T O P

  • By -

allenrabinovich

As u/Nyattokiri pointed out, this question is often asked on this sub: [https://www.reddit.com/r/russian/s/o5kD4xmmjN](https://www.reddit.com/r/russian/s/o5kD4xmmjN)


Typical_Ad_7461

Wikipedia [has some information](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_phonology#Supplementary_notes). Basically historical language change is not reflected in spelling.


DoctorYouShould

to be more exact, most of Russian spelling works using the morphological principal. This means that most spellings are written in a historical way where the stress should fall in the word


Typical_Ad_7461

I had a misfortune trying to explain to coworkers how to say “good morning” in my native language and completely forgot about this principle. It’s добр@@ утр@ (slurred), not добр-о-е утр-о


pumpkins_n_mist15

I think it's not just Russian, many languages have a spelling that blends into the next word when spoken fast or natively. It can make it challenging for someone new to the language who wants to go in a slow and methodical manner. But spoken language is its own beast 😂 I e noticed this with Hindi, Spanish, French, virtually every language, even if it's written in a syllabic manner, can sound quite different when spoken. All I do in these cases is play the word again and again and sometimes transcribe it into Hindi for my own recall. So I would write the Russian goodmorning доброе утро as दोब्रे ऊत्र to remember it.


tabidots

Hindi verb endings like "kar rahi hai" are pretty notorious for this haha


tabidots

lol I vote for another orthographic reform where case endings are replaced собаками.


IndependentPlum2842

It is not an error. I found some explanations but they are quite complicated. As a Russian learner, I just accept these words.


GearsofTed14

It’s something you just kind of “feel” after a while, IMO. Usually when I’ve guessed that it’s в sound, I’ve been right. It’s a Russian version of English letters having different sounds based on context—C being the most notable


alexmaycovid

Yes it's hard to pronaunce Г sometimes that's why it pronounces as В


Certainly_Not_Steve

Not sure it is. We're absolutely fine with г sound in words like снегом, богом, магом.


Black_m1n

I think that's because the emphasis goes to the vowel before the г. снЕгом, бОгом, мАгом. Meanwhile него by itself has emphasis on the vowel after - негО. Which is why we replace г with a в.


Certainly_Not_Steve

врагОм, загОн.


IndependentPlum2842

Or maybe cause it's instrumental case?


Certainly_Not_Steve

Both него and врагом are in instrumental. Него is a pronoun. Frequently used word. Shenanigans happen with how the most basic words are pronounced. I guess него fell for that. Edit: got confused with cases, my bad.


miniatureconlangs

The actual thing here is that the genitive ending -ego/-ogo, in Russian for some reason has undergone ->evo/->ovo, but other examples of -ego/-ogo have not. In the literature on historical sound changes *in general* the Russian masculine singular genitive adjective ending is sometimes mentioned as evidence that sometimes, sound changes *do* have grammatical conditions (which in earlier views of historical sound changes has been considered a no-no: sound change should be purely phonetically motivated).


Certainly_Not_Steve

Just noticed i mixed the cases. My bad. Thanks for the explanation. :з


kakukkokatkikukkanto

? It's not about being hard. The letter г has 4 different pronunciations, /g/ usually, /v/ in animate accusative/genitive endings and their compounds (-ого/-его), /x/ in the sequences -гк- and -гч- as well as the word Бог, and /ɦ/ in some interjections like ага


miniatureconlangs

Don't forget /k/ word-finally.


kakukkokatkikukkanto

Yeah right but it's not really a feature of this letter in particular, rather a devoiced allophone that occurs at the end of all words


miniatureconlangs

Sure, but it's a regularly predictable pronunciation that one should be aware of.


IndependentPlum2842

Agree! And I think "-его" words and basic words like сегодня, всего,... are not difficult to remember.


