Article:
A child’s first acquaintance with sounds and letters occurs in the elementary grades. By that time, the baby can already speak, but does not yet understand what his speech consists of. Many parents teach preschoolers at home. It is quite easy for a child to explain what the difference between vowels and consonants is, but the differences between hard and soft sounds are not so easy for everyone. We offer several popular teaching methods that will help your child learn to understand this issue in a playful way.
Before you start learning, you must explain to your baby what the different organs of the nasopharynx are, which must be used to pronounce certain sounds.
Hard and soft consonants
How to teach a child to distinguish soft sounds from hard ones? We must start with the fact that softness and hardness are characteristics only for consonant sounds. The vowels here are in the chorus. Although hardness and softness are not typical for them, it is their close proximity in some words that can affect these properties of consonant sounds. The main difference between soft and hard sounds is the peculiarities of their pronunciation.
If a person pronounces soft consonant sounds, then the middle of his tongue rises to the palate and blocks the passage through which the air moves, and the tip moves slightly forward towards the teeth. This is additional articulation. The process itself is called palatalization.
Kids don’t need to know such complexities, but parents may find this term useful to broaden their horizons. This does not happen when pronouncing solid sounds.
To understand the difference yourself, it is enough to say a test word in which the same sound acts as a hard and soft sound.
Let's take "break" as an example. Pronunciation of the first consonant sound [p'] makes the tongue dance in the mouth and rise to the sky, but for the second consonant sound [p] these somersaults are not needed.
It’s easy for parents to understand the difference, but how can you explain it to a child? We suggest using your imagination and using interesting stories, cheat sheets and simple games that will help kids remember hard and soft consonant sounds.
What have we learned?
Soft consonant sounds are characterized by the fact that when pronounced, the middle back of the tongue is raised towards the hard palate. This is what allows you to determine the softness of a consonant sound. Soft consonant sounds in writing are indicated by consonant letters; in transcription, the sign ' is used. The softness of consonant sounds is expressed thanks to the vowel letters i, e, ё, i, yu and the soft sign indicating the softness of consonant sounds. In the Russian language there are letters that always indicate a soft consonant sound: й, ч, щ. The following letters can represent soft and hard sounds: b, v, g, d, z, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, f, x.
How to teach a child to distinguish sounds
Children perceive information best if it is presented in a playful way. Together with your child, come up with an interesting story that will help explain the complex relationship between hard and soft consonant sounds.
Once upon a time, hard and soft sounds lived together. There was no enmity or quarrel between them, until one day an ambitious group of vowels, which included E, Yo, Ya, Yu and I, wanted to gain power over everyone. A war began that lasted for many years. A, O, U, E and S remained neutral and preferred to stay away, because they could not take anyone’s side. The war dragged on, so the vowels decided to use cunning. They turned for help to a soft sign, which does not have its own sound at all, but loves to pit others against each other.
This harmful letter told the vowels about the place where the consonants were hidden, and in return demanded a number of privileges after the successful completion of the military campaign. As a result, the consonants were surrounded. A group of militant vowels gave them an ultimatum and those who agreed had to accept their terms. The war was lost and the winners celebrated their success with pomp.
A small group of vowels received undivided power. Now they determine whether the consonant sound will be soft or hard. The soft sign received exactly the same rights. Now he, too, can push around the vanquished. Although among those who agreed there were also those who did not want to put up with the circumstances. All the hissers, along with a couple of comrades-in-arms, did not raise the white flag and went to partisans in the forests. The compliant consonants now strictly obey the laws of the vowels, and a few rebels continue to carry out sabotage activities, although without much results.
This simple story clearly demonstrates the peculiarities of the relationship between vowels and consonants. The names of the rebels that we will mention later should be immediately blacklisted. They are still wanted by the vowels for their disobedience. A "Wanted" sign can be placed on the refrigerator or near your little student's desk.
This hint should be constantly in front of the child’s eyes. The remaining consonants, which submitted to the victors, are now forced to become either soft or hard depending on their neighbors. If they are followed by the vowels E, E, I, Yu, I or b, then they become soft because they lose their will in front of the winners. If another vowel (A, O, U, E or Y) or consonant lands on their tail, then they become firm, as they feel support.
