52 A Reference Grammar of Russian

another [ ]. Then the first vowel assimilates to the second and does not re-

duce, as in pf jlbyj´rbv ‘beyond isolated’ [zøød˛ìno5k˛ìm], djjleitdk=y ‘inspired’

⁄

[vøød√sïvl˛o5 n]. In allegro style the two [ ] coalesce and reduce: cjjnyji†ybt ‘inter-

‹ ⁄

connection’ neutral [s tn s†e5n˛ì´], allegro [s´tnøse5n˛ì´]. As the first of a sequence,

‹⁄ ‹⁄

{e} reduces normally to [ì]: ytj,[jl∫vj ‘necessary’ [n˛ì px d˛ím´].

2.2.8 Unstressed vowels in borrowings

In foreign borrowings of high culture, unstressed mid vowels (the vowels written as ≤t≥ and ≤j≥) do not necessarily reduce completely according to the rules that apply to native words. They can instead maintain something of the pronunciation of the source language and, though they are shorter, they do not merge with series {a} or {i} according to the usual pattern: ktuƒnj ‘legato’ [le*gƒto*], utyjw∫l ‘genocide’ [ge*no*cit].36 As words are assimilated, the semi-reduced foreign pronunciation of ≤j≥ as [o*] yields to [ ] ([´]), as in native words. Thus, in certain frequently used borrowings, the usage of [o*] for ≤j≥ declined quite dramatically from the oldest cohort (1890--99) to the youngest (1940--49): rjyuh†cc ‘congress’ (63% > 27%), gjhna†km ‘notebook’ (62% > 20%), ghjw†cc ‘process’ (76% > 32%), cjy†n ‘sonnet’ (78% > 41%), hjz´km ‘piano’ (51% > 25%).37

2.3 Consonants

2.3.1 Classification of consonants

The quintessential consonants are obstruents (= C/ ), segments that involve obstruction or serious narrowing in the long path from the larynx to the lips. Obstruents are listed above the internal line in Table 2.5. In addition to obstruents, consonants include sonorants, a group of sounds that are heterogeneous but share the negative property of being neither obstruents nor vowels. Sonorants are listed below the line in Table 2.5.

Consonants are defined by a complex of articulatory activities. Consonants can be voiced (the membranes of the vocal cords are taut and vibrate) or voiceless (the membranes are open and relaxed, allowing air to pass without vibration). Obstruents can be produced with different trajectories of gestures, or manners of articulation. Obstruents can be stops, sounds that involve a sudden gesture of complete closure (for example, the complete closure of both lips to make a [b]), a short interval of stasis, and a sudden release. Or they can be fricatives, which involve a more gradual restriction of the airflow without complete closure followed by an interval of incomplete closure and then a more gradual release. Affricates are intermediate; they are produced by a stop closure and a

36 Avanesov 1972:174, 167--68.

37 Glovinskaia 1976, specifically Table 12.

Sounds 53

Table 2.5 Russian consonant phones

bilabial

labio-dental

dental

(alveo-)palatal

velar

voiceless stop

p

p

t

t

k

k†

˛

˛

˛

voiced stop

b

b

d

d

g

g†

voiceless affricate

˛

c

˛

c*˛

˛

voiced affricate

Z

∞

∞

voiceless fricative

f

f

s˛

ˇs

Z*˛

x

x†

s

‡

voiced fricative

v

˛

z

ˇz

s*˛

∞

˛

v

z

z

˛

˛

*˛

glide

j

nasal stop

m m˛

n

n˛

lateral

l

l˛

trill

r

r˛

x†

restricted distribution: /

i e

, rarely /

f j b

}

{

}

=

3

x∞=

restricted distribution: /

{

C/

x‡ = normally long (/V

V), shortened adjacent to C

brief interval of closure followed by a more gradual release similar to that of a fricative.

Obstruents are also defined by the place of articulation, the place in the vocal tract where the obstruction occurs and, correlatively, the mobile organ used to make the restriction. One ingredient of the place of articulation is palatalization. How consonants are palatalized depends on where the consonant is articulated, but there is a basic similarity.

The matrix of obstruents in Table 2.5 is organized by place of articulation along the top, with non-palatalized consonants listed to the left of palatalized. Bilabial stops are produced by closing the lips together: [b], [p]. The closest fricatives [f f˛] and [v v˛] are not pure bilabials, but labio-dentals, formed by moving the lower lip up under and close to the upper teeth, constricting the airflow. However, with respect to voicing rules, [v v˛] do not quite act like well-mannered obstruents, and can be designated as a distinct class of sounds “W” that is intermediate between obstruents and sonorants (§2.3.9). When a labial or labio-dental consonant is palatalized, at approximately the same time the primary closure (or restriction) is made with the lips (or upper lip and lower teeth), the blade of the tongue is arched up and raised towards the hard palate (see [p], broken line in Fig. 2.10). In non-palatalized labials, the tongue is in a neutral position (see [p], solid line, in Fig. 2.11).

