MAIN trends in phoneme theory

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PHYSICAL VIEW A phoneme may be described roughly as a family

PHYSICAL VIEW

A phoneme may be described roughly as a family of

sounds consisting of an important sound of the language (generally the most frequently used member of that family) together with other related sounds which 'take its place' in particular sound-sequences or under particular conditions of length or stress or intonation.
– Daniel Jones,
“An Outline of English Phonetics”

THE MATERIAL ASPECT OF THE PHONEME

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A phoneme is a class of phonetically similar sounds, contrasting and


A phoneme is a class of phonetically similar sounds, contrasting and

mutually exclusive with all similar classes in the language.
– B. Bloch and G. Trager

PHYSICAL VIEW

THE MATERIAL ASPECT OF THE PHONEME

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Lena cleans a pool. [lʲi:nə klʲ˳i:nz ə pʰu:ɫ] lʲ, lʲ˳, ɫ

Lena cleans a pool.
[lʲi:nə klʲ˳i:nz ə pʰu:ɫ]
lʲ, lʲ˳, ɫ - members

of the “family” of the phoneme /l/.

PHONETIC SIMILARITY:
ALVEOLAR
LATERAL
CONSONANT

PHONETIC CONTEXT:
LIGHT [l] – BEFORE VOWELS
DARK [ɫ] – BEFORE CONSONANTS AND WORD-FINALLY

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CRITISIZING A phoneme is a mechanical sum of its allophones. This

CRITISIZING

A phoneme is a mechanical sum of its allophones.

This definition is

vulgarly materialistic and metaphysical.

The phoneme cannot be defined as the sum total of all its allophones, though it includes all of them.

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TO SUM UP A phoneme is a family of related speech

TO SUM UP

A phoneme is a family of related speech sounds.


Supporters: D. Jones, B. Bloch, G. Trager

Based on the material aspect.

NO REGARD to functional and abstract aspects.

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FUNCTIONAL VIEW A phoneme is the minimal sound unit by which

FUNCTIONAL VIEW


A phoneme is the minimal sound unit by which meanings

may be differentiated without much regard to actually pronounced sounds. Meaning differentiation is taken to be a defining characteristic of phoneme.
___________________
A phoneme is a bundle of distinctive features.
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R. JAKOBSON AND M. HALLE DISTINCTIVE FEATURE THEORY All features are

R. JAKOBSON AND M. HALLE

DISTINCTIVE FEATURE THEORY
All features are privative (i.e.

binary).
There is a difference between phonetic and phonological features:
distinctive features are phonological.
phonetic features are surface realizations of underlying phonological features.
A small set of features is able to differentiate between the phonemes of any single language.
Distinctive features may be defined in terms of articulatory or acoustic features.
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DISTINCTIVE FEATURES In 1956, Jakobson and Halle devised 12 distinctive features.

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES

In 1956, Jakobson and Halle devised 12 distinctive features.

E.g., the

phoneme /m/ might be represented as a feature matrix
[+ sonorant]
[-continuant]
[+voiced]
[+nasal]
[+labial]