What are the linguistic differences one must be aware of when comprehending spoken Russian in noisy environments or over poor telephone lines?

Comprehending spoken Russian in noisy environments or over poor telephone lines requires awareness of specific linguistic features and strategies to compensate for reduced audio clarity. Phonetic reduction is a key challenge. In rapid speech, particularly in noisy conditions, unstressed vowels may be reduced or elided entirely, making it difficult to distinguish between words with similar sounds. For example, the vowel 'o' in unstressed syllables often sounds like 'a', which can lead to confusion. Consonant clusters can also be simplified, with certain c....