Linguistics) studies human language. Some sections of this science make up the theory of language. Others describe language in its connection with other factors: society, evolution, the development of thinking. Still others focus on practice.
This article will talk about the sound side of language. You will learn about the science of phonology, the concept of phoneme, sound and allophone. This will help future linguists and simply interested people understand the theory of the sound structure of language and not get confused in terms.
Phonology - the study of phonemes
Linguistics has two branches that study sounds: phonetics and phonology. The word "phon" translated from ancient Greek means "sound".
Phonetics is a descriptive science. It describes not only the sound side of the language (sounds, intonations, stress, etc.), but also the work of physics, physiology, and psychology.
But phonology is a narrower theoretical science. She explores the functions of sounds in language.
Some linguists consider phonology to be a subfield of phonetics. Others argue that phonology is still an independent science.
So, phonetics is the study of sound. Allophone and phoneme are of interest to phonology.
The concept of phoneme
The problem of sounds began to interest linguists in the 19th century. Scientists have discovered that there are many of these units in the language, and they are diverse. Different people pronounce sounds differently. And even the same person always reproduces a sound differently. It was necessary to organize this diversity into one coherent system. Otherwise there would be phonetic chaos in the language. To do this, linguists introduced a concept that would structure sounds. They identified the smallest semantic difference - phoneme.
One such unit combines sounds that are pronounced differently in different conditions, but at the same time perform the same function. For example, they form one morpheme: root, suffix, etc.
First things first:
Why is a phoneme the smallest unit?
- It cannot be divided into smaller parts. Changes within a phoneme only lead to its transition to another. For example, if the voicedness of the phoneme D is replaced by deafness, then the phoneme T will be obtained.
Why is a phoneme a meaningful unit?
- The phoneme has a special semantic-distinguishing (significative) function. It helps distinguish both words and morphemes. For example, the words “bak” and “bok” differ in one phoneme at the root and carry different meanings.
How does a phoneme differ from a sound?
Remember the main difference:
- Sound is a material phenomenon. This is what we hear and say.
- Phoneme is an abstraction. It is conditional and exists only in the sounds of speech.
Why are the sounds so diverse? There are several reasons:
- Speaker differences. Agree, a man and a woman, an adult and a child, people with low and high voices will pronounce the same sound differently.
- State of the speaker. Even our state, physical or mental, affects our pronunciation of speech units.
- Place in a word. Pronunciation depends on the “neighbors” and on the position in the word (before or after the stress, at the end of the word or at the beginning, etc.).
The phoneme unites all this diversity into generalized units. That’s why there are a lot of sounds, but there are only 42 phonemes (in Russian).
Allophone - what is it?
Read aloud the chain "earth - earth - earth." Have you noticed that the vowel E sounds differently in words with the same root? Nevertheless, the same phoneme is everywhere - E.
It turns out that each such abstract unit can have different sound options. These phoneme variants are called allophones.
An allophone differs from a phoneme in that, like sound, it is material. An allophone is a concrete embodiment of an abstract unit in speech.
Basic phoneme variant
The question arises of how to recognize a phoneme if it has several variants. Scientists distinguish among all possible variations of a phoneme one main one - the main allophone. Her qualities are manifested in him to the highest degree.
The main allophone is a variant that depends little on its place in the word. These allophones are considered to be:
- Vowels with isolated pronunciation. They are shown under emphasis.
- Soft consonants before the vowel [I] and hard consonants before the vowel [A].
Basic allophones manifest themselves in strong positions. Vowels are strong under stress.
A weak position is the position in which the features of the phoneme are “blurred”. In Russian and German, consonants are weak at the end of words. For example, voiced sounds are deafened in this position.
But in English and French, on the contrary, the position at the end of a word is strong. Therefore, it is impossible to deafen voiced consonants: this is a gross mistake.
Combinatorial and positional allophones
Allophones are divided into combinatorial and positional.
