Грамматика русского языка. Часть 4. Безударные гласные. Глава 3. Безударные Э, У, и Ю. Значение ударения. Russian Grammar. Part 4. The Unstressed Vowels. Unit 3. The Unstressed Э, У, and Ю. Significance of the Stress.

The Unstressed Э, У, and Ю

These vowels remain practically the same, whether stressed or unstressed.

Examples:

это экран [eh-tuh ehk-rahn] this is a screen
умный дуэт [oom-nihy doo-eht] a clever duet
я мою каюту [yah maw-yoo kuh-yoo-too] I am washing the cabin

There was no real difference between the stressed and unstressed э, у, and ю in these phrases.

Significance of the Stress

You're probably wondering why all this emphasis on stressed and unstressed vowels. In Russian, many words which are spelled exactly alike have different meanings, depending entirely on the position of the stress.

Compare:

замок [zah-muhk] castle and замок [zuh-mawk] lock
мука [ moo-kuh] torment and мука [moo-kah] flour
атлас [aht-luhs] atlas and атлас [uht-lahs] satin

The position of the stress plays a very important role in the Russian language. It may:
1. Indicate different meaning, as in the examples above;
2. Distinguish between words spelled alike in the plural though different in the singular:
полки [pawl-k'ee] shelves and полки [puhl-k'ee] regiments
3. Determine the case of certain words:
дома [daw-muh] of the house (gen. sing.) and дома [duh-mah] houses (nom. pl.)
4. Indicate the tense and mood of verbs:
носите [naw-s'ee-t'ee] (you) are carrying and носите [nuh-s'ee-t'ee] carry! (imper.)