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Prnouncing russian E, O, and Я

 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages Post Reply
shadowzoid
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76 posts - 85 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Russian

 
 Message 1 of 4
24 July 2009 at 7:51pm | IP Logged 
Ok, so i always get weird pronunciation rules for these letters. this is what i have learned:

E
1. 'Teach Yourself Russian Script' says that "E" is pronounced "ye" always.
2. Yet, 'Teach Yourself Russian' says its pronounced "ye" when stressed, and "yi" when unstressed
3. When i listen to Russian music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6ibvQLRCXM&feature=PlayList &p=A4E216B4C39D849F&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=18 when Бери меня, бери себе is said) and read some russian phrases online (http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/russian.php), in some words, the "E" is just pronounced "E" not "ye".

O
1. "O" is supposed to be pronounced like "a" when not stressed, yet http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/russian.php says its always pronounced "o". is that a mistake?

Я
1. "Teach Yourself Russian Script" says its pronounced "ya", but "Teach Yourself Russian" says its "yi" in the sylable before the stress. which is right?
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SII
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 Message 2 of 4
24 July 2009 at 8:53pm | IP Logged 
E has 3 main pronunciations: as E itself ("ye"), as И, and as Э.

O may pronounced as О and as А. For example, "молоко" (a milk) reads as "малако" (stress on the last O).

It seems, Я pronounced only as "ya".

IMHO, it is better to listen the real Russians, but only "normal" speech, not songs

Edited by SII on 24 July 2009 at 8:55pm

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tanzoniteblack
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 Message 3 of 4
27 July 2009 at 6:58pm | IP Logged 
This actually can be a pretty complex topic, but in essence SII is right, if you want to keep it simple; though I might suggest that pronouncing я when unstressed as an и will help you sound a little more authentic. As the general rule though, if you hear it pronounced one way by a Russian...then pronounce it that way no matter if you might thing the spelling is saying otherwise. If you're really interested in this, then try to pick up a book on Russian phonetics which will explain things in much more detail.
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metafrastria
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 Message 4 of 4
04 August 2009 at 11:56am | IP Logged 
Just to add to SII's comment:

When unstressed, "Я" is often pronounced as [и], e.g. "язык" is pronounced as [изЫк].

It always helps to go to reputable, well-referenced sources for this sort of information,
because variations of pronunciation do exist. For example, in some parts of Russia, it is
common to pronounce "молоко" as [молоко] rather than [малако], but this pronunciation is
by no means standard. What you want to acquire is the so-called Moscow dialect of
Russian.


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