Combinatorial allophones are variants of phonemes that are realized under the influence of surrounding sounds. Examples of allophones:
- consonants that come before [O] and [U] and are rounded (the lips are pulled out “into a tube”): there - tom, tick - knock;
- vowels [a], [o], [u], which are found after soft consonants: sit down, grater, tube;
- affricates [dz] and [d "zh"], which appear instead of [h], [ts] before voiced noisy consonants: I wouldn’t mind, a springboard.
Positional allophones are variants of phonemes that are realized depending on the phonetic position in the word.
Phonetic position reflects:
- how close the phoneme is to the beginning of the word;
- how close the phoneme is to the end of the word;
- how close the phoneme is to stress.
In the transcription you can see the signs [ъ] and . These are allophones of the vowels [a] and [o].
- An allophone is an assistant in searching. In the Russian language, in most cases, two allophones of vowels occur only between morphemes (call, poohat). And if the vowels are nearby, then the words are borrowed (aul, Liana).
- Unstressed allophones of vowels are weaker than stressed ones: they depend more on their “neighbors”.
- Just as consonants can change vowels, and vice versa. Sounds that precede a vowel allophone have a stronger effect on it than others. And a consonant can be changed, for example, by a labial vowel.
The sound meaning of a phoneme depends on the position it occupies in a word. There are strong and weak positions of phonemes. The position in which the largest number of phonemes differs is called strong, the phoneme in this position is also strong; position in which
a smaller number of phonemes are distinguished, called weak, a phoneme in
this position is weak.
Since the phoneme performs two main functions - significative and perceptual - it is necessary to distinguish significatively strong and significatively weak positions, as well as perceptually strong and perceptually weak positions. In a significatively strong position, the phoneme maximally realizes its distinctive capabilities, therefore the designated sound is a representative of only one phoneme. A significatively weak position is a position of non-distinction, neutralization of the phoneme; the sound in this position is representative of several phonemes.
In a perceptually strong position, the sound representing a phoneme is not conditioned by this position, is not influenced by it, but acts as the main representative of a given phoneme, most consistent with our generalized ideas about its properties. In a perceptually weak position, the quality of sound is determined by this position and depends on the surrounding sounds. Consequently, the theory of positions allows us to determine the phonological content of sounds taking part in phonetic alternations.
A strong position is a position of maximum distinctiveness and minimum conditionality. A special role in determining the phonological content of sound is played by positions that are both significatively and perceptually strong. They are called absolutely strong. An absolutely strong position for a phoneme is a position in which the phoneme is realized by its main representative (dominant), by which it is named.
The absolutely strong position for vowels is the position under stress in the absence of nearby soft consonants. Since for consonants the positions differ according to: 1) voicedness-voicelessness; 2) hardness-softness, then the absolutely strong position for consonants is the position before vowels.
In a weak position, phonemes lose some of their characteristics, change their appearance, and it happens that two or even three phonemes coincide in one sound: l<о>dock (ice), l<э>juice, p<а>so - [ie]; five<д’>, five<т’>- [T'].
A phoneme can be represented by the following types. Invariant (dominant, main type) is the ideal type of sound: phoneme<а>by sound [a], phoneme<т’>by sound [t’] and so on. A variant is a sound that occurs in weak positions of minimal distinctiveness and is part of two or more phonemes: fruit, raft - [raft],<плод>, <плот>: phoneme<д>in the word fruit it is realized by its variant - the sound [t].
Variants are a way of realizing a phoneme in significatively weak positions. Variation is the sound of a language that occurs in positions of maximum conditionality and is part of one phoneme: [l’.uk], [lu’.k’i], [l’.u’.k’i] - phoneme<у>realized by the sounds [у.], [.у], [.у.]. Variation is a way of realizing a phoneme that is in a significatively strong but perceptually weak position.
All sounds in which this or that phoneme, and invariant, and variant, and variations are realized are called allophones of the phoneme.
Skripnik Ya.N., Smolenskaya T.M.
Phonetics of the modern Russian language, 2010.
