where is part one? don't be silly it was the last post!
-what... it isn't here...
O SNAP. that is because i moved from wordpress to blogger just now, huh...?
well it was over there.
anyway on to business.
Hardness versus Softness.
this is a pretty important topic in the Russian language. Nothing can make you sound more foreign than not being able to effectively make consonants hard or soft when they should be. So first thing, is what can indicate hardness or softness? from our last lesson we learned that vowels can idicate hard or softness, thusly.
| Hard | Soft |
| А а | Я я |
| Э э | Е е |
| О о | Ё ё |
| У у | Ю ю |
| Ы ы | И и |
there are certain consonants that can only be hard, or soft. and it doesn't mater what comes after them... that softness just dissappears or is there regardless.
the letters Ч, Щ, Ж, and Ц are always soft... with the exception of Щ you can't say these sounds hard anyway... so it is pretty easy... just remember to not try to make it hard.
the letters Х, and Щ are always hard.
these letters (along with К and Г ) listed are a special class of letters to which spelling rules apply, so keeping them in mind as special will kind of help.
i guess at this point i should mention again that it is important that softness is attached to consonants. the word "Нет" is not 'n-yet' but 'ny-et'.
i kinda want to talk about how the consonants are related a bit... but it is boring and not really important to learning russian... untill you start dealing with when sounds deform in certain conjugation patterns... ... the same relationships exist in english to. t-d, b-p, n-m, l-r.. but in russian it makes a little more sense. anyway, part 1 was really long, so i guess i am fine with this one being shorter.
the letters Х, and Щ are always hard.
these letters (along with К and Г ) listed are a special class of letters to which spelling rules apply, so keeping them in mind as special will kind of help.
i guess at this point i should mention again that it is important that softness is attached to consonants. the word "Нет" is not 'n-yet' but 'ny-et'.
i kinda want to talk about how the consonants are related a bit... but it is boring and not really important to learning russian... untill you start dealing with when sounds deform in certain conjugation patterns... ... the same relationships exist in english to. t-d, b-p, n-m, l-r.. but in russian it makes a little more sense. anyway, part 1 was really long, so i guess i am fine with this one being shorter.
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