Lecture 3. English Consonants as Units of the Phonological System

Sounds can function as units of language only if they differ from one another. Mutually distinctive sounds are called phonemes. As has been pointed out the main method of establishing phonemes of a given language is the commutation test or discovery of minimal pairs through which the phonetic status of each sound is established.

When in a contrastive pair one consonant phoneme is opposed to any other consonant phoneme in at least one position, this pair is called minimal. For example, in the minimal pair “pen – Ben” the phoneme /p/ is opposed to the phoneme /b/ due to the presence and absence of voice; it is the only distinctive feature of this minimal pair. All the other features of the pair pen – Ben are irrelevant. If there are more than one distinctive features in a pair, it is called sub – minimal.

For example, the pair treasure – pressure is sub – minimal, because the opposition is due to:

(1) the presence and absence of voice in the - ∫ phoneme, (2) forelingual articulation of the /t/ phoneme and bilabial articulation of the /p/ phoneme. All the other features are irrelevant. Minimal pairs occur in identical environments, sub – minimal – in similar environments.

Distinctively irrelevant features can be of 2 types:

• incidental, which may or may not be present in a phoneme;

• and such without which the phoneme can’t exist.

e.g. Palatalisation is phonemically irrelevant incidental in English and relevant in Russian: мат – мать.

Classificatory principles (listen in Lecture 3) provide the basis for the establishment of the following distinctive oppositions in the system of consonants of the English language.

1. Work of the Vocal Cords

Voiceless vs. Voiced

pen-Ben ten-den coat-goat

This opposition is simultaneously based on fortis - lenis distinction

2. Active Organ of Speech and the Place of Articulation

The distinctive oppositions are:

1. Labial vs. lingual

pain-can fame-tame

2. Lingual vs. pharyngeal (glottal)

Tim-him foam-home

3. Manner of the Production of Noise

The distinctive oppositions are:

1. Occlusive (stops) vs. constrictive

Pine-fine came-lame mine-thine

2. Constrictive vs. occlusive – constrictive (affricates)

fare-chair fail-jail

Within these groups (occlusive and constrictive) noise consonants may be opposed to sonorants.

1. occlusive: noise vs. nasal sonorants

2. constrictive: noise vs. sonorants

There are other oppositions:

3. constrictive unicentral vs. constrictive-bicentral

4. constrictive consonants with a flat narrowing vs. constrictive-bicentral with a round narrowing

4. Position of the Soft Palate

This principle of consonant classification provides the basis for the following distinctive oppositions.

Oral vs. nasal

pit-pin seek-seen thieves-theme

The method of minimal pairs helps to identify 24 consonants phonemes in the English language.

English Vowels as Units of the Phonological System.

Classificatory principles (listed in Lecture 3) provide the bases for the following distinctive oppositions in t he system of English vowel phonemes.

1. Position of the Lips

Rounded vs. unrounded

2. Position of the Tongue

1. Horizontal movements of the tongue

1. front vs. mixed

2. back vs. mixed

2. Vertical movements of the tongue

1. close (high) vs. mid-open (mid)

2. open (low) vs. mid-open (mid)

As is known, within each group which we single out according to the horizontal and vertical movements of the tongue there are sub-groups.

Front vowels are subdivided into fully front and front retracted: /i: e / are fully front, /I/ is front retracted. Its independent phonological status can be proved by the existence of minimal pairs.

Back vowels are also subdivided into filly back / u: a:/ and back advanced /u/. The independent phonological status of back-advanced vowels can be proved by the existence of pniminal pairs.

Close (or high), mid-open (or mid) as well as open (or low) vowels are subdivided into vowels of narrow and broad variation. Thus /i: u:/ belong to vowels of narrow variation, and /I , u/ belong to the vowels of broad variation. Their independent phonological status can be proved by the existence of such pairs as: Pete-pit pool-pull

Within the group of mid-open (or mid) vowel /e/ belong to the phonemes of narrow variation and // belongs to the subgroup of mid vowels of broad variation. The independent phonological status of these phonemes can be proved by the existence of such pairs as: pence-sixpence.

Open (or low) vowels are also subdivided into the phonemes of broad variation and of narrow variation. Their independent phonological status can be proved by the existence of minimal pairs: bord-bard.