Structural Phonology

A systematic and scientific approach to the

study of phonological phenomena that
emphasizes the structural relationships
between speech sounds.
American linguists: Leonard Bloomfield and Zellig Harris
 Phoneme
• Phonemes are defined as
bundles of distinctive
features, which are binary
(yes/no) oppositions that
differentiate one sound
from another
• For example, the English
phonemes /p/ and /b/ are
distinguished by the
feature [voice], with /p/
being voiceless and /b/
voiced.
 Distinctive Features
• Distinctive features are
abstract properties that
are used to describe
and differentiate speech
sounds
• Features can include
attributes like voicing,
place of articulation,
manner of articulation,
and nasality.
 Phonemic Analysis
• involves segmenting
spoken language into
phonemes based on the
distinctive features that
differentiate them
 Phonemic Contrast
• Phonemes are defined
by their ability to create
minimal pairs or sets of
words that differ by
only one sound, where
changing one sound in a
word can change its
meaning.
 Allophones
• Phonetic variants of
phonemes
• Allophones are seen as
predictable and
conditioned by their
phonetic context
 Phonological Rules
• These rules explain how
speech sounds change
based on their
surrounding phonetic
environment
Structural Phonology made significant
contributions to the field of linguistics

It has been largely superseded by more

contemporary phonological theories, such
as Generative Phonology and Optimality
Theory