Pronunciation of r in English. English language - phonetics - sound. Consonants with two reading options

Sound [ j] resembles the Russian sound [th], but weaker than it. The back of the tongue rises to the palate less than in the Russian sound [th], so less noise is heard. The English sound [j] always comes before a vowel.

Consonant sound [r] looks a little like the Russian sound [r], but English sound[r] is not rolling and is pronounced without vibration. To find the correct tongue position, pronounce the Russian sound [zh], as in the word “zhat”. Extend the sound [zh], now pull the tip of the tongue away from the alveoli a little back, without lifting it from the palate, and you will hear how the sound [zh] turns into English [r].

The sound [r] is weak, the tip of the tongue only momentarily approaches the palate behind the alveoli and immediately moves away from it.

Vowel- long, pronounced in the back of the mouth, with some tension. The tongue is lowered and pulled back a little. The tip of the tongue is pulled away from the lower teeth. The lower jaw is lowered. The lips are neutral, that is, they are not stretched or pushed forward. This is a more posterior sound than the Russian sound [a].

Before a voiced consonant, the sound is slightly shortened, and before a voiceless consonant, it is significantly shortened.

Consonant- nasal, only the back of the tongue touches the palate, closing the passage for air, so the air exits through the nose. The tip of the tongue is lowered and touches the lower teeth, mouth slightly open.

To pronounce an English sound, try closing your mouth and “mooing” through your nose, then, maintaining the nasal character of the sound, open your mouth slightly.

The sound is pronounced in the same place as the consonants [k], [g]. When you pronounce the sound, the back of the tongue is pressed against the roof of your mouth; if you lift it away from the roof of your mouth, you will make the sound [k] or [g].

If the letter R comes after vowels, they will be read differently than in an open or closed syllable. For example, the letter combination AR will be read as a long sound [ɑː]: park - park, car - car, star - star (Fig. 2), party - party, farm - farm, arm [ɑːm] - hand.

Pay attention to the reading of the letter combination AR in these sentences:

We are at a party. - We're at a party.

His garden is dark. - His garden is dark.

The longitude of the sound has a very great importance in English. If we drag out and pronounce Russian words briefly, only the intonation will change. And in English words Their meaning depends on the brevity and length of the sound.

In the third type of reading, after the vowels there is the letter R, which affects the length of the sound, i.e. all these sounds are read as long.

Compare, paying attention to the short sounds in the left column and the long sounds in the right column:

Reinforce the difference in pronunciation by practicing reading these pairs of words.

All other English vowels in combination with R are read the same: they produce a long sound [əː] (Fig. 4). Rice. 4. Combination of vowels and R

Please note that there is no such sound in Russian. It's a bit like the sound in the word "honey". Practice reading words with this sound:

purple ["pɜːpl] - violet, nurse - nurse, fur - fur, her - her, bird - bird, girl - girl, first - first.

Now pay attention to reading these words in sentences:

The fur is purple. - Fur - purple (Fig. 5).

The girl has got a bird. - The girl has a bird.

Let's look at reading some combinations of vowels before the letter R.

If the letter combination AI is in front of R, then together AIR will be pronounced as: air - air, hair - hair, chair [ʧeə] - chair, fair - light. His hair is fair. - His hair is blond (Fig. 6).

My teddy bear is on the chair. - My teddy bear is on the chair.

Rice. 6. Blonde hair ()

If R is preceded by the letter combination EA, then together EAR will also be pronounced as: bear - bear, pear - pear. However, not all English words read EAR as . In some words it is read as [ɪə]: ear [ɪə] - ear, near - near, hear - to hear, tear - tear. The letter combination EER - [ɪə] will also be read: deer - deer (Fig. 7), engineer [ˌenʤɪ"nɪə] - engineer.

There are words in the English language that are read the same but are spelled differently. Moreover, they have different meanings. Compare:

Pay attention to these words in the sentences:

Meet me, please. - Meet me, please.

Dogs like meat. - Dogs love meat.

The flour is white. - Flour is white.

The flower is white. - The flower is white (Fig. 8).

Their teddy bear is there. - Their teddy bear is there.

When we encounter such words, we need to be especially careful to avoid mistakes.

We already know that the combination of letters OO is read as short [u], as in the word - book, or as long, as in the word spoon - spoon. However, OO before R will be read as a long sound [ɔː]: floor - floor, door - door.

The ball is on the floor. - The ball is on the floor.

