ELEMENTARY RUSSIAN УРОК 8 Unit 8 Week 3 Неделя 3 Elementary Russian Lab

Привет! 

За работу, товарищи! 

First, look through the material for the grammar quiz here. The quiz will cover the formation of the dative (noun + modifier) and the expression of "nonexistence" in the past. 

Молодцы! 

Now, download this worksheet. On the back of it, there's some familiar information about soft consonants. Remember how the system works: There are two vowel graphemes for each vowel sound. Half the Russian vowel graphemes indicate softness in the preceding consonants (я е ё ю и), and half indicate hardness (а э о у ы). (Don't forget the мягкий знак, the soft sign.) Most of the consonants that precede the "soft-inducing" vowels (and ь) are palatalized, pronounced by engaging the palate, the roof of your mouth behind your dental ridge.

Hardness is the "default" -- lacking other indication, assume that the consonant is pronounced hard.

So, the word газета has a soft з (because of the following е) and a hard т (because of the following a... or more exactly, because the vowel following the т does NOT induce softness). 


See! Ingenious! Twice the number of vowels (there are only five vowel SOUNDS but ten vowel GRAPHEMES), but that means you only need half the number of consonants. (So many consonants! 20? It's a great tradeoff.) 

NB: Some consonants like the velars (к, г, х) and the hushers (ш, ж...) don't have "pairmates," they are pronounced hard or soft, regardless of the following vowels (or soft sign... дочь). In fact, a good case could be made that ш and щ are hard/soft variants...  Don't worry overly, though... You just "say it like it's written" and don't worry. Всё будет хорошо... 

We've been working on this phonological (or is it phonetic? Probably both...) effect all semester. The exercises tell you to listen to the recording and mark the soft consonants; of course, y'all are smart, and you don't need the recording--find the "soft vowels" and you'll know the consonants that precede them are palatalized! 


So, look through the dialogues, mark the soft consonants with an apostrophe. Then, listen to exercise 08-06 and 08-03, and check your work. (8-03 at 1m55s and 8-06 5m15s... sorry, the recording isn't broken up properly; just move the button to the right second in the recording.) 


Pay attention to the recording, listening carefully for the soft consonants. 


Then, пожалуйста, сделайте все упражнения из вашего хэндаута!  let's work a bit more on the dative case... finish all the handout assignments and add it to your portfolio.

Now, view this video sketch. Type or write answers to the following questions on your lab handout.
1) For whom is the man shopping?
2) What does the saleslady suggest that he should buy?
3)How much does it cost?