2

I dont remember squat

2A: Spelling Rules for Unpaired Consonants

2: The Sound

I dont remember squat

, ?
?

Pasha, whats up (whats the good word)? Are

you used to classes yet?

, ? !
. .

Are you joking (or something)? Its a horror!

Especially my Russian course. I dont remember
squat.

! ,
?

Tell me about it. So, hows your new roommate?

.
N Sync. .

Dont ask. He keeps playing that idiotic N Sync

CD. Im (just) going crazy (out of my mind).

10

. ,
?

I dont envy you. So, have you been to The

Street already?

11

Once or twice.

12

And...(how was it)?

13

. -.

Nothing special. Everythings the same as before.

14

Tell me about it.

1
2

3
4

5
6

7
8

*See http://www.nvkz.kuzbass.net/maximum/articles/nsync/index.html for info in Russian on N Sync.

whats up?; whats the good word? (This is quite colloquial use it only with
friends.)

+ // []+ +
dative or imperfective infinitive

get used to (something/someone) (This verb is most often used in the

perfective past tense as in the dialogue. Be sure to learn this as an entire
phrase including + dative or imperfective infinitive.)

class (This noun usually appears in the plural. More on this when we cover
education.)

squat; nothing at all (The noun is devil. What form is and why?)

*<+ // (Recall that mutates to in the form of the present tense)

<+ // {+/()+}
infinitive
?
-

spin; turn

5
7

8
12
13

so; anyway (Literally, is an imperative form meaning listen! It is

also a very common transition word, often used to get someones attention.)

go crazy; lose ones mind (Last year we had the expression

, which literally is Everyone loses his mind in his own way.)
and...?; so, how was it?
same old thing; just like before; nothing has changed

*This year the symbol indicating shifting stress will indicate in which direction the stress moves. In the case of <+, the<
indicates that stress moves from the ending in the -form () to the stem in all of forms of the present tense (,
>
, ). Later on well where indicates shifting to the ending in the feminine form only of past tense verbs.

2-1

2.A

2-

Spelling Rules For Unpaired Consonants

In the last lesson we saw that the choice of which vowel letter to write ( vs. , vs. , vs. vs. , etc.)
depended on the quality of the preceding paired consonant (as well as on the position of stress in choosing
between and ). In this lesson we review how to spell vowels following unpaired consonants, i.e., the velars (,
, ) and the permanently hard (, , ) or permanently soft (, ) consonants. Note that the permanently soft
consonant is (almost) never followed by a vowel more on this in the section on the sound .
Except for {O} (and the combination of + {I} - see below for details), all the unpaired consonants behave
similarly with respect to which vowel letter must be written.

2..1

All Vowels Except {O} (and + {I})

After the velars (, , ) and the inherently hard (, , *) or inherently soft (, ) consonants write only the
following vowel letters. Stress plays no role.

(never )

(never )

(never *)

(never )

* /

*2..2

The Spelling of {I} after

After you find both and : chick, circus. Generally, is found in foreign borrowings while
is used in native Russian words. There are exceptions, as we see in (a native Russian word with ).
Contrast with , and you can see how arbitrary this spelling is. (In fact, many Russians
were surprised to discover that was spelled with and not .)

*2..2

Only (Not ) After In Grammatical Endings

In grammatical endings (e.g., masculine-feminine nominative/accusative [inanimate] plural and feminine genitive
singular) only is written after : ; ; ; .
There are even several (rather obscure) adjectives with stems ending in . As expected, we find , not , in the
various endings that begin with {I}: short-tailed, as well as a number of adjectives built on the stem
from face pale(-faced), wide-faced, (whatever that is supposed
to mean). You dont have to know any of these; theyre just good examples that prove that the above rule works.

2-2

2-

Our experience shows...

Generally, students dont have a hard time with the vowels , , . (See directly below for the troublesome
spelling of {O}.) However, for some reason, students often mistakenly write after some of the above
consonants (leaving aside the question of / after ). Please, dont ever write after the velars or , , , .
.

2..3

Basic {O} after the Velars: , never (or E sort of)

First, the easy part: After the velars (, , ) write only (never ). Stress makes no difference: ,
; , strict; , .
Several adjectival endings begin with {O}, so be sure to write only o, never or . Some examples: Neuter
nominative/accustive singular , ; masculine/neuter genitive singular , ;
masculine/neuter dative singular , ; masculine/neuter prepositional singular , .
Of course, the spelling of {O} with o after the velars is not restricted to grammatical endings, as we saw in the
examples above , , , etc.

2..2

The Vowel Letter E Following Velars Must Represent {E}

Does the above rule mean that the spelling combinations // are impossible in Russian? Not at all. Many
common words contain these combinations: yogurt-like drink; , (prepositional of ). Here,
however, the vowel letter e must represent basic {E}. Think about why this is so well ask you in class.

2..2

Basic {O} after , , , , : , , or

The spelling of {O} after the non-velar unpaired consonants is more complicated. This shouldnt be too
surprising, given that {O} is the only vowel that has three possible spellings: //. (Just to remind you again.)
After , , , , , as a general rule, write if the vowel is stressed, if unstressed.
Compare these pairs, where both words contain basic {O}:

, , , , + {O}
Stressed {}:

Unstressed {O}:

(adverb)

(neuter adjective)

(fresh short-form neuter adjective)

(fresh long-form neuter adjective)

(face)

(instrumental singular)

(instrumental singular)

(hot short-form neuter adjective)

(hot long-form neuter adjective)

2-3

2-

After , , , (but not ) stressed {} is sometimes spelled with . In grammatical endings, this is
predictable, otherwise, theres no rule:
1) In all verb endings write :
2) In all noun and adjective endings write :

, , burns
, , ,

, , , , + {}
Noun/Adjective Endings:

Verb Endings:

(None exist)

*This is a participle (an adjective formed from a verb), which we will discuss later in the semester

***Note the exceptional the prepositional form of .

Our rules predict . !?***

Otherwise, in non-grammatical positions, you find both and :

3) Other random forms (both and ):

silk rustle , , ,
, beak, , (former Soviet leader)

You simply need to memorize which letter to use in these words. Recall that the pronunciation (hard or soft) is
fixed with these consonants, so you cannot rely on your ear.
Finally, after , write only stressed (never ): , egg, clank

2-4

2-

Below we include a chart that gives examples of those forms that often cause students the greatest problem the
spelling of {O} after , , , , in certain adjectival endings.

