The language possesses five vowels (or six, under the St. Petersburg Phonological School), which are written with different letters depending on whether or not the preceding consonant is palatalized. The consonants typically come in plain vs. palatalized pairs, which are traditionally called hard and soft. (The hard consonants are often velarized, especially before front vowels, as in Irish). The standard language, based on the Moscow dialect, possesses heavy stress and moderate variation in pitch. Stressed vowels are somewhat lengthened, while unstressed vowels tend to be reduced to near-close vowels or an unclear schwa. (See also: vowel reduction in Russian.) COUNT 5
QSN1 Who says Russian has 6 vowels? ANS1 St. Petersburg Phonological School QSN2 When are Russian vowels written differently? ANS2 depending on whether or not the preceding consonant is palatalized QSN3 What dialect is standard Russian based on? ANS3 Moscow dialect QSN4 What language does Russian treat hard consonants similar to? ANS4 Irish QSN5 What is done to unstressed vowels? ANS5 reduced to near-close vowels or an unclear schwa