I. Definition of phonology.

Phonology- a branch of linguistics that studies the structure of the sound structure of a language and the functioning of sounds in a language system. The basic unit of phonology is the phoneme, the main object of study is oppositions ( opposition) phonemes, which together form the phonological system of the language.

Unlike phonology, phonetics studies the physical aspect of speech: articulation, acoustic properties of sounds, their perception by the listener (perceptual phonetics).

Ivan (Jan) Alexandrovich Baudouin de Courtenay, a scientist of Polish origin who also worked in Russia, is considered the creator of modern phonology. An outstanding contribution to the development of phonology was also made by Nikolai Sergeevich Trubetskoy, Roman Osipovich Yakobson, Lev Vladimirovich Shcherba, Noam Khomsky, Morris Halle.

II . Basic concepts of phonology

The basic concept of phonology is phoneme, the minimum linguistic unit, which primarily has a semantic-distinctive function. The manifestation of a phoneme in speech is a background, a specific segment of sounding speech that has certain acoustic properties. The number of backgrounds is potentially infinite, but in each language they are distributed among different phonemes depending on the structure of each phonological set. Phonemes belonging to the same phoneme are called allophones.

The key role in phonology is also played by the concept opposition(opposition). Two units are considered opposed if there are so-called minimum pairs, that is, pairs of words that do not differ in anything other than these two units (for example, in Russian: tom - house - com - rum - catfish - nom - scrap). If two given backgrounds enter into such an opposition, they refer to different phonemes. On the contrary, if two backgrounds are in additional distribution, that is, they do not occur in the same context - this is a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for assigning them to the same phoneme. So, in Russian they never occur in the same context [a] (as in the word uterus) and [ä] (as in the word crush): the first sound is pronounced only between hard consonants (and / or vowels), the second - only between two soft consonants. Thus, they can refer to one phoneme and be its allophones (if other necessary conditions are met). On the contrary, in German, similar sounds are opposed in a stressed syllable: Apfel"Apple", Äpfel"apples", and therefore they refer to different phonemes.

Phonological system of the language- an internally organized set of its phonemes connected by certain relationships.

Oppositions phonemes form oppositions (according to the deafness / sonority of phonemes<п> – <б>or hardness/softness of phonemes<с> – <с’>).

Comparison phonemes in oppositions is based on a comparison of their features - differential and integral.

Integral signs of phonemes form the basis of the opposition, and differential form opposition, for example, in phonemes<т>and<д>integral features (i.e., common to both phonemes) are explosiveness, anterior lingualism, hardness, and differential (i.e., distinctive) - deafness (for<т>) and sonority (for<д>).

backgrounds- specific instances of the implementation of the phoneme (and its variants), instances of sounds used in millions and billions of statements by thousands or millions of native speakers of the corresponding language.

In articulatory-acoustic terms background, i.e. representative of a phoneme in speech, is not delimited by anything from the adjacent background, a representative of another phoneme. Sometimes they partially overlap, overlap each other, so a person who does not know a given language is not always able to distinguish and understand them.

III. Main phonological schools:

1. Leningradskaya

The founder, Academician Lev Vladimirovich Shcherba, worked in the first half of the 20th century. He and his students focused on the task of teaching foreign languages, setting the correct pronunciation.

The school proceeds from the understanding of the phoneme as a sound unit with a meaningful function. Uses the criterion of phonetic similarity (identity) as a criterion for identifying phonemes.

Most foreign language textbooks in their phonetic part use the concepts and terminology developed by Shcherba. Shcherba's phonological theory itself was best presented in his textbook Phonetics of the French Language. In the future, these same concepts were supported by researchers involved in the instrumental study of sound speech and the design of automatic speech recognition systems.

2. Moscow

A prominent representative of this school is Alexander Alexandrovich Reformatsky. The main works in which the views of this trend are formulated are devoted to the description of the native (Russian) language. Initially, the phonological school considered its constructions as the only true doctrine of the sound structure of the language.

With the passage of time, however, the tendency to comprehensively discuss problems and synthesize phonological theories prevailed.

