Phoneme Theory

 The concept of phoneme has been studied and explained in three different schools of phonetics. Firstly, according to a school, the phoneme represents a physical phonetic reality. According to David Jones (1931), a phoneme is a family of sounds in a given language and consists of an important sound of the language together with other related sounds. It takes place in particular sound sequences. Gleason (1955) defines the phoneme as a class of sounds that are phonetically similar and show certain characteristic patterns of distribution in the language or dialect under consideration. Under this view, the phoneme is seen as a convenient label for several phonetic units. For example, /p/ may stand for [p], [p:], [ph], etc.

Secondly, in the Prague school, phoneme is defined in purely phonological terms. According to Trubetzkoy (1939), the phoneme is the sum of the phonologically relevant properties of a sound. For him, phonemes are defined in terms of oppositions in a phonological system. Thus, a phoneme is a minimal unit that can function to distinguish meanings. It is not a sound or even a group of sounds, but rather an abstraction, a theoretical construct on the phonological level.

Thirdly, the phoneme is defined as a mental reality. It is considered to be the outcome of the intention of the speaker, or the impression of the hearer, or both (Twaddell 1935).

In sum, the phoneme theory considers the different definitions of the phoneme and attempts to describe the distinctive sounds of a particular language and the relations existing between sounds.

Rules for Establishing Phonemes:

To establish the phonemes of a particular language, different phoneticians and phonologists have invested their endeavors and hence postulated varied principles and rules. The goal is to determine which sounds function as distinctive units that can change meaning. Here are the key rules and methods:

1.       Minimal Pair Test:

A minimal pair is a pair of words that differ by only one sound in the same position and have different meanings. The purpose of this test is to determine if two sounds create a minimal pair; they are considered separate phonemes. For example, pat /pæt/ vs. bat /bæt/---- here /p/ and /b/ are different phonemes in English.

  Contrastive Distribution:

Two sounds are in contrastive distribution if they can occur in the same environment and change meaning. If sounds contrast, they are separate phonemes. For example, /t/ and /d/ in ten and den.

 Complementary distribution:

Sounds occur in different environments and never contrast; they are allophones of the same phoneme. For example, [ph] (aspirated) in pin vs. [p] (unaspirated) in spin are allophones of /p/ in English.

4.       Phonetic Similarity:

allophones of the same phoneme must be phonetically similar. For example, [t] and [th] are similar in articulation (both are voiceless alveolar stops).

5.       Native Speaker Intuition:

Native speakers usually don’t perceive allophones as different sounds, but they perceive different phonemes clearly. For example, English speakers don’t notice [ph] vs. [p], but they notice /p/ vs /b/.

6.       Free variation (optional consideration):

Sometimes, two sounds occur in the same environment but do not change meaning and are used interchangeably. These sounds are in free variation and may he treated as allophones.

Summary:

Criterion	Outcome
Minimal pair	Separate phonemes
Contrastive distribution	Separate phonemes
Complementary distribution	Allophones of the same phoneme
Phonetic similarity	Supports allophone classification
Native Speaker Intuition	Supports phonemic distinction