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Ice skating rink at paddy field in Kawamata, Fukushima Pref.

After consonants, the vowel letter pairs а/я, э/е, о/ё, ы/и, and у/ю represent 
essentially the same vowel sound. Their only difference is that the letters in the bottom 
row tell you that the preceding consonant is palatalized, or soft.*

HARD CONSONANTS             SOFT CONSONANTS

Да-да! - Oh yes!                       дядя - uncle 
мэр - mayor                             мер - of measures 
быт - daily life                          бит - computer bit 
живот - belly                            живёт - he/she lives 
музыка - music                        мюзикл - musical (show)

* a palatalized consonant is pronounced with the blade of the tongue pressed up 
against the hard palate, it sounds like a consonant plus the [y] sound of “yes” pronounced at the exact same time.

Russian Pronunciation wilth Lubov

HARD / SOFT CONSONANTS PRACTICE. Живот Или Живёт? Listen and Repeat.

Let’s work on our pronunciation today and explore the peculiar world of Russian tongue-twisters.  This one is a great way to check if you’re getting your sh [ш] and s [с] right.

Шла Саша по шоссе и сосала сушку.

[Shla Sasha po shosseh i sosala sushku]

English translation: Sasha was walking on the highway sucking on a sushka.

Can You Pronounce This Well-Known Russian Tongue-Twister? Listen and Repeat.

A palatalized consonant is pronounced with the blade of the tongue pressed up against the hard palate. A palatalized consonant sounds like a consonant plus the [y] sound of “yes” pronounced at the exact same time. The letter ь ( мягкий знак ) indicates that the preceding consonant is palatalized.

In addition to ь, the vowel letters е, ё, и, ю, and я also indicate that the preceding 
consonant is palatalized. 

на - ня
но - нё
ну - ню
ны - ни
нэ - не
нь

ма - мя
мо - мё
му - мю
мы - ми
мэ - ме
мь

да - дя
до - дё
ду - дю
ды - ди
дэ - де
дь

та - тя
то - тё
ту - тю
ты - ти
тэ - те
ть


Palatalized and Unpalatalized (Hard and Soft) Consonants and Ь. Listen and Repeat.

I want you to imitate my pronunciation and pay attention to stressed/unstressed O, unvoiced consonants, and my intonation.

1 Айдахо Idaho
2 Айова Iowa 
3 Алабама Alabama
4 Аляска Alaska
5 Аризона Arizona
6 Арканзас Arkansas 
7 Вайоминг Wyoming
8 Вашингтон Washington
9 Вермонт Vermont
10 Виргиния Virginia
11 Висконсин Wisconsin
12 Гавайи Hawaii
13 Делавэр Delaware
14 Джорджия Georgia 
15 Западная Виргиния West Virginia
16 Иллинойс Illinois
17 Индиана Indiana
18 Калифорния California
19 Канзас Kansas
20 Кентукки Kentucky
21 Колорадо Colorado
22 Коннектикут Connecticut
23 Луизиана Louisiana
24 Массачусетс Massachusetts
 25 Миннесота Minnesota
 26 Миссисипи Mississippi
27 Миссури Missouri
28 Мичиган Michigan
29 Монтана Montana
30 Мэн Maine
31 Мэриленд Maryland 
32 Небраска Nebraska
33 Невада Nevada
34 Нью-Гэмпшир New Hampshire
35 Нью-Джерси New Jersey
36 Нью-Йорк New York
37 Нью-Мексико New Mexico
38 Огайо Ohio
39 Оклахома Oklahoma
40 Орегон Oregon 
41 Пенсильвания Pennsylvania
42 Род-Айленд Rhode Island
43 Северная Дакота North Dakota
44 Северная Каролина North Carolina
45 Теннесси Tennessee
46 Техас Texas
47 Флорида Florida
48 Южная Дакота South Dakota
49 Южная Каролина South Carolina 
50 Юта Utah

How To Pronounce All 50 US States In Russian? Listen and Repeat.

Word final devoicing

Voiced consonants at the end of words are pronounced voiceless. 

We write:               We say:
Чехов                      Чехо[ ф ] 
джаз                        джа[ с ] 
гараж                      гара[ ш ] 
сноб                        сно[ п ] 
маркетинг              маркетин[ к ] 
Мадрид                   Мадри[ т ]

Voiced-voiceless assimilation 

When voiced and voiceless consonants are adjacent to each other, the nature of the second consonant dictates the nature of the first. To put it more succinctly, when two consonants go walking, the second one does the talking: 

в Киеве               [ф К]иеве 
субтитры            су[пт]итры 

 voiceless + voiced voiced + voiced 
 
 баскетбол          баске[дб]ол 

 Питсбург            Пи[дзб]ург 

 вас зовут             ва[ з з ]овут 