a word, as in сон; when followed by a hard vowel, as in бумага; or when followed by another consonant, as in стул.
The Soft Sound of Consonants
However, there are occasions when the hard sound of the consonant becomes softened. It happens when the consonant is followed by the soft sign or by a soft vowel.
Softening of Consonants
The exceptions are:
Ж, ш and ц, which are always pronounced hard; ч and щ, which are always pronounced soft.
The Hard Sound of Consonants
The sounds which you have already learnt for the Russian consonants are known as hard sounds.
Meaning of Hard Sounds
To speak of "hard sounds of consonants" is to say that the Russian consonants are pronounced like their English counterparts, except for the slight differences that have been specifically pointed out thus far. In the actual production of hard sounds, the tongue is nearer to the lower teeth, the mouth is in a relaxed position, and the pitch of the voice is relatively low.
The consonants have a hard sound: at the end of a word, as in сон; when followed by a hard vowel, as in бумага; or when followed by another consonant, as in стул.
The Soft Sound of Consonants
However, there are occasions when the hard sound of the consonant becomes softened. It happens when the consonant is followed by the soft sign or by a soft vowel.
Softening of Consonants
The softening of the sound of a consonant is accomplished by raising the tongue nearer to the roof of the mouth and smiling at the same time. This gives to the sound of a consonant a higher pitch than it has when pronounced hard.
Study the differeces in pitch and the position of the tongue in the following sets of English words, particularly with respect to the formation of the initial letter in each word.
| Hard initial consonant | Soft initial consonant |
| taught | teach |
| dill | deal |
| sill | seal |
| noodle | needle |
| poodle | people |
| foot | few |
| moose | muse |
It should be clearly understood that soft consonants in Russian aren't new letters. Most Russian consonants - with only a few exceptions - may be pronounced either hard or soft, depending upon the letter which follows.
The exceptions are:
Ж, ш and ц, which are always pronounced hard; ч and щ, which are always pronounced soft.
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