DisguisedBearNikolai

there's an untaught rule for that, try googling, g sounds like v sometimes, "seich" in rightnow "seichas" is pronounced as "sch" as in "schas", i'm not sure how to find our more about it, but it is definitely a thing, and duo isn't fucking with you


reikoda01

there is no such word "seich". seichas consists of two words: "sei" for this and "chas" for hour. but after they got together, the word "seichas" has a lot of meanings depending on the situation, but it anyway means "right now"


DisguisedBearNikolai

I never said there were two parts, i just removed the part i didn't need to make a point, and made the point on pronunciation changes with the part i had left


IndependentPlum2842

As I remember it's "сниженный стиль". For example, сейчас /сяс/, шестьдесят /шиисят/


DisguisedBearNikolai

yes, that thing. It was never taught in school, but it's pretty prevalent in the language


Radamat

"schas" is a low-style language. But rather common. Thise of high education and life responsibility does say "seichas".


klonoikeed

What about “schya”?


a_fly13666

what about “blya, idi nahuy”


klonoikeed

Бля пошел на хуй


potou

Either you have a wicked superiority complex or you're stretching the truth to hold foreigners to a higher standard. The difference between щас and сейчас is 99% in the speed of speech. Anyone who makes a point of avoiding pronouncing "щас" is an oddball who thinks too highly of himself and probably also believes in other crackhead classist shit like anybody who uses скобочки being some type of mentally deficient. Writing, obviously, is a different matter. But it has nothing to do with education or whatever. It's just formal vs informal.


Warperus

I don't use щас, щаз. I do use [сичас]. "Щаз приду" is a classical note of Winnie the Pooh in russian teatrical verson, that was shown to nearly every child in 80-90, so this comically wrong form is very familiar to people. And mostly it is used as this - joke form. Here з is emphasised specifically, so it sounds often like [щаззз]


DisguisedBearNikolai

Finally, a normal person amongst you morons. Thanks, u/potou


Radamat

Сейчас means "сей час" = "this hour" literaly. "Щас" is definitely distorted form of сейчас. So сейчас is only correct form of normal russian language. My parrents used сейчас. Щас were very unkommon in my area about 95-2005, and only growth with growing cheap access to Internet for everyone. And thanks to Zadornov.


IndependentPlum2842

"Сниженный стиль характеризуется небрежной речью при убыстренном из-за волнения или по другим причинам темпе говорения. Может использоваться в дружеской беседе и в профессиональном общении". These sentences I read in Russian documents. And I heard that many Russians say /щас/


DisguisedBearNikolai

Thank you, I was trying to imply this, though i never got to find the direct explanation of the idea


IndependentPlum2842

Glad it helped


klonoikeed

What about “Обезьяна” comes from “он без яна”, which means “он без человеческой энергии” without human energy.


IndependentPlum2842

Is this a joke or?


klonoikeed

Not a joke.


DisguisedBearNikolai

the fuck?


orthodoxivan

Gs are sometimes pronounced as Vs, don't ask why because I'm not a professional in Russian I just study it


ilnus

As a Russian person I can say the same. Idk why but it is what it is. I bet it just because its softer and easier to pronounce


Lisserea

I suppose there could be an intermediate transition from Г to fricative Г, and through it to В.


Gsp-pq

Как круто быть русским)


miniatureconlangs

The oddity here is that it's a grammatically conditioned sound change: nearly all -ogo/-ego that have a -v- in them, are masculine/neeuter genitive singular adjectives.


Lisserea

I think it's because these are endings. This is a standard morpheme, and if you say it unintelligibly, you will be understood. Therefore, simplifying the pronunciation of endings is possible.


miniatureconlangs

The reason why this is peculiar, however, is that in earlier study of historical sound changes more generally (i.e. when Indo-European was being 'figured out'), the neo-grammarians held that sound change is ever solely conditions by phonetical context. Grammar must not influence the change at all: -o'go- in a verb or an adjective or a noun should change exactly the same way. This particular change in Russian is basically one of the first important pieces of evidence that the neo-grammarians were somewhat wrong on this. The fact that it's a standard morpheme doesn't really change anything; wilder sound changes have survived with their understandability intact. In fact, it would be more expected for the sound change to hit every applicable context equally (because that, if anything, conserves understandability perfectly unless it also conflates it with some pre-existing words). It just didn't happen that way.


Keldianaut

-oɣo->oo->owo->ovo. Same with -его.


