(no subject)

[superslayer18.livejournal.com]

2 Questions:

1) Are there any sounds in Russian that, when combined together, make the same sound in English? My best two examples would be p+h=f, and if that means П+Х=Ф. Another would be K+N=N (like in "know") so К+Н=Н?


2) I keep having problems with -ь words, and how I am supposed to pronounce them. I know that to a Russian, т and ть are two totally different sounds. Same with л and ль I believe. Can anyone help me with what difference I am supposed to pronounce when I try to say one and not the other? I recall something about pronouncing "y" and the same time as the consenant, but I just can't!

Thanks if you can help me!

Comments

[langwidere.livejournal.com]

A former Russian instructor used to joke that in English you can say "Washington" but spell "Philadelphia." And I've noticed that vowels are the hardest things to figure out for spelling because so many vowels get reduced to a schwa sound anyway.

[noktulo.livejournal.com]

Another common joke about English orthography is that fish could be spelled ghoti. The gh from hiccough, the o from women, and the ti from ambition.

[arrestthisman.livejournal.com]

I think that'd have to be the gh from enough. Or do they pronounce hiccough as "hikoff" in British English? I never knew. (In America it's usually spelled "hiccup" and pronounced as such.)

[noktulo.livejournal.com]

Oops. I think I got that mixed up with something that was saying all the different ways -ough can be pronounced. I live in America, and I think it's spelled hiccough and pronounced "hiccup" in British English.

Heh. British English is a funny phrase.

[aveleen.livejournal.com]

It is a scientific term, though.