[brat vašol] "the brother came in," дед вошёл [djet vašol] "the grandfather came in." This is the only use of the sounds [dz, j]: отец [atjec] "father," отeц думал [atjedz dum'l] "the father thought"; дочь [doč] "daughter," дочь забыла [doj zabila] "the daughter forgot."
Clusters of Mutes. Within a word the same habit prevails, and is not shown in the spelling. Thus, beside просить [prasjitj] "to request," there is просьба [prozjba] "a request." Similarly, the prefix от- [ot-] appears in отнять [atnjatj] "to take away," отбросить [adbrosj'tj] "to throw off," отдать [addatj] "to give back." Before [v] the unvoiced mute remains: ответ [atvjet] "answer."
Within a word, a voiced mute is replaced by the corresponding unvoiced mute whenever any unvoiced mute immediately follows: труба [truba] "tube," but трубка [trupka] "pipe"; ложечка [lož'čka] "little spoon," but ложка [loška] "spoon"; лягу [ljagu] "I shall lie down," but лягте (ljaktji] "lie down." This is not shown in the writing; only prefixes that end with з are written with с before unvoiced mutes: разбить [razbjitj] "to break," but раскрыть [raskritj] "to uncover," расстроить [rasstroy'tj] "to disorder" (from строить [stroy'tj] "to build"). In some words [g] is replaced by [x] (instead of [k]) before an unvoiced mute: коготь [kog'tj] "claw," когти [koxtji] "claws"; лёгок [ljog'k] "he is light of weight," лёгкий [ljoxk'y] "light of weight."
Prepositions which end in a mute present a special case, because Russian prepositions are spoken as if they were part of the following word. A preposition which ends in a unvoiced mute follows the general rule: the mute is voiced before voiced mutes other than [v]: от отца [at atca] "from the father," от сына [at sina] "from the son," от врага [ad vraga] "from the enemy," but от брата [ad brata] "from the brother," от дочери [ad doč'rji] "from the daughter." But a preposition which ends in a voiced mute has an unvoiced mute only before unvoiced mute and keeps the voiced mute before all other sounds: под столом [p't stalom] "under the table," but под окном [p'd aknom] "under the window," под ножом [p'd nažom] "under the knife," под бумагой [p'd bumag'y] "under the paper"; similarly, в комнате [f komn'tji] "in the room," в городе [v gor'dji] "in the city," в армии [v armj'yi] "in the army."
Changes of [s] and [z]. Within a word or when words come together in a phrase, the sounds [s, z] combine with following [č] into the long soft [š] sound [šč], but this is not shown in the writing: возить [vazjitj] "to cart," but мзвозчик [izvošč'k] "cabman," чёт [čot] "even number" with prefix с- gives счёт [ščot] "account, bill."
When [s, z] come before [š] they are replaced by [š]: шить [šitj] "to sew" with prefix с- gives сшить [ššitj] "to sew up"; из шёлку [iš šolku] "out of silk" has long [šš]. Before [ž] they are replaced by [ž]: жечь [žeč] "to burn" with prefix с- gives сжечь [žžeč] "to burn up"; из журнала [iž žurnala] "out of a magazine" has long [žž].
Changes of [č]. The sound [č] before [n] is often replaced by [š]: скучать [skučatj] "to be bored," but скучно [skusna] "tiresome." In less common words the [č] is often kept. In the dictionary we indicate the change in the words where it is most commonly made: скучно [-šn-].
Weakening of Vowels. In unstressed syllables, vowels are weakened, shortened, and slurred. In all unstressed syllables the distinction between [a] and [o] is lost. The weakening of unstressed vowels is not shown in the spelling, except for a few instances. The chief exception is this: that the letter о, which is used, when accented, in some words after ж, ц, ч, ш, щ, is never used after these letters when it is unstressed; after these letters only е is written for the stressed varieties of [o]. Thus the ending [-om] when unstressed is written with о in such forms as ножом [nažom] "with a knife," с отцом [s atcom] "with the father," but when unstressed it is written with е in such forms as массажем [masaž'm] "by massage," с перцем [s pjerc'm] "with pepper." Except for this, and except for a few special cases, each vowel is written as if it is were in a stressed syllable and has its full sound.
Unstressed vowels are weakened in four different positions:
1. At the beginning of a word, unstressed vowels are shortened, and [o] is replaced by short [a]: адрес [adrj's] "address":
адреса [adrjisa] "addresses"
экспорт [ekspo'rt] or [eksport] "export"
ищет [išč't] "he seeks": ишу [išču] "I seek"
отпуск [otp'sk] "leave": отпускать [atpuskatj] "to grant leave"
ум [um] "intelligence": уметь [umjetj] "to know how"
2. At the end of a word, unstressed vowels are greatly weakened and shortened: [a] and [o] are alike, and [e] and [i] are alike.
After hard consonants, final unstressed [a, o] sound like the final vowel of English words like sofa; [e, i] have a short sound like the dull variety of Russian [i]:
ending [-a]: семья [sjimjya] "family," but няня [njanja] "nurse"
ending [-o]: ружьё [ružyo] "gun," but поле [polja] "field"
ending [-e]: на столе [n' stalje] "on the table," but на стуле [na stulji] "on the chair"
ending [-i]: очки [ačkji] "eyeglasses," but руки [rukji] "hands"
ending [-u]: даю [dayu] "I give," but знаю [znayu] "I know"
After soft consonants (including ч, щ) and after ж, ц, ш, the letter е is used for final unstressed [o] and for final unstressed [e], although the two sound quite different: поле [polja] "field" (sounds exactly like поля "of the field"), but в поле [f polji] "on the field"; сердце [sjerca] "heart" (exactly like сердца "of the heart"), but в сердце [f sjerci] "in the heart." In such cases the grammar shows whether the ending is [o] or [e].
3. In the syllable immediately before the stressed syllable, vowels are somewhat shortened.
After hard consonants other than [š, ž], the vowels [a, o] coincide as a short [a] and the vowels [e, i] as a short dull [i]:
страны [strani] "countries": страна [strana] "country"
