Читать книгу Russian For Dummies - Serafima Gettys - Страница 43

To those who don’t know Russian, Russian speech often sounds like an endless flow of consonant clusters. Combinations of two, three, and even four consonants are quite common. Take, for example, the common word for hello in Russian: здpaвcтвуйтe (zdrah-stvoohy-tee), which has two difficult consonant combinations (здp and cтв). Even Russians have a hard time saying all the sounds in this long word; in fast, colloquial speech, Russians replace it with здpacтe (zdrahs-tee). Or take the word for opinion in Russian: взгляд (vzglyat). The word contains four consonants in a row: взгл.

How in the world do Russians say these words without choking? They come naturally to Russians because Russian is their native language. You, on the other hand, simply need to practice. Here are some words that contain consonant clusters you may want to repeat at leisure:

 oбcтoятeльcтвo (ahp-stah-ya-teel’-stvah) (circumstance)

 пoздpaвлять (pah-zdruhv-lyat’) (to congratulate)

 пpecтуплeниe (pree-stoohp-lyeh-nee-ee) (crime)

 Poждecтвo (razh-dees-tvoh) (Christmas)

 вздop (vzdohr) (nonsense)

 взглянуть (vzglya-nooht’) (to look/glance)