The phoneme theory

1. The Phoneme Theory

Prof. Tatiana Levina
Vladimir State University
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2. Outline

1. The phoneme and its definition
2. Aspects of the phoneme
3. Types of mistakes
4. The Phoneme Theory at home
and abroad
5. Methods of Phonological
Investigation
6. Morphonology
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3. The Phoneme and Its Definition

phoneme [ f ni:m]
N.V. Krushevsky (1851-1887)
Baudouin de Courtenay (18451929)
[ b dwæn d k : tn ]
noticeable
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4. The Phoneme and Its Definition

“The phoneme is the smallest, further
indivisible language unit that exists in
the speech of all members of a given
language community as such speech
sounds which are capable of
differentiating one word from another or
one grammatical form of a word from
another grammatical form of the same
word.”
(prof. Vassilyev 1970)
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5. Aspects of the Phoneme

The aspects: material
abstract
functional
allophone [ æl f n]
principal [ pr nts pl]
secondary (subsidiary)
relevant (distinctive)
irrelevant (nondistinctive)
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6. The Sound [t] in Isolation

forelingual
apical
alveolar
plosive (stop)
fortis (voiceless)
aspirated
occlusive
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7. The Allophones of the Phoneme [t]

1. principal: [t :]
2. subsidiary:
[ti:] (palatalized)
[ let ð m] dental (not alveolar)
[ n t ð m]
[tra ]
[tri:]
[tre ]
post alveolar
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8. The Allophones of the Phoneme [t]

no plosion:
[ n t kwa t]
[ n t kl ]
lateral plosion:
[ n t l tl]
[ n t le t]
not aspirated:
[ste ]
[st :]
labialized:
[twa s]
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9. The Invariant of the Phoneme [t]

The bundle of distinctive articulatory
features:
occlusive
forelingual
fortis
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10. The Invariant of the Phoneme [t]

forelingual – backlingual
articulation
[t :n - k :n]
[tra - kra ]
fortis-lenis
[t :n - d :n]
[ta - da ]
occlusive – constrictive articulation
[ti: -si:]
[t ld - s ld]
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11. The phonemes differentiate the meaning of:

1) morphemes:
[ sli:p - sli:p ]
[ se fl - se ft ]
2) words:
[pe - be ]
[t :n - d :n]
3) sentences:
I don’t like this cat. – I don’t like this cut.
I don’t like this girl. – I don’t like this curl.
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12. Irrelevant Features of Phonemes

vowel length
aspiration
A Phonological Opposition
(Distinctive)
e.g. [h :d - h :t] (lenis-fortis
articulation
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13. 3. Types of Mistakes

I. Phonological:
e.g. [ ri: - tri:]
1) The place of articulation:
[ ] - interdental
[t] - alveolar
2) The manner of noise production:
[ ] - fricative, constrictive
[t] – occlusive, stop
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14. Types of Mistakes

II. Phonetic:
e.g. [ let ð m]
alveolar or dental [t]
[ i:i:p]
overlengthened [i:]
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15. 4. The Phoneme Theory at Home and Abroad

to exaggerate
to ignore
I.A. Baudouin de Courtenay
[ b dwæn d k :tni]
a fictitious unit [f k t s]
a psychical image [ sa k kl]
idealistic [a d l st k]
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16. The Phoneme Theory at Home and Abroad

L.V. Scherba (1880-1944)
“Russian Vowels in Qualitative and Quantitative
Aspects” (1911)
“A Manual of French Phonetics”
The Prague School of Linguistics
Vilem Mathesius (1882-1945)
Богумил Трнка
Богуслав Гавранек
Йозеф Вахек
Р.О. Якобсон (Roman Jacobson)
Н.С. Трубецкой (1990-1938)
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17. The Phoneme Theory at Home and Abroad

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913)
[ f :d nænd d s sj ]
Twaddel [tw d el]
Leonard Bloomfield [ len d blu:mfi:ld]
Daniel Jones [ dænj l d nz]
vulgarly – materialistic
Bloch [bl h]
Trager [ tre g ]
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18. 5. Methods of Phonological Investigation

1. semantically – distributional:
Phonemes can distinguish meaning
when opposed to one another.
Allophones of the same phoneme never
occur in the same phonetic context.
a commutation test:
a). [p n – s n]
b). [p n - p n]
c). [p n – h n]
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19. Methods of Phonological Investigation

a system of oppositions:
- single: [pen – ben] fortis-lenis
- double: [pen – den]
bilabial – forlingual fortis-lenis
- triple: [pen – ðen]
- bilabial – forlingual occlusive constrictive
fortis-lenis
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20. Methods of Phonological Investigation

[h] is never used at the end
[ŋ] is never used at the beginning
2. substitutional (formally
distributional)
шкаф – шкап
The sounds are different but the
meaning is the same.
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21. 6. Morphonology

To establish the phonemic status of
sounds when their distinctive features
are neutralized.
[ bd kt - b d ekt]
[ ] – [ ]
лук – луг (луга) [k]
the Moscow School (morphological)
П.С. Кузнецов
А.А. Реформатский
Р.И. Аванесов
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22. Morphonology

the Moscow School
(morphological)
The phonemic status of the morpheme
is constant, it cannot vary.
A strong position of a vowel is when it
is stressed.
A strong position of a consonant is
before a vowel.
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23. Morphonology

The variation of the allophones of the same
phoneme is not limited. One and the same
sound can belong to different phonemes.
[ bd kt - b d ekt] - the morphemes are
the same, so the sounds [ ] and [ ] are the
allophones of the same phoneme.
лук – луг (луга)– the morphemes are
different, so the allophones [k] belong to
different phonemes.
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24.

the Leningrad School (Scherba’s school)
Л.Р. Зиндер
М.И. Матусевич
Л.В. Бондарко
В.А. Васильев
One and the same sound cannot belong
to different phonemes.
The difference between the allophones of
the same phoneme is limited.
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25.

[ bd kt - b d ekt]
[ ] and [ ] –
allophones of different phonemes.
лук – луг (луга) – the allophones [k]
belong to the same phoneme.
[d g - le d]
корзина, корова, собака, [ dek re t]
[nju:z – nju:spe p ]
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26.

Thank you
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27.

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