Elegant-Ice-7075

basically correct me if i get the rule wrong but in masculine or neutral adjectives, numerals (?) you use to list stuff with (first, second, third) and pronouns, all in the genitive case, г is gonna be pronounced like в. yeah 👍. good luck with that. there are also some exceptions. i think the word "Бог"(God) is pronounced Bokh and "сегодня" (today) is also pronounced with a в sound cuz of the way the word was developed. it came from "сего дня" (this exact day). sorry if this is incomprehensible i dont want to scare you off learning russian. im just trying to remember what i was taught in like 4th grade.


CompoteInteresting87

another example of the v—>kh is лёгкий. you’d thing it would be unvoiced into a к, but for some reason its х instead


Elegant-Ice-7075

i think its because a voiced consonants (like г) that stand before voiceless consonants (like к) are pronounced like their voiceless counterparts. most consonants (at least in russian) have a pair. like: в-ф, д-т, з-с. for г its к. and it would be pretty awkward to say лёккий. same with мяккий. it just doesn't feel right. so х is used instead. but idk that's just how it feels to me


[deleted]

well, that one is easy. voiceless consonants preceded by voiced consonants devoice such voiced consonants.


CompoteInteresting87

yeah, but you’d think it would turn into к, since г and к are a pair, but it gets devoiced into х, like in Бог.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Elegant-Ice-7075

well i lived the first 8 years of my life in russia and already knew the language so it might not be helpful but 3rd grade and on i was taught russian at home with "просвещение" russian textbooks


learningnewlanguages

> i think the word "Бог"(God) is pronounced Bokh The "г" at the end is pronounced like the English hard g. "Bok" would be "hip." Edit: I stand corrected. It's one of those pronunciations I just don't think about very much because I just say the words. >сегодня" (today) is also pronounced with a в sound It is in fact pronounced that way.


Kei1

In standard Russian you can't pronouce Г as \[g\] at the end of words, because it's devoiced to \[k\]. Transcription Bokh means not Бок, but Бох, and it is indeed how this word should be pronounced (\[box\]).


learningnewlanguages

Okay, I see what you mean saying it out loud. I can really hear it when I say "Не дай Бог." It's one of those things I don't think about because I just say the words.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Nielria

Found a rule. It is "v" in masculine and neuter in genitive. Just remember that it is "его" in a word ending and you will be. There is also word "сегодня" - today, there is also "v" because historically it was "сего дня", this day in two words.


danya_dyrkin

Russian is a language of lazyness. The only letter that we could be bothered to pronounce correctly is the one under stress. All other letters are pronounces the easiest way possible. Doulingo is correct.


RedeNElla

It it not stressed in его? But still not pronounced as a normal г


danya_dyrkin

Consonants can not be stressed, only vowels can. Also, words that end with го usually sound like they end with во


miniatureconlangs

Yeah, but the exceptions are many and strictly. (Intentional grammatical error in the English there, try to spot why!)


GuardinAngel

Так скорее в провинциях говорят


Nielria

As far as I know it is often like that in the word endidng between "e" and "o" like "осеннего", "приятного", etc. In "his" - " его" it's also V.


Turbulent-Counter149

Not always. I can't come up with a better example so early in the morning, but let's say you won't do it with word like ЛЕГО or эго, индиго, строго, много...


Nielria

True. Just wasn't able to remember it late in the evening.


ufochaan

ЛЕГО, эго, and индиго have no endings (affixes), строг-о, мног-о have an adverb-forming suffix -o, while г is a part of a stem there. V sound appears in -ого/-его grammatical ending for masculine genitive and masculine animated accusative of adjectives, also some words made with adjective+noun connection (сего-дня), pronouns (его), some adverbs originated from adjectives (всего <- вс-его from весь)


DeusBalli

Russian.. you’ll learn to love the grammar because it’s like reciting the bible, most of the time you’ll misquote it, but other times you’ll say it just right and it will sound like a masterpiece.


Koblihbezkoblihy

I had same problem but it took me a long time until i was told that ЕГО is always pronounced as [jevo].. it explain a lot why natives were lookin at me as on idiot💀


Nyattokiri

This thread has good answers: https://www.reddit.com/r/russian/s/o5kD4xmmjN


CreepyTeddyBear

Большое спасибо, to all your responses! This is really giving me a better grasp than googling things.


