Introduction 1 The Cyrillic alphabet (1) The Russian Cyrillic alphabet contains 33 letters, including 20 consonants, 10 vowels, a semi-consonant/semi-vowel (c), a hard sign (t) and a soft sign (v). (2) There are a number of different systems for transliterating the Cyrillic alphabet. Three of these, that of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), that of the British Standards Institution (BSI) (whose system is used throughout this Grammar), and that of the Library of Congress (LC) are listed alongside the Cyrillic alphabet, as well as the Russian names of the individual letters: :ZCyrillic letters Letter>Z@ name ISO BSI LC ;[ >[w@ aaa <\ >\w@ bbb =] >]w@ vvv >^ >^w@ ggg ?_ >_@ ddd ,z >z@ zzzeee @` >`w@åzh zh Aa >aw@ zzz Bb >b@ iii Cc >bdjáldh_@ j ±± Dd >dZ@ kkk Ee >wev@ lll 2 Introduction 1–2 Cyrillic letters Letter name ISO BSI LC Ff >wf@ mmm Gg >wg@ nnn Hh >h@ ooo Ii >iw@ ppp Jj >wj@ rrr Kk >wk@ sss Ll >lw@ ttt Mm >m@ uuu Nn >wn@ fff Oo >oZ@ h/ch kh kh Pp >pw@ ctsts Qq >q_@þch ch Rr >rZ@ šshsh Ss >sZ@ãþshch shch Tt >l\zj^ucagZd@ ””” Uu >u@ y { y Vv >f·]dbcagZd@ ’’’ Ww >wh[hjólgh_@ eÛ é ¡ Xx >x@ ju yu iu Yy >y@ ja ya ia Note (a) Certain letters with diacritics and accents which appear in the VWDQGDUG%6,V\VWHP zIRUz±IRUc é for w{IRUu DUHXVHG without diacritics and accents here. (b) The ligatures used over certain combinations of letters in the standard LC system (ts, iu ia) are often omitted by other users. (c) $Q DSRVWURSKH ¶ IRU WKH VRIW VLJQ v LV XVHG RQO\ LQ WKH bibliography. (d) 7KHHQGLQJVucbcDUHUHQGHUHGDVmLQQDPHV 2 The international phonetic alphabet (IPA) The following symbols from the IPA are used in the Introduction for the phonetic transcription of Russian words. Vowels i DVLQbe [il] 7 DVLQiue [p7l] 8 DVWKHILUVWYRZHOLQb]eá[8 gla] DVWKHILUVWYRZHOLQ^ujá[d ra] 2Introduction3 0 DVLQe_k [ 0V@ e DVLQ\_kv [v, e ] a DVLQjZ^ [rat] æ DVLQiylv [æ] : DVWKHILUVWYRZHOLQh^§g [: in] G DVWKHILUVWYRZHOLQohjhró[xGr: ;o] o DVLQfho [mox] ö DVLQlzly [ öG] u DVLQ[md [buk] ü DVLQdexq [k üt;] Semi-consonant/semi-vowel j DVLQ[hc [boj] Consonants j DVLQihe [pol] DVLQizk [os] b DVLQ[Zd [bak] DVLQ[_e [0O@ t DVLQlhf [tom] DVLQl_f [0P@ d DVLQ^hf [dom] DVLQ^_gv [ e] k DVLQdZd [kak] DVLQd_f [ 0P@ DVLQ]he [ol] , DVLQ]b^ [,it] fas inneójZ [ florG] DVLQn_g [ 0Q@ v DVLQ\hl [vot] v, DVLQ\bgó[v, 8 no] s DVLQkZf [sam] DVLQk_\ [0I@ z DVLQam[ [zup] DVLQaé[jZ [ 0brG] ; DVLQrmf [;um] DVLQ`md [ uk] x DVLQoZf [xam] DVLQo§fbd [ L 8N] ?? DVLQs_dá[??8 ka] 9 DVLQp_o [90[@ 4 Introduction 2–3 t; DVLQqbg [t;in] m DVLQfhe [mol] DVLQf_e [ 0l] n DVLQghk [nos] DVLQg_l [0t] l DVLQeZd [lak] DVLQey] [ ak] r DVLQjZd [rak] DVLQj_dá[8 ka] jas in ·fZ [ jamG] Pronunciation 3 Stressed vowels Russian has ten vowelZwuhm letters: y_bzx (1) : is pronounced with the mouth opened a little wider than in the pronunciation of ‘a’ in English ‘father’HJaZe>]DO@‘hall’. (2) W is pronounced like ‘e’ in ‘end’, but the mouth is opened a little wider and the tongue is further from the palate than in articulating English ‘e’ in ‘end’, e.g. wlh> 0tG] ‘this is’. (3) M is pronounced with the tongue drawn back