Ruben Ivanovich Avanesov, one of the IDF founders, made the first attempt at such a synthesis. He put forward the concept of “weak phonemes”, which, along with “strong” ones, are part of linguistic signs.

Weak phoneme of Avanesov is a set of differential features that must be specified to determine the sound in a given position. They are associated with commands to the executive organs of speech, in order to create one or another acoustic effect.

3. American school

She developed in the early XX century as a school descriptive phonology, which solved the problem of describing the languages ​​of the American Indians. Their concept was close to the views of the Leningrad phonological school. In particular, American scientists most clearly formulated the procedure for dividing the speech stream into phonemes of speech perception.

In the post-war years, under the influence of the advances in computer technology, American linguists for the first time directly raised the question of the technical modeling of language ability. The pioneer of these works was also a native of Russia (or rather from Poland) Naum Chomsky.

His work founded the direction called generative linguistics. Its task is to build a formal model (automaton) for the production of correct statements in a particular language.

The phonological part of the generative theory arose thanks to the work of another Russian, Roman Osipovich Yakobson, who, in connection with the Second World War, emigrated from Prague (where he was a prominent member of the Prague School) to America. Describing the generation (production) of speech, generative phonology naturally came to a concept close to the Moscow phonological school.

The essence of the theory is that linguistic signs, through successive transformations according to language rules, are transformed from an internal representation in the phonemes of speech production into a surface representation by speech sound types. Accepting this terminology, we can call the phonemes of speech production deep phonemes, and the phonemes of speech perception - surface phonemes.

(created on the basis of an essay by Ekaterina Vlasova)

1. Theoretical part

1.2 Differential and integral features of phonemes

1.3 The concept of phonological position. Types of phonological positions

1.4 Archphoneme and hyperphoneme

1.5 Characteristics of the phoneme theory of the Moscow phonological school and the St. Petersburg (Leningrad) phonological school

1.6 Phonemic transcription

2. Practical tasks

1.1 The concept of a phoneme. Phonological system of the Russian language. Composition of vowels and consonant phonemes

The sounds of speech, without having their own meaning, are a means for distinguishing words. The study of the distinctive ability of speech sounds is a special aspect of phonetic research and is called phonology.

The phonological, or functional, approach to the sounds of speech occupies a leading position in the study of language; the study of the acoustic properties of speech sounds (the physical aspect) is closely related to phonology.

To designate a sound, when it is considered from the phonological side, the term phoneme is used.

As a rule, the sound shells of words and their forms are different, if we exclude homonyms. Words that have the same sound composition may differ in the place of stress (flour - flour, flour - flour) or the order of the same sounds (kot - tok). Words may also contain such smallest, further indivisible units of speech sounding, which independently distinguish between the sound shells of words and their forms, for example: bak, side, beech; in these words, the sounds [a], [o], [y] distinguish the sound shells of these words and act as phonemes. The words bachok and bochok differ in writing, but are pronounced the same [bΛchok]: the sound shells of these words do not differ, because the sounds [a] and [o] in the above words appear in the first pre-stressed syllable and lose the distinctive role that they play in words tank - side. Consequently, the phoneme serves to distinguish the sound shell of words and their forms. Phonemes do not differentiate the meaning of words and forms, but only their sound shells, indicate differences in meaning, but do not reveal their nature.

The different quality of the sounds [a] and [o] in the words bak - bok and bachok - bok is explained by the different place that these sounds occupy in words in relation to word stress. In addition, when pronouncing words, one sound can influence the quality of another, and as a result, the qualitative nature of the sound is determined by the position of the sound - the position after or in front of another sound, between other sounds. In particular, for the quality of vowels, the position in relation to the stressed syllable is important, and for consonants, the position at the end of the word. So, in the words horn - horns [rock] - [rΛga] the consonant sound [g] (at the end of the word) is stunned and pronounced like [k], and the vowel sound [o] (in the first pre-stressed syllable) sounds like a [l] . Consequently, the quality of the sounds [o] and [g] in these words turns out to be more or less dependent on the position of these sounds in the word.