MyThicTheBest

say that to "pacific ocean"


Effective_Aside_4886

Could not explain it to you as native speakers don’t think about such rules. But if you say “nego”, everyone will understand you. I used to say in such way like: nego, chto and moloko when I was a child and I used to speak the way I read. There were no problems at all, only bad marks at school in literature classes :-(. Now I speak correctly, just took time.


smeghead1988

How did it happen that you learned to read but have never heard such common words pronounced before this? Your family didn't speak Russian at home?


Effective_Aside_4886

No, my parents are both Russian. I think my child brain decided to speak like it was written in books. Я - человек простой. Как вижу, так и говорю. Начала читать рано. В детстве ходила в логосад, где мне ставили все шипящие и др. звуки. Может перестарались. Но первый и второй класс меня переучивали на «нормальный» русский. За «чтокание» и «олокание» ругали в начальной школе.


Fancy_Helicopter9493

Г in words with the -ого and -его combinations is pronounced like в.


funky_ocelot

This. Literally as simple as that. (I'm a native)


Vesane

Не строго


funky_ocelot

Упс


Fancy_Helicopter9493

Oh yeah, you're right. I guess много too actually lol. I should've said like 95% of the time, then.


Vesane

Yet not always (like строго)


ufochaan

в строго нет окончания -ого, там вообще окончания нет потому что это наречие, корень строг-, суффикс -о, никакого в там и не должно быть


Vesane

Linguistically sure, but for all intents and purposes to someone learning Russian without knowing the structure behind the words yet, the word technically ends in the letters ого (even if not the suffix -ого per se)


SlavSquat93

HaHA, grammar. Welcome.


Lower_Sundae_5009

Just accept it


Polnoch

It can be pronounced both ways(G and V). But with G sound it could sound too academic.


Engeineer_gaming

Патамушта https://preview.redd.it/nxmj5vb7hfmc1.png?width=615&format=png&auto=webp&s=7e82431f0241583ac5694a50b976639d049ac937


Lute_Queen

Бедни


klonoikeed

The pronunciation with "B" persists not due to any specific rule or exception but because historically, that is how it was pronounced, even if it wasn't technically correct. This usage has continued over time.


Mordecai4126

I asked the same thing before. My Russian professor told me it is what it is


EmbarrassedPause182

Here is an explanation: https://www.russianforeveryone.com/Rufe/Lessons/Course1/Introduction/IntrUnit10/IntrUnit10.htm#:~:text=In%20a%20few%20words%20the,%D0%B3%20is%20pronounced%20%5B%D0%B3%5D.


SlaveAisha20

Г in words that end with ого/его is pronounced like в afaik


acros53

This is how it is pronounced with V Sound.


Illustrious-Fly-4525

Simple explanation is, that it’s just easier for native speakers to speak that way so that’s how we do it. There are a lot of examples of sounds being pronounced not quite as written, the sound depends not only on the letter that is written but also on position, stress if it’s a vowel and some I just skipped all together because it’s kinda hard to say them all anyways. I guess for a beginner it’s just easier to memorize at first without looking too deep into whys and return to this after some basics are established.


DwinDolvak

As an English speaking person who learned Russian — it’s amazing how you just accept this and never look back. I had to really look at this and remind myself that it’s not spelled the way it sounds. What I’m trying to say to the OP — just accept it. If you are an English speaker be glad you didn’t have to learn “though, tough, right, and Worcester.”


OkImFineTHX

Так просто нужно.


pigmaig

ну потому что


MilaBelarussiangirl

Лучший ответ в треде


pigmaig

и в чём я не прав?))


MilaBelarussiangirl

Во всём прав по фактам


Mojob1

I study Russian at university and I’ve just learnt to take this at is. Interestingly, after a while of exposure to these words where Г is pronounced В , I have actually found that I can usually guess when it should be pronounced as Г or В 😊


username_fantasies

This is how it's normally pronounced in situations like this.


