1. Kenneth L. Pike

2. 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

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

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

5. 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] [?]

6. 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]

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

8. 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?

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

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

11. 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

12. 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”

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

14. 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

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

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

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

18. Phonetic reality filtered by your phonemic grid

19. Phonetic reality filtered by your phonemic grid