Vowel reduction (I)

Russian vowels are pronounced less distinctly when they're not stressed. That much will be familiar to English speakers, but there are some subtle differences as well! In this video we'll cover how to pronounce unstressed 'o' and 'a,' and how to avoid a mistake that's common in English-accented Russian.
For over 200 videos like this one, and over 400 embedded comprehension checks, exercises, quizzes, and example sentences, visit my Russian Grammar Library Project at www.tips4russi....
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Free sample lessons on participles: www.tips4russi...

[@unbearable9770]

I am really impressed by the quality and clarity of these instructional videos. I have not found this information so succinctly delivered anywhere else.

[@RZFX619]

As already commented on, the succinct clarity of these videos are incredibly helpful. Большое спасибо!

[@dekost1]

great stuff. I always suspected that the rule they give where o becomes a if unstressed was too simplistic.

[@christophershae613]

Very very good, I cannot wait for the next one☝

[@volandku]

I saw some comments about regional accents in Russian and let me post my opinion as native speaker. 1. Moscow (and nearby) region always have reduction and even sometimes reducted A-h sounds became not so short as it should be. Thats we call Акание 2. Northern region based on old Novgorod "govor" always use clear Oh without reduction, but young generation mostly use more common norms of pronunciation 3. The main norm in modern Russian - it used everywhere except Moscow, Novgorod and maybe some small regions. We (I use it too) reduct O to Ah sound only in fast speach and when we dont speak word separately. If we speak not so fast (usual way) or word is all (or most part) the phrase we want to say we can half-reduct O sound or even do not reduct at all. Half-reduct means that O letter we pronunce neither as Oh nor Ah, but something between Oh and Ah and may be shwa sound, so it`s another sound, not clear Ah at all

[@shushaniksarkisian]

Wow!!!! This video helped me so much to understand English pronunciation!!!

[@user-lh8oc7qj6u]

I think we don't have the thing like weak stress. In Moscow and I think in whole West part of Russia people can produce smth like the weak stress, which actually is a bit elongated vowel before the main-stressed syllable. I was born in Volgograd so I have such accent in my speech. Sometimes people of other cities make jokes about Moscow pronunciation. рАААААААмантика ahahahaha and so on. In Siberia, where I am actually living now, people don't make weak stress. In their speech everything which doesn't have the main stress is completely indistinct.

[@merkavakira9045]

this is explained so well. also your voice is so calming

[@perloofficial]

Wonderful and super interesting video as allways!

[@SNVampyre]

Это видео даже русским полезно будет.

[@SNVampyre]

Главное чтобы слово "но" не произносили как "nor" с ярковыраженной американской "r" на конце, как это любит делать один американский товарищ на российских ток-шоу. Остальное мы стерпим и простим.

[@NoahSteckley]

Хм, это делают австралийские и британские люди вообще. -Британские англоговорящие ставят звук r после гласных на конце слов, когда следующое слово начинается с гласным. -После звука о, американцы в общем произносят звук /w/, а австралийцы звук /ʉ/, который звучит как r

[@wisdomseeker0142]

Beautiful!!

[@timtrevlig]

Extremely helpful and very sympathetic. Gena was the icing on the cake. 🌸🐊

[@Chagov]

Thanks for this video. Loved it! ; )

[@MySaraga]

This video is beautiful. I have been looking for a video that really gets into detail about this!

[@russiangrammar]

Спасибо! :) The details really make a difference. It can seem complicated at first, but I hope this encourages people to trust their ears more than their eyes when it comes to Russian vowels.

[@MySaraga]

I am just glad that Russian has a pretty straightforward system. What's funny is that I have been studying Croatian for a good few years and they are more phonetic, but when I hear some Russian dialogue, I can pick up on the sounds a little better.

[@music_appreciation]

I personally like to think of it this way: stressed О as in "cold", unstressed О as in "hot" (more or less). And I try not to care about the difference between [ʌ] & [ǝ] since, as I said in my other comment on есть, if I say [xʌrǝšó] (or rather [hʌrǝšó] - [x] is still kinda hard for me), native speakers will know what I mean, right? I just find it a clever strategy to use 2 English O sounds for 2 Russian ones, something maybe you & other teachers could suggest to students.

