Sonorous consonants

§ twenty. To describe some phonetic phenomena, there are sonorous consonants (sonants). In Russian, these are the sounds [l], [l "], [p], [p"], [m], [m "], [n], [n"], [j], [and] (the rest of the consonants are called noisy).

Sonorous ones differ from noisy consonants not only in articulation, but also in acoustic and phonological characteristics (see about this below § 65, 157).

From an articulatory point of view, sonorant consonants occupy an intermediate position between vowels and noisy consonants. This is manifested in the fact that:

when articulating nasal consonants in the vocal tract, an obstacle to the passage of air is created and at the same time conditions that prevent the occurrence of noise: the passage to the nasal cavity opens;

during articulation of the lateral, the lateral edges of the tongue are lowered and passages are created along which the air bypasses the obstacle created in the central part of the vocal tract;

during articulation of trembling, an obstacle is formed for such a short time that its violation does not cause noise;

a special type of sonorant consonants is formed when an approximant constriction is created in the vocal tract - for example, [and] (the same constriction is created in the lateral region when pronouncing [l], [l ']) 23.

The consonants [p], [p "], [l], [l"] are combined with the term " smooth"(liquids).

Additional articulation

Section 21. Simultaneously with the main articulation of the sound, additional articulation can be performed. In Russian, additional articulations are characteristic mainly of consonants 24. Additional consonant articulation differs from the basic degree of narrowing in the vocal tract. In the place of additional articulation, the narrowing is less than in the place of the main one (usually it is the same as when articulating approximants or vowels). There are three types of additional articulations in Russian:

labialization- lip rounding (this type of articulation characterizes consonants in position before the vowels [y] and [o]);

palatalization- displacement of the body of the tongue forward and upward in the direction of the hard palate;

velarization- displacement of the body of the tongue back and up in the direction of the soft palate (see Fig. 47.48 in Appendix A).

In Russian, additional articulation characterizes most consonants. All soft consonants, except for [j] and [and], are palatalized, and all hard consonants, except for the velar [k], [g], [x], are velarized. The consonant [j] cannot be palatalized, since the place of its main articulation coincides with the place of the additional articulation of palatalization, and the consonants [k], [g], [x] cannot be velarized, since the place of their main articulation coincides with the place of additional articulation velarization. Thus, from an articulatory point of view, there are no unpaired consonants 25 (except for [j] and [and]).

Non-palatalized and non-parallelized consonants are possible in Russian in consonant combinations in a position before a soft consonant ( from neg, s make-up etc.). Such consonants, as well as consonants with a slight degree of palatalization, are called semi-soft.

The terms "hard" and "soft" consonant are not quite identical to the articulatory terms "velarized" and "palatalized" - so, non-polarized [k], [g], [x] in SRLA are, nevertheless, hard consonants, and non-palatalized [ j] - soft.

The degree of palatalization and velarization can be different both in different languages ​​and in the same language. For example, palatalization in dental consonants in Russian is more pronounced than in labial ones, and Russians [l], [w], and [g] are characterized by the greatest degree of velarization.

The presence of additional articulation (especially in a place close to the main one) can lead to a change in the place and method of the main articulation. With the formation of soft [t "], [q"], [n "] and especially [l"], the articulatory focus shifts back in comparison with the corresponding hard ones (so that [l "] in the pronunciation of most carriers of the SRLA is, strictly speaking, not dental, and alveolar); during articulation, [z "], on the contrary, the articulatory focus shifts forward compared to the corresponding solid. The place of formation in the palatalized [k '], [g'], [x '] changes most significantly: in contrast to the posterior palatal [k], [g], [x], they are middle palatal, while remaining posterior lingual.

The change in the method of formation during palatalization is most clearly manifested in dental consonants: soft [d "], [t"] are so strongly affricted (acquire a fricative phase) that from an articulatory point of view they become affricates [d z "], [t s"].

In transcription, additional articulations are usually indicated by diacritics (softness [j] is not indicated, since it is never and cannot be physiologically hard). In the Russian phonetic tradition, consonant velarization is traditionally not indicated 26. The semi-softness of a consonant can be indicated by a dot in the upper right of the corresponding symbol: [p. n "e k].

Additional articulations most often arise in the history of language from the phenomena of coarticulation.

Sonorous sounds are special phonetic units. They differ from other sounds not only in characteristics, but also in the specifics of functioning in speech. What does "sonorous sounds" mean and what are their features is discussed in detail in the article.

The system of sounds of the Russian language

Language is a unique phenomenon. It is studied and described from various positions, which determines the existence of many sections in the science of language - linguistics. One of these sections is phonetics. In the systemic view of the language, phonetics is the first, basic language tier. It deals with one of the material aspects of the language, namely, with its sound. Thus, phonetics is a branch of linguistics that examines the sound side of the language.