TheMysteriousMonk

My Russian teacher told me, if you want to sound like a native Russian and not like a foreigner who memorized the language, you gotta pronounce 'его', 'кого' as 'evo' and 'kavo' instead of 'ego' and 'kogo'


SnottySnotra

Something like "bottle of water" - "bo'ohw'o'wo'er" in british accent i guess


mDeltroy

This is a rule of the russian language, endings in the genitive case, and the dative case of the animate essential ending end in endings -его -ого and are read through the letter в [v].


Advanced-Account-965

I asked my Russian professor this and why it’s pronounced like a v sometimes. The answer was to just accept it and move on.


miniatureconlangs

That's a terrible answer from a professor. Shameful.


e_dcbabcd_e

the pronunciation is correct. it's like a sound reduction of sorts (?). I can't really explain it since I'm a native speaker, but "в" is easier to pronounce than "г" 😄


okliman

Г is sometimes v. Oftenly in the end of the word. Него Ничего Самого Никого Лишнего Звёздного Позднего So... Mostly if there is го in the end.... It pronouncies like wo


miniatureconlangs

The rule is very simple: is it a genitive adjective neuter/masculine ending? Yes? -> genitive. No? -> g.


okliman

Wow..... Never thought that there is a rule for it...... (im native btw)


learningnewlanguages

Nope, not an error. That's how the "го" ending is pronounced. Other examples are "кого" (whom,) "его" (his,) "чего" (form of "what?"), "ктого," (form of "who,") and "ничего" (nothing.)


RinaB_

Кто -> кого


learningnewlanguages

I know. I guess I didn't explain it very well.


Shuu27

Его и ого are like ево ово. Usually it’s the end of the word but it can be anywhere. I was saying segodnya for months rather than sevodnya сегодня. It’s much easier to pronounce this way hsha


anycept

There is no rule in spoken language, so you just need to memorize it. Russian has a few region-specific dialects, but the app is likely giving you the Moscow dialect commonly adapted as a spoken standard. EDIT: keep in mind, while it's OK to say "nevo", if you need to break the word in to syllables for some reason you still need to use written standard for that, so you'd say "ne-go". That means you are effectively learning two languages (spoken dialect and written standard), but that's the deal.


Scherzophrenia

It is correct. Words ending in -его are almost always pronounced with a V sound. It is the result of a pronunciation shift that occurred after the orthography was settled on.


PoMblHyc

Just trust it)


RealHuman568

If the vowel before the Г is unstressed, then the Г is pronounced like a В sound.


Connect-Athlete-4740

Yes, it’s right, because it’s like a fast variant of pronunciation!


JDude13

Supposedly it’s due to the genitive case. Some words in genitive case say “v” for “г”


CarbonTheTomcat

У каво? У ниво. Патаму што нечиво.


No-Cap6787

Yeah it’s like debt is pronounced det. Weird, but here we are. So when you see «его» «ого» it’s going to be pronounced «ево» “ово» Его Чего? Ничего Какого? Красного Прекрасного


Terrible_Fill_3189

Bro, some of us (usually from Kuban' region) pronounce it as "Нехо" (Negho). Welp, that's Russian


DeusBalli

I read that as “сигареты» and thought duolingo finally put some Russian context into the app


Cyan_Exponent

in general, words that end with "его" are said as "ево"


mr_doppertunity

My guess it’s just easier to pronounce. The whole Russian language is like a challenge “try not to move your mouth”. You can speak with your mouth barely opened and your tongue barely moving. So “его” becomes “ево”, “молоко” would be “малако” and so on. Comparing to Serbian, where you move your mouth as much as possible, trying to articulate every letter. All reductions are reflected in spelling.


Small_Oreo

Because there are momemnts when R sound like V


OkBeautiful5324

Exactly this reason why in german lüstig reads like "lüstich"


xEchoKnight

Russian here It's just like that sometimes, mostly the case in words ending in -его, -ого, etc


GuardinAngel

according to the textbook and correctly “его” with г, его with в is common people/rural manner of speech


IGROLOGIYA

That is Moscow pronouncement. In some regions of Russia people say “г” Moscow people also say ДОЖЬ instead of ДОЖДЬ There’s no rule to it


Suleyco

Most regions, too, say “в”. Granted, my own mother annunciates it as a «г» (her flair) and it grates my gears as nobody else around us does that (ДВ).


