ноги [nogji] "feet": нога [naga] "foot"
цены [ceni] "prices": цена [cina] "price"
был [bil] "he was": была [bila] "she was"
руки [rukji] "hands": рука [ruka] "hand"
After [š, ž], all four of the vowels [a, o, e, i] coincide in a short dull [i] sound, with the lips slightly rounded:
шар [šar] "sphere": шары [širi] "spheres"
жёны [žoni] "wives": жена [žina] "wife"
шесть [šestj] "six": шестнадцать [šisnatc'tj] "sixteen"
жил [žil] "he lived": жила [žila] "she lived"
шум [šum] "noise": шуметь [šumjetj] "to be noisy"
After soft consonants, [a, o, e, i] coincide in a short sharp [i] sound:
час [čas] "hour": часы [čisi] "clock"
сёла [sjola] "villages": село [sjilo] "village"
свечи [svječi] "candles": свеча [svjiča] "candle"
винт [vjint] "screw": винты [vjinti] "screws"
любит [ljubj't] "he loves": люблю [ljublju] "I love"
4. In all other unstressed syllables (that is, after the stress when not final, and two or more syllables before the stress when not initial), the vowels are extremely short and weak; we write them with small raised letters [', ', '].
After hard consonants other than [š, ž] the vowels [a, o] here coincide in a very short sound, somewhat like the English u in circus; [e, i] coincide in a very short dull [i]:
ending [-atj]: читать [čitatj] "to read," but делать [djel'tj] "to do"
головы [gol'vi] "heads": голова [g'lava] "head"
целый [cel'y] "whole": целиком [c'ljikom] "entirely"
сын [sin] "son": сыновья [s'navjya] "sons"
ending [-ut]: идут [idut] "they are going," but едут [yed't] "they are riding"
After [š, ž], the vowels [a, o, e, i] here coincide in a very weak dull [i] sound:
ending [-atj]: мешать [mjišatj] "to disturb," but слышать [slis'tj] "to hear"
ending [-ot]: стрижёт [strjižot] "he shears," but может [mož't] "he is able"
жечь [žec] "to burn": выжечь [viž'c] "to burn out"
ending [-it]: страшит [strašit] "he frightens," but слышит [sliš't] "he hears"
шум [šum] "noise": шумовой [š'mavoy] "noisy"
In this position, however, [a, o] at the beginning of case endings appear as a weak [']: на крышах [na kriš'x] "on the roofs."
After soft consonants, [a, o, e, i] here coincide in a very short sharp [i]:
ending [-atj]: гулять [guljatj] "to stroll," but чуять [čuy'tj] "to scent"
ending [-ot]: идёт [idjot] "he is going," but едет [yedj*t] "he is riding"
ending [-etj]: глядеть [gljidjetj] "to look," but видеть [vjidj'tj] "to see"
ending [-it]: глядит [gljidjit] "he looks," but видит [vjidj't] "he sees"
ending [-ut]: узнают [uznayut] "they recognize," but узнают [uznay't] "they will recognize"
Weakening and Loss of [y]. Before [i] the sound [y], when not initial, is weak or drops out entirely: стоит [stayit] "he stands," стоит [stoy't] "it costs." We write it in our modified alphabet, since this simplifies our grammatical statements and causes no ambiguity.
§4. ALTERNATIONS OF SOUND AND SPELLING
In this Section we describe alternations of sound which are shown in Russian writing and accordingly bring it about that some forms of words are spelled in ways that differ from the related forms.
1. Change of [g, k, x]. Within a word, when the sounds [g, k, x] come to stand before the vowels [e, i], they are replaced by their soft varieties [gj, kj, xj]. The writing shows this by using the letters е, и for the vowels. Thus, with вор [vor] "thief," воры [vori] "thieves" compare the following: знак [znak] "sign," знаки [znakji] "signs"; плуг [pluk] "plow," плуги [plugji] "plows"; успех [uspjex] "success," успехи [uspjexji] "successes."
2. Insertion of Vowels. When the last consonant of a cluster is [c, g, k, l, lj, n, nj, r, rj, s, sj, y] and comes to stand at the end of a word or before the consonant of a suffix, a vowel is inserted. Thus we have ковры [kavri] "rugs," with the ending [-i], but ковёр [kavjor] "rug," with no ending and an inserted vowel. The choice of the inserted vowel is made as follows:
If either of the two last consonants in the cluster is [g, k, x], the inserted vowel is [o]:
куски [kuskji] "pieces": кусок [kusok] "piece"
когти [koxtji] "claws": коготь [kog'tj] "claw"
коньки [kanjkji] "skates": конёк [kanjok] "skate"
Otherwise, if the last consonant is [c] or [y], the inserted vowel is [je]; the [j] means that the preceding consonant is made soft if possible:
отцы [atci] "fathers": отец [atjec] "father"
перцу [pjercu] "some pepper": перец [pjerj'c] "pepper"
ручьи [ručyi] "brooks": ручей [ručey] "brook"
ульи [uljyi] "beehives": улей [ulj'y] "beehive"
In all other cases the inserted vowel is [jo]; that is, [o] with softening of the preceding consonant were possible:
котлы [katli] "kettles": котёл [katjol] "kettle"
пепла [pjepla] "of ashes": пепел [pjepj'l] "ashes"
смешно [smjišno] "it's funny": смешон [smjišon] "he's funny"
страшно [strašna] "it's terrible": страшен [straš'n] "he's terrible"