Phonetics defines sound as the minimum indivisible unit of language, all speech sounds are subdivided into vowels and consonants, their key difference is in the way of articulation: vowels are created using tone (at school they usually say that such sounds "can be sung"), and it participates in the formation of consonants noise.

There were once disputes about the number of vowel sounds in the Russian language, the points of view were divided: the Moscow phonological school did not recognize the sound [s] as independent, considering it a variant of the sound [and], while the Leningrad scientific school insisted on complete independence [s]. Thus, in the opinion of the former, there are 5 vowel sounds in Russian, and in the opinion of the latter - 6. Note that the point of view of the Leningrad phonological school is still generally accepted.

Consonant sounds

In linguistics, the classification of consonants is carried out on different grounds:

• at the place of formation (depending on the place in the mouth where the outgoing air stream meets an obstacle);
• by the method of formation (depending on what obstacle the air stream meets and how it overcomes it);
• by the presence / absence of palatalization (mitigation);
• by noise level (i.e., by the ratio of tone and noise during articulation).

For us, it is the last principle that is of interest, since it is according to it that all consonants are usually divided into noisy and sonorous. With the formation of noisy consonants, the intensity of the noise is much higher than with the formation of sonorants.

Note that this classification is generally accepted, but far from the only one.

Sonorous sounds in Russian

In the formation of sonorous sounds, tone prevails over noise. But we already know that with the help of tone (voice) vowel sounds are formed. It turns out that the sonorant sounds are vowels ?! Modern linguistics quite unambiguously classifies sonorants as consonants, but this was not always the case.

If you look into the textbook of Professor, Doctor of Philological Sciences A. A. Reformatsky "Introduction to Linguistics" 1967 edition, you will see that the author divides sounds into sonorous and noisy. Thus, in the Reformed classification, all vowels are considered sonorant, as well as [p], [l], [m], [n] and their soft pairs, as well as [j] precisely because of the dominance of tone over noise during articulation ...

Over time, the classification has undergone changes, and today it is customary to distinguish between vowels and sonorants, and the latter are included in the consonants. Modern linguistics refers to the sonorous [p], [l], [m], [n] (as well as their palatalized pairs) and [j] (in some school textbooks it is designated as [y]).

But from the change in the formal side, the principle and method of their formation did not change, which determines the special position of these sounds in the phonetic system of the Russian language. Simply put, sonorant sounds are consonants that behave like vowels in speech from the point of view of phonetic laws.

For example, they are not subject, like other voiced at the end of a word, for example: oak [dup], but also they do not obey the law of assimilation, which states that the voiceless one standing in front of the voiced consonant becomes voiced, that is, it becomes similar to it, and the voiced before the deaf is stunned. Sonorous ones do not affect the quality of the forward consonant sound, just like vowel sounds. Compare: hand over [zdatꞌ] and track [doroshka], but primus [primus].

Summarize

So, sonorous sounds are the sounds [p], [l], [m], [n] and their soft pairs [pꞌ], [lꞌ], [mꞌ], [nꞌ], respectively, as well as the sound [j]. All these sounds do not have a hardness / deafness pair, that is, they are always voiced. And the sound [j] has no pair in terms of hardness / softness, that is, it is not only always sonorous, but also always soft.

As you know, the sounds of speech can be divided into vowels (pronounced only by voice) and consonants (noise is involved in their pronunciation). Many consonants can be paired according to their characteristics, but not all.

Paired and unpaired consonants for voicelessness

Immediately it is necessary to make a reservation that there are only four such sounds that are unpaired by all indications. We'll talk about them at the end of the article. The majority, on the one hand, is part of a pair, and on the other - not. Therefore, it makes no sense to write about the consonant "unpaired" - it is necessary to indicate on what basis.

Consonants differ in voicelessness. This means that when pronouncing some of them, more voices are used (sonorous, voiced), while others use more noise (deaf) or even just one noise (hissing).

Sonorous are very voiced consonants, there are a lot of voices in them, but there is little noise.

Two sonorous consonants - [L] and [R] - can even form a syllable under some circumstances, that is, behave like vowels. Surely you have met the erroneous spelling "theator". It is explained precisely by the fact that [P] in this word is syllabic. Other examples are the words "Alexander", "meaning".

Unpaired voiced consonants are just sonorous sounds. There are five of them:

Sometimes [Y] is not classified as sonorant, but it still remains voiced unpaired. Let's look at the table.