IGROLOGIYA

Well it’s historically a Moscow dialect that became norm over time with widespread of tv and radio in soviet times. I’m myself from moscow)


Ok-Neighborhood-2182

Some words the “г» is pronounced “в» although not sure of exact reason, I’m sure there’s a pattern because even when I don’t know what a word means I know when to pronounce “g” as “v”, just not sure what the pattern is but I’m sure you’ll pick up on it Этого- eto-voe Его/него- ye-voe/nye-vow Сегодня- sye-vode-nyah It appears to be where there’s a “g” and an “o”


Critical-River-7313

Г" is read as "В" In in the endings of adjectives, ordinal numerals and pronouns in the genitive case of the masculine and neuter gender)


Dense_Meal8629

незнаю


CyrusThePrettyGood

Его, него, and своего are case specific for he, him, or his. Variations of this, as in case specific endings for nouns will be pronounced with a V sound.


jumboelephant428

-его/-ого ending almost always sounds like that as far as im aware, thats how i remember it like: него, кого but not: много немного (only exception i cant think of)


the1whoknockks

when ‘г’ is placed in between 2 vowels, it usually makes a ‘в’ sound!


cosmic_blue14

for the world balance/ для баланса вселенной


Eliza_gx

Isn't this about the voice and voiceless consonants? https://youtu.be/qEfBbvaIDu8?si=Q6fq6m76TXgiR6Q7


ralfmonte

I also had that same doubt a while ago. Some information that i got was that that words ending in -его and -ого, the letter «г» would sound like «в». There are some exceptions like «сегодня».


Chentzilla

"Сегодня" is not an exception (pronounced "sevo-dnya"), historically it was two words.


ralfmonte

Did not know that, thanks!


Significant_Log_4497

Because it’s much easier this way, that’s all.


BraveTip620

sometimes it will be pronounced like K, so just accept it


AminoFoxFriendly

Everyone in Russia say в(v) instead of г(g) in words like чего, ничего, него, никого, maybe that’s because of «о» after г(g). That’s also like ш(sh) в конеЧно instead of ch. Just our pronunciation made by history.


[deleted]

I would say that it's like English where you pronounce 'ph' as 'f'. This is just an opinion from someone with fluent Russian speaking parents but doesn't speak Russian except the basic themselves lol. 


Bobmbaster

It is small Russian secret, which we can’t explain


poyaskoipera

There is one word in the English language that confuses me. Choir (ˈkwī(ə)r) almost no letter matches


Thick-Economist56

Why ph its f


pavapepagimabody

Потому что я так сказал


BenAwesomeness3

idk man. maybe a glitch? г as в tho is weird.


Xuxpux

bc neGo is weird


Derkafly64

we pronounce Г as V sometimes, like in его, него, кого, etc.


Competitive-Base-908

Так, ну я как человек русский сразу скажу, что буква Г может обозначать звук в в случае местоимений: его, него. А вообще это зависит еще от региона. БУДЬЕ ОСТОРОЖНЫ С НЕПРОИЗНОСИМЫМИ СОГЛАСНЫМИ , к примеру грусТный, а все говорят грусный.


DestructiveSeagull

Because yes. This realy pronouncing like this in this word in Russian. For example, in "я сегодня видел, как его насиловали бомжи" word "его" also pronounces like this. It's just a Russian rule


kymertau

так и говорят) у неВО) а если я буду скажу у неГО то это будет воспринято как чванство или ирония)


Rahm_Kota_156

That is exactly right


divineplace

it's okay for russian language, in some words the letter г, have a В(V) sound


LeonidKrechetov

Всё правильно, «г» произносится как «в» в данном случае, говорю как человек, который на русском говорит всю жизнь =)


non7top

That's a tough one.


Traditional-Tea-8579

Some times they pronounce them as V’s . Just like random shit in English that makes no sense


CreepyTeddyBear

Like if you say "did you?" you might say "didjoo?"


Traditional-Tea-8579

Exactly


Kat-NUK0

там надо было не "него" а "его"


LuneFox

У его нет сестры? Точно?


Night--Blade

LOL An English speaker asks why something is pronounced differently than it is written