[@YaShoom]

В английском есть шва, в чём проблема? Какие ещё hot и cold? Вам нужно посмотреть таблицу гласных МФА (IPA) и послушать разницу между А, Шва, О и hot, cold на Вики Словаре. Так же рекомендую Фонетик Фанатик и Полиглот Антипод.

[@user-gc7gf9ql5p]

Great content and great voice

[@NoahSteckley]

Hmmm... I definitely trust the information you've given. Though I wonder if it is representing a slightly different accent (a word too dramatic to describe differences in Russian speech, but I'm not sure of any alternative one), or just a slightly different linguistic interpretation. From Wiktionary word IPA descriptions and the layout of various sites on the topic, the letter ɐ is used for various weak stress, and the schwa sound for fully unstressed. Some sites relay the groupings as: 1) stressed o and a have respective sounds 2) o in syllable directly preceding stressed [a doesn't get special pre-stress attention] 3) all other syllables o and a merge. It seems every layout of stress just misses the mark on some example or another. And as to WHICH sounds exactly are produced in any given circumstance no one seems to be able to agree. Obviously, all these explanations, this fine video included, get learners to an absolutely perfectly acceptable and functionable level, any further past which they'll never need or care to reach. But alas, it seems there are a few too many "hidden variables" here for an exact mathematical phonetic formula to exist. аналитик аналитический анализ ---------------------------------------------- Спустя пять минут -------------------------------------------- А на самом деле не знаю, honestly the video is seeming perfect.

[@jamesh625]

Part of the problem is that there are a range of accents in Russia (and across the rest of the former USSR and diaspora). Some phonologists prescribe to the St Petersburg school, others to the Moscow. In fact, there seems to be a continuum of different stress patterns along a north-south axis.

[@laxguy777g7]

Please come back to making videos!

[@cmanpatrick]

helpful af

[@user-ef3cp4ex4l]

great video. СпасибО!

[@marcin.delta.y5839]

Great teaching!!!!

[@bulletgt79]

Great video! My only confusion is that when I search the Wiktionary IPA key for any word ending with "a", they always use the "schwa" [ǝ] instead of the [ɐ]/ [ʌ] sound. For example, words like "около" or "матрёшка", on Wiktionary the IPA key is "okələ" and "mɐˈtrʲɵʂkə" instead of "okəlʌ" and "mɐˈtrʲɵʂkʌ" respectively. Which way is correct? Are both correct? Is it more of a matter of accent or what sort of language specialist you ask? I'm still a beginner and I would like to now how to pronounce words as well as possible, but there's still small things like these bug me. Also I'm not exactly sure if [ɐ] & [ʌ] represent the same sound or if they are different. I presume they are the same, but I'm not 100% sure. Are [ɐ] and [ʌ] the same?

[@russiangrammar]

Great questions, Filip. [ɐ], [ʌ], and [ǝ] are all very close; rather than trying to describe them, let me recommend this page, where you can hear them: www.ipachart.com. But bear in mind that the examples given there are pronounced clearly and in isolation, which is not the case for unstressed vowels in Russian. While I appreciate your eye for detail, I'd suggest focusing on the native speaker in my video (and others on unstressed vowels, Olga Jarrell's Amazing Russian channel is excellent), and imitate what you hear. Since different speakers in different contexts might pronounce things that might be transcribed in slightly different ways, best to let your ear be your guide. :)

[@YaShoom]

Правильный символ [ɐ]. Звука [ʌ] в русском нет. В конце слов, без ударения, должна быть Шва. С IPA вообще во всём мире одна путаница - к каждому языку нужно привыкать, как учителя решают записать произношение языка... К примеру [ʌ] в английском тоже нет, там просто ударная Шва и всё. А а русском нет [r] как фонемы - это редкий аллофон, а основной звучит похоже на "flap T", а не на испанский RRR... И вот так в каждом языке куча неточностей, к которым прибавляются личные идеи учителей... И в итоге путаница во всём...

[@jamesh625]

Do words like с(о), в(о), об(о), от ever get stress? Why do other monosyllabic words like но, а, и get stressed? (I think it's because the first class are "clitics", but I'm used to being wrong.)

