Introduction to Russian phonology and word structure

1. Introduction to Russian phonology and word structure Ch 10: Foreign words and the standard language

2. Q&A • 1. What are the phonetic adjustments that foreign words often fail to make in Russian?

3. Q&A • 1. What are the phonetic adjustments that foreign words often fail to make in Russian? • Vowel reduction • Softening of consonants before front vowels • Restriction of certain co-occurences, such as soft velar + back vowel or hard consonant + e

4. Q&A • 2. What are some phonetic adjustments that foreign words DO make?

5. Q&A • 2. What are some phonetic adjustments that foreign words DO make? • Voicing assimilation • Substitution of native sounds for foreign ones (e.g., true dentals for alveolars, etc.)

6. Discussion • Let’s talk about the subsystem of Russian phonology that foreign words pass through…

7. Q&A • 4. What foreign sounds have had an effect on the Russian sound system?

8. Q&A • 4. What foreign sounds have had an effect on the Russian sound system? • A good example is [f]. For example, in older Russian, ‘Joseph’ was borrowed as Осип, where the fricative [f] was changed to a stop [p] in order to adjust it to the system (where [v] was not yet as much of an obstruent and didn’t devoice); later borrowings of the same name came out as Иосиф; much later borrowings such as арфа helped to establish [f] in other positions as well…