Infernal
abyssal
Russian has 5 or 6 vowel phonemes: /i, e, a, o, u/, and sometimes /ɨ/.
Vowel reduction: In unstressed positions, vowels undergo significant reduction:
/o/ and /a/ merge to [ɐ] in unstressed syllables.
/e/ can reduce to [ɪ] or [ə].
This reduction contributes to the rhythm of spoken Russian.
Consonants:
Russian has hard vs. soft (palatalized) consonants, meaning that almost every consonant comes in two forms:
Hard: /b, d, g, p, t, k, s, z, n, l, r/.
Soft (palatalized): /bʲ, dʲ, gʲ, pʲ, tʲ, kʲ, sʲ, zʲ, nʲ, lʲ, rʲ/.
Other key consonants:
Fricatives: /x/ (as in "Bach"), /ʒ/ (like "measure"), /ʃ/ (as in "shoe").
Affricates: /t͡s/ (as in "tsar") and /t͡ɕ/ (like "ch" in "cheese").
No /h/ sound: Russian does not have an /h/ sound, which makes "hello" difficult for native speakers.
Intonation and Stress:
Russian has free stress, meaning stress placement varies between words and can change meaning (e.g., мука́ "flour" vs. му́ка "torment").
Intonation in Russian is relatively flexible, but falling tones are common in declarative sentences.
Root Languages
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