Phonemes and allophones

Kuiper and Allan Chapter 5.2

Phonemes and allophones again

A set of allophones are the allophones of the same phoneme if:
they never contrast; are in complementary distribution; are phonetically similar; are predictable realizations of a phoneme in a particular local phonetic environment.

Phonemes are abstract.

Phonemic analysis
consists of three parts:
the phonemic system the phonotactics the allophonic rules

The English phoneme system

We will suppose that the transcription symbols in Kuiper and Allan represent the phonemes of English.

Phonotactics
deals with what sounds may go next to others in sequences of sound.

Exercise
Look at the sequences of sounds below. Which could be the sound sequences of English words?
/sprUldZ/ /striSt/ /PmjN/ /fniz/ /grultS/ /swNk/

Phonotactic rules
are rules which restrict the permissible sequences of sounds in a language. English initial consonant clusters are restricted.
maximum of three first of which is /s/ second of which is a voiceless stop, /p t k/ third is an approximant, /l r j w/

Allophonic rules
Allophones are realizations of phonemes in specific phonetic contexts. Therefore you can write rules which predict the allophonic realization of a particular phoneme in context.

The shape of allophonic rules

Allophonic rules have:
an input output a conditioning factor

Input is a phonemic form. Output is a phonetic representation. Conditioning factor is an environment.

The format of allophonic rules

Input ---> output / environment A particular input is realized as a particular output in a given environment. e.g. /t/ ----> [R] / V____ V (as in some American pronunciations of butter)