and the lips rounded and protruding.HJ[md The>EXN@ sound is similar to but shorter than the vowel in ‘school’H ‘beech’. (4) is also pronounced with rounded andm protruding lips, but to a lesser extent than in the pronunciationHJ[hd>ERN@ of . The sound is similar to the vowel in Englishu ‘bought’ ‘side’. (5) The vowel m is pronounced with the tongue drawn back as in the pronunciationHJkug>V of but with the lips spread, not rounded or protruding, i- n] ‘son’.y _>M0@z x w(6)h TheDQG vowelsm LHWKH\DUHSURQRXQFHGOLNHWKRVHYRZHOVSUHFHGHGE\WKH [ja], [jo] and [ju] are ‘iotated’ variants of a, sound [j]). The vowel b resembles ‘ea’ in English ‘cheap’, but is a ‘closer’ sound, that is, the centre of the tongue is nearer to the hard SDODWHLQDUWLFXODWLRQHJfbj> ir] ‘world, peace’. After a preposition 3–4 Pronunciation 5 or other word ending in a hard consonant, however, stressed initial b is pronounced [7@hl¦]hjy>: t 7GG], cf. also 4 (4) note. Note Vowels can be classified as: (a) back vowels (pronounced with the back part of the tongue raised towards the back of the palate): mxhz (b) central vowels (pronounced with the central part of the tongue raised towards the central part of the palate): uZy (c) front vowels (pronounced with the central part of the tongue raised towards the front of the palate: bw_ 4 Unstressed vowels 8QVWUHVVHGmxbDQGu The sound of unstressed mx is similar to that of English ‘u’ in ‘put’: ^m]á [du Ja] ‘arc’xeá [ju la] ‘top’. Unstressed b and u are shorter and pronounced in a more ‘relaxed’ fashion than their stressed equivalents: b]já [8 ra] ‘game’[ueá [b la] ‘was’. , does not appear in unstressed position. The other vowels are ‘reduced’ in unstressed position. 5HGXFWLRQRIhDQGZ h ZDUHSURQRXQFHGDV>h@DQG>Z@RQO\ZKHQWKH\ DSSHDULQVWUHVVHGSRVLWLRQ(i) The vowels and ^hf>GRP@aZe>]DO@,QXQVWUHVVHGSRVLWLRQ they are reduced, h being the vowel most affected by various forms of reduction resulting from its position in relation to the stress. (ii) In pre-tonic position or as the unstressed initial letter in a word h and Z are pronounced [:@ihlóf>S: tom] ‘afterwards’h^§g>: in] ‘one’iZjóf>S: rom] ‘ferry’ZdýeZ>: kulG] ‘shark’. This also applies WRSUHWRQLFSUHSRVLWLRQVih^fój_f>S: d m o P@‘under the sea’gZ^ ^ófhf>Q: d domGm] ‘above the house’. The combinations ZZZhhZ hh are pronounced [::@HJkhh[jZa§lv>V::bT: i] ‘to comprehend’. (iii) In pre-pre-tonic position (except as initial letters, see (ii)) or in post-tonic position both vowels are pronounced [G@ WKXV iZjhoó^ [pGr: xot] ‘steamer’fheh^óc>PGl: doj] ‘young’jágh> ranG] ‘early’, \§edZ> vilkG] ‘fork’ 7KLV DOVR DSSOLHV WR SUHSRVLWLRQV ih^ \h^óc [pGd v: doj] ‘under water’gZ^]heh\óc>QGd Gl: voj] ‘overhead’) and to the initial letters of words governed by prepositions \ h]hjó^_ [v G: ro 8] ‘in the market garden’ FIh]hjó^>:: rot] ‘market garden’)). 