Kenneth L. Pike

Phonemics Phonemes / / Allophone [ ] Abstract contrastive units in a language Never pronounced Realized by one or more allophones Allophone [ ] Sound units that are a physical reality Always pronounced Variation of a phoneme Bus driver example

Two possibilities Allophones of separate phonemes /t/ /th/ [t] [th] Allophones of the same phoneme /t/

Allophones of separate phonemes Proof Minimal pair “sip” and “zip” /s/ /z/ [s] [z]

Allophones of separate phonemes Are [h] and [?] allophones of separate phonemes? [kahon] “box” [?umagos] “to flow” [humagos] “to paint” [ka?on] “to fetch” YES /h/ /?/ [h] [?]

Allophones of separate phonemes Are [p] and [b] allophones of separate phonemes? [peso] “(monetary unit)” [beso] “kiss” [kompa] “mate” [komba] “skipping” YES /p/ /b/ [p] [b]

Allophones of the same phoneme Proof Complementary distribution The allophones never occur in the same environment /the man/ [bus driver] [security guard]

Allophones of the same phoneme Are [t] and [th] allophones of the same phoneme in English? YES /t/ [t] [th] But what about in Hindi?

[t] and [th] in Hindi [tal] “beat” [th al] “plate” Allophones of separate phonemes /t/ /th/ [t] [th]

Different mappings English /t/ [t] [th] Hindi /t/ /th/ Pause here to talk about phonetic reality and the different ways language carve it up

How to do phonemic analysis Examine your data The question will ask about certain sounds; pay special attention to those sounds. Don’t get confused by extra data. Pronounce each item. Look for minimal pairs involving those sounds If you find one, you can conclude that the sounds are allophones of separate phonemes If there are no minimal pairs, list the environments in which each sound occurs If they never occur in the same environment, you can conclude that they are allophones of the same phoneme

Greek Are [k] and [x] allophones of the same phoneme or allophones of separate phonemes? [kano] “do” [kori] “daughter” [xori] “dances” [xrima] “money” [xano] “lose” [xufta] “handful” [krima] “shame” [kufeta] “bonbons” [ceri] “candle” [kali] “charms”

Conclusion [k] and [x] are allophones of separate phonemes /k/ /x/ [k] [k]

Sango Are [r] and [l] allophones of the same phoneme or allophones of separate phonemes? [tere] “body” [kiri] “return” [wali] “woman” [wara] “like” [koli] “man” [nila] “then” [gere] “leg” [doli] “elephant” Sango

List the environments [r] [l] e___e a___i e___e o___i i___i o___i a___a i___a

Conclusion [r] and [l] are allophones of the same phoneme /l/ [r] [l]

Other considerations Suspicious pairs Free variation Consider only “suspicious” pairs that have some features in common Free variation Common in all languages

Phonetic reality filtered by your phonemic grid

Phonetic reality filtered by your phonemic grid