ИСТИНА

The origin of pronunciation difficulties met by Russian-speaking students when learning French lies in the considerable intrinsic differences between the phonetic systems of the two languages. The presentation gives a structured account and sets out a comparative analysis of these differences, the most salient of which are: In the area of articulation: - Ascending/descending model of the articulation gesture. While French is characterized by the ascending model of the articulation gesture, Russian, as it is generally accepted, demonstrates a descending model. - Variable/fixed stress A distinguishing feature of the Russian language is variable stress, whereas in French the stress is fixed, which leads to a greater, as compared to Russian, syllable stability. - Weak/strong muscular tension The Russian pronunciation requires a weaker muscular tension and labialization, which effectively renders all the Russian sounds more “back” in comparison with the French ones. In the area of phonology: - Stressed vocalism a) Adaptation of vowels to consonants/adaptation of consonants to vowels Adaptation of vowels to consonants, i.e. a change in the quality of vowels depending on their consonantic surroundings, can be considered the principal characteristic of the Russian stressed vocalism. As for French, here conversely, adaptation of consonants to vowels is an observed phenomenon. b) Diphthongization/absence of diphthongs Unlike in French where there are no diphthongs, in Russian, in a number of cases diphthongization of a vowel can take place when the latter is in a stressed position. - Unstressed vocalism. Vowel reduction/syllable stability Vowel reduction is a feature of the Russian phonetic order, while it is non-existent in French. - Consonantism The Russian language contains soft and hard consonants and also features palatalization of a number of consonants when followed by front vowels. The Russian consonants are pronounced with a dorsal tongue position, whereas the French ones with the apical. To illustrate the above differences and discuss them in a practical perspective, the presentation gives the numerous examples of the most common mistakes made by Russian-speaking students when taught French phonetics.