6Introduction4 Note (a) Unstressed hLVSURQRXQFHG>h@LQDQXPEHURIZRUGVRIIRUHLJQ RULJLQ dZdáh ‘cocoa’ já^bh ‘radio’ oáhk ‘chaos’), with an RSWLRQDO>h@LQ\élh‘veto’^hkvé ‘dossier’rhkké ‘highway’ and some other words. In certain cases, pronunciation is differentiated stylistically. The pronunciation [:@LQZRUGVVXFKDVihwl ‘poet’ DQGrhkké ‘highway’, said to be the more colloquial variant, has gained ground in educated speech and is found even in the SURQXQFLDWLRQRIIRUHLJQQDPHVVXFKDVRhiég>;: S0Q@>;o S0Q@ ‘Chopin’, especially where these have gained common currency HJ Lhev·llb ‘Togliatti’ +RZHYHU >h@ LV UHWDLQHG LQ ZRUGV ZKHUHLWIROORZVDQRWKHUYRZHOlj§h‘trio’. (b) The vowel Z is pronounced [] in pre-tonic position after q and s: WKXVqZk± [t; s7] ‘clock’sZ^§lv>?? i] ‘to spare’. The pronun- ciation of unstressed Z as [] after `r is now limited for many VSHDNHUVWR`Zeélv> e] ‘to regret’dkh`Zeégbx>N sG e ju] ‘unfortunately’DQGHQGVWUHVVHGSOXUDOREOLTXHFDVHVRIeórZ^v ‘horse’HJJHQSOehrZ^éc>OG; ej]. PZ is pronounced [ts] in WKHREOLTXHFDVHVRIVRPHQXPHUDOV^\Z^pZl§ [dvGts i] ‘twenty’ (gen.). 5HGXFWLRQRI_DQGy (i) In pre-tonic position both _ and y are pronounced [(j)@ya±d>M z7k] ‘language’i_j_\ó^> vot] ‘translation’7KXVjZaj_^§lv ‘to thin out’DQGjZajy^§lv‘to unload’ have the same pronunciation. (ii) In post-tonic position _ is pronounced [@ ióe_> po ] ‘field’), while y is usually pronounced [G@ ^±gy> d7G ] ‘melon’). However, post- tonic y is pronounced [@ EHIRUH D VRIW FRQVRQDQW iáfylv> Ra ] ‘memory’ DQGLQQRQILQDOSRVWWRQLFSRVLWLRQ \±]eygme> v7 QXO@ ‘looked out’). 5HGXFWLRQRIw W is pronounced [@LQXQVWUHVVHGSRVLWLRQ wlái> tap] ‘stage’). Note Unstressed initial b and w and conjunction b are pronounced [] after a preposition or other word ending in a hard consonant (see 3 \ Bláebx>Y ta MX@‘to Italy’[jZlb^zldB\ágm>EUDW ot k vanu] ‘my brother is on his way to see Ivan’gZ^wd\álhjhf>QGd kvatGrGm] ‘above the equator’. B is also pronounced [] in certain stump FRPSRXQGVHJ=hkba^ál>os zdat] ‘State Publishing House’. 5 Pronunciation 7 5 Hard and soft consonants With the exception of `p and r, which are invariably hard, and q and s, which are invariably soft, all Russian consonants can be pronounced hard or soft. (1) Hard consonants (i) A hard consonant is a consonant which appears at the end of a word (e.g. the fLQ^hf>GRP@ ‘house’, the lLQ\hl>YRW@ ‘here is’) or is followed by Zuh or m (w appears only as an initial letter, except in DFURQ\PVVXFKDVgwi ‘NEP’ (New Economic Policy) and rare words VXFKDVkwj ‘sir’ 7KXVWKHFRQVRQDQWVLQWKHZRUGV]heh\á [Gl: va] ‘head’f±eh> O7NG] ‘soap’DQG^ýfZ> dumG] ‘thought’ are all hard. (ii) Most hard consonants, e.g. [\]adfikn are pronounced in similar fashion to their English counterparts, i.e. ‘b’ in ‘bone’, ‘v’ in ‘van’, ‘g’ in ‘gone’, ‘z’ in ‘zone’, ‘c’ in ‘come’, ‘m’ in ‘money’, ‘p’ in ‘pun’, ‘s’ in ‘sun’, ‘f’ in ‘fun’. However, d and i (and l; see (iii)) lack the slight aspiration of ‘k’, ‘p’ and ‘t’. (iii) In pronouncing the dentals ^ [d], l [t] and g [n], the tip of the tongue is pressed against the back of the upper teeth in the angle between teeth and gums. (iv) J is a moderately ‘trilled’ [r]. E is pronounced with the tip of the tongue in the angle between the upper teeth and the gum, and the middle of the tongue curved downwards. The ‘l’ sound in English ‘bubble’ is a good starting-point for the pronunciation of this letter.