It shows that, in addition to voiced unpaired, there are also sounds that are unpaired deaf. Most of them are hissing; only the voiceless unpaired consonant sound [Ts] does not apply to hissing ones.

In this article, we are considering only Russian speech sounds. In other languages, the pairing may be different. For example, in Tibetan there is a voiceless pair for a voiced [L].

Hardness-softness pairs

In addition to voicelessness and voicedness, Russian consonants form pairs in terms of hardness and softness.

This means that some of them are perceived as softer by ear. Then we usually somehow designate it in writing: for example, we write a soft sign or one of the vowels E, E, Yu, Ya.

Oral speech is primary (anyone understands that it appeared before writing), therefore it is wrong to say: "The sound [H '] in the word KON'S is soft, because after it there is b." On the contrary, we write b because H is soft.

According to hardness-softness, consonants also make up pairs. But even in this case, not everything. In Russian, there are unpaired soft and unpaired hard consonants.

Unpaired solid consonants are mainly hissing ([Ж], [Ш]) and [Ц]. They always form at the far palate.

But in the ancestor of our language, Old Church Slavonic, on the contrary, [F] and [W] were always soft and did not have a solid pair. Then [K], [G] and [X] were not soft. Currently, you can meet (once the only possible) pronunciation with a soft [Ж ’] [ДРОЖ’Ж’И] or [DOZH’] (rain), but this is no longer necessary.

Unpaired soft ones are [Y ’] and, again, hissing [H’] and [Щ ’].

That is, all sibilants are either always hard or always soft. The letter b after them does not indicate softness, it performs a grammatical function (for example, without even knowing what "baldness" is, anyone will immediately say that this word is feminine, because in the masculine gender after hissing b is not put). Solid unpaired sibilant consonants in a word may have b with them, but this does not mean that they should soften. This means that we have before us a noun of 3 declensions, an adverb or a verb.

Unpaired soft consonants in a word make you want to put b after them, which is often not required. Therefore, it makes sense to remember that in combinations of CHK, CHN, etc. B after h is not needed.

Sounds "completely unpaired"

In Russian, the majority of consonants are either paired for both signs, or paired for one sign and unpaired for the other. for example, in the word [P'EN '] (stump) the sound [P'] is paired both by deafness-voicedness (P '- B'), and by hardness-softness (P '- P), and the sound [N'] is paired in hardness-softness (H '- H), but unpaired in deafness-voicedness.

However, there are several sounds that are unpaired in both ways. These are the sounds [Y ’] (unpaired voiced, unpaired soft), [Ч’] (unpaired soft, unpaired voiceless), [Щ ’] (unpaired soft, unpaired unvoiced) and [C] (unpaired hard, unpaired voiceless). Such sounds are often made in the Russian language Olympiads. For example,"Guess the sound by its characteristic: unpaired solid, unpaired dull." We already see that it is [C].

What have we learned?

From the article about paired and unpaired consonants, we learned that there are both paired and unpaired consonants in Russian. Paired consonants differ in voicelessness and hardness-softness.

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To begin with, it is important to note which consonants are sonorous in Russian. These are sounds that are pronounced with a voice, with little or no noise. These include [l], [m], [p], [l ’], [m’], [p ’], [j].

Features of sonorant consonants

They are unique in that they resemble both vowels and consonants. What distinguishes them from sonorous sounds is that when they are pronounced, the noise is practically inaudible. They do not have paired deaf or sonorous sounds. That is why sonorant consonants are never pronounced deafly, neither at the end of a word, nor before a voiceless consonant. An excellent example would be the word lamp, where [m] is pronounced loudly before the deaf [n]. Noisy voiceless consonants are not pronounced loudly before such sounds, as happens, for example, in the word request, which we pronounce as [prose'ba]. However, do not refer to vowels. All the same, during their sounding, an obstacle arises in the oral cavity. This is how noise appears, and this is not at all typical for. Also, such sounds do not have another important characteristic that determines vowels. Do not form a syllable out of them. It should be noted that this is characteristic of the Russian language, because, for example, in Czech, sonorant sounds have such features. Such sounds can be both hard and soft, they have different ways of forming.

How is the sound [l] formed?

For the sound to be correct, the tip of the tongue must be behind the upper front teeth. And if it does not reach the designated place, then its sound is distorted and comes out instead of a boat - "wodka".

If the sound is in a soft position, then the tongue should be pressed against the alveoli. It so happens that the hard sound [l] is difficult to fix. Then you can try to pinch your tongue and pronounce this sound. But this action can only be performed during training. Thus, we see that not all sonorant consonants in Russian can be corrected.

