The phonemic variant (allophone). The classification of variants

TOPIC 3

Phoneme as the unit of the phonological Level

The characteristics of the phoneme as a unity of three aspects.

The existence of various schools of linguistics and different approaches to the phoneme theory proves that it is difficult to give a definition of the phoneme which is quite satisfactory from all points of view. The reason of it is the fact that the phoneme is a dialectal unity of three aspects: 1) material, real and objective; 2) abstractional and generalized; and 3) functional, which determine one another and are thus interdependent. They can be separated from one another only for purposes of analysis and description.

The phoneme is a material, real and objective unit because it really exists in actual speech in the material form of speech sounds which have definite articulatory and acoustic features, independent of the will of individual members of a given language community.

The phoneme is a functional unit because in speech it serves to perform three functions: constitutive, recognitive and distinctive, as sounds constitute, help to recognize and distinguish morphemes, words and sentences. (Ex. bath – path; He was hurt badly – He was heard badly).

The phoneme is an abstractional and generalized unit as it is an abstraction from and a generalization of a number of speech sounds, which are its variants. This abstraction and generalization has been unconsciously made by and unconsciously exists in the mind of each member of a language community. No matter how different the articulation of variants may be, they function as the same linguistic unit.

Thus, the definition of the phoneme which reflects all the three aspects is the following: The phoneme is a minimal abstract linguistic unit realized in speech in the form of speech sounds opposable to other phonemes of the same language to distinguish the meaning of morphemes and words.

The phonemic variant (allophone). The classification of variants

Variants of the phoneme or allophones are sounds which occur in different environments, they are entirely predictable according to the phonetic environment, they are not opposed to one another and can not differentiate meaning. Allophones have one or more articulatory and therefore acoustic features in common and at the same time differ from each other in some degree and belong to the same phoneme.

There are two main types of allophones:

1) principle or typical allophones which do not undergo any distinguishable changes in the chain of speech;

2) subsidiary allophones which have quite predictable changes in the articulation due to the influence of the neighbouring sounds in different phonetic situations.

Ex. The phoneme [d] when not affected by the articulation of the preceding or following sounds is a plosive, forelingual, apical, alveolar, voiced, occlusive. This is how it sounds in isolation or in the intervocalic position when it retains its typical articulatory features (leader). In this case [d] is the principal allophone. But there are the following articulatory modifications of the phoneme [d] in various phonetic contexts.

[d] is slightly palatalized before front vowels and the sonorant [j] (deal, day, did you);

[d] is pronounced without any plosion before another stop consonant (bed time, bad pain, good dog);

[d] is pronounced with the nasal plosion before the nasal consonants [n] and [m] (sudden, admit, could not, could meet);

[d] is pronounced with the lateral plosion before the lateral sonorant [l] (middle, badly, bad light);

[d] followed by [r] becomes post alveolar (dry, dream);

[d] followed by interdental [θ], [ð] becomes dental (good thing, lead the way);

[d] followed by the labial [w] becomes labialised (dwell);

[d] in the word-final position is devoiced (road, raised, old).

These modifications cause the appearance of slightly palatalized, non-plosive, nasal, lateral, post-alveolar, dental, devoiced variants of the phoneme [d] which are subsidiary.

Subsidiary variants of a phoneme are subdivided into combinatory and positional. Combinatory allophones appear due to the influence of neighbouring speech sounds (as a result of assimilation or accommodation) and to the specific way in which adjacent sounds are joined together. Positional allophones are used in different positions (word-final, initial, stressed, unstressed) traditionally according to the orthoepic norm of the language. (Ex. [l] is clear in the initial position, dark in the final: lip – pill; the variants of any vowel are longer in the word-final position than before a consonant and are longer before a voiced consonant than before a voiceless one). But the boundary between combinatory and positional variants is not clear-cut.

Thus, although allophones of the same phoneme possess similar articulatory features they may frequently show considerable phonetic difference.

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