Pronunciation is normal
The sound Ch occupies a special place among hissing sounds due to the peculiarities of its articulation. It is obtained by combining T and Sh. When a person pronounces Ch, his lips slightly round and move forward. The dentitions are closed, a small gap is formed between them.
To pronounce this sound correctly, the tongue is made wide. They lift it and touch the hard palate with the tip closer to the teeth. The middle part of the back is lowered, the sides touch the upper teeth, thus creating a depression. The exhalation must be strong and jerky to pass through the gap created by the alveoli and the front of the tongue.
Recording sounds
In transcription, the softness of a consonant sound is indicated by adding the symbol ' to its notation. This is an apostrophe that appears in some loanwords.
For example, to indicate the softness of the sound P in transcription, you need to write [p']. The hardness of the sound is not indicated.
There's nothing complicated about it. Offer your child a simple task. He needs to write out from a group of words only those that contain soft consonants, and then transcribe them with an apostrophe. Just a few of these exercises, and he will quickly remember how softness is indicated.
Examples of tasks for children
Voiceless or voiced:
- A simple and vivid way that helps you understand the difference is to put your palm to your throat when pronouncing. Go through all the consonants, let the child discover which letter vibrates and which does not give sensations.
- Choose pictures that resemble ringing and deafness. For example: bell and ear. Say different words of one or two syllables, and if the child hears a ringing sound, he should show a picture with a bell. Then play the same way with a dull sound. When the child gets comfortable with simple words, take longer ones.
Hard or soft:
- Offer to take one letter and sing syllables with vowels that give hardness. Let the child feel the firmness in his voice. Then, with the same letter, sing syllables with vowels that give softness.
- Name the syllable and throw the ball to the child. If it's hard, you should catch it. If it's soft, push it away.
- Make a chain of words. For example, chair-horse-money-guitar...
General tasks:
- Create your own table with colorful images and hang it in a prominent place. When a child chooses a picture or color himself, he becomes more involved in the topic and remembers it faster.
- Offer to name a word that has both a voiced and a voiceless word. Or deaf and, at the same time, hard.
Always hard and soft sounds
Now it’s time to find out the names of those very rebels who did not want to surrender to the enemy without a fight. The sounds Ch, Shch and Y are always soft, but C, Zh, Sh can only be hard. These are six consonant sounds that are still waging their quiet war and do not want to submit to the power of vowels. It doesn't matter who they happen to be next door to. The steadfastness of these sounds is admirable.
Sounds that constantly maintain hardness and softness.
As soon as the child has mastered paired hard and soft sounds, begin to introduce him to those rebels who do not obey the general rule. Tell him that the sounds Y, CH, Shch can only be soft, and Ts, Zh and Sh are denoted in transcription without an apostrophe, which means they are hard. These letters do not obey the general rule and wage their own silent war, no matter what letter follows them.
Some children find it easier to learn information visually rather than auditorily. Parents may need to look for primers with tables where all letter classifications are clearly presented. If you can’t find it in the primer, you can find the table on the Internet. So at least all the information will not seem like gobbledygook to the child. But the baby will definitely learn all the material if the parents help him and give clear explanations on the new material. And if you hang these diagrams and tables in a visible place, for example, on the refrigerator or at the child’s workplace, then the rules will be remembered even faster. And the future student will be able to view the material at any convenient time.
Table of hard and soft sounds
All rules are collected in one table. At first glance, it may seem like gobbledygook to a child, but after accessible explanations and careful study, the new material will no longer seem so complicated.
Print and hang this picture in a visible place so that your child can learn these rules at any convenient time.
Types and mechanisms of violations
In modern speech therapy, the incorrect pronunciation of hissing sounds is called sigmatism, and their replacement with other sounds is called parasigmatism. There are several options for distorting H, differing in the functioning of the organs of articulation at the time of pronunciation. This sound is formed by the fusion of T and Sh, so any deviation from their correct articulation can cause distortion of the Ch. Types of defect:
- Absence of sound - the child does not use any simplified analogue of this phoneme.
- Interdental distortion - the tongue is located between the teeth, the result is a fuzzy lisping sound.
- The dental variant is caused by the fact that the front part of the tongue is too tense, and the air comes out not in one long, jerky stream, but in several pushes. You can hear a soft version of T.
- Labial-dental pronunciation manifests itself in the fact that instead of H, F is heard. This sigmatism is obtained due to the lower position of the tongue with raised lateral edges, and the raising of the lower lip to the upper dentition.
