{"id":982,"date":"2017-07-28T15:19:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-28T15:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/friendly-russian\/?page_id=982"},"modified":"2025-10-22T19:43:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T19:43:04","slug":"lesson-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.charlotte.edu\/friendly-russian\/chapter-1\/lesson-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesson 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alphabet – Part 3<\/h3>\n

Russian Vowels<\/h3>\n
\n

So far, we have dealt with the letters common for both Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. Before getting to letters that are different from Latin, we\u2019ll take a step aside and look exclusively at the vowels. We need to learn them sooner rather than later because no words in Russian can be formed without them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u0410 – \u042f<\/td>\n\u041e – \u0401<\/td>\n\u042d – \u0415<\/td>\n\u0423 – \u042e<\/td>\n\u042b – \u0418<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
|<\/td>\n|<\/td>\n|<\/td>\n|<\/td>\n|<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
aw – ya<\/strong><\/td>\noh – yo<\/strong><\/td>\neh – yeh<\/strong><\/td>\noo – yoo<\/strong><\/td>\ni – ee<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Two Division of Russian Vowels<\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n
Hard Vowels<\/td>\n\u21d2<\/td>\n\u0410<\/td>\n\u041e<\/td>\n\u042d<\/td>\n\u0423<\/td>\n\u042b<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n\u21d3<\/td>\n\u21d3<\/td>\n\u21d3<\/td>\n\u21d3<\/td>\n\u21d3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Soft Vowels<\/td>\n\u21d2<\/td>\n\u042f<\/td>\n\u0401<\/td>\n\u0415<\/td>\n\u042e<\/td>\n\u0418<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The upper and lower vowels form natural couplets: each of the lower vowels (except for the last \u201c\u0418\u201d) begins with a \u2018y-slide\u2019 (\u201c\u0419\u201d in Russian) and is a kind of \u2018diphthong reflection\u2019 of its upper counterpart. If you sing or drawl a lower vowel (except \u201c\u0418\u201d), you will end up singing its corresponding vowel above. This division of all vowels into couplets is very important for good pronunciation, spelling, and some grammar choices (as you will see later).\u00a0 Any of the upper level vowels makes a preceding consonant sound hard; any of the lower level vowels makes it sound soft.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Listen Carefully (Columns read from left to right)<\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u0410 – \u042f<\/td>\n\u043c\u00e1<\/strong><\/span>\u043c\u0430<\/td>\n\u043c\u044f<\/strong><\/span>\u0441\u043e (meat)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u041e – \u0401<\/td>\n\u0441\u0442<\/strong><\/span>\u043e\u043b (juice)<\/span><\/td>\n\u0442\u0451<\/strong><\/span>\u0442\u044f (aunt)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u042d – \u0415<\/td>\n\u043c\u044d<\/strong><\/span>\u0440 (mayor)<\/span><\/td>\n\u043c\u00e9<\/strong><\/span>\u0441\u0442\u043e (place\/seat)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u042b – \u0418<\/td>\n\u043c\u044b<\/strong><\/span> (we)<\/span><\/td>\n\u043c\u0438<\/strong><\/span>\u0440 (peace\/world)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u0423 – \u042e<\/td>\n\u0440\u0443<\/strong><\/span>\u043a\u00e1 (hand\/arm)<\/span><\/td>\n\u0440\u044e<\/strong><\/span>\u043a\u0437\u00e1\u043a (backpack)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Note:<\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. The vowel \u0451 is always stressed and for that reason you will never see a stress mark above it.<\/li>\n
  2. There are no words that begin with the vowel \u044b<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Meaningful Vowels<\/h3>\n
    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    \u042f<\/span> – I<\/td>\na personal pronoun that is never capitalized in Russian unless it begins a sentence<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    \u0418<\/span> – and<\/td>\na conjunction<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    \u0410<\/span> – and\/but<\/td>\na conjunction that usually expresses some degree of contrasting (can also be used at the beginning of a sentence to make an easier start)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    \u041e<\/span> – about<\/td>\na preposition<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    \u0423<\/span> – at\/by\/etc.<\/td>\nprepositions that you will study in later chapters<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Reading Practice – p.21<\/h3>\n
    \n

    Read and translate the sentences below. Try to figure out the meaning of new words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
    \n
      \n
    1. \u042d\u0301\u0442\u043e \u0442\u0435\u0430\u0301\u0442\u0440, \u0430 \u0442\u0430\u043c \u043a\u0438\u043d\u043e\u0442\u0435\u0430\u0301\u0442\u0440.<\/li>\n
    2. \u042f \u0442\u0443\u0442, \u0438 \u0441\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430 \u0442\u0443\u0442.<\/li>\n
    3. \u042d\u0301\u0442\u043e \u0443\u043d\u0438\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0441\u0438\u0442\u0435\u0301\u0442.<\/li>\n
    4. \u042d\u0301\u0442\u043e \u0442\u0430\u043a\u0441\u0438\u0301, \u0430 \u044d\u0301\u0442\u043e \u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0301\u0431\u0443\u0441.<\/li>\n
    5. \u042d\u0301\u0442\u043e \u0440\u044e\u043a\u0437\u0430\u0301\u043a, \u0430 \u044d\u0301\u0442\u043e \u0441\u0443\u0301\u043c\u043a\u0430.<\/li>\n
    6. \u042d\u0301\u0442\u043e \u043a\u0432\u0430\u0440\u0442\u0438\u0301\u0440\u0430 \u043d\u043e\u0301\u043c\u0435\u0440 \u0442\u0440\u0438.<\/li>\n
    7. \u041a\u0442\u043e \u044d\u0442\u043e? \u2013 \u042d\u0442\u043e \u043c\u0430\u0301\u043c\u0430 \u0438 \u0442\u0451\u0442\u044f.<\/li>\n
    8. \u042d\u0301\u0442\u043e \u0442\u0435\u0430\u0301\u0442\u0440? \u2013 \u041d\u0435\u0442, \u044d\u0301\u0442\u043e \u043d\u0435 \u0442\u0435\u0430\u0301\u0442\u0440. \u042d\u0301\u0442\u043e \u0440\u0435\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0440\u0430\u0301\u043d.<\/li>\n
    9. \u042d\u0301\u0442\u043e \u043c\u0435\u0442\u0440\u043e\u0301? \u2013 \u041d\u0435\u0442, \u044d\u0301\u0442\u043e \u043d\u0435 \u043c\u0435\u0442\u0440\u043e\u0301, \u0430 \u0442\u0435\u0430\u0301\u0442\u0440.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Survival Kit<\/h3>\n

      Giving Thanks<\/h3>\n
      \n

      Listen and transcribe the following words and phrases. They include sounds and letters that you haven’t studied yet, but try to repeat them after hearing them. Write the expressions by using any type of transcription that you know. Memorize them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      \u0421\u043f\u0430\u0441\u0438\u0431\u043e<\/td>\n–<\/td>\nThank you<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      \u00a0\u041f\u043e\u0436\u0430\u043b\u0443\u0439\u0441\u0442\u0430<\/td>\n–<\/td>\nYou are welcome<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      \u00a0\u041d\u0435 \u0437\u0430 \u0447\u0442\u043e<\/td>\n–<\/td>\nNo problem<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n