May 09, 2019

Learn Russian Pronunciation Podcast Ep. 9

12 minutes

Full Episode Audio

Exercises Only Audio

Download Full Episode (right click save-as)

Download Exercises

Welcome

to episode 9. Today we’re going to examine a phenomenon known as

voiced and devoiced consonants. Here’s what I’d like you to do.

Assuming you’re not driving at the moment, put your fingers on your

throat and say the word “cats.” Now say the word “dogs.”

Feel the difference? Both words end with the letter S, but our vocal

cords only vibrate when we say “dogs.” And that vibration,

when we use our vocal cords to make a consonant, we call it voicing.

Pretty logical term.

Now

here’s a question: When did you memorize these rules for which

consonants in English are voiced? Did you study some charts in a

textbook? Or maybe your English teacher explained the rules back in

grade school? You must’ve memorized them somewhere, or else how do

you know that—for example—the letters “ed” at the end

of the word ‘parked’ are devoiced, and yet the ‘ed’ at the end of

‘shoved’ are voiced?

course you didn’t memorize any rules. That’s ridiculous. What

happened was, as a kid, you had tons of exposure to these sounds and

over time you picked up the patterns. That’s all it is. And yet, do a

search of “russian pronunciation,” and every single course

you find makes a show of all the pronunciation rules they intend to

make you memorize. As if that is how language is learned.

The

way language is actually acquired—the way our brains are hard

wired—is to look for patterns.

For

ex: The Russian letter Г

its own you can feel that Г is voiced.

Our vocal cords vibrate. So listen, and repeat these words:

Галина

гулять

Гора

Гид

The

G was at the start of those words, and it was voiced each time. In

these next ones, the G will be the last letter. Listen:

Бог

враг

луг

it just me, or did those all sound like they ended with a K? Listen

again…

Well,

actually, those are G’s…but they are devoiced. So it seems

that we’ve spotted a pattern. Let’s see if we can extrapolate. How

will the Russian word for ‘flag’ be pronounced? It’s a direct

cognate, spelled with an F, an L, an A and a G. What’s your best

guess—how will it sound?

Флаг

(like: флак)

Did

you make that G at the end sound like a K? Awesome. That means the

pattern is already sinking in. Let’s look at those last four

words—the ones where Г (G)

was the final letter—but not let’s add a vowel after that G.

Listen…

Богу

врага

луга

Флагом

Huh…Our

‘G’ is now voiced again. Interesting. Listen again.

how do you think the Russian word for a ‘toga’ will be pronounced?

You know, like that white robe the ancient Romans used to wear.

T-O-Г-A…What’s your guess? Listen…

Тога

Was

the G voiced or not? It was voiced. Gosh, how did you get that right?

We haven’t memorized any pronunciation charts yet. Don’t we need a

long and complicated list of rules before we can correctly pronounce

Russian words?

No.

We just need to spot the patterns.

Let’s

try that again with a different letter. The Russian Д

(D). Like the letter Г,

the Russian letter Д is voiced when

it stands alone. And in these words? Listen…

доллар

диск

дать

дуб

The

Д was at the start of those words, and it

was voiced each time. In these next ones, it will be the last letter.

Listen.

мёд

год

сад

Again….Is

it just me, or did those all sound like they ended with a T? Listen

again.

Well,

actually, those are D’s…but, being at the very end of those

words, they’re devoiced. So again, let’s see if we can extrapolate.

How will the Russian word for ‘code’ be pronounced? Just three

letter: K-O-Д

код

Did

you make that Д at the end sound like the

letter Т? Awesome. Let’s look at those

last four words—the ones where Д was the

final letter—and let’s add a vowel after it. Listen…

мёдом

году

саду

кода

Huh…Our

Д is voiced again. So, here’s a quiz:

There’s a very popular, very cheap Russian automobile, and it’s

spelled like this: L-A-D-A. How do you think the word is pronounced?

Лада

Did

you voice the Д? Excellent!

help us internalize these patterns, let’s learn two гыуагд

phrases. For now, just listen and repeat:

О,

мой Бог…

That

was three words. O, мой Бог

Imagine

you and your partner have been arguing about something for hours. It

seems like you’ve finally agreed to disagree and you walk away…and

then the other person brings it up again. You say, “Oh

(groan…groan). Are we still talking about this?”

(i.e.

Oh my God!) Are we still talking about this?!

What

would you say there, where I groaned? “Oh my God, are we

still discussing this?”

That’s

what О, мой Бог means. Literally,

Oh…my….God.

That

last word is spelled Б-О-Г but the G

(Г) is devoiced. Бог

Here’s

our second phrase: Слава Богу

That’s

just two words. Listen again?

What

does it mean? Well, let’s say you’re out somewhere with friends when

you realize your wallet is missing. In a panic, you check everywhere.

Can’t find it. So you go to the cafe where you guys had lunch. And

there it is, under the table where you’d been eating. You pick

it…”Слава Богу…I found

it!”

normal English, we’d say, “Thank God.” But literally in

Russian Слава Богу translates as

Glory to God. And since the G (Г) is

no longer the final letter, it’s back to being voiced.

Let’s

do those side by side. Oh my God…

О,

мой Бог.

Thank

God…lit: Glory to God…

Слава

Богу

For today’s review, see if you can recall on your own, the official word or phrase from the first eight episodes. You do that, and I’ll see you in Ep. 10… our mid-term!

