The Phoneme

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The phoneme

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It is the smallest linguistically relevant unit of the sound structure of a given language which is used to distinguish one word from another (pay-day)

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Sound (phone)

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It is a vibration or wave caused by an object. Sounds are instances of phonemes in real speech. Sounds are everything we hear with our ears. Here are some examples of sounds:5) [k], [b], [f], [u], [d], [e], [i:]6) the word “cat” consists of three sounds and can be transcribed as follows: [kæt]

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Sounds VS Phonemes

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Sound (phone):

-Sounds, unlike phonemes, have such concrete characteristics as duration and loudness.

- may refer to any speech sound or gesture without regard of its place in phonology of a language

-are produced by organs of speech.

-they are units of speech

Phonemes:

- are abstract- are units of language

- due to them we can distinguish one word from another - in written form

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Allophones

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Are variants of the same phoneme. They have different pronunciations of words which do not change the meaning of these words (cannot distinguish words). They may sound slightly different but we still recognise them as belonging to the same phoneme.

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What factors affects the articulatory and acoustic features of allophones?

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These factors are conditioned by their position and their phonetic environment.

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Allophones in complementary distribution & in free variation

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1.Allophones in Cd are those which never occur in the same phonetic position. They aren't perceived by English speakers as different sounds. Ex. Lake /l/ pronounced softly - "clear" l. Fx . tell me - /l/ is pronounced harder- "dark" l. They together are allophones, the phone "l" is CD

2.Allophones of a phoneme in fv occur in the same phonetic position, but can never distinguish words. Ex, /t/ at the end of the word "light" bright" can be non/aspirated

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Is the phoneme an abstraction or is it material? (29)

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1. The phoneme is an abstraction. It is abstracted from its variants that exist in actual speech and is characterised by features that are common to all its variants.

2. The phoneme is a material because in speech it's represented by concrete material sounds (exists in speech in the material form of speech sounds)

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Functions of phonemes

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- constitutive (they constitute morphemes, words, all of which are meaningful)

- distinctive (they distinguish one word from another)

- identificatory ( phonemes help us to identify words (recognise words)

flesk(шляпа) - flesm (не існує)

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Define reduction

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In unstressed syllables, the articulation of English vowels is weakened and the duration is shortened. Vowels are partially reduced (so late /seu 'leit/ - not so late /not se' leit; from / frem

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Reduction vs Elision

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Reduction - vowels are partially reduced.

Elision - vowels are left out (dropped) - want to go (wanna go), don't know (dunno)

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Define liason

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Sound is introduced between words to link them. F.e summer /ˈsʌmə/ the final r isn't pronounced, but summer and autumn /ˈsʌmər ænd ˈɔːtəm/

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Accommodation

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It's adapting the articulation of a consonant to neighbouring vowel or vice versa ( /sh/ in shoe is labialized under the influence of the rounded /u:/)

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Partial assimilation, total assimilation

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PA means that a consonant looses some of its features and gets some new features of another consonant

FA means that a consonant takes the form of a neighbouring consonant.

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Three main kinds of assimilation

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Regressive - a consonant is changed under the influence of the following sound (in May /im mei/)

Progressive - a consonant is changed under the influence of the preceeding sound (lunch score /lʌnʧ ʃkɔː/)

Coalescent - neighbouring sounds influence each other (won't you /wəʊnt juː/ - /wəʊntfu/)

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Secondary articulation

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When a consonant has two points of articulation, one marked by greater muscular tension that the other...

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Distinctive features of the phoneme

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Distinctive features are articulatory features that distinguish one phoneme from another and change the meaning of a word. (Relevant features mean = very important features). They distinguish phonemes from all the other phonemes of the language. (Relevant features are Bilabial, occlusive, fortis)

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Irrelevant (redundant) features

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Features which distinguish the allophone from all the other allophones of the phoneme (aspiration, plosiveness, labialization)

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Phoneme - a bundle of phonetic distinctive features

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Some linguists define the phoneme as a bundle of distinctive features. To discover distinctive features of a phoneme,we have to opposite it to some other phonemes in the same phonetic environment (it's a phoneme before or after). Ex. bye (b - Bilabial) tie (t - alveolar)

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How distinctive features help to establish the system of phonemes in language?

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To establish the system of phonemes in a language we have to find such minimal pairs of the word. (bye-tie, lay - lie)..

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Minimal pairs

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Are the words different in one phoneme, which differ only by one sound in the same position in each word. (pin-bin, bed-bet)

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Types of opposition (vowels)

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a) monothongs between themselves (12). Ex. Big-bog

b) diphthongs VS monothongs. Ex. bird-bide

c) diphthongs between themselves. Ex. bait - bite

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Types of opposition (consonants)

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1) opposition based on the force of articulation. Ex. two-do (fortis-lenis)

2) opposition based on the active speech organ. Ex. Pin-bin, pen-ten (bilingual - forelingual)

3) opposition based on the type of obstruction. Ex. berry-very (plosive-fricative)

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Definition of Transcription

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It is a visual system of notation of the sound structure of speech; a generalisation of a great variety of sounds that are uttered by speakers of a given language.

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Ideographic, syllabic, alphabetic writing

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1) with a different symbol for each word, as in Chinese writing

2) with a symbol for each syllable, as in Japanese writing

3) with a symbol for each phoneme or combination of phonemes, as in English writing)

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Phonemic VS Phonetic transcription

+ types of brackets

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Phonemic (broad) t - provides each phoneme with a distinctive symbol to avoid ambiguity. It contains as many symbols as there are phonemes in a language. The phonemic data is enclosed between diagonals /t/

Phonetic (narrow) t- provides allophones with distinctive symbols to denote their different features. The phonemic data is enclosed in square brackets [t]

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International Phonetic Transcription

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It's the modern phonetic transcription that is most widely used now and may be applied to most of the languages. It was adopted by the International Phonetic Association in 1904.

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Criteria of Vowels classification. According to...

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1) the horizontal movenent of the tongue

2)the vertical movenent of the tongue

3) the force of articulation at the end of the vowel (free/ checked)

4) the position of the lips (un/rounded)

5) the degree of the muscular tension of the articulatory organs (tense/lax)

6) stability of articulation (mono/diphthongs)

7) the length of vowel (short, long)

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Free vowels vs Checked vowels

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Free vowels occur in an open syllable with a weakening of the force of articulation to the end. They have a fading character.

Checked vowels don't have weakening of the force of articulation. They are pronounced abruptly and followed by a consonant that checks them.