You already know that in English there are stressed and unstressed syllables. The vowels are read differently. In the stressed position, all vowels are read clearly, but in the unstressed position they turn into unclear, blurry sounds. The same thing happens when reading combinations of letters in unstressed syllables.

In a stressed syllable, the letter combination OR is read as long [ɔː]: horse - horse, fork - fork, corn - corn. In an unstressed syllable, the letter combination OR will be read as the sound [ə]: doctor ["dɔktə] - doctor (Fig. 9), sailor ["seɪlə] - sailor, actor ["æktə] - actor. Look at these words in the sentences:

Jane is a doctor. - Jane is a doctor.

Mike is a sailor. - Mike is a sailor.

Tom is an actor. - Tom is an actor.

The letter combination ER in an unstressed position will also be read as short [ə]: teacher ["tiːʧə] - teacher, dancer ["dɑːnsə] - dancer, singer ["sɪŋə] - singer.

Look at these words in sentences:

Sue is a teacher. - Sue is a teacher.

Bob is a dancer. - Bob is a dancer.

John is a singer. - John is a singer.

Bibliography

1. Afanasyeva O.V., Mikheeva I.V. English language. 2nd grade - M: Bustard, 2014.
2. Biboletova M.Z., Denisenko O.A., Trubaneva N.N. English language. 2nd grade - Title, 2008.
3. Bykova N.I., Dooley D., Pospelova M.D. and others. English language. 2nd grade - Education, 2013.

Homework

1. Learn to correctly read all the words from the video lesson.
2. For each one learned to read vowels correctly in combination with R, find two English example words.
3. Learn words from the video lesson and new words that you find.

1. Internet portal Freen.ru ().
2. Internet portal English100.ru ().
3. Internet portal Freen.ru ().

Transalveolar median sonant. This sound can only very conditionally be compared with Russian [R]. Russian sound [R]- vibrating, when pronounced, the spread tip of the tongue trembles, hitting the alveoli, for example, if you pronounce a word drawn out p-p aki.

1 When speaking English the tip of the tongue, slightly curved back, rises to the posterior slope of the alveolar convexity, forming a gap, and remains absolutely motionless, without touching the alveoli. The edges of the tongue are pressed against the side teeth, the lips are flat, the mouth is open. The gap should not be too narrow, as with Russian [and], but not too wide. Air is exhaled into the formed gap with the inclusion of the vocal cords (with voice): red [ r ed] red,read[ r Jd] read, right [ r aIt] right, rain [ r eIn] rain, road [ r oud] road.

2 Pronunciation after a consonant has the following features. Both consonants are pronounced together, almost simultaneously, especially after a plosive consonant: brother [" b r ADq ] Brother, green green.

Alveolar consonants before become postalveolar, i.e. pronounced on the posterior slope of the alveoli: dry dry, dress cloth.

After voiceless consonants the phoneme muted: true correct,cry scream, pretty [" p r ItI] pretty, friend Friend.

In combination with the previous ones or sound pronounced not behind the alveoli, but against them: throw throw.

3 Letter r pronounced only before a readable vowel letter, located both inside a word and at the beginning of a subsequent word, if there is no pause before it. Sound , pronounced at the junction of words, called binder : fo r ever ["fq" r evq ] forever, the ca r is black [ Dq "kR r Iz "blxk] black car . This sound is clearly heard in the song's repeated chorus. Kylie Minogue "It"s in you r eyes." [ It's in "jL" r aIz ] – "It's in your eyes".

However, in modern English pronunciation there are also cases of omission of the binder , For example: fa r away [" fR q " weI ] far,o r else otherwise; or.

In expressions after r all["Rftq" r Ll] in the end and fo r instance For example - connecting sound usually pronounced.

See more examples of words with this sound - letter R .

Probably all of us know that the Germans burr when they pronounce the letter “R”, but how can we repeat it? And is it always necessary to burr? Let's find out!

Now let's watch the video where German It explains in great detail what types of R there are and how to pronounce them (with examples):

If you prefer a not very formal explanation, then here is another video (this time in English):

It is worth noting that there are fundamentally two variants of pronunciation of the letter R in German:

Burry R;

Vocalized R(reads as short " A").

In the first case (what we called “burry R”) there is another division into 3 subtypes:

1) Fricative r (posterior lingual fricative ringing sound) (Reibe-r)

When articulating it, the position of the lips and the distance between the teeth are directed towards the pronunciation of the next sound. The posterior uvula rises to the soft palate and forms a gap in which the flow of air passing through it produces a faint rubbing sound.

