Methods of the identification of phonemes in a language

The distributional method is based on the phonological rule that different phonemes can freely occur in one and the same position, while allophones of one and the same phoneme occur in different positions and can’t be phonologically opposed to each other. This method is purely formal method of identifying the phonemes of a language.

The semantic method is based on the phonological rule that a phoneme can distinguish words when opposed to another phoneme or zero in an identical phonetic position.

6. The system of vowel phonemes. Problems of diphthongs and vowel length

The following 20 vowel phonemes are distinguished in BBC English (RP): [i:, a:, o:, u:, з:, i, e, æ, σ, υ, л(типа крышка домика), ə; ei, ai, oi, аυ, eυ, υə, iə].

Principles of classification provide the basis for the establishment of the following distinctive oppositions. The English diphthongs are, like the affricates, the object of a sharp phonological controversy, whose essence is the same as in the case of affricates are the English diphthongs biphonemic sound complexes or composite monophonemic entities?Diphthongs are defined differently by different authors. One definition is based on the ability of a vowel to form a syllable. Since in a diphthong only one element serves as a syllabic nucleus, a diphthong is a single sound. Another definition of a diphthong as a single sound is based on the instability of the second element. The 3d group of scientists defines a diphthong from the accentual point of view: since only one element is accented and the other is unaccented, a diphthong is a single sound.D. Jones defines diphthongs as unisyllabic gliding sounds in the articulation of which the organs of speech start from one position and then glide to another position.N.S. Trubetzkoy states that a diphthong should be (a) unisyllabic, that is the parts of a diphthong cannot belong to two syllables; (b) monophonemic with gliding articulation; (c) its length should not exceed the length of a single phoneme.In accordance with the principle of structural simplicity and economy American descriptivists liquidated the diphthongs in English as unit phonemes.The same phonological criteria may be used for justifying the monophonemic treatment of the English diphthongs as those applicable to the English affricates. They are the criteria of articulatory, morphophonological (and, in the case of diphthongs, also syllabic) indivisibility, commutability and duration. Applied to the English diphthongs, all these criteria support the view of their monophonemic status.Problem of length. There are long vowel phonemes in English and short. However, the length of the vowels is not the only distinctive feature of minimal pairs like Pete -pit, beet - bit, etc. In other words the difference between i: i. u: - υ is not only quantitative but also qualitative, which is conditioned by different positions of the bulk of the tongue. For example, in words bead- bid not only the length of the vowels is different but in the [i:] articulation the bulk of the tongue occupies more front and high position then in the articulation of [i].Qualitative difference is the main relevant feature that serves to differentiate long and short vowel phonemes because quantitative characteristics of long vowels depend on the position they occupy in a word:a) they are the longest in the terminal position: bee, bar, her; b) they are shorter before voiced consonants: bead, hard, cord;c) they are the shortest before voiceless consonants: beet, cart.

7. The system of consonant phonemes. Problem of affricates

The phonological analysis of English consonant sounds helps to distinguish 24 phonemes: [p, b, t, d, k, g, f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ∫, ж(не нашла ничего лучше J), h, t∫, dж, m, n, ŋ, w, r, 1, j]. Principles of classification suggested by Russian phoneticians provide the basis for establishing of the following distinctive oppositions in the system of English consonants:

1. Degree of noise bake - make, veal - wheel Place of articulationlabial vs. lingualpain — cane

a. lingual vs. glottal foam — home, care — hair, Tim - him

2. Manner of articulation 3.1 occlusive vs. constrictive pine -fine, bat - that, bee - theeconstrictive vs. affricates fare — chair, fail -jailconstrictive unicentral vs. constrictive bicentral

same – shame 4. Work of the vocal cords and the force of articulation 4.1 voiceless fortis vs. voiced lenis

pen — Ben, ten - den, coat - goal 5. Position of the soft palate

5.1 oral vs. nasal pit — pin, seek — seenThere are some problems of phonological character in the English consonantal system; it is the problem of affricates - their phonological status and their number. The question is: what kind of facts a phonological theory has to explain.

1) Are the English [t∫, dж]sounds monophonemic entities or biphonemic combinations (sequences, clusters)?

2) If they are monophonemic, how many phonemes of the same kind exist in English, or, in other words, can such clusters as [tr, dr] and [tθ, dð] be considered affricates?

