Russian diction for singers: palatalization, vowel reduction and transliteration

Non-native singers most often go wrong on the vowels of Russian, not the consonants². This page covers what decides a Russian line: which consonants are soft, how unstressed vowels change, how sung vowels differ from spoken ones, and how to read a transliteration. The diction section covers the other languages.

Vowels and reduction

Most descriptions count five vowel phonemes in Russian¹. Whether Russian has five vowel phonemes or six is a long-standing dispute among linguists, centred on the sound [ɨ]¹. Russian has five to six vowels in stressed syllables¹. In unstressed syllables the vowels merge to only two to four¹. That is vowel reduction, and it is the central fact of Russian vowels: most Russian vowels are pronounced in different ways depending on their position in the word². Vowels may not merge in foreign borrowings¹.

Russian and Church Slavonic vowels are pure, without diphthongs, as in Latin or Italian⁷.

After a hard consonant, the sound [i] becomes [ɨ] when the word or morpheme begins with /i/¹. These words show it:

Vowels are fronted or raised next to soft consonants: /a/ and /u/ become [æ] and [ʉ] between palatalized consonants, and /o/ becomes [ɵ] after and between them⁶.

The letter ы, rendered y in one coach’s guide, is somewhat like the [ɪ] in English hill, and that approximation is probably adequate for singing². It is often a very difficult letter for students of Russian to pronounce in speech, and even more so in singing².

Hard and soft consonants

Russian has 34 consonants, which can be divided into hard and soft types¹. It distinguishes hard consonants from soft (palatalized) consonants and from consonant plus [j] clusters, making four sets in total¹. Russian also preserves palatalized consonants that are followed by another consonant more often than other Slavic languages do¹.

The soft sign, rendered as an apostrophe in transliteration, indicates that the preceding consonant is palatalized². The consonant before a vowel is softened by a fleeting [j] sound⁷. The letter y never sounds alone, as in copy or cry; it is always blended with a vowel⁷.

Soft consonants are mostly written with the IPA superscript ʲ⁶. In native words /j, ɕː, tɕ/ are always soft, whereas /ʐ, ʂ, ts/ are always hard⁶. The last consonant of prefixes and parts of compound words generally remains hard¹.

Letter by letter in one coach’s guide

The coach behind the Driscoll guide gives English approximations for the letters that trip singers². The guide uses a BGN/PCGN-based romanization, so the Latin spellings below are hers.

The same coach considers the soft sign a fairly minor concern for singing².

Final devoicing

Voiced consonants are devoiced word-finally unless the next word begins with a voiced obstruent¹. When the next word begins with a voiced obstruent, the final consonant keeps its voice¹.

Transliteration and romanization

Romanization is the transliteration of Russian text from the Cyrillic script into the Latin script³. There are a number of distinct and competing standards for the romanization of Russian Cyrillic³, and none of them has received much popularity³. Scientific transliteration has been used in linguistics since the 19th century³. It is based on the Czech alphabet and formed the basis of the GOST and ISO systems³.

Singers have a purpose-built option. The Russica transliteration system from Musica Russica has been designed specifically with singing in mind⁷. It uses Latin, Italian, German and English sounds familiar to singers as points of departure⁷. Initial iotated vowels are transliterated as ye, yu and ya⁷.

A dissertation at the University of Washington is an annotated guide to the sung sounds of Russian and the matching Cyrillic letters⁵.

What a diction course covers

Russian lyric diction at a conservatoire treats language as musical material⁴. The Paris Conservatoire course familiarizes students with the specific features of Russian diction, covering alphabet, rules of reading, syntax and versification⁴. The dissertation guide covers articulation, phonological rules and Cyrillic orthography, and later chapters explore the more important elements of Russian phonological theory in greater depth⁵.

Sung versus spoken

Reduction in unstressed syllables is part of the language¹. A letter that is hard in speech is harder in singing².

Vowel modification is generally agreed to be a key feature of professional operatic singing⁸. It helps achieve an even quality of vocal sound throughout the singing registers⁸. In Russian it may have an impact on the palatalization of consonants⁸. The link is not straightforward, and a 1995 study from Moscow State University examines it⁸.

Common mistakes for English speakers

• One sound for each vowel letter. Most vowels change with position in the word².
• Ignoring unstressed reduction. Unstressed vowels merge to two to four¹.
• Treating ы as English “ee”. After a hard consonant [i] becomes [ɨ]¹; the approximation for singing is the [ɪ] of hill².
• Not marking hard and soft. Hard, soft and consonant plus [j] make four sets¹.
• Skipping the soft sign. It marks palatalization of the preceding consonant².
• Pronouncing final voiced consonants as voiced. They are devoiced word-finally unless the next word begins with a voiced obstruent¹.

Next steps

Learn the symbols in IPA for singers. Russian vowels are pure, as in Italian⁷. For a score in the language, work through Eugene Onegin.