Not all languages have stress. If your mother tongue has no stress marks, have you curious about the function of stress in a language? When you learn Russian as beginners and use a grammar book, you will find a stress symbol in every word. The stress or we called it as ударение (udarenyie) in Russian, has a function to make us pronounce the words correctly. Certainly, if we spell words in a different way with the wrong stress, it can change the meaning of words.
For Example:
- Зáмок [Zamok] – Castle
Замóк [Zamək] – Lock - ýже [Uzhe] – Narrower
Ужé [Uzhe] – Already - Большáя [Bal’shaya] – Big
Бóльшая [Bol’shaya] – Bigger
Before we continue, you can check how to learn the Russian language effectively.
How To Know The Place Of Stress In Russian Language
You can find the stress symbol [ ´ ] in the Russian book for beginners and dictionaries. But, you will not find any signs of stress in magazines, books, or newspapers. The function of the symbol [ ´ ] is to help a beginner to know how to pronounce the word perfectly. So, you can try to memorize and familiar with the words there.
You can hear from a radio, movie, or native speaker how to pronounce the words. Furthermore, you can learn Russian language online based as it’s so easy to reach and has simplified methods.
Know The Rules of The Stress
If stress is on the last syllable, the letters –о in the first syllable will sound like –а
- Окнó [Akno] – Window
- Водá [vada] – Water
- Головá [Galava] – Head
- ýтро [Utra] – Morning
- Нéбо [Nyеba] – Sky
The letter ё is always stressed
- Ребёнок [Rebyonək] – Child
- Актёр [Aktyor] – Actor
But, many Russians prefer е to replace with ё when they write it. That’s why it so challenging when you learn Russian for the first time.
- Всё [Vso] – Все
If the words before the stress begin with letters -е, -я, the letter will sound like -и
- Cестрá [S’istra] –Sister
- Далеко́ [Dəl’iko] – Far
- Мечтá [M’ichtа] – Dream
If the stress in the first syllable or words have many syllables, we should spell the letter –о, –а like ə
- Лáмпа [Lampə] – Lamp
- Карандáш [Kərаndаsh] – Pencil
- Хорошó [Hərаshо] – Good
If the letters -е and -я after the stress, these letters will sound like ə
- Учи́тель [Uchit’əl’] – Teacher
- Дя́дя [D’yad’ ə] – Uncle
- Нóмер [Nom’ər] – Number
The ending words with letters –ий or -ый, never stressed.
- Вели́кий [Velikiy] – Great
- Чýвственный [Chuvstvennyy] – Sensual
The stress can move to another letter if the forms different.
- Чýвство (sense) – чýвственный (sensual) – чувстви́тельный (sensitive)
Overall we can say, stress is very important in Russian language. Because that is the key to say the word perfectly. For practice, you can check the basic Russian words for beginners , number, or colors in Russian language. Then, find letters that have stress marks. If you are wondering how to start a communication in Russian, you can check common pharases for greetings.