The concept of a phoneme implies a distinction between independent and dependent features of speech sounds. Independent and dependent signs of sounds correlate differently for different sounds and in different phonetic conditions. So, for example, the sound [z] in the words created and the section is characterized by two independent features: the method of formation (slit sound) and the place of formation (dental sound).

In addition to independent features, the sound [h] in the word created [created] has one dependent feature - voicedness (before voiced [d]), and in the word section [rΛdel] - two dependent features determined by the position of the sound: voicedness (before voiced [d] ]) and softness (before soft tooth [d]). It follows that in some phonetic conditions, independent signs predominate in sounds, while in others, dependent ones.

Accounting for independent and dependent features clarifies the concept of a phoneme. Independent qualities form independent phonemes that are used in the same (identical) position and distinguish the sound shells of words. Dependent qualities of sound exclude the possibility of using the sound in an identical position and deprive the sound of a distinctive role and therefore do not form independent phonemes, but only varieties of the same phoneme. Consequently, a phoneme is the shortest sound unit, independent in its quality and therefore serving to distinguish the sound shells of words and their forms.

The quality of the vowels [a], [o], [y] in the words bak, buk, buk is not phonetically determined, does not depend on the position, and the use of these sounds is identical (between identical consonants, under stress). Therefore, the distinguished sounds have a distinctive function and, therefore, are phonemes.

In the words mother, mint, mint [mat t", m "at, m" ät "] the stress sound [a] differs in quality, as it is used not in identical, but in different positions (before soft, after soft, between soft consonants). Therefore, the sound [a] in the words mother, mint, mint does not have a directly distinctive function and does not form independent phonemes, but only varieties of the same phoneme<а>.

The sounds of the Russian language can be considered from the point of view of the role they play as signs of a sound signal system developed by native speakers of the Russian language to indicate a certain meaning in the process of verbal communication.

The sound shells of words and their forms in a speech stream (i.e., in the natural conditions of speech communication) are various kinds of sound signals formed by certain linear combinations of sound units or single sounds.

The sound structure of the Russian language (like any other) is a well-functioning system of minimal sound units that function as signal-forming material, from which primary sound elements are automatically and continuously selected to form and modernize the sound shells of words in the aggregate of all word forms.

Hundreds of thousands of sound complexes and individual sound units operate in the sound sphere of the Russian language, in which the nominations of our concepts and ideas about the phenomena and objects of the surrounding world are encoded.

The Russian language has 43 phonemes (37 consonants and 6 vowels).

Vowel phonemes include five strong phonemes - |u|, |y|, |e|, |o|, |a| - and two weak phonemes: |a| - weak phoneme of the first pre-stressed syllable after hard and soft consonants, first, second, third pre-stressed. syllables at the absolute beginning of a word; |a1| - weak phoneme of the second, third pre-stressed and stressed syllables after hard and soft consonants.

A phoneme is the smallest unit of a language, which means that it cannot be further divided. But, nevertheless, the phoneme is a complex phenomenon, since it consists of a number of features that cannot exist outside the phoneme.

Signs of phonemes can be distinctive (differential) and indistinguishable (integral).

By distinctive features, phonemes form oppositions (oppositions). Differential features of the phoneme are different, but in each language their set is limited.

So, in Russian, the sign of hardness and softness of consonants is differential (cf. horse - horse). Phonemes are realized in the sounds of speech. All sounds that implement a given phoneme are called allophones, otherwise variants.

Other signs turn out to be indistinguishable if there is no other phoneme that is directly and unequivocally opposed on this basis.

The most important concept of phonology is the concept of position, which allows one to describe phonological syntagmatics, i.e., the rules for the implementation of phonemes in various conditions of their occurrence in a speech sequence and, in particular, the rules for neutralizing phonemic oppositions and positional variability of phonemes.

Phonological position, conditions for the implementation of phonemes in speech. These conditions include: immediate phonetic environment (sound combinations); place in the composition of the word (beginning, end, inside the morpheme, at the junction of morphemes); position in relation to stress (stressed - unstressed syllable).

