GROUP 2

PHONEMES VS ALLOPHONES
AND
PHONEMIC VS PHONETIC
TRANSCRIPTION
Lecturer: Tran Thi Tho
 Table of Distribution
No. Name Task
1 Le Viet Minh Nghia Read and synthesize the information
about phoneme, make the mini game and
the presentation

2 Trinh Viet Ha Read and synthesize the information

about allophone
3 Trinh Viet Hoang Read and synthesize the information
about the differences between phoneme
and allophone

4 Bui Thi Thu Thuy Read and synthesize the information

about the phonemic transcription and the
IPA
5 Truong Le Khac Hoang Read and synthesize the information
about the phonetic transcription
 PHONEMES VS ALLOPHONES
01 a. Phonemes
b. Allophones
c. The differences between phoneme and allophone

TABLE OF PHONEMIC VS PHONETIC

TRANSCRIPTION
CONTENTS 02 a. Phonemic transcription and the IPA
a.1. Phonemic transcription
a.2. The IPA
b. Phonetic transcription

03 MINI GAME
LET’S START!
01. PHONEMES
AND
ALLOPHONES
 a. Phonemes
- Phoneme /ˈfəʊniːm/ is the predictable
variants of non-contrastive segments that are
group together into a phonological unit.

- The phoneme prefers to the smallest

contrastive or distinctive unit in the sound
system of a language, serves distinguish
between words with different meanings.

- Phonemes are the sounds that contrast in the

same environment.

- Ex: /p/ and /b/ in /pɪn/ and /bɪn/: different

phonemes.
 b. Allophone

- The allophone is anyway form of the variants of a

phoneme in pronunciation.
- It is a predictable phonetic realization of a phoneme in
speech.
- Ex: The phoneme /l/ in wool /wʊl/ and love /lʌv/
 PHONEMES VS ALLOPHONES

Phonemes are more than convenient symbols for

groups of allophones. They represent a form of
linguistic knowledge.

We can never pronounce a phoneme, only its

allophones.
c. THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
PHONEME AND ALLOPHONE
 PHONEME
Phonemic (in dictionary only): what
we interpret, socialized.
Stands for a class of sounds
The abstract unit of language
Contrastive, distinctive, non-
predictable
The basic, underlying of a sound
ALLOPHONE
Phonetic (in pronunciation): the
form what we hear and pronounce,
individuals.
The actual member of a class
The concrete of a class
Non-contrastive, non-distinctive,
predictabe
The phonetic realization/ variants of
a sound
02. PHONEMIC
AND PHONETIC
TRANSCRIPTION
 a. Phonemic transcription and the IPA
a.1. Phonemic transcription

- Phonemic transcription is the tool that phoneticians use in the description of speech. This
system, the IPA, is to represent each sound of human speech with a single symbol.

Ex: University /ˌjuːnɪˈvɜːrsəti/

Ex: Interesting /ˈɪntrəstɪ/ŋ

- This is a method of transcribing words according to
which “every speech sound must be identified as one
appropriate symbol.” (Roach: 1991: 39)

- This kind shows more phonetic details, either just

by using more specific symbols or by also
representing some allophonic differences.

- These symbols are enclosed between slashes (//)

and do not represent the spelling system of a
particular language.
 a.2. The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)

- One way to review the key

elements of linguistic phonetic
description is to consider the
International Phonetic Alphabet.

- This is the set of symbols and

diacritics that have been officially
approved by the International
Phonetic Association.

- In addition, the IPA provides for the

representation of stress, length, tone,
and intonation. In the
characterization of stress, only three
possibilities are recognized: primary
stress, secondary stress, and
unstressed.
 b. Phonetic transcription
Phonetic transcription is often used to designate a transcription that uses a simple
set of symbols. In this kind of transcripton, all and only the variants between
sounds that cause a difference in meaning are recorded.
-This type of transcription is used for segmental phonological representation,
the symbols are placed inside the square brackets ([ ]).

-This is another method of transcribing words that contains a lot of

information about the exact quality of the sounds. Thus, this is much more
accurate in phonetic details.
 03
MINI GAME
1. In the phonemic transcription, these symbols are
placed inside

A. Parentheses ( ) C. Slashes / /

B. Square Brackets [ ] D. Semicolons ; ;

2. In the phonetic transcription, these symbols
are placed inside

A. Slashes / / C. Square Brackets [ ]

B. Semicolons ; ; D. Exclamation marks ! !

 3. Which of the following sentences is correct ?

A. The phoneme is the abstract unit of language

B. The phoneme is the actual member of a class

C. The allophone stands for a class of sounds

D. The allophone is non-predictable

4. Which of the following sentences is not correct?

A. The phoneme stands for a class of sound

B. The phoneme is the concrete unit of a class

C. The allophone is predictable

D. The allophone is the actual member of a class

5. Fill in the blanks in the following sentence by choosing one word below

Phonetic transcription is often used to a

transcription that uses a simple set of symbols.

A. Designate C. Make

B. Change D. Cause
6. What kind of transcripting is below?

/skɑːr/

Phonemic Phonetic
Transcription Transcription
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING AND WATCHING!