Page 150 - DENG504_LINGUISTICS

Linguistics

Notes reality. Furthermore, linguists of the Copenhagen School treat the phonemes as glassemes and
regard them as algebraical units.
• The term phoneme was first used in the late 1870’s notably by Kruszewski. Saussure too worked
on the phonemes. But the most notable work in this field was done by Sapir in 1927. Most
phoneticians such as Louis Jhelmslev, Bloomfield, Trubetzkoy, Daniel Jones, Roman Jakobson,
and Pike have thrown light on the phoneme.
• According to most contemporary linguists, however, the phoneme is the minimal bundle of
relevant sound features. A phoneme is not a sound; it can be realized only through one of its
allophones: it is a class of sounds, actualized or realized in a different way in any given position
by its representative, the allophone: it is an ideal towards which the speaker strives, while the
allophone is the performance he achieves; it occupies an area within which the various allophones
move and operate; its outer limits may approach but not overlap those of other phonemes, and
it cannot invade the territory of another phoneme without loss of phonemic distinction.
• According to most contemporary linguists, however, the phoneme is the minimal bundle of
relevant sound features. A phoneme is not a sound; it can be realized only through one of its
allophones: it is a class of sounds, actualized or realized in a different way in any given position
by its representative, the allophone: it is an ideal towards which the speaker strives, while the
allophone is the performance he achieves; it occupies an area within which the various allophones
move and operate; its outer limits may approach but not overlap those of other phonemes, and
it cannot invade the territory of another phoneme without loss of phonemic distinction.
• Thus the precise definition of a phoneme has been the subject of much discussion among linguists
and there are two major points of view. The first is the ‘classification’ theory developed by
Daniel Jones which considers the phoneme to be a group or family of related sounds, e.g./p/ in
English consisting of [p], [p ], etc. or /u/ consisting of (u:), (u) etc. The second or ‘distinctive
h
feature’ theory developed by N.S. Turbetzkoy and the Prague School considers a phoneme to
be a bundle of distinctive features, e.g. /p/ in English is considered to be made up of bilabial +
stop + voiceless (aspiration is therefore not distinctive and thus the allophones (p ) and (p)
h
above are allowed for.
10.8 Key-Words

1. Affricates : An affricate is produced with a complete closure, but the articulators are separated
slowly so that some friction is heard.
2. Nasals : A nasal consonant is produced by a complete oral closure. That is, the oral passage
of air is completely blocked by the articulators coming into firm contact with each
other, but the soft palate is lowered so that the nasal passage of air is open.
3. Fricatives : A fricative is articulated with a stricture of close approximation: that is, the two
articulators are brought so close to each other that the gap between them is very
narrow.
4. Lateral : A lateral consonant is articulated with a complete closure in the centre of the vocal
tract the air escaping along the sides of the tongue.
10.9 Review Questions

1. Distinguish between phonetics and phonology.
2. Define and exemplify: (a) phoneme, and (b) allophone.
3. What is a minimal pair?
4. Distinguish between a phoneme and an allophone.
5. How many phonemes are there in British English ( R. P.)
6. What is an allophone?
7. Distinguish between free variation and complementary Distribution.

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