Phoneme(from Greek phōnēma - sound) - the minimum linguistic unit, represented next topositionally alternating sounds and serving for folding and distinguishing words and morphemes;
the basic unit of the sound structure of a language, the ultimate element distinguished by the linear division of speech.
Basic functions of the phoneme.
These functions are highlighted by the MFS:
Perceptual(Latin perceptio - to perceive) the function of a phoneme presupposes its the ability to be perceived by hearing, i.e. identify. So, the root in the forms of the pronounmy, my, my one and the same, because it has the same meaning and the same phonemiccomposition, with each phoneme represented by different positionally alternating sounds,including zero sound: mine -<моj-ø>and [mo˙ṷ], my –<моj-а>and [мΛja], mine –<моj-ово>And[my with the call. evo]).
Significative(from Latin significāre - to designate) - the ability to distinguish morphemes and words, i.e. semantic distinguishing function For example, consonant phonemes<к>, <т>, <м>, <л>, <в>, <р>distinguish the words cat - that - mot - lot - here - mouth; vowels<о>, <э>, <а>, <у>, <и>, <ы>, <а>- words say - chalk - small - mule - mil - soap - crumpled, etc. The sound meaning of a phoneme depends on the position it occupies in a word. There are strong and weak positions of phonemes. The position in which the largest number of phonemes differs is called strong, the phoneme in this position is also strong; the position in which fewer phonemes are distinguished is called weak, the phoneme in this position is weak.
The function that SPFS highlights:
Constitutive(lat. constitutitens – formative or formative).
Phoneme – building material for significant units. Morphemes serve to express these units - the plane of expression is sound. shells.
N-r: ball – z phonemes: ˂мˈ˃˂а˃˂чˈ˃ (MFSh); /mˈ//a//hˈ/; Sound composition: [мˈӓчˈ]
Phoneme positions.
Phonological position- this is a condition for the use of a phoneme in speech: in various. conventional the same phoneme can appear in different sounds. appearances.
The same pose. can be considered as phonetic. and as a phonological
friend [drºukʹk]
˂г˃ in this word is realized at the end of the word [k]. Here phonetic. and phonological pos. match up.
Phonetich. pose: [g]ǁ[k]-stun (X change) [drºukʹk].
Phonological pos.: ˂g˃presented at the end of the word [k] or [k]→˂g˃ (no friend(+)a).
However, there are cases when there are no matches:
sadder [grºusˈnˈeˆi˰ь]; tastier [fkºusˈnˈeˆi˰ь]
Phonetich. pos.: [сˈ]-in given. examples are the same (assim. by mg.)
Phonological pos. different:
1) [сˈ] before ˂тˈ˃(sad(+)ь)˂grustˈnˈeje˃
2) [сˈ] before ˂нˈ˃ ˂tastyˈеje˃
Strong pose – position, in which phoneme is best. performs its functions in a manner; in the next pos. These phoneme features are limited, because a phoneme has 2 bases. f-ii signal. and pepper, then select position:
Signal strength etc. pos.
Pepper strength etc. pos.
In signal strength pos. The phoneme realizes its distinctive features, therefore the sound. representative of 1 phoneme, i.e. per sound. hiding 1 phoneme.
Signal sl. pos.: pos. non-discrimination of phoneme neutralization. In significatively weak positions, phonemes are limited in their ability to distinguish between different words and morphemes. In this position. sound yavl. representative of several phonemes, i.e. for the sound hiding 2 or more phonemes.
With Masha [smaʹshʰi˰], with Olya [sºoʹlˈʹi˰] ꞊˃sign. strength pos., because [s]→˂s˃,[sº]→˂s˃
The question arises: which sound [s] or [sº] reflects the ideal portrait of a phoneme in the linguistic consciousness of a native speaker?
The perceptually strong position for a given phoneme is the sound position. are not conditioned by this position, he is not influenced by it...
In Perts. sl. position, the quality of the sound that represents a given phoneme is determined by this position.