...more

View all episodes

By Learn Russian Pronunciation

77 ratings

May 09, 2019

Learn Russian Pronunciation Podcast Ep. 9

12 minutes

Full Episode Audio

Exercises Only Audio

Download Full Episode (right click save-as)

Download Exercises

Welcome

to episode 9. Today we’re going to examine a phenomenon known as

voiced and devoiced consonants. Here’s what I’d like you to do.

Assuming you’re not driving at the moment, put your fingers on your

throat and say the word “cats.” Now say the word “dogs.”

Feel the difference? Both words end with the letter S, but our vocal

cords only vibrate when we say “dogs.” And that vibration,

when we use our vocal cords to make a consonant, we call it voicing.

Pretty logical term.

Now

here’s a question: When did you memorize these rules for which

consonants in English are voiced? Did you study some charts in a

textbook? Or maybe your English teacher explained the rules back in

grade school? You must’ve memorized them somewhere, or else how do

you know that—for example—the letters “ed” at the end

of the word ‘parked’ are devoiced, and yet the ‘ed’ at the end of

‘shoved’ are voiced?

course you didn’t memorize any rules. That’s ridiculous. What

happened was, as a kid, you had tons of exposure to these sounds and

over time you picked up the patterns. That’s all it is. And yet, do a

search of “russian pronunciation,” and every single course

you find makes a show of all the pronunciation rules they intend to

make you memorize. As if that is how language is learned.

The

way language is actually acquired—the way our brains are hard

wired—is to look for patterns.

For

ex: The Russian letter Г

its own you can feel that Г is voiced.

Our vocal cords vibrate. So listen, and repeat these words:

Галина

гулять

Гора

Гид

The

G was at the start of those words, and it was voiced each time. In

these next ones, the G will be the last letter. Listen:

Бог

враг

луг

it just me, or did those all sound like they ended with a K? Listen

again…

Well,

actually, those are G’s…but they are devoiced. So it seems

that we’ve spotted a pattern. Let’s see if we can extrapolate. How

will the Russian word for ‘flag’ be pronounced? It’s a direct

cognate, spelled with an F, an L, an A and a G. What’s your best

guess—how will it sound?

Флаг

(like: флак)

Did

you make that G at the end sound like a K? Awesome. That means the

pattern is already sinking in. Let’s look at those last four

words—the ones where Г (G)

was the final letter—but not let’s add a vowel after that G.

Listen…

Богу

врага

луга

Флагом

Huh…Our

‘G’ is now voiced again. Interesting. Listen again.

how do you think the Russian word for a ‘toga’ will be pronounced?

You know, like that white robe the ancient Romans used to wear.

T-O-Г-A…What’s your guess? Listen…

Тога

Was

the G voiced or not? It was voiced. Gosh, how did you get that right?

We haven’t memorized any pronunciation charts yet. Don’t we need a

long and complicated list of rules before we can correctly pronounce

Russian words?

No.

We just need to spot the patterns.

Let’s

try that again with a different letter. The Russian Д

(D). Like the letter Г,

the Russian letter Д is voiced when

it stands alone. And in these words? Listen…

доллар

диск

дать

дуб

The

Д was at the start of those words, and it

was voiced each time. In these next ones, it will be the last letter.

Listen.

мёд

год

сад

Again….Is

it just me, or did those all sound like they ended with a T? Listen

again.

Well,

actually, those are D’s…but, being at the very end of those

words, they’re devoiced. So again, let’s see if we can extrapolate.

How will the Russian word for ‘code’ be pronounced? Just three

letter: K-O-Д

код

Did

you make that Д at the end sound like the

letter Т? Awesome. Let’s look at those

last four words—the ones where Д was the

final letter—and let’s add a vowel after it. Listen…

мёдом

году

саду

кода

Huh…Our

Д is voiced again. So, here’s a quiz:

There’s a very popular, very cheap Russian automobile, and it’s

spelled like this: L-A-D-A. How do you think the word is pronounced?

Лада

Did

you voice the Д? Excellent!

help us internalize these patterns, let’s learn two гыуагд

phrases. For now, just listen and repeat:

О,

мой Бог…

That

was three words. O, мой Бог

Imagine

you and your partner have been arguing about something for hours. It

seems like you’ve finally agreed to disagree and you walk away…and

then the other person brings it up again. You say, “Oh

(groan…groan). Are we still talking about this?”

(i.e.

Oh my God!) Are we still talking about this?!

What

would you say there, where I groaned? “Oh my God, are we

still discussing this?”

That’s

what О, мой Бог means. Literally,

Oh…my….God.

That

last word is spelled Б-О-Г but the G

(Г) is devoiced. Бог

Here’s

our second phrase: Слава Богу

That’s

just two words. Listen again?

What

does it mean? Well, let’s say you’re out somewhere with friends when

you realize your wallet is missing. In a panic, you check everywhere.

Can’t find it. So you go to the cafe where you guys had lunch. And

there it is, under the table where you’d been eating. You pick

it…”Слава Богу…I found

it!”

normal English, we’d say, “Thank God.” But literally in

Russian Слава Богу translates as

Glory to God. And since the G (Г) is

no longer the final letter, it’s back to being voiced.

Let’s

do those side by side. Oh my God…

О,

мой Бог.

Thank

God…lit: Glory to God…

Слава

Богу

For today’s review, see if you can recall on your own, the official word or phrase from the first eight episodes. You do that, and I’ll see you in Ep. 10… our mid-term!

...more