Phoneme : is the smallest unit of language which makes difference in meaning.

- Phoneme is a set of allophones.

- An essential property of a phoneme is that it functions contrastively
- A phoneme is a distinct speech sound in a language

example : Sat /s/ , Cat /K/

More Examples on Phonemes

Initially Transcription Phonemes

breeze , freeze bri:z , fri:z /b/, /f/

Middle
Bill , bell bil . bel /I/ , /e/

End
Had , hat had , hat /d/, /t/

Minimal pairs: are pairs of words which vary in a single speech sound at a single
location in the word (e.g. [sæt] and [kæt])
come: /kɅm/
gum : gɅm/
The restrictions on minimal pairs are:
1. The two words have different meanings
2. Only one sound is different
3. The words have the same number of sounds
4. The sound that is different is in the same exact environment (place) in both
words
Example: "rewind" and "resigned" different number of letters, but same sounds
except one sound (ri waind, ri zaind). This makes them a minimal pair

Examples on minimal pairs

(bad, mad), (thick, sick), (bell, bill)
Examples on minimal sets:
(big, pig, rig, fig, dig, wig.) (bad, sad, had, dad,mad)

allophone
One of two or more variants of the same phoneme in a language. It doesn't change
meaning.
- pen p (strong puff)
- Spin P (weak puff) .
- Stop p (No puff)

Aspiration: changes meaning in Thai, but not in English.

p en pen (No change in meaning)
p ai ("danger") pai ("to go") changes meaning
/p / and /p/ are phonemes in Thai, but allophones in English
Allophones in Arabic make problems for English Learners:

( /P/ and /b/ Phonemes in English, but Allophones in Arabic)

in English
- /P/ & /b/ are two distinctive phonemes
for example : Pray , bray

In Arabic
{P} & {b} are allophones for the phoneme /b/,
for example : Pepsi , bebsi

The problem arises when we pronounce :pray as bray.

Where can I bray? He means "Where can I pray?
Conclusion allophone

- Substituting one allophone for another allophone of the same phoneme

doesn't lead to a different word, just a different pronunciation of the same
word.

- For this reason, allophones are said to be non- contrastive