[@russiangrammar]

In general, prepositions aren't stressed, and are pronounced as part of the next word. It's an important point for pronunciation, where voicing assimilations and vowel reduction can come in: в Сочи [f sóči], во мне [vʌ mn̡ɛ́]. That said, I've occasionally heard people pronounce them separately when pausing to think for a moment, or to emphasize something. Also: за, на, по, and a few others do take the stress with certain nouns in some meanings, often with the accusative: за́ город ([to] out of town), на́ пол (onto the floor), держи меня за́ руку (hold my hand); in these combinations there's no stress on the nouns. I believe some of these are what's left of 'pitch accents' in earlier periods in the history of Russian. Section 405 in Terence Wade's excellent "A Comprehensive Russian Grammar" has a more complete list. Спасибо за интересный вопрос!

[@wwoonnjjuunn]

is it hard to know the word's stress location only with listening it? when you don't know that word.

[@russiangrammar]

I'd say just listen carefully to the vowels and try to pronounce them as you've heard them... it's usually not too difficult.

[@SebasJake93BallackXY]

Hi, old video but I hope someone sees the comment. What about in the words like частица, часы, часовой? In those words the a sounds like an и. I can't find information about that anywhere and it drives me crazy :) Thanks!

[@russiangrammar]

Good question (perhaps deserving of another short video?). We do say that unstressed я reduces to и, and we see the letter я after soft consonants. Then consider that ч and щ are always soft/palatalized; but the 8-letter spelling rule specifies to write а, not я, after ч (& others). So despite the quirky spelling rule, it makes sense that we'd hear [i] after ч, even if it's spelled with the letter а.

[@SebasJake93BallackXY]

@@russiangrammar Your explanation makes sense, thank you a lot! It is a bit weird because cognates like частный are words with stressed ча with actually cha and not chya, but at least now I have a good explanation :) I also found that words like щадить, starting with unstressed ща, also sound щи. It doesn't happen with the other 6 letters of the 8-rule, must be because they don't need to be palatalized. Hmmm дача, встреча have unstressed ча without reduction... same for пища, so only happens at the beginning of the word? But then there is площадь... which is the rule? Maybe having a consonant after the 'a' to get the reduction? Short videos are always good, if you feel like doing it :) Edit: I realised I have another question about vowel reduction: why sometimes unstressed vowels are not reduced? For example наверное, существительное, прямая, добрая, and other ое/ая clusters... I am already used to pronouncing them properly, but I ignore the reasons.

[@russiangrammar]

Unstressed grammatical endings with а, о, е are often so reduced that -ая, -ое, -ые can sound very similar. From a site at MGU: Именно поэтому заударные многосложные окончания кажутся неразборчивыми на слух, особенно при быстром темпе произнесения. Вне общего контекста речи трудно понять, о каком количестве предметов идет речь, когда мы слышим, как говорят драпов[ъjе] пальто: то ли драповое пальто, то ли драповые пальто. It's for this reason that post-stress polysyllabic endings sound unintelligible to the ear, especially in quick pronunciation. Without the general context it's hard to understand how many things we're talking about when we hear драпов[ъjе] пальто: maybe драповое пальто, maybe драповые пальто. fonetica.philol.msu.ru/nn/n50.htm

[@SebasJake93BallackXY]

@@russiangrammar Thank you so much for the detailed explanations and the video!

[@johnelias2464]

you got a beautiful voice

[@tacitmurky9675]

Mistake here - secondary stress is either absent, or it's on the 1st syllable: фо́тогрА́фия [(,)fətɐˈgrɑfʲɪjə] -In fact, most morphophonetic rules in Russian are not obligatory and differ in dialects. Some (аканье, ыканье, иканье) are obligatory only for recommended modern urban accent. Ignoring all the rules (i.e. pronouncing words strictly phonetically, as they are written) would not collide with other correctly pronounced words; the speaker would be recognized as a foreigner, but still be perfectly understandable.