In this case, what corresponds to our linguistic consciousness cannot correspond to what appears at the tip of the tongue.
[s] - representative of the phoneme ˂с˃ in pepper. strong position
[сº] is a representative of the phoneme ˂с˃ in a perceptually weak position.
Since he is not conditioned by position, he heads a series of alternating...
Since [сº] is conditioned by position, but is in a significatively strong position, it is not the main representative of the phoneme, that is, it is not dominant and occupies the second position, following directly with the sound [s] in a series of positionally alternating sounds representing ˂ With.
That. ˂с˃: [сǁсºǁсˈǁзǁзˈǁж:ǁш:ǁжˈ:ǁш:ˈǁᴓ]
[s]→˂s˃: with Kolya [skºoʹlˈilyi˰]
[sˈ]→˂s˃: with Timur [sˈtˈimºuʹrm]
[z]→˂с˃: with Galya[zgaˈlˈilyi˰]
[zˈ]→˂s˃: with Dima [zˈdˈiʹmyi˰]
[f:]→˂s˃: with Zhenya [f:eʹnˈnyi˰]
[w:]→˂s˃: with Shura [sh:ºуʹрьи˰]
[f:ˈ]→˂s˃: with Chbanov [f:ˈbaʹnjf]
[w:ˈ]→˂s˃: happiness [w:ˈasˈi˰ь]
[ᴓ]→˂с˃: with Shchukar [w:ʹºukᴧрºоʹм]
The concept of phonetic position
| Parameter name | Meaning |
| Article topic: | The concept of phonetic position |
| Rubric (thematic category) | Education |
Due to the dynamic nature of Russian stress, pronunciation energy between the syllables of a word is distributed unevenly. The vowel in stressed syllables is pronounced clearly, clearly, it is in strong position. In unstressed syllables, vowels are articulated less clearly and change their sound; they are reduced. The unstressed vowel position is weak.
Consonants can also be in strong and weak positions. Strong The position for consonants is the position before the vowels [a], [o], [u], [i], weak- at the end of a word, before deaf and voiced consonants, in which consonants paired in deafness and voicedness do not differ, as well as the position of consonants before the front vowel [e], in which the possibility of hard consonants paired with soft ones is excluded. It is important to note that for the consonant [ ј ] strong position - at the beginning of a word and before stressed vowels (yul A – [ј st ъ], paradise O n – [ra ј O n], weak - the remaining positions of this sound in the word. Weak variant iota - And non-syllabic [i] (m A th – [m A i], m And ly – [m And ly i]).
[И] appears in place of letters e, e, yu, i, and, when they denote two sounds [је], [јо], [ју], [ја], [ји].
1) at the beginning of a word: e is – [ј uh ]is, e f – [ј O ]and, Yu nga – [ј at ]nga, I block – [ј A ]block;
2) after vowels: k AYu ta-ka[ј at ]ta͵ m AI k – ma[ј A ]k, m OAnd – mo[ј And ],
3) after separators Kommersant And b: With ъe l s[ј uh ]l, Solov bAnd solov[ј And ].
PHONETIC LAW IN THE FIELD OF VOWEL SOUNDS
Reduction(lat. reductio, from reducerе ʼʼbring backʼʼ, ʼʼreturnʼʼ; ʼʼreduce, reduceʼʼ) - ϶ᴛᴏ weakened articulation of sound and change in its sound.
Reduction is characteristic of all vowel sounds. Reduction can be quantitative or qualitative.
Reduction quantitative- ϶ᴛᴏ reducing the length and strength of the sound of a vowel in an unstressed syllable. Vowels are reduced quantitatively [i], [s], [y]:[son – sons – son in A], [With at day - court A- court Λ V O i].
Reduction high quality- ϶ᴛᴏ weakening and changing the sound of vowels in an unstressed syllable.