2) Rear lingual r (uvular sonorant vibrant) (Zäpfchen-r)

When articulating it, the position of the lips and the distance between the teeth are directed towards the pronunciation of the next sound. The tongue rises in the back of the oral cavity towards the velum palatine and forms a depression in the front. The air flow causes the (posterior) tongue to vibrate against the raised back of the tongue. The velum is raised. The vocal cords produce sound.

3) Forelingual r (forelingual sonorant vibrant) (Zungenspitzen-r)

When articulating it, the position of the lips and the distance between the teeth are directed towards the pronunciation of the next sound. The tip of the tongue strikes against the incisors or the area of ​​the alveoli adjacent to the upper incisors, so that an intermittent closure occurs. The velum is raised. The vocal cords produce sound. This sound, in its method of formation, resembles the Russian sound “r”, however, the German r is pronounced with fewer strokes of the tongue at the upper teeth and their alveoli (only about one and a half strokes) and therefore sounds less rolling than the Russian “r”.

Note.

In modern German literary language all three pronunciations of r are equal. But you should know that the posterior lingual fricative r (Reiber-r) is most widespread. In second place is the velar uvular r (Zäpfchen-r). The front-lingual sonorant vibrant r (Zungenspitzen-r) has the smallest distribution and has a shade of dialectally colored speech.

4) Voiced R

When articulating it, the position of the lips and the distance between the teeth are directed towards the pronunciation of the next sound. The tip of the front tongue is in contact with the lower incisors. The middle part of the tongue rises slightly towards the hard palate. The velum is raised. And thus the indefinite vowel sound [ɐ] is formed. After the monophthong er, the vocalization r is fully realized, and for this reason is not indicated by the sign at the top, but is written like all ordinary signs on the line, that is, [ɐ].

All of these variations of the r sound are pronounced differently in different positions in the word. They can be clearly pronounced, lightly marked, or fully vocalized, that is, turned into a vowel sound.

The consonant r is clearly pronounced in the following positions:

1) at the beginning of a stressed or unstressed syllable, for example: Rand “edge”, raten ["rα:tən] “advise”, original “genuine”, Pirat “pirate”.

2) after stops and fricatives before stressed vowels, for example: Kran “crane”, Gram “sorrow, sadness, melancholy”, fragen ["frα:gən] “ask”, Drittel ["drıtəl] "third, third part", Brief "letter".

3) after short stressed vowels, for example: stark [ʃtark] “strong”, Birke ["bırkə] "birch", Zirkel ["t‿sırkəl] "compass; circle", wirken ["vırkən] "to act", Narr "fool".

The consonant r, during its articulation, is only slightly indicated, that is, it is vocalized, turning into the sound [ɐ] in the following positions:

1) after long vowels (except for the long vowel a) in stressed and unstressed syllables that are final, for example:
Faktor ["fakto:ɐ] “factor, circumstance”, Matador “matador”, wir “we”, Klavier “grand piano; piano; piano”, Natur “nature”.

Klar “clear”, Haar “hair(s)”, Bart “beard; mustache", Arzt [α:rtst] "doctor", Quark "cottage cheese", Quarz "quartz", Harz "resin"; Harz (mountains)"

2) in unstressed prefixes: er-, her-, ver-, zer-, for example:
erfahren [ɐ"fα:rən] "to recognize; experience", erinnern [ɐ"ınɐn] "to remind", verbringen "to spend (time)", verbieten "to prohibit", zerstampfen "to trample", zerkratzen "to scratch", hervor "outside , forward".

3) in the final unstressed - er, as well as when it is followed by consonants, for example:
Vater ["fαtɐ] "father", immer ["ımɐ] "always", besser ["bεsɐ] "best",wieder ["vi:dɐ] "again, again", anders ["andɐs] "other, other" , Kindern ["kındɐn] "to children", zergliedern "to dismember".

Tasks

Read the following words aloud several times until you are fluent. Determine for yourself how long the vowels are in these words.

