1. 1 1.3 Allophones In English, [p, p h ] are two different phones and are variants of the phoneme /p/. Such variants of a phoneme are called allophones of the same phoneme. In this case the allophones are said to be in complementary distribution because they never occur in the same context:  [p] occurs after [s] while [p h ] occurs in other places.

2. 2 /p/  [p] / [s] _____ [p h ] elsewhere This phenomenon of variation in the pronunciation of phonemes in different positions is called allophony or allophonic variation.

3. 3 Velarization: clear l and dark l / /  [ ] / _____ V [  ] / V _____ Think about tell and telling!

4. 4 Phonetic similarity: the allophones of a phoneme must bear some phonetic resemblance. Apart from complementary distribution, a phoneme may sometimes have free variants. For example, the final consonant of cup may not be released by some speakers so there is no audible sound at the end of this word.

5. 5 In The

6. 6 Free variation is often found in regional difference.  For  Indi

7. 7 In dictionaries, regional free variants are often listed side by side. Of course, a dictionary produced in the UK will normally list the British pronunciation as the main variant.

8. 8 Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (John Wells)