To define it is not an easy matter. One thing is clear: these sounds are complexes because articulatory we can distinguish two elements. Considering phonemic duality of affricates, it is necessary to analyze the relation of affricates to other consonant phonemes to be able to define their status in the system.The problem of affricates is a point of considerable controversy among phoneticians. According to Russian specialists in English phonetics, there are two affricates in English: [t∫, dж]. D. Jones points out there are six of them: [t∫, dж], [ts, dz], and [tr, dr]. A.C. Gimson increases their number adding two more affricates: [tθ, tð]. Russian phoneticians look at English affricates through the eyes of a phoneme theory, according to which a phoneme has three aspects: articulatory, acoustic and functional, the latter being the most significant one. As to British phoneticians, their primary concern is the articulatory-acoustic unity of these complexes.

Before looking at these complexes from a functional point of view it is necessary to define their articulatory indivisibility.

According to N.S. Trubetzkoy's point of view a sound complex may be considered monophonemic if: a) its elements belong to the same syllable; b) it is produced by one articulatory effort; c) its duration should not exceed normal duration of elements. Let us apply these criteria to the sound complexes.1. Syllabic indivisibilitybutcher [but∫ -ə] lightship[lait-∫ip]mattress[mætr-is] footrest[fut-rest]curtsey [kз:-tsi] out-set[aut-set]eighth [eitθ] whitethorn [wait-θo:n]In the words in the left column the sounds [t∫], [tr], [ts], [tθ] belong to one syllable and cannot be divided into two elements by a syllable dividing line.

2. Articulatory indivisibility. Special instrumental analysis shows that all the sound complexes are homogeneous and produced by one articulatory effort.3. Duration. With G.P. Torsuyev we could state that length of sounds depends on the position in the phonetic context, therefore it cannot serve a reliable basis in phonological analysis. He writes that the length of English [t∫] in the words chair and match is different; [t∫] in match is considerably longer than |t| in mat and may be even longer than [∫] in mash. This does not prove, however, that [t∫] is biphonemic. According to morphological criterion a sound complex is considered to be monophonemic if a morpheme boundary cannot pass within it because it is generally assumed that a phoneme is morphologically indivisible. If we consider [t∫], [dж] from this point of view we could be secure to grant them a monophonemic status, since they are indispensable. As to [ts], [dz] and [tθ], [dð] complexes their last elements are separate morphemes [s], [z], [θ], [ð] so these elements are easily singled out by the native speaker in any kind of phonetic context. These complexes do not correspond to the phonological models of the English language and cannot exist in the system of phonemes. The case with [tr], [dr] complexes is still more difficult.

By way of conclusion we could say that the two approaches have been adopted towards this phenomenon are as follows: the finding that there are eight affricates in English [t∫], [dж], [tr], [dr], [ts], [dz], [tð], [dθ] is consistent with articulatory and acoustic point of view, because in this respect the entities are indivisible. This is the way the British phoneticians see the situation. On the other hand, Russian phoneticians are consistent in looking at the phenomenon from the morphological and the phonological point of view which allows them to define [t∫], [dж] as monophonemic units and [tr], [dr], [ts], [dz], [tð], [dθ] as biphonemic complexes. However, this point of view reveals the possibility of ignoring the articulatory and acoustic indivisibility.

8. problems of the phonemic inventory

The distributional method is based on the phonological rule that different phonemes can freely occur in one and the same position, while allophones of one and the same phoneme occur in different positions and can’t be phonologically opposed to each other. This method is purely formal method of identifying the phonemes of a language.

The semantic method is based on the phonological rule that a phoneme can distinguish words when opposed to another phoneme or zero in an identical phonetic position.

. THE PHONOLOGICAL ANALYSIS. Problem 1. THE PHONEME INVENTORY

In analyzing speech phoneticians carry out a phonetic and a phonological analyses. Phonetic analysis is concerned with the articulatory and acoustic characteristics of particular sounds and their combinations. Phonological analysis is concerned with the role of those sounds in communication. The main problems in phonological analysis are as follows: 1. The establishment of the inventory of phonemes of a certain language. (The inventory of phonemes of a language is all phonemes of this language. Every language has it's own inventory of speech sounds that it uses to contrast meaning. English has one of the larger inventories among the world's languages. Cantonese has up to 52 vowels when vowel + tone combinations are considered. Many languages include consonants not found in English). 2. The establishment of phonologically relevant (distinctive features of a language). 3. The interrelationships among the phonemes of a language.