1) clear articulation -r at the beginning of a word

Raten advise
Rabe raven
rasch fast, fast
rand edge
Ratte rat
Rind the cattle
rinnen to flow, flow
Riemen belt, belt
Riese giant
Riff pitfall
Rinde bark
Riegel bolt

2) clear articulation -r in the middle of a word
Brief letter
brav brave
Draht wire
Drittel third part
Frieden world
Bahre stretcher
Krieg war
graben dig
Brille glasses
spritzen splash
Straße street
Frage question

3) clear pronunciation of -r after short stressed vowels

Darm intestines
Dirne girl, girl
stark strong
wirken to act
warten wait
Wirt the owner
Narr is a fool
Stirn forehead
Kirsche cherry
schwarz black
never make a mistake
wirren to confuse

4) clear pronunciation -r after a long [a:] →
klar clear, light
Haar hair(s)
Bart beard; mustache
Arzt doctor
Quark cottage cheese
Quartz quartz
Harz resin; Harz (mountains)
Star starling
Schar crowd, heap
gar at all
wahr true
bar nude

5) vocalized -r [ɐ]

Vier four
wir we
ihr you
dir to you
Beer beer
Tier animal
Maler artist
immer always
verbieten prohibit
zerfallen to disintegrate
deepen
vertilgen exterminate
hervor out, forward
Erzieher teacher
er rasiert sich he shaves
wandern
erinnern remember
klimpern strum
Pfarrer priest
zerknirschen crush
sleepy
zerkratzen scratch
disappear
versklaven enslave

Slightly bend your tongue towards the palate. The very tip of the tongue. Of course, it would be more convenient to explain this live. Imagine that you are at a doctor's appointment. He asks you to say “Ah-ah,” but instead of sticking your tongue to your larynx, you him. on the contrary, you raise it. The result is a soft burry sound. (c) Goldilocks

When pronouncing the sound R, the tip of the tongue is raised to the tubercles behind the upper teeth. the tongue should be motionless. You can pinch your cheeks with your fingers and pronounce the Russian sound “r” until then, trying not to vibrate your tongue.

There are three shades of R sound
1. British pronunciation before a consonant,
1. British pronunciation before a vowel
3. American pronunciation of R in any position

1. British pronunciation before a consonant - R does not sound at all. Where do you live?
1. British pronunciation before a vowel - R generally always sounds. Where r are you?
3. American pronunciation of R in any position - R generally always sounds, but louder

for newbies to the blog: this is how I myself learned 3 languages ​​up to Advanced, 1 Intermediate,
and about 7 more - a basic level of. And according to this scheme, I have been teaching others for 11 years.

1st STAGE. We master the basics of READING-PRONUNCIATION and 100-200 of the most important words.
let it be passive knowledge for now, that is, we will understand the word,
when will we see him on foreign language, but we hardly remember him,
when you need to translate from Russian into English.

1st march. reading and pronunciation.
In order for words to be remembered, we must know how they are read. if we are not confident in our knowledge,
then look in the dictionary for its reading in the form of transcription icons.

2nd march. remembering the first words.
words are building material, the building blocks of language.
and it takes effort to arrange them in orderly rows.

2nd STAGE. we master 80% of the RULES WE NEED, according to which words are assembled into sentences,
and 600-800 MOST USEFUL WORDS words. for the average person to solve almost all his problems
knowledge of the rules of grammar at a slightly above average level and 1000-2000 words is enough.

in English it's between Intermediate levels and Upper-Intermediate.
At this stage we master it to a level between Intermediate. this is the key stage -
If we pass it, then everything will go like clockwork.

3rd march. all our attention and effort goes to grammar. she is the backbone, the foundation,
a supporting structure on which words and phrases will be hung. all necessary
words and expressions - we will learn at the 3rd stage. For now, 600-800 words are enough.

4th march. network structure of grammar rules and word meanings.
the language was created and tested thousands of years ago. everything weak was swept aside,
everything strong became part of the system.

5th march. write a lot and talk little at this stage of study -
if we want talk a lot and write little at the next stage.

6th march. time of day to study. V different time day our brain perceives
and processes information differently.
choose the best parts of the day to study.

7th march. what and how to choose - a tutor, courses or a textbook.
at the very beginning you can try all three methods,
to gain experience and be able to compare. but stop at one.

3rd STAGE. now our task is to be capable lexicon in 1000-2000 words,
skills and speed training oral speech, catching language by ear.
We will learn only a few new grammar rules.

8th march. we weave verbal networks, in the nodes of which there will be
specific situations. around these nodes we will collect words.

9th march. we speak and understand by ear.
This is our ultimate goal, for this we learned a foreign language.

10th march. create and maintain an emotional background
for more effective learning.

all this is divided into 48 steps and described in detail in my post