A distinction is made between the position of unstressed vowels in the first pre-stressed syllable (weak position of the first degree) and the position of unstressed vowels in the remaining unstressed syllables, ᴛ.ᴇ. in the second pre-stress, third pre-stress, first post-stress, second post-stress, etc. (weak position of the second degree). Vowels in the weak position of the second degree undergo greater reduction than vowels in the weak position of the first degree.
Unstressed vowels [ah, oh, uh] are pronounced shorter and change their quality:
in a weak position of the first degree, i.e. in the first pre-shock position, they are reduced by 1.5-2.5 times;
in weak position of the second degree vowels [ah, oh, uh] are reduced by 4-5 times.
The degree of reduction depends on the style (manner) of a person’s pronunciation and on his territorial affiliation.
The concept of phonetic position - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "The concept of phonetic position" 2017, 2018.
weak phoneme.Strong phonemes appear in the phonetic position in which the largest number of sound units is distinguished, for example, vowels in a position under stress. This phonetic position is called strong position; stressed vowels are strong phonemes, and their phonetic position is a strong position.
Weak phonemes appear in those positions in which fewer sound units are distinguished. This phonetic position is called a weak position. Thus, in an unstressed position, vowels appear in a smaller number of sound units (cf. the coincidence in the first pre-stressed syllable of the sounds [o] and [a]: val - [voly], vol - [ox]). Unstressed vowels are weak phonemes, and their phonetic position is weak position.
Strong and weak phonemes have different distinctive powers: the distinctive function of phonemes in strong positions has the greatest degree, in weak positions it has a lower degree.
The main type of strong vowel phonemes. The main type of strong vowel phoneme is the variety of this phoneme that is least dependent on phonetic conditions, i.e. stressed at the beginning of a word before a hard consonant ( and the river, oh spa, go away, and far away, by the river).
Varieties of strong vowel phonemes. Strong vowel phonemes, differing under stress, change their quality depending on the position before the consonant and after the consonant of one or another quality, at the absolute beginning and at the absolute end of the word and appear in their different varieties - more anterior or posterior, which are presented in the following table variations of vowel phonemes:
| At the beginning of the word | After hard consonants | After soft consonants | |||
| (I) not in front of soft ones | (II) before soft | (III) not in front of soft ones | (IV) before soft | (V) not in front of soft ones | (VI) before soft |
| [A] Oh |
[A ] ah |
[A] yes, yes |
[A ] mother |
[ A] although they want |
[ A ] crush |
| [O] Oh |
[O ] axis |
[O] then, current |
[O ] salt |
[ O] everything, with everything |
[ O ] aunt |
| [e] er |
[e] er |
- |
- |
[e] not no |
[e] stranded |
| [And] their |
[u] Name |
[s] we washed |
[s] dust |
[And] sleep, sleeping |
[u] miles |
| [y] wow |
[y] hive |
[y] that, here |
[y] path |
[y] drink, drink |
[y] trousers |
A comparison of the variations of strong vowel phonemes (see table) shows that they differ only in the place of formation and that the place of formation of vowel phonemes (a number of vowels) is not a defining feature of the vowel phoneme.
The given diagram of variations of strong vowel phonemes should be supplemented with instructions on the pronunciation of stressed strong phonemes after back-lingual and hard sibilants.
After back-linguals (g, k, x), not before soft consonants, the same vowels are pronounced as in position I; Moreover, before [e] and [i] the back-lingual ones appear in their soft varieties: [kak], [kom], [kum], [k"em], [k"it].
After the back linguals, before soft consonants, the same vowels are pronounced as in position II, and the back linguals before [e] and [i] appear in their soft variations: [ka m"n"], [ko s"t"], [ku s"t"ik], [k"êp"i], [k"ûs"t"].
After hard sibilants (zh, sh), before hard and soft consonants, all vowel phonemes except<е>, change in the same way as in positions III and IV, and the phoneme<е>appears in variation<э>.
