Linguistics | The Phoneme and Allophone

The Phoneme

Concept and definition

 A phoneme is the smallest/minimal distinctive unit of sound. The first aspect which is highlighted in this definition is the word “smallest”.

 The phoneme is applied to denote any of the minimal units of speech sound in a language.( What is language? )

 The word “smallest” means that phoneme cannot be subdivided into smaller units, The second aspect which is highlighted in this definition is the word “distinctive”. “Distinctive” means that a phoneme is a structural unit that distinguishes meaning.

 Each phoneme is distinct from the other in a native speaker’s mind, and helps the speaker/listener distinguish one word from the other.

 Taken from: Phonology. Analysis and Theory - Edmund Gussmann - CUP (2002)

 Phonemes do not establish meaning. By themselves, phonemes do bear or express meaning. 

 The phoneme is the smallest unit within a language that is able, when combined with other units to contrasts two words, to establish word meanings and distinguish among them. In this sense, phonemes are said to contrastive. 

 Phonemes contrast (i.e. differentiate) words in meaning. They make a difference in meaning. They provide to distinguish one word from another. If two sounds are found to contrast in some environments, they are considered to be phonemes. 

 Let’s consider these data from Thai and Bengali languages. 

(Thai)

 Taken from: An Introduction to Language - Victoria Fromkin et. al. (2003)

 The same distinction occurs in Bengali.

 Taken from: Linguistics. An Introduction - Radford et al - CUP (2009)

In English, however, aspirated plosives are not not phonemes as they do not contrast meaning.

 

 Stops in English, voiceless ([p], [t], and [k]) are aspirated and become ([ph], [th], and [kh]) when they occur immediately before a stressed vowel, and there is no [s] before them. The occurrence of these voiceless aspirated plosives is then predictable and they do not function to distinguish the meanings of the words in which they occur separately from their non-aspirated counterparts.

 Thus, in Hindi, Bengali and Thai languages, , [ph] and [p], [kh] and [kæt], [th] and [t] are distinct 

 Phonemes of these languages as they distinguish word meaning, whereas in English, [ph] and [p], [kh] and [kæt], [th] and [t] are allophones of the same phoneme.

Taken from: Linguistics. An Introduction - Radford et al - CUP (2009)

Allophone:

 Allophones are the phonetic variants of one phoneme. They are the different phonetic realizations/ of a phoneme, the various surface manifestations of a phoneme.

 Allophones then are the variant phonetic forms of a phoneme that do not contrast, i.e. they do not made a difference in meaning, the distinction, between phonemes and allophones help a lot explain the difference between phonetics and phonology. 

A phoneme is a sound that distinguishes significance in a language, while an allophone is a phonetic variant of a particular phoneme that does not affect meaning.