Russian has a class of dental sounds whose obstruction is made in the region of the upper teeth. As the dental stops [t d] or the affricate [c] are produced, the tip and blade of the tongue touch against the upper teeth. The body of

54 A Reference Grammar of Russian

[p] =

[p] =

Fig. 2.10 [p], [p]. From Avanesov 1972: fig. 8

the tongue is flat or even depressed, which is to say that hard dental stops are slightly velarized (see Fig. 2.11, solid line).38 In producing palatalized dental stops (broken line in Fig. 2.11), the tongue makes contact all the way from the upper teeth through the alveolar ridge and along the hard palate. Whereas with labials palatalization is a somewhat independent gesture, with dentals, palatalization is part and parcel of the articulatory gesture. For some speakers, the palatalized dental stops [t˛d˛] have begun to develop a touch of frication in their release,

s˛	z˛	39
especially before [í]: n∫g ‘type’ [t˛íh], l∫rj ‘wildly’ [d˛ík´].

The dental fricatives [s z] are pronounced with the tip of the tongue pointing towards the top of the upper teeth, leaving an aperture through with which air flows turbulently. The hard dental fricatives [s z] are noticeably velarized. The palatalized dental fricatives [s˛z˛] are made with the front of the tongue making an arch that follows the shape of the teeth and hard palate, with the narrowest aperture at the teeth.

Russian has a group of sounds classed together as having an alveo-palatal (or

sometimes simply palatal) place of articulation. In the hard fricatives [s z] -- the

‹‹

sounds spelled by Cyrillic ≤i≥ and ≤;≥ -- the tip of the tongue approaches the

alveolar ridge, higher than is the case with [s z]. In addition, [s z] lift the sides

‹‹

of the tongue and force air through a groove, while [s z] have a narrow horizontal slit. These (alveo-)palatal fricatives are strongly velarized: the middle of the tongue is depressed and the back of the tongue is arched upwards (solid line,

Fig. 2.12).40 The sounds [s z] are pronounced as hard, even when (in borrowings)

‹‹

the following vowel letter is ≤/≥: ,hji÷hf ‘brochure’ [sur], gfhfi÷n ‘parachute’

‹⁄

[sut],	though sometimes ;/h∫ ‘jury’ [z˛r˛í]. As a new (hypercorrect?) tendency,
‹⁄	‹
38 Velarization is evident in the sketch of SRIa 1.43.		39 Matusevich 1976:183.

40 Avanesov 1972:40, Fig. 14; see also Matusevich 1976:182.

Sounds 55

[t] = [t] =

Fig. 2.11 [t], [t]˛. From Avanesov 1972: fig. 11 Fig. 2.12 [ˇs], [ˇs]˛. From Avanesov 1972: fig. 14

[s z] can soften under assimilation: dxthƒiybq ‘yesterday’s’ normative [sn˛], new
‹‹	‹

[sn˛˛].41

‹

Russian has two other alveo-palatal fricatives, [s˛] (the sound associated with

‹

Cyrillic ≤o≥) and [z˛] (an older pronunciation of Cyrillic spellings ≤;;≥ or ≤p;≥

‹

in certain words such as lhj´;;b ‘yeast’, †p;e ‘I drive’, gj´p;t ‘later’). These sounds are palatalized; the tip of the tongue is pointed towards the teeth, and the blade of the tongue curves up along the hard palate (broken line, Fig. 2.12). The alveopalatal affricate [ˇc],˛spelled ≤x≥, is likewise “soft” -- there is no corresponding hard [ˇc]. In its initial closure phase, it involves essentially the same tongue position as [t˛]; contact is made from the alveolar ridge along the hard palate. In

its release, [c˛] is similar to the soft alveo-palatal fricative [s˛].

‹ ‹

In the production of velars [k g x], the tongue approaches or touches the roof of the mouth, in the region where the hard palate and soft palate meet (solid line, Fig. 2.13). The voiced fricative [ ] is quite restricted, occurring only before a following voiced obstruent: nh=[ly†dysq [ d˛n˛]. Palatalized velars [k˛g˛x˛] have basically the same tongue configuration as non-palatalized velars. They differ from non-palatalized velars in that the tongue makes contact (or restriction) further to the front of the mouth (broken line, Fig. 2.13).

Sonorants, listed below the center line of Table 2.5, are a motley group. Nasal stops [m m˛n n˛] have a complete closure in the oral cavity like that of a stop -- the place of the closure is bilabial for [m m˛], dental for [n n˛] -- but, in addition, they simultaneously open the velum, allowing air to flow into the nasal cavity and resonate.

41 Kasatkin 2001:86.