[@russiangrammar]

Hm, perhaps there's regional (or generational) variation at work here? The system I described is based on the standard; here's a quote from some material on what's recommended for announcers etc: В меньшей степени редуцируются гласные, если они находятся в первом предударном слоге, в большей степени - гласные остальных безударных слогов. В первом предударном слоге на месте букв а и о, по нормам орфоэпии русского языка, произносится безударный звук [а]. ... В остальных неударяемых слогах на месте а и о произносится краткий звук, нечто среднее между [ы] и [а]. Его условно обозначают [ъ]: начинать - н[ъ]чинать... diktory.com/bezud_a_o.html Another source: Гласные не 1-го предударного слога, т. е. остальных предударных и заударных слогов, характеризуются ещё большей ослабленностью, большей степенью редукции.. russkiyyazik.ru/103/

[@tacitmurky9675]

No wonder, you are using recommendations of Moscow Phonetical School (and somewhat outdated ones - see «Список использованной литературы»). S.Peterburg (Leningrad) school is more compatible with western practices. You can read detailed discussion on vowel allophony here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Russian_phonology#Vowel_explanation_ambiguities . There are general rules for Moscow school in a useful table «Main vowel allophones». However, most SPb and modern (!) Western scholars stick to other version, given in the main WP article and updated by me in the talk section (2nd table below - «A quick index of vowel pronunciation»). There is a questionable outdated Western sources as well (like Padgett and Ward), but IMO my version is most precise. Anyway, there are less differences in various unstressed syllables. For this case we have: /o/ - (C)V - [ə], [ɐ] (were [ɐ] is used in unstressed word-initial and pre-stressed syllables; [ə] is elsewhere;).

[@parulchauhan7831]

How we know where we have to put the stress

[@russiangrammar]

The stress can fall on any syllable - first, last, or in between, and it can sometimes shift depending on the form of the word. Most dictionaries and textbooks for learners will show stress marks, though they're not normally used in written Russian. There are a few patterns, but for the most part, you'll need to take note of the stress with each new word.

[@yuridanylko]

Would you happen to have a list of patterns? Or is it not structured in reduction patterns?

[@nickcyurs6248]

Alright, So we first need to check which syllable to put stress then we need to check which consonant will be hard and soft then we need to check if there are voice or unvoiced consonant. Shh... I doubt if an average russian know or care about these pronunciation rule before they read or write something. Do they?

[@russiangrammar]

Do they think consciously about these rules? Generally, no. These rules describe how Russian is pronounced naturally by native speakers, before they even learn to read. Most probably don't think any more about them than speakers of English think about how to pronounce -s in 'cats' vs. 'dogs.' Still, when we're learning Russian as a 2nd language, we often have more access to print than to audio, and it can be useful to have an explanation so we don't take the spelling too literally. Alternately - if you do have access to some good recordings, you can try listening carefully many times, then repeating many more times, until you know what sounds right - and only then looking at the spelling. I've done that as a beginner in a language with difficult spelling, and found it really helpful.

[@Alex365497697]

After a proper repetition you'll start to do it automatically, not thinking about it. For us - Russians - English spelling and pronounciations is a nightmare, but more you learn, more easy it gets to predict the spelling/pronounciation of an unfamiliar word. It works both ways :)

[@pezos5]

Try pronouncing Домодедово (if you don't know which sylabble is stressed) LOL ДOмадедава ДамOдедава ДамадEдава (this one is right) ДамадедOва ДамадедавO

[@1337Unlucky]

Damn

[@moviesync3131]

Тяжёлый what about this?

[@russiangrammar]

Unstressed я and е normally reduce to a short [i] sound (as in English 'beet,' 'eat') - there's a video on this type of reduction here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3rEeqaMnt6lZsU :)

[@nicholashumphrey4621]

I'm confused though, викисловарь always lists unstressed final o's and a's as schwa? what did you use as a source?