The position in which a phoneme retains its distinction from all other phonemes is called strong. Otherwise, the position is weak.

In a strong position, the phoneme is represented by a variety, which is called the main type of the phoneme.

In a weak position, the phoneme undergoes quantitative and (or) qualitative modifications, leading to the neutralization of differences between two or more phonemes, as a result of which they coincide in one variant (for example, the Russian phonemes "d" and "t" coincide at the end of a word before a pause in option "t", because this position is weak for opposing voiceless and voiced consonants).

Modifications of the main type of phoneme that do not violate phonemic distinguishability are called variations (for example, in the word "sit down" the vowel is represented by the sound of the front row "ä", which is a variation of the phoneme "a" in a position between soft consonants, cf. "garden", where this the phoneme is realized by the sound of the back row). The concept of position is also used in analysis at other linguistic levels.

A hyperphoneme is a weak position of a phoneme that does not correspond to a strong one, which makes it impossible to determine exactly which phoneme is in this position.

In the theory of the Moscow phonological school, it is a complex unit of the phonemic level, which does not have a strong position, as a result of which its exact identification is impossible.

The hyperphoneme does not have its main form, and therefore more than one phoneme symbol is used to designate it, for example, “dog” - [sbak] -

A hyperphoneme combines all the signs of the sounds [k] and [g] - velarity, explosiveness, deafness, sonority, etc. The same hyperphoneme /a/o/ is found in unstressed first vowels in the words "ram", "milk".

The sound system of any language can be studied not only from the point of view of the articulatory and acoustic properties of sounds, but also from the functional-linguistic aspect. In this aspect, sounds are considered taking into account their correlations in the language system and their meaningful role in speech. The study of sounds from the point of view of their functions in the process of communication, in the social aspect, is carried out by functional phonetics, or phonology.

The foundations of phonology were laid by the outstanding linguist I.A. Baudouin de Courtenay (late 19th - early 20th century). The essence of his teachings can be reduced to three main provisions:

1) sound as a physical phenomenon and as a sign of some linguistic entity (reflected in the human mind) are not the same thing;

2) each specific sound represents only one of the possible realizations of this essence;

3) sounds should be considered not in themselves, but in their relationship with these entities.

Ideas I.A. Baudouin de Courtenay was picked up and developed by L.V. Shcherba, N.S. Trubetskoy, R.I. Avanesov and other scientists, in whose works these linguistic entities by I.A. Baudouin de Courtenay were called phonemes. (The term "phoneme" presumably belongs to the Russian linguist of the 19th century N.V. Krushevsky).

A phoneme is the smallest unit of a language capable of distinguishing the sound shells of different words and morphemes.

For example: in the words they say, small, mule, the phonemes //o//, //a//, //u// act as distinguishers of sound shells; //house/com/scrap/rum/som/tom// ® //d//, //k//, //l//, //r//, //s//, //t/ /;

Dom ® doma ® domu - the phonemes //а//, //у// are involved in the expression and distinction of case meanings R and D.

By itself, the phoneme itself does not express any meaning at all, it has no meaning. But indirectly, it is connected with meaning, because distinguishes sound shells.

The concept of a phoneme should not be identified with the concept of sound, because every phoneme is a sound, but not every sound of speech can act as a phoneme.

For example: in words was, howled, washed, ardor, rear -//b//, //v//, //m//,//p//, //t// - phonemes, because sound shells of words differ; in the words request - [proz "b", carving - [r "iez" ba] sound [z"] is not a phoneme, because it does not perform a semantic function, but serves as a variant of the phonemes //s٬// - mow - [kÙs "it"] and //s// - cut [r "ez"].

Thus, the concept of phoneme and sound are closely, inextricably linked, but not identical, because sounds are constructive units (they serve to create words), they are concrete, perceived by ear, while the phoneme is an abstract unit that exists in a whole class of sounds.

The sound value of a phoneme depends on the position it occupies in a word. There are strong and weak positions of phonemes. The position in which the largest number of phonemes is distinguished is called strong, the phoneme in this position is also strong; the position in which a smaller number of phonemes are distinguished is called weak, the phoneme in this position is weak.

