Problems of the phonemic inventory of English vowels

The 1st problem of the phonological analysis is to establish phonemes in a language. There are some difficulties in English:

1. IF THERE IS A SCHWA-VOWEL PHONEME? Though the schwa-vowel can be opposed only to weakened vowel phonemes, which are partially reduced due to their position in unstressed syllables, it can form phonological oppositions with the number of other phonemes and can distinguish words (accept-except, solar-solo).

2. IF DIPHTHONGS AND TRIPHTHONGS ARE MONOPHONEMIC OR BIPHONEMIC CLUSTERS? Trubetzkoy worked out a number of rules which help to determine whether a sound of a complex nature is monophonemic: 1) a phoneme is indivisible, as no syllable division can occur within a phoneme; 2) a phoneme is produced by 1 articulatory effort; 3) the duration of a phoneme should not exceed that of other phonemes in the language => 1. The syllabis and articulatory indivisibility of diphthongs and their duration of English historically vowels, clearly determine their monophonemic character. 2. triphthongs [aue, aie] are not produced by a single articulatory effort, as there is an increase in the force of articulation and intensity for the 1st and the last element. The syllabic division generally occurs in between the diphthong and the schwa-vowel. So they are regarded as biphonemic clusters.

In such a way it has been established that in RP there are 20 vowel phonemes (12 monophthongs, 8 diphthongs).

Problems of the phonemic inventory of English consonants

The 1st problem of the phonological analysis is to establish phonemes in a language. There are some difficulties in English:

1. IF [J] AND [W] ARE ALLOPHONES OF [I] AND [U] OR THEY ARE SEPARATE PHONEMES? Some linguists treat them as allophones on account of their weakness and unstable articulatory features. Others treat them as phonemes, because, as they say, [j] and [w] can form phonological oppositions with each other and with other phonemes (yell-well, yet-met); moreover, they occur in phonetic positions that are generally occupied by consonant phonemes, consequently, they cannot be considered to be allophones of vowel phonemes.

2. IF THE SOUNDS [Ч], [дЖ], [TR], [DR], [TS], [DZ] ARE MONOPHONEMIC? Trubetzkoy worked out a number of rules which help to determine whether a sound of a complex nature is monophonemic: 1) a phoneme is indivisible, as no syllable division can occur within a phoneme; 2) a phoneme is produced by 1 articulatory effort; 3) the duration of a phoneme should not exceed that of other phonemes in the language => 1. acoustic and physiologic analysis proved that the sounds [ч] and [дж] are produced by 1 articulatory effort, and their duration doesn't exceed the duration of either [t] or [ш], or [d]. Besides, no syllabic division occurs within the sounds. So they are monophonemic. 2. [ts] and [dz] are obviously biphonemic combinations, because their duration exceeds the average duration of either [t], [d], [s] or [z]. 3. some linguists consider [tr] and [dr] as affricates as they are closely linked in the pronunciation of Englishmen. But most phoneticians regard them as biphonemic clusters.

Types of phonetic transcription

TRANSCRIPTION - a visual system of notation of speech sounds; a set of symbols representing speech sounds; phonetic alphabet. The 1st attempt to use transcription - the 16th century. In 1904 the modern transcription was accepted by International Phonetic Association (based on Latin alphabet, is universal).

There are 2 types of transcription:

1. PHONEMIC/LINGUISTICALLY BROAD - all the phonemes of the language are marked with one symbol.

2. PHONETIC/ALLOPHONIC/LINGUISTICALLY NARROW - 1 symbol per 1 allophone of the phoneme (separate symbols for voiced and devoiced consonants, light and dark "l", syllabic sonorants, etc.).

The phonemic (1) transcription has an advantage over the phonetic one (2) because it is easier, quicker, more convenient to write.

The syllable as a phonetic, phonological unit. The functions of the syllable. Structural peculiarities of the English syllable

When we divide our speech into the smallest units, we divide it into syllables. SYLLABLE - 1 articulatory effort, the smallest perceptable unit; a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds.

Functions:

1. CONSTITUTIVE - a syllable is able to be a part of a word itself; the syllables form the language units of greater magnitude - words, morphemes, utterances.

2. DISTINCTIVE - a syllable is able to differentiate words and word-forms: a name - an aim, a nice house - an ice house.

Structural peculiarities:

1) many syllables have 1 or more consonants preceding the nucleus; these make up the syllable ONSET.

2) many syllables have 1 or more consonants following the nucleus; they make up the syllable CODA.

3) the combination of nucleus and coda has a special significance, making up the rhyming property of a syllable.

Theories of syllable formation and syllable division

1. THE MOST ANCIENT ONE: there are as many syllables in the word as there are vowels.

2. EXPIRATORY/CHESTPULSE/PRESSURE THEORY (American psychologist R.H. Stetson): there are as many syllables in the word as there are expires/chestpulses.

3. SONORITY THEORY (Danish phonetician O. Jesperson): there are as many syllables in the word as there are peaks of prominence/sonority. O. Jesperson proved that the least sonorous sounds are those for which the mouth is closed (the most sonorous: open vowels - mid open vowels - close vowels - semi-vowels - sonorants - voiced fricatives - voiced stops - voiceless fricatives - voiceless stops: the least sonorous)

4. THEORY OF MUSCULAR TENSION (L. Sherba): the centre of a syllable is a syllable-forming phoneme and the sounds preceding and following it make an arc of tension. 3 types of consonants: 1. initially strong: beginning - strong, ending - weak (time, see); 2. finally strong: ending - strong, beginning - weak (sad, pet); 3. double-peaked: combination of 2 similar sounds, beginning and ending - energetic, middle - weak (good-day, pen-knife). This theory helps to understand when we pronounce "a name" and "an aim".

5. LOUDNESS THEORY (Zhinkin - Moscow school): every phoneme possesses a specific loudness; a syllable is a peak of loudness. Loudness shouldn't be confused with sonority (loudness - amplitude of sound waves, sonority - degree of noise).

6. ACOUSTIC THEORY: peak of syllable vowel or sonorant has more prominence than consonant.