Debates Concerning the Phoneme and Phonological Matters

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“Phoneme” and “allophone” are terms of phonological theory used by linguists while discussing various phonological problems. People produce a continuous stream of sounds while speaking, it is segmented into smaller units mostly for the convenience of researchers. A phoneme is defined as the smallest segment unit of the speech flow. It might be determined using the minimal pair test, presupposing comparison of two words differing by a single sound and having different lexical meanings. For example, the words “day” and “lay” differing only by the initial sound not only have different meanings but even belong to different parts of speech. Analyzing the results of the minimal pair test, these /d/ and /l/ may be considered phonemes. Collins and Mees (2003) noted that “the contrastive units of sound which can be used to change meaning are termed phonemes” (p. 10). For the reason that the words “day” and “lay” may be contrasted differing by a single initial sound, /d/ and /l/ may be defined as phonemes.

At the same time not all differences in the articulation of sounds are sufficient for changing the meaning of words. Collins and Mees (2003) admitted that “not every small difference that can be heard between one sound and another is enough to change the meaning of words” (p. 11). Inhabitants of various regions of the same country as well as the representatives of various social groups may have significant differences in pronunciation of the same sounds though these peculiarities, as a rule, do not become hindrances for their mutual understanding. These alternative realizations of the same phoneme in the same phonetic environment are defined as allophones, phonemes realized in free variation. The same sound may have various realizations being influenced by its phonetic environment. For example, the sound [t] in the word “table” is a bit different from the same sound in the word “stem” (aspirated in the first case and lacking aspiration in the second one). Still, both realizations of the phoneme are recognized as t by the speakers. Roach (2000) noted that “When we talk about different realizations of phonemes, we sometimes call these realizations allophones” (p. 33). These differences caused by the influence of the phonetic environment in the speech flow are defined as realizations in complementary distribution or allophones.

/h/ and /ŋ/ as separate phonemes

Notwithstanding the fact that at the present moment /h/ and /ŋ/ are in complementary distribution in the English language (RP and southern accents), both /h/ occurring only word-initially and /ŋ/ occurring word-medially and word-finally may be regarded separate phonemes for a number of reasons.

To begin with, these sounds are able to change the meanings of words. For example the words “sin” and “sing” are differentiated by a single sound but have different lexical meanings. The same goes for the words “hit” and “lit”. Using this minimal pair test as the method for determining the phonemes of a language, this evidence might be considered sufficient for proving the statement that both /h/ and /ŋ/ are separate phonemes. Still, the phonology of English is not unproblematic. The complementary distribution of these sounds makes linguists doubt the existence of these phonemes in general. It is doubtless that /h/ and /ŋ/ are separate speech segments. Supposing that /h/ and /ŋ/ are not separate phonemes, researchers need to investigate the nature of these phonetic phenomena. Due to peculiarities characteristic of these sounds, they cannot be regarded mere allophones of certain phonemes. Notwithstanding the fact that the initial /h/ rather often undergoes reduction and might be omitted in the flow of speech in RP this sound is rather distinct.

Neither complementary distribution nor free variation of /h/ and /ŋ/ can prevent speakers from recognizing them as separate phonemes.

/p t k/ set after /s/

The debates concerning the /p t k/ or /b d g/ set after /s/ have been held for a rather long time. The fact that these allophones obviously share one feature of /b d g/ set being unaspirated and one feature of /p t k/ set being voiceless makes linguists discuss the character of these allophones.

The orthography rules have a significant impact on the speakers’ perception and intentions while pronouncing the sounds preceded by /s/. The possibility to use phonemes of only one of two available sets limits the linguists’ opportunities to differentiate similar words by a single sound and clarify this controversial moment by means of a minimal pair set. On the one hand, this peculiarity of the English language is rooted in the history of its development. On the other hand, it is presupposed by the principle of economy of the speakers’ efforts and the nature of the sounds. The problem is that the debates have been held in theoretical domain mostly, and only few researches have been conducted. Gonzalez (2006) investigated the language user’s classificatory behavior and made a conclusion that the speech segments in question are to be treated as allophones of /p t k/ set. It might be explained with the speakers’ intentions while pronouncing the words like spoon, stone, and sky caused by the orthography rules. The fact that being influenced by the phonetic environment, these realizations lack some features of the initial phoneme may be considered a case of realization of a phoneme in complementary distribution. Most speakers are inclined to recognize these allophones as phonemes of the /p t k/ set.

