Sounds and spelling 27 Before voiced consonants, voiceless consonants are voiced: просьба request боротьба struggle молотьба threshing клятьба curse Note too that the prefix з- may be fixed in the spelling and pronunciation as c- [s] before some voiceless consonants, namely к, п, т, х, ф: сходити, but with its perfective зійти to rise, descend спитати to enquire збити to fasten схопити to seize згоріти to burn/be burnt сфотографувати to photograph звести to lead down, mislead With the prefixes роз-, без-, від- (од-), над-, під-, об-, між-, перед-, воз-, понад-, пред-, через- the voiced character of the final consonant is retained (and conveyed in the spelling): розколоти to split безперечний incontestible відпустити to let go підбігти to run up to 1.1.5.1 The consonant [p/v] At the beginning of a word before a consonant, in the middle of a word after a vowel before a consonant, and at the end of a word after a vowel the consonant [p/v] is pronounced as a sound intermediate between [v] and [u] (it is sometimes asserted that it is a straight labio-dental when soft before [i], for example, as in він [v^in] 'he'). The lips may be round and protrude, i.e. it is bilabial, or we have the lower lip behind the upper teeth. At the end of a word we should not have [f] for this sound, though one cannot but admit that it is heard. In other words, [w] is prescribed: сказав said (masc.) любов love зробив did (masc.) впевнений assured, made certain повний full 1.1.6 HARD AND SOFT CONSONANTS The hard/soft pairs which we find in Ukrainian are as follows (first those which are accepted as phonemic, second those which are rather restricted, on the whole to the position before і [і], where they tend, even then, to be minimally palatalized, and are thus peripherally phonemic): [t] [d] M Й [ts] [d3] - W - w - M - [*] - № - [<#] T д c 3 ц дз Tb ДЬ сь 3b ць ДЗЬ
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