Читать книгу Russian For Dummies - Serafima Gettys - Страница 49

The soft sign is the letter ь. We transcribe it by using the symbol ’, and it doesn’t have a sound. Its only mission in life is to make the preceding consonant soft. This sound is very important in Russian because it can change the meaning of a word. Without the soft sign, the word мaть (maht’) (mother) becomes мaт, which means obscene language. And when you add a soft sign at the end of the word вoн (vohn) (over there), it becomes вoнь (vohn’) and means stench. See how important the soft sign is?

Here’s how you can make consonants soft:

1 Say the consonant (such as Лл, Tт, or Дд), and note where your tongue is.You should feel the tip of your tongue touching the ridge of your upper teeth. The rest of the tongue should be hanging in your mouth like a hammock in a garden on a nice summer day.

2 While you’re still pronouncing the consonant, raise the body of your tongue, and press it against the hard palate.The process is exactly the same as preparing a piece of bubble gum for blowing a bubble by flattening the gum on the roof of your mouth. Bingo: You’re ready to pronounce your soft consonant. Can you hear how the quality of the consonant changes? It sounds much “softer” now, doesn’t it?