- Lateral sigmatism occurs due to weakness of the muscles of the tongue, as a result of which air passes from the side, producing a “squelching” sound.
- Hissing pronunciation is caused by increased tone of the tongue, which is why it is raised and its tip is lowered. It turns out a soft analogue of Sh.
- Nasal pronunciation results from the lower position of the front part and the raised back of the tongue. The air stream comes out through the nose - it turns out to be an X with a nasal sound.
Also, Ch is often replaced with whistling or T. The reason for this may be either incorrect articulation or underdevelopment of phonetic-phonemic processes.
Voiced and unvoiced sounds
Consonant sounds are also classified into voiced and voiceless. The former consist of voice and noise, while the latter consist only of noise.
The voiced category includes: [B], [G], [D], [F], [Z], [V], [Y], [L], [M], [N], [R].
The deaf group includes: [К], [П], [Х], [Ц], [Ч], [С], [Т], [Ф], [Ш], [Ш].
Most consonants can form pairs based on deafness and hardness:
[B]—[P] [V]—[F] [D]—[K] [D]—[T] [G]—[S] [W]—[W]
Voiceless and voiced consonants are easy to remember using two sentences:
- “The Lion and the Toad Have Many Friends” (Voiced)
- “Styopka, do you want a cheek? - Ugh!" (Deaf).
You can memorize them or print them out on a separate card.
Hissing and whistling consonants
The sounds [zh], [w], [h'], [sh'] are called hissing consonant sounds . The sounds [zh] and [sh] are unpaired solids
hissing consonants:
iron
[zhel'ezo],
six
[shest'];
but in combinations zhi, shi
s
is not written .
The combinations zhi, shi
are always written with the letter
and
:
live
here, gara
zhi
,
shi
lo, karanda
shi
.
The sounds [h'] and [h'] are unpaired soft
hissing consonants:
watch
[ch'asy],
pike
[sh'uka],
but in combinations cha, sha
the letter
a
, and in combinations
chu, schu
the letter
y
:
cha
shka
,
square
,
stocking
,
pike
. The sounds [z], [z'], [s], [s'], [ts] are called whistling consonants .
Options for setting H
If the pronunciation T, Sh is formed in the child’s speech, then the phoneme can be easily identified by imitation. There are also two popular ways of setting from the soft version of T and a combination of these two sounds:
- They say TH-TH-TH at a fast pace. The tip of the tongue should touch the base of the upper teeth. Then slowly move it a little deeper, the child should smile. When performed correctly, a clear pronunciation of Ch appears in speech.
- Similar to this method. But only if in the previous version there was an accelerated tempo, here the combination T-SH begins to be pronounced at a slow pace, gradually speeding it up. The lips assume a smiling position.
H can be corrected with mechanical assistance. For example, with interdental distortion. When the child pronounces Ch, lift the tip of the tongue with the handle of a spoon. First, up to the alveoli until a closure is formed, then gently moving it deeper into the oral cavity. All this is done in one exhalation.
You first need to reinforce the correct pronunciation of Ch in isolation, then in syllables. But you can move on to the automation stage only when the child can clearly pronounce the desired phoneme.
Correction of parasigmatism
Parasigmatisms arise as a result of incorrect articulation and underdevelopment of phonetic-phonemic processes, namely phonemic hearing. Therefore, in addition to articulatory gymnastics, tasks for the development of phonemic hearing are added to the preparatory work:
- In case of the whistling variant of the defect (when the child replaces H with S), training is carried out to distinguish between mixed sounds. The speech therapist explains and shows their articulation, emphasizing their differences. Also offered are tasks for distinguishing H and S by ear. The speech therapist suggests comparing the exhaled stream: when pronouncing S it is cold, H it is warm. In articulation exercises, the emphasis is on the formation of a lift of the tongue and a strong, jerky air stream.
- With the labial-dental variant, similar work is carried out, but only to distinguish between Ch and F. The speech therapist also massages the lips, focuses on them in articulatory gymnastics, as well as on raising the tongue.
With nasal pronunciation, the emphasis in work is on the formation of adequate speech breathing. The child is taught to distinguish between oral and nasal exhalation. In articulation exercises, tasks are selected to form the rise of the tip of the tongue and hold it behind the upper teeth, and also teach how to direct an air stream at it.