[@russiangrammar]

Звуки и буквы, Н Н Сакальчикова, Санкт Петербург 2004. She uses ʌ for unstressed а & о in the first pretonic syllable (right before the stress - в первом предударном слоге), and in the beginning *and end* of a word (в абсолютном конце слова). I think that captures the difference between the 2nd & 3rd syllables of около (at 2:16). You're right that some sources give [ǝ] for every о after the stress, including final position (Paul Cubberley in 'Russian: A Linguistic Introduction' and others). There can be variation, and specialists don't always agree on this ('there is no agreement among authors on the degree of reduction for word-final vowels in open syllables' - see Position-Dependent Vowel Reduction in Russian, bit.ly/2ooK1wK). Perhaps the distinction is more clearly heard at 2:16 because this was a trained voice professional, speaking words in isolation into a microphone; in normal conversation, I wouldn't be surprised to hear her pronounce около пяти as [okǝlǝ piti]. Apologies if that's more than you wanted, I tend to get carried away with interesting questions! :)

[@nicholashumphrey4621]

You're not wasting words on me! I'm more or less addicted to Russian and have been for over 3 years now. Spent most of tonight going through your videos looking for any patterns that will improve my comprehension, and I've gained a lot of insight. Very helpful series. I'm wondering, I'm keen to really understand the effects of приставки more so than just on verbs of motion, and I'm also wondering about more information on word order, coz I've been compared to Yoda a couple of times on pikabu and want to know what I'm doing wrong. Do you have any insight into these, or comprehensive grammar guides (in either language) that attempt to explain these more? Anyway thanks heaps, again. Was sceptical of a non-native, but I can tell how well studied you are in these topics, so I respect your videos a lot.

[@russiangrammar]

I think you'd really like Derek Offord's 'Using Russian: A Guide to Contemporary Usage.' It has a summary of non-directional meanings of prefixes, and a nice section on word order. Really, all 400-odd pages are useful - a must-have for addicts. :) I have two videos on the basics of word order in a playlist on this channel. Offord can take you beyond that for additional nuances, and for a more exhaustive treatment with exercises (but no key) there's Word Order in Russian (Порядок слов в русском языке) by O. Krylova and S. Khavronina.

[@nicholashumphrey4621]

You're right, the book is great! Thanks heaps for the help :)

[@pravoslavn]

It is my understanding that the reduction of the unstressed -O vowel to the -Ah sound in so-called "standard" Russian is a phenomenon of the last 200 years. And that it was adopted because the "trendy" intelligentsia-class around Moscow began speaking that way, and that the pronunciation spread when, in the Soviet era, Russian language was imposed on the entire country. And further I understand that the -Ah pronunciation never caught on in the Lower Volga area. And that there are now, in Russian, words for "those who say -O" and "those who say -Ah," those words being OКАТЬ and AКАТЬ. Being concerned about fidelity to historical norms than to emulation of the trendy elite, I refuse to use the modern pronunciation which is now passed off uncritically as "the" way Russian should be spoken. Is my understanding of the phonological history correct... ?

[@russiangrammar]

I'd be interested to see your source; I've read that (mis-)spellings like Масква appeared as early as the 14th century (source: История русского языка: учебное пособие с упражнениями, Чапаева Любовь Георгиевна), which suggests that аканье (pronouncing unstressed о as а) emerged earlier than 200 years ago. There are dialects which don't have аканье, but they tend to be in the north (see map at expert.ru/russian_reporter/2011/36/geografiya-o_-a-i-yi/media/102713/). A lot has been written about the history of аканье but beyond that, I'm curious: how do you choose a stage in the development of a language as a "historical norm," in contrast to changes introduced by a "trendy elite"? If you're learning Russian, I'd advise you to follow the modern standard; otherwise you'd most likely be perceived as having a foreign accent, rather than being faithful to earlier forms of the language. If you are Russian, then of course it's none of my business how you choose to pronounce unstressed o! ))

[@jamesh625]

Russian grammar Sadly, the link you provided returns a 400 error. Would you be so kind to provide a new one?

[@fs2728]

I prefer not to reduce the unstressed vowels.

[@russiangrammar]

Interesting... any particular reason? Vowel reduction really is a feature of standard pronunciation.

[@fs2728]

@@russiangrammar I can remember the orthography of the words better if I pronounce it as it is written. And for the grammar it is also easier, if -oje and -aja etc. are clearly distinct.

[@russiangrammar]

@@fs2728 I guess that's your choice, though I wouldn't recommend it - it would be like pronouncing the 'k' in English 'knot' as a way of remembering the spelling.