ш and щ: Spot the Differences
One looks like a “w” with straight lines (like an E that has fallen over), and the other is similar but with a tail or hook. Or something like that. Not only do ш and щ look similar, but their sounds are also close. So close that distinguishing them isn’t easy.
Sound
For what descriptions of sounds are worth: Wikipedia compares ш to ‘sh in shop’ and ‘ch in machine,’ but when it comes to щ, it hits a dead end: ‘Dutch has no words with this sound.’ The English Wikipedia entry for shcha/щ isn’t much help either: ‘it represents the voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative /ɕ(ː)/.’
Russischegrammatica.nl compares ш to ‘chocolate,’ and щ to an elongated ‘chic.’ Here, however, no difference was discovered between the two “ch” sounds.
Visual
Therefore, ш and щ make an excellent listening exercise. And (like with the letter ы) it’s also mouth gymnastics. Настасья Сетун and Марина Решетко demonstrate the sounds more clearly than perhaps needed; similarly, Natalya Gruzinova’s videos Постановка звуков Ш и Ж and Постановка звука Щ aren’t exactly easy on the eyes.
Fortunately, the animations from Maria, Katya, Anya, and Olga are much kinder (and, more importantly, helpful).
Russian pronunciation of letters Ш and Щ
(Umashi Learn Russian, 2020, 10 mins)
Pronunciation practice / Confusing pairs (Ш and Щ)
(Live Russian, 2018, 8 mins)
From the same channel: Confusing Sounds Щ Ш / Practice (2020, 59 mins) and Russian pronunciation: sounds Ш and Щ (2017, 3 mins).
Russian Ш and Щ
(Anya Golubeva, 2018, 6 mins)
Phonetic Exercises: Ш vs. Щ
(Amazing Russian, 2016, 4 mins)
From the same channel: Phonetic Exercises: “Hissing” Consonants Ж, Ш, Щ, Ч, Ц (2019, 12 mins).
More
See:
- The difference between Ш & Щ. Russian alphabet (PrivetVita, 2020, 3 mins)
- Difficult Russian sounds//Ш, Щ, Ц, Ы (Edine Russian, 2020, 3 mins)
- Russian alphabet. Letters ш & щ (Speechkah, 2020, 2 mins)
- How to pronounce these difficult sounds Ж Ш Щ (Crash into Russian, 2019, 1 min)
- Russian without problems: sounds Ж, Ш, Щ and Ц (Slaweniska dela, 2019, 4 mins)
- Russian Letters Ч, Ж, Ш, Щ - Russian Hissing Consonants (Russian with Sergey, 2019, 5 mins)
- Learn Russian Alphabet. Consonants “Ж, Ш, Щ” (RLW Regina, 2019, 5 mins)
- Rules of reading: syllables with Ч, Щ, Ж, Ш, Ц (Ru-Land Club, 2017, 3 mins)
- The difference between Ш and Щ (Dobby Dobson, 2017, 2 mins)
- How to pronounce Russian letters Ш and Щ (Crazy Russian Dad, 2016, 4 mins)
- Russian Щ – Exercises from speech therapist (Real Russian Club, 2016, 3 mins); see also Russian Ш (sh) – Exercises from speech therapist (2016, 5 mins)
- Russian Pronunciation & Alphabet | Consonants Ш, Ж, Щ (learnrussian.org, 2016, 4 mins)
- Letters Ш and Щ in Russian (Be Fluent in Russian, 2016, 2 mins); see also Letters И-Й-Ц and Ш-Щ | Compare ’n Contrast (2017, 7 mins)
- Russian alphabet – Щ: the sound and the letter (A. Romaker, 2014, 9 mins)
- Letters Ш Щ (Alina Aloshyna, 2013, 2 mins)
See/read:
- Difference in pronunciation between “щ” and “шь”? (Stack Exchange)
- How to pronounce Russian consonants (Master Russian)
- Positioning of sounds «Ш» [SH] and «Щ» [SHCH] (Ruspeach)
- Russian minimal pairs: Ш – Щ (Boost Your Russian)
- What is the correct pronunciation of Russian letters «ш» and «щ»? (Quora)
- Russian sounds for Ш and Щ: Brief Explanation (Lang-8, 2014)
- How to pronounce Russian ‘щ’ (shch, sch) (The Russian Blog, 2012)
More
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