The need for exercise to correctly pronounce sonorant consonants

Many people are absolutely convinced that exercises to correct the pronunciation of individual sounds do not make any sense. They are convinced that this method is completely ineffective. It is enough just to understand the very principle of how to pronounce sonorant consonants correctly, and everything will fall into place. In fact, this is not the case. Practice is essential here. And usually it starts with the sound [m]. This is because it is pronounced very naturally, and even yoga mantras use it.

Why sonorant consonants?

Translated from Latin, Sonorus is "voiced". Such sounds do not have paired deaf sounds and are also called nasal and smooth sounds. After all, they are all formed with the help of a stream of air that passes through the tongue, teeth and lips. Nothing bothers him, and the sound is pronounced smoothly. [N] and [m] are considered as transitional. To form such sounds, the lips close tightly, but the air comes out through.There are three most effective exercises for training the pronunciation of sonorant consonants:

• The first is the repetition of a phrase that contains a large number of similar sounds. Quite often in such sentences you can see strange words that are never used, but they are necessary to practice pronunciation. It is better if it is performed in one breath and on the nasal sound.
• The next sentence should be much more complicated. It is usually longer, so it is rather difficult to say it in one breath. It is better to immediately divide it into parts and also pronounce it on the nasal sound.
• The last sentence is even longer. But it is better to divide it into two parts. Perform the first, like the first two exercises, but before the second you need to take a deep breath and say as if you are sending something into the distance. This is how the "flightiness" of the voice should develop. All these exercises will help you learn how to pronounce sonorant consonants correctly if you perform them systematically.

To begin with, it is important to note which consonants are sonorous in Russian. These are sounds that are pronounced with a voice, with little or no noise. These include [l], [m], [p], [l ’], [m’], [p ’], [j].

Features of sonorant consonants

They are unique in that they resemble both vowels and consonants. What distinguishes them from sonorous sounds is that when they are pronounced, the noise is practically inaudible. They do not have paired deaf or sonorous sounds. That is why sonorant consonants are never pronounced deafly, either at the end of a word or before a deaf consonant. An excellent example would be the word lamp, where [m] is pronounced loudly before the deaf [n]. Noisy voiceless consonants are not pronounced loudly before such sounds, as happens, for example, in the word request, which we pronounce as [prose'ba]. However, you should not classify sonorant sounds as vowels. Still, during their sounding, an obstacle arises in the oral cavity. This is how noise appears, and this is not at all typical for vowel sounds. Also, such sounds do not have another important characteristic that determines vowels. Do not form a syllable out of them. It should be noted that this is characteristic of the Russian language, because, for example, in Czech, sonorant sounds have such features. Such sounds can be both hard and soft, they have different ways of forming.

How is the sound [l] formed?

For the sound to be correct, the tip of the tongue must be behind the upper front teeth. And if it does not reach the designated place, then its sound is distorted and comes out instead of a boat - "wodka".
If the sound is in a soft position, then the tongue should be pressed against the alveoli. It so happens that the hard sound [l] is difficult to fix. Then you can try to clamp your tongue between your teeth and pronounce this sound. But this action can only be performed during training. Thus, we see that not all sonorant consonants in Russian can be corrected.

The need for exercise to correctly pronounce sonorant consonants

Many people are absolutely convinced that exercises to correct the pronunciation of individual sounds do not make any sense. They are convinced that this method is completely ineffective. It is enough just to understand the very principle of how to pronounce sonorant consonants correctly, and everything will fall into place. In fact, this is not the case. Practice is essential here. And usually it starts with the sound [m]. This is because it is pronounced very naturally, and even yoga mantras use it.

Why sonorant consonants?

Translated from Latin, Sonorus is "voiced". Such sounds do not have paired deaf sounds and are also called nasal and smooth sounds. After all, they are all formed with the help of a stream of air that passes through the tongue, teeth and lips. Nothing bothers him, and the sound is pronounced smoothly. [N] and [m] are considered as transitional. For the formation of such sounds, the lips close tightly, but the air comes out through the nasal cavity. There are three most effective exercises for practicing the pronunciation of sonorous consonants:

• The first is the repetition of a phrase that contains a large number of similar sounds. Quite often in such sentences you can see strange words that are never used, but they are necessary to practice pronunciation. It is better if it is performed in one breath and on the nasal sound.
• The next sentence should be much more complicated. It is usually longer, so it is rather difficult to say it in one breath. It is better to immediately divide it into parts and also pronounce it on the nasal sound.
• The last sentence is even longer. But it is better to divide it into two parts. Perform the first, like the first two exercises, but before the second you need to take a deep breath and say as if you are sending something into the distance. This is how the "flightiness" of the voice should develop. All these exercises will help you learn how to pronounce sonorant consonants correctly if you perform them systematically.