Russian spoken by Kazakh young adults: a phonetic and phonological analysis

This study examines the phonetics and phonology of Russian spoken by young adults from different regions of Kazakhstan, focusing on stops, fricatives, and affricates absent in Kazakh but present in Russian. The analysis highlights the variability in phoneme production based on regional origins and exposure to Russian. Some participants showed patterns similar to those of Russian native speakers, while others exhibited more variability, including phenomena not typically found in Russian. The study also found a de-palatalization phenomenon in post-alveolar fricatives, suggesting a loss of phonological distinction. These findings provide insights into the linguistic adaptation of Kazakh speakers, revealing how they navigate and assimilate Russian phonological features.