Problem 1. The establishment of the inventory of phonemes of a certain language. The great variety of allophones complicates the identification of phonemes in connected speech. There are two main methods of establishing phonemes in a language: SEMANTIC and FORMAL, or DISTRIBUTIONAL. The SEMANTIC method attaches great significance to meaning. It is based on the rule that a phoneme can distinguish words when opposed to another phoneme or ZERO in an individual phonetic position. The investigator studies the function of sounds by collecting MINIMAL PAIRS (lexical or grammatical pairs of words that differ in only one speech sound in the same position). If the substitution of one sound for another results in the change of meaning, the commuted sounds are different phonemes. E.g. if we replace /b/ by /f/ in the word PAIR, we get a new word FAIR. This pair of words is distinguished in meaning by a single sound change. So the phonemes /p/ and /f/ contrast in English. The opposition /p/versus/f/ is called PHONOLOGICAL OPPOSITION. In PAIR-AIR, /p/is opposed to /-/, this is called ZERO OPPOSITION. Examples of grammatical pairs; SLEEP- SLEEPY, /-/ v /i/. Allophones can not make up minimal pairs. For example, /pʰ/ in PIN and /p/ in spin are allophones of the phoneme /p/ and no minimal pair can be found to distinguish them. Languages like Cantonese, Mandarin, and Thai distinguish between them and they represent distinct phonemes /p/ and /pʰ/. In Korean /r/ in KOREA and /l/ in SEOUL are allophones of the phoneme /l/. The are perceived by native speakers of Korean as a single phoneme and have a single L letter. The difference is that /r/ is pronounced before vowels. In Spanish, /z/ and /s/ are both allophones of /s/, while /z appears only before voiced consonants, as in MISMO /mizmo/.

A series of minimal pairs, called a MINIMAL SET, can establish a larger group of contrasts. That is how the inventory of E consonantal PH_mes can be established. The series of words PIN, BIN, TIN, DIN, FIN, CHIN, GIN, KIN, SIN, THIN, SHIN, WIN supplies us with 12 words which are different in respect of only one speech sound, the first, consonantal phoneme of the sound sequence. These contrastive elements, or phonemes, are symbolized as /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /f/, / ʧ/ /ʤ/, /k/, /s/, /θ/, /ʃ/, /w/. Other sound sequences will show other consonantal oppositions, e.g.: (1) TAME, DAME, GAME, LAME, MAIM, NAME, adding /g/, /l/, /m/, /n/ to the inventory. (2) POT, TOT, COT, LOT, YACHT, HOT, ROT, adding /j/, /hr, /r/. (3) PIE, TIE, BUY, THIGH, THY, VIE, adding /ð/ and /v/. (4) TWO, DO, WHO, WOO, ZOO, adding /z/. Such comparative procedure reveal 22 consonantal phonemes, capable of contrastive function initially in a word. But considering one position in a word is not sufficient. Phonemic opposition in medial position discovers one more consonantal phoneme /ʒ/, in words LETTER, LEATHER, LEISURE. Phoneme /ʒ/ does not occur in initial position and is rare in final position (ROUGE). In final position we do not find /h/, /r/, /w/, and /j/. Phoneme /ŋ/ is common in medial and final positions but unknown initially. The analysis will give us a total of 24 consonantal phonemes in English, of which six are of restricted occurrence. Similar procedures may be used to establish the 20 vowel phonemes of English, which makes the total inventory of 44 units in the English language.

The FORMAL (DISTRIBUTIONAL)method does not resort to the meaning. It is based on the rule that allophones of different phonemes can freely occur in one and the same position, while allophones of one and the same phoneme can not occur in the same position. For example, as /p/ and /f/ freely occur in the same context (as in PEA-FEE, PAN-FAN), they are different phonemes. But we can never find /p/ aspirated and non-aspirated in the same phonetic context in E. These sounds are regarded as the allophones of one and the same phoneme /p/, whereas in Chinese and Hindi aspirated and non-aspirated plosives /p/ are different phonemes: they occur in the same phonetic environment and distinguish words.

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