4.2 Softening of consonants
In Ukrainian, consonants are ‘hard’ or ‘soft’. ‘Hardness’ or ‘softness’ is determined by the letter which goes after the consonant. Consonants are ‘hard’ before vowels а, о, у, е and и.They become ‘soft’ before vowels і, я, ю, є and before ь (soft sign). Soft sign does not represent any sound, and its function is just to soften of the previous consonant.
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Transcript: Audio 34
Read, listen and repeat after me.
На – ня н– нь но – ньо не – нє ну – ню ни – ні
са – ся с – сь со – сьо се – сє су – сю си – сі
ра – ря р – рь ро – рьо ре – рє ру – рю ри – рі
та – тя т – ть то – тьо те – тє ту – тю ти – ті
Audio 34
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| На – ня | н– нь | но – ньо | не – нє | ну – ню | ни – ні |
| са – ся | с – сь | со – сьо | се – сє | су – сю | си – сі |
| ра – ря | р – рь | ро – рьо | ре – рє | ру – рю | ри – рі |
| та – тя | т – ть | то – тьо | те – тє | ту – тю | ти – ті |