Читать книгу Russian For Dummies - Serafima Gettys - Страница 41

When pronouncing the letters Пп, Tт, or Кк, English speakers are used to straining their tongue and lips. This strain results in what linguists call aspiration — a burst of air that comes out of your mouth as you say these sounds. To see what we’re talking about, put your hand in front of your mouth, and say the word top. You should feel air against your hand as you pronounce the word.

In Russian, however, consonants are pronounced without aspiration. In other words, say it, don’t spray it! In fact, you should totally relax your tongue and lips before saying the Russian Пп, Tт, or Кк.

Imagine a woman who has just had a stroke. She isn’t able to put much effort into her consonants. Believe it or not, that’s almost the way you should say your Russian consonants. Relax your lips as much as possible, and you’ll say them correctly. To practice saying consonants without unnecessary aspiration, again, put your hand in front of your mouth, and say the following Russian cognates (words that Russian borrowed from English): пapк (pahrk) (park), лaмпa (lahm-puh) (lamp), and тaнк (tahnk) (tank). Practice until you don’t produce a puff of air with these words!