AllophoneA Phonetic Variant of Phoneme

PhonologyThe study of the mental organization of a

language’s sound system.Units of organization : – Biggest: syllables, metrical feet, words – Middle: segments (phonemes and

allophones) – Smallest: features

PHONEME smallest phonological unit that

distinguish meaning Phonemes are abstract mental unit of

sound Example : sip zip fine vine chunk junk

Phonemes are marked by testing minimal pair Minimal pairs are pairs of words which vary

only by the identity of the segment and there is a difference in meaning

Phonemes are the basic sounds - the significant , non-predictable ones

Phonemes are groups of sound-variants; whenever we actually pronounce a sound we use an allophone, one of the variants in the group. The choice of which variant we use in any context depends on subconscious rules

Allophone

allophones are the variations within each group of phoneme

The different ways the phonemes are realized in various positions are called Allophones which are predictable, and non-significant.

Allophones are usually relatively similar sounds which are in mutually exclusive or complementary distribution

Occasionally allophone selection is not conditioned but may vary form person to person and occasion to occasion (ie. free variation)

A non-linguistic metaphor on Allophone

Difference between phoneme and allophone

LANGUAGE SPECIFICITY In English, [ph] and [p] are allophones of the same phoneme (/p/), meaning that

a word doesn’t change its meaning if we

substitute one sound for the other.

Complementary DistributionWhen two phones are mutually

exclusive, i.e.,they appear in different environments

– [spæt] [phæt] *[sphæt] *[pæt]

– [spul] [phul] *[sphul] *[pul][ph] and [p] are in

complementary distribution (which means they

are allophones of the same phoneme)

When the substitution of two or more sounds in the same position does not result in any change of meaning, they’re said to be in free variation.

Example : [i]ther and I say [ai]ther, [ni:]ther and I say [nai]ther,

There is an old song from the 1930s : You say [i]ther and I say [ai]ther, You say [ni:]ther and I say [nai]ther, [i:]ther [ai]ther [ni:]ther [nai]ther let’s call the whole thing off.

Free variation

Determination of an Allophone

Conclusion In any one language or dialect there

are usually rather more sounds than speakers are aware of

in general: allophones = conditioned variants of a phoneme; generated by phonological conditioning(= a matter of language-specific rules of pronunciation')

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