Adjectival Stems Ending in , , , , + Ending Beginning in {O}

Form

Ending-Stressed

Stem-Stressed

Neuter Nom/Acc Sing

Masc/Neuter Gen Sing

Masc/Neuter Prep Sing

Masc/Neuter Dat Sing

Fem Oblique Sing

(Gen/Prep/Dat/Instr) and
End-Stressed Masc
Nom/Acc Sing ( only)

(quite rare)

NONE

NONE

NONE

It turns out that and are the only two end-stressed adjectives in the entire language whose stems
end in a husher. There are no other adjectives in - or -, and none whatsoever in -, -, or -.
None!
2-5

2..2

2-

One Word for Six Forms

Just a reminder (and well go over all the endings in the next few weeks) that any adjective ending in stressed -
is potentially ambiguous between masculine nominative/accusative (inanimate only) singular and all the feminine
oblique (nominative or accusative) singular forms. This applies not only to those adjectives ending in an
unpaired consonant. Thus, ////, etc., each represent six different
forms: 1) masculine nominative singular; 2) masculine accusative (inanimate) singular; 3) feminine genitive
singular; 4) feminine prepositional singular; 5) feminine dative singular; 6) feminine instrumental singular. As
you would expect, context always makes it clear which form is being used.

2..3

The Unpaired Consonants and a Following - (or lack thereof)

The velars (as well as ) are never followed by a soft-sign! Repeat no , , , !

Except for , the other unpaired consonants may be followed by a soft sign, though it has no effect on the
pronunciation. For example, in the 2nd singular present tense verb ending, - ( /), the
soft sign is completely meaningless but you have to write it anyway. As we will see in the next lesson, nouns
ending in -, -, -, - are always feminine.

2.

The Sound []

Like English, Russian contains the sound spelled with the letter y in words like yes, you, toy. (You may
sometimes see the English letter j used to represent this sound. To make things easier, well stick to the Russian
letter .) The tricky thing is that this sound often gets hidden in the Russian spelling system. Lets examine
how the sound is represented in the Russian spelling system.
There are two basic ways to represent the sound in Russian:
1) With the consonant letter itself. (Pretty straightforward)

, , ,

2) With a soft-indicating vowel (except ) that is not immediately preceded by a consonant. There are 3
possibilities:
a. At the beginning of a word
b. Following another vowel (hard- or soft-indicating, it doesnt matter)
c. Following a or

, , ,
, , ,
, , ,

Notice that to identify we must look to the left of a soft-indicating vowel to determine the pronunciation. In
yesterdays lesson on the pronunciation of paired consonants we were constantly looking to the right.

2-6

2-

Summary: How the Sound is Represented in the Spelling

The Consonant
Letter
, , ,

Soft-Indicating Vowel () Not

Immeidately Preceded by a Consonant
1) Word-initial:

, , ,

2) After any vowel:

, , ,

3) After /:

, , ,

So, in our transcription of basic sounds, we must include every time a soft-indicating vowel (except ) is not
immediately preceded by a consonant. Lets look at some examples of words containing the sound :

SPELLING

SPELLING

BASIC SOUNDS

{O}

{A}{A}

{A}

{A}{E}

{O}{U}

{O}{U}

{O}{E}

{E}{O}

{O}{A}{U}

2..1

BASIC SOUNDS

{O}

Real Versus Fake Sound: /

We admit that it can difficult to hear the difference between a combination containing just a soft consonant +
vowel () and one containing a soft consonant + + vowel (). The problem is that to our ear, softness
very closely resembles a sound. In fact, in many transcriptions found in newspapers and history books (for the
uninitiated) the English letter y is often used to represent softness, as we see in the following words: = nyet,
= Tanya, = Tyutchev (famous Russian poet, whom well read later on). (Notice, curiously, that no
y is used before i, even though the in = Putin is as soft as the in . Just thought wed point that
out.) While we agree that soft consonants certainly give a hint of a sound, by our definition, words like ,
, do not contain a sound. (This leaves open the question of how to represent a soft consonant in
English spelling, for which we have not immediate answer.)

No Sound

2..2

Sound

Vienna

Vietnam

Followed by a Vowel

In a few foreign words you will find followed by a vowel: yoga Yokohama,
Yellowstone, -. In theory, all of these + vowel combinations could have been represented by a single
soft-indicating vowel, with no change whatsoever in pronunciation. Thus instead of , you could have had
. To some extent, , , etc., look more foreign than , , etc. Just thought wed
mention this somewhat minor point.
2-7

2- -
1

Correct any impossible spellings. You may need to take into

consideration the words part of speech. Not all words have errors.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11. (think!)

12.

13. (think!)

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32. e

2- -
2

Identify any words that contain the sound and indicate how the sound
is represented

1.

2. (drunk)

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9. (yoga)

10.

11.

12. (entrance)

1.

He doesnt know squat about American history.

2.

Vera, are you crazy? (have you gone out of your mind? think about tense)

3.

Im not used to getting up early.

4.

+ Whats the good word? Dont ask. My roommate keeps playing that idiotic Eminem (it does decline)
CD.

2-9