Weak vowel phonemes (reduced vowels) of the first prestressed syllable. The quality of weak vowel phonemes turns out to depend, on the one hand, on the position in the unstressed syllable and, on the other hand, on the quality of neighboring consonants. When determining phonetic positions for vowel phonemes of the first pre-stressed syllable, only the quality of the preceding consonant is practically taken into account, which makes it possible to distinguish the following phonetic positions:
I - at the beginning of a word, II - after a paired hard consonant. III - after a soft consonant, IV - after a hard hissing (variants of vowel phonemes).
The system of weak vowel phonemes of the first pre-stressed syllable (varieties of weak phonemes) in comparison with the system of strong vowel phonemes is shown in the following table:
| At the beginning of a word (I) | After a paired hard consonant (II) | After a soft consonant (III) | After a hard sizzling (IV) | |
| [A] | [? ] [?rba] |
[?] [br?la] |
[i e ] [p "i e t a k] |
[?] [f?ra] |
| [O] | [?] [?button] |
[?] [d?bro] |
[i e ] [m "i e do k] |
[?] [sh?f "o r] |
| [e] | [s e] [s e ta sh] |
[s e] [shy e hundred] |
[i e ] [l "i e so k] |
[s e] [shy e hundred k] |
| [And] | [And] [So] |
[s] [py l "et] |
[u] [p"ul"it"] |
[s] [fat to] |
| [y] | [y] [lesson] |
[y] [there ] |
[y] [with "ud" |
[y] [noise "et"] |
Phoneme options<а>, <о>, <е>of the first pre-stressed syllable after hard consonants coincide with the variants of these phonemes at the absolute beginning of the word. These are the sounds [Λ], [ы и].
The exception is the phoneme<и>, which at the absolute beginning of the word is realized by the sound [i]: [Iva n], and in the first pre-stressed syllable after hard consonants - by the sound [s]: [s-yva n'm].
Variants of vowel phonemes of the second prestressed syllable. In all pre-stressed syllables, except the first, weak vowel phonemes are in a weak position of the second degree. This position has two varieties: I - after a paired hard consonant and II - after a soft consonant. After a hard consonant, vowel phonemes are realized by the sounds [ъ], [ы], [у]; after the soft one - with the sounds [b], [i], [u]. For example: [b] - [barΛba n], [kalkola], [y] - [revenue t", [y] - [murΛv"ê], [b] - [drink k], [i] - [k "islΛta], [y] - [l" are poor].
Variants of vowel phonemes of overstressed syllables. Weak vowel phonemes of overstressed syllables differ in the degree of reduction: the weakest reduction is observed in the final open syllable. There are two positions of weak phonemes in overstressed syllables: after hard consonants and after soft consonants.
The system of variants of vowel phonemes of overstressed syllables is presented in the table.
| After hard consonants | After soft consonants | ||
| In a non-final syllable | In the final syllable | In a non-final syllable | In the final syllable |
| [s] - [i] [you zhyt] - (survived) [you zht] - (squeezed out) |
[ы] - [ъ] [go lym] - (naked) [go lm] - (naked) |
[i] - [ъ] [will be] - (wake up) [bu d"t"b] - (you will) |
[i] - [b] [with "ûn"im] - (blue) [s"ûn"m] - (blue) |
| [ъ] [voice] - (vote) [a tlas] - (atlas) |
[ъ] [go ls] - (voice) [a tls] - (atlas) |
[b] - [b] [kl "äch"m"i] - (nags) [kl "äch" ъм"i] - (nags) |
[b] - [b] [kl "äch"m] - (to the nags) [kl "äch" ъм] - (to the nags) |
| [y] [to rpus] - (to the body) |
[y] [frame] - (frame) |
[y] [half-length ear] - (pole pole) |
[y] [by pаl "у] - (on the field) |
As the table shows, after hard consonants the vowels [ы], [ъ], [у] are distinguished; Moreover, the sounds [ы] and [ъ] are weakly opposed. After soft consonants, the vowels [i], [ъ], [ь], [у] are distinguished; Moreover, the sounds [i] - [b], [b] - [b] are distinguished by weak demarcation.
