• c

  t

  clusive

• p losive

• fore lingual

• apical

• alveolar

• strong

• Voiceless

• oral

Letter or letter combination	Sound	Position in the word or conditions of pronouncing	Examples	Exceptions
“t”	[t]		Ten, let
“tt”	[t]		Little, sitting
“bt”	[t]	At the end of words	Debt, doubt
“d”	[t]	In the suffix –ed after voiceless consonant	Helped, looked	[-] noise consonant

Comparison witb the Russian [т, д, т’, д’]. The Russian con­sonants [т, д] are produced with the blade of the tongue against the back of the upper teeth, they are dental, while the corre­sponding English sounds are apical alveolar and the Russian consonant [т] is not aspirated. In word final position only [т] is heard, eg пуд, сад, while the final English [d] is partially devoiced, cf сед — said.

The palatalized Russian consonants [т’, д’] are formed with the front secondary focus (the front part of the tongue is raised to the hard palate).

The opposition of the Russian sounds (т — т’, д — д’] may distinguish the meaning of words, eg тапки — тяпки, тук — тюк, дат (род, пад. мн.) — дать, ток — тёк, томный — тёмный, рад — рать.

• n

  v

  oise consonant

• c onstrictive

• fricative

• voiced

• weak

• labio-dental

• oral

• in final position it is partly devoiced

Letter or letter combination	Sound	Position in the word or conditions of pronouncing	Examples	Exceptions
“v”	[v]		Vast, involve
“vv”	[v]		Navy

Comparison with the Russian [ф, в, ф’, в’]. The Russian [ф, в] are produced in the same way, only [ф] is less fricative, cf flag, флаг. In word final position only [ф] is heard, eg Ростов, актив.

The Russian palatalized [ф’, в’] have the secondary obstruction formed between the raised front part of the tongue and the hard palate, eg Федя, ведь.

• s

  w

  onorant

• c onstrictive

• medial

• bicentral

• bilabial

• oral

Letter or letter combination	Sound	Position in the word or conditions of pronouncing	Examples	Exceptions
“w”	[w]	Before a vowel letter	Water, win
“wh”	[w]		When, while, why	[-] answer

As in Russian there is no similar consonant every effort should be made not to pronounce any other sound resembling the English sonorant [w].

h

ei

e nucleus of the

υə

diphthong is

• b ack-advanced

• close (broad variant)

• slightly rounded

Letter or letter combination	Sound	Position in the word or conditions of pronouncing	Examples	Exceptions
“oor”	[υə]		Moor, poor

Comparison with the Russian Sound Combination [ya]. This sound combination is not common for the Russian language, it is mostly met in borrowed words. The elements of the combination are equal in their prominence. The first element is pronounded with strongly rounded and protruded lips, cf tour — туалет.

• n

  z

  oise consonant

• c onstrictive

• fricative

• voiced

• weak

• fore lingual

• alveolar

• apical

• oral

• in final position it is partially devoiced

Letter or letter combination	Sound	Position in the word or conditions of pronouncing	Examples	Exceptions
“z”	[z]		Zero, zone
“zz”	[z]		Jazz
“s”	[z]	Between vowels. In the above-metioned suffixes after vowel or voiced consonant. At the end of form words after a vowel	Reason, devices, opens, as, is, was, his, whose

Comparison with the Russian [с, з, с’, з’]. The Russian [с, з] are of dorsal dental articulation, i. e. the blade of the tongue is close to the upper teeth, the tip being lowered and passive. [с’, з’] are of the same articulation, only the front secondary fo­cus is formed by raising the front part of the tongue towards the hard palate, eg сад — сядем, сам — сям, сыт — сито.

• n

  dʒ

  oise consonants

• o cclusive-constrictive

• voiced

• weak

• fore-lingual

• palato-alveolar

• apical

• bicentral

• oral

• in final position it is partially devoiced

Letter or letter combination	Sound	Position in the word or conditions of pronouncing	Examples	Exceptions
“gg”	[dʒ]	Before “e, i, y”	Exaggerate
“g”	[dʒ]	Before “e, i, y”	Gist, large, origin	[g] get, give, begin, girl, target
“dg”	[dʒ]		Edge, bridge, judge
“d”	[dʒ]	In the post-stressed position before letter combination “ure”	Verdure, procedure

Comparison with the Russian [ч']. The Russian [ч’] is less energetic, the friction is weaker and is articulated with the blade of the tongue against the teeth ridge.

The Russian [ч’] is always palatalized, there is no non-pala­talized counterpart in the Russian language.

• n

  ʒ

  oise consonants

• c onstrictive

• fricative

• voiced

• weak

• fore-lingual

• palato-alveolar

• apical

• oral

Letter or letter combination	Sound	Position in the word or conditions of pronouncing	Examples	Exceptions
“z”	[ʒ]	In unstressed letter combination “zure”	Seizure, azure
“s”	[ʒ]	Before unstressed vowel “i” + vowel and in post-stressed position before “ure”	Decision, vision, composure, enclosure	[∫] Asia
“g”	[ʒ]	In the words of French origin	Camouflage, garage, regime, rouge

Comparison with the Russian [ш, ш', ж]. These Russian fricatives are articulated in the same way, only they are dorsal, i.e. the blade of the tongue is close to the back part of the teeth ridge. [ш’] is produced with the front part of the tongue raised very high, eg щи, щёки.

• m

  з:

  onophthong

• c entral

• mid (narrow variant)

• unrounded

• long

Letter or letter combination	Sound	Position in the word or conditions of pronouncing	Examples	Exceptions
“ur”	[з:]	In the pre-stressed and final position	Survey, suburb
“ear”	[з:]	Before consonant	Earth, heard, search	[u:] heart [α] hearth [iə] beard
“er”	[з:]	In the closed syllable	Germ [dʒə:m], serve, verge [və:dʒ]	[α] clerk
“ir”	[з:]	In the closed syllable	Fir, firm, firmly
“or”	[з:]	After “w”	Word, work, world	[ɔ:] worn
“our”	[з:]	In some words of French origin	Adjourn, journal, journey
“ur”	[з:]	In the closed syllable	Burn, curve, tern	[e] bury

Since there is no similar vowel in English or in Russian the quality of it may seem rather vague and indistinct to you. In your listening time be attentive and experiment until you arrive at a reasonable pronunciation.

aυ

The nucleus of the diphthong is

• c entral

• mid (narrow variant)

• unrounded

Letter or letter combination	Sound	Position in the word or conditions of pronouncing	Examples	Exceptions
“o”	[aυ]	At the end of the word	Also, zero
“o”	[aυ]	In the open syllable	No, note, notice	[u:] do, move [ɔ] gone, body, comet, solid
“o”	[aυ]	Before “l” + consonant	Old, told, folk, voltage
“o”	[aυ]	Before “st”	Most, post	[ɔ] Cost, frost, lost
“oa”	[aυ]		Boat, coast, float	[ɔ:] broad
“ou”	[aυ]	Before “l”	Poultry, shoulder, soul
“ow”	[aυ]	At the end of the word	Crow, low, show	[αu] now, allow