Gimson’s solutions and arguments

According to Gimson, the phonetics is the linguistic science that classifies and describes the sound of human languages. The particularity process that is involved in sound production of is the subject of the particularity phonetics. Showing interest to teaching English to native speakers and teaching it as a foreign language, he chose a position that is not characteristic for other phoneticians. The researcher offered the simplified version of RP, defining it as nuclear or international pronunciation aimed at reducing the burden of learners mastering English as a foreign language.

Shedding light upon the problems of /p t k/ set after /s/ as well as /h/ and /ŋ/ as separate phonemes, Gimson was aimed at simplifying the language material. The solution offered by the phonetician presupposed reducing the RP phoneme inventory. He considered that 14 consonants and 15 vowels (instead of 24 consonants and 20 vowels) would be enough for communicating with native speakers. The phonetician was assured that this reduction was not expected to become a hindrance for achieving the main goal of the process of communication. For this reason, the researcher was inclined to stick to the orthography rules concerning the problem of /p t k/ set after /s/. Concerning the problem of /h/ and /ŋ/ as separate phonemes, the phonetician gave preference to economizing the learners’ efforts, denying the significance of the phenomena.

Gimson made a significant contribution to development of theories of nuclear or international English, and the results of his researches were used by his followers in their researches as well as implemented in practice.

Impact of West Midlands accents on the status of /ŋ/ as a phoneme

The speakers of West Midland accents of British English pronounce ringing as /riŋgiŋg/ and sing as /siŋg/, and this fact may become evidence that /ŋ/ should be considered a separate phoneme. The cluster of /ŋg/ is a case of realization of /ŋ/ in free variation, not having impact on the speakers’ recognizing it as /ŋ/.

At the same time the fact that /ŋg/ is an allophone of /ŋ/ is insufficient for supporting the idea that /ŋ/ is a separate phoneme. It is possible that both of them are allophones of another phoneme. The problem is in defining the phoneme for which the segments /ŋg/ and /ŋ/ appear to be allophones. Notwithstanding the fact that this segment is in complementary distribution and occurs mostly word-medially and word-finally, it is widely spread and it might compensate its limitations for occurring word-initially in the English language. Using a free variant of the allophone, the speakers of the West Midlands accents neither change the meaning of the words nor add any shade of lexical meaning to them. This discrepancy is not expected to become a hindrance for other speakers’ understanding them. The use of /ŋg/ in West Midlands accents is rooted in certain traditions of the region. Despite their habit these speakers themselves are expected to recognize this sound as that /ŋ/ in accordance with the traditional transcription.

Would any alternative phonemic analysis of /ŋ/ lead to a simpler or more natural analysis of /long/

In standard phonemic analysis, we assume that the occurrence of the sound can be predicted with the help of surrounding sounds. Therefore, it is as an allophone, not a phoneme in context. The /n/ can appear in the coda of a syllable and we can predict that /n/ will occur before another velar sound, such as anger, bank etc.

An alternative possible way is to say the words, like ‘sing’ that have a silent at their end and the silent /g/ gets deleted when it comes at the end of the word. For some speakers, in fact, this deletion rule is not worth application and ‘sing’ is pronounced as /sing/. Therefore, for such speakers, we should analyze the allophone /n/. In careful pronunciation, in addition to this, some speakers insert a velar plosive at the end of the words like ‘being’ and it occurs in the Singapore English. If the velar plosive is inserted occasionally after /n/ we should analyze it as present in underlying representation. Therefore, instead of saying that it is inserted sometimes, we should say that it fails sometimes to be deleted. If this is the case, the distribution of /n/ is predictable entirely hence qualifies as an allophone, not a phoneme. We can note that words like ‘long, strong, and young’ do not have a final /g/; however, there is a /g/ when a suffix is added. It led to the further support to the possible existence in the form of base of these words. The /g/ is deleted in some cases. We can say that the /n/ is regarded as a phoneme of English; however, there are some counter-arguments as well.

References

Collins, Beverley and Mees, Inger. (2003). Practical Phonetics and Phonology: A resource book for students. New York, Routledge.
Gimson, Alfred. (1980). An introduction to the pronunciation of English. University of California.
Gonzalez, Jose. (2006). The phonological status of english oral stops after taut syllabic /s/: Evidence from speakers’ classificatory behavior. Language Design, 8, pp. 69-101.
Roach, Peter. (2000). English Phonetics and Phonology: A practical course. 2-nd edition. Cambridge University Press.

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