The strong position is the position of maximum distinctiveness and minimum conditionality.

The strong position for vowels is the stressed position; for consonants, an absolutely strong position is the position before the vowels [a], [o], [y]: //san / son / son / / - / himself / deputy / ladies / there / /.

In a weak position, phonemes lose some of their features, change their appearance, and it happens that two or even three phonemes coincide in one sound: [l "es/l" issy] - [l" isa] ® //e//, // and//® [and]; [plot] ®//d// and //t// - [t].

The indistinguishability of phonemes in a weak position is called neutralization.

A phoneme includes an invariant, variants, and variations.

An invariant is an ideal (basic) kind of sound.

Variants are the sounds of the language that occur in weak positions of minimal distinctiveness and are part of two or more phonemes: fruit - [plot], fruits - [plÙdy] ® //o//®[o], [Ù]; //d//- [d], [t].

Variations are the sounds of the language that occur in positions of maximum conditionality and are part of one phoneme: [bow / l "uk / bow" and / l "uk" and] - [y], ["y], [y"], ["y"] ; [rads "t" / t "iatr / rub "it];

[p] - at the end of a word after deaf consonants, it appears as a “stunned p”; [p] before [y] acts as "deepened p", [p] before [a] - as "not deepened p".

Those speech sounds in which this or that phoneme is realized are called its allophones:

[а́] - invariant

[Ù], [b], [ie], [b] - variants of allophones of the phoneme // a //

["a], [a"], ["a"] - variations

Thus, a phoneme is a class of sounds united by leading (basic) differential features. For example, for all allophones //a// there will be a single series and non-labialization.

The phonemes of the modern Russian language are not just a collection of the smallest linguistic units.

They form a system - a complex whole, all components of which are interconnected, interdependent and opposed to each other.

To describe the phonological system of the Russian language, it is necessary to determine the composition of the phonemes of a given language, and then their syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations, i.e. to establish the associative possibilities of phonemes and their allophones and the opposition of phonemes and their allophones.

The opposition of two or more homogeneous units of the language is called opposition (Latin oppositio - opposition).

(The analysis and classification of oppositions in phonology were first undertaken by the famous linguist N.S. Trubetskoy: Fundamentals of Phonology, M. 1960).

For consonant phonemes of the Russian language, two types of oppositions are distinguished:

1) privative, in which one feature is present in one member of the opposition, but absent in the other.

For example, the opposition for deafness and sonority:

//g//-//-k// ® voicedness - the absence of voicedness.

2) equipotent, in which phonemes are opposed according to the characteristics of common features.

For example, //p//-//t//-//k//- differ in the place of formation, and all other signs are the same; //l//-//m// ® differ in the way of formation.

For vowel phonemes, gradual oppositions are distinguished, in which the opposition is of a stepped nature:

//and//-//e// ®different degree of rise.

The privative oppositions form correlative series of phonemes.

A chain of identical oppositions is called a correlation.

The phonological system of the Russian language has two correlative series of consonants: 1) a series of voiced and voiceless consonants; 2) a number of hard and soft consonants.

There are about 40 phonemes in the modern Russian literary language. When establishing their exact number, representatives of different phonological schools get different results.

Thus, the phonemes of the modern Russian literary language are not just a collection of the smallest linguistic units. They form a phonological system, all components of which are interconnected, interdependent and opposed to each other.

The phonological system continues to evolve as development is a way of existence of language.

In the understanding of phonemes, the classification of the phonemic composition of individual words and the phonemic composition of the language as a whole, there are disagreements. These disagreements are most clearly revealed when comparing the views of representatives of the two main phonological schools - Moscow (R.I. Avanesov, P.S. Kuznetsov, A.A. Reformatsky, M.V. Panov) and St. Petersburg (L.V. Shcherba, M. I. Matusevich, L. R. Zinder, A. N. Gvozdev, L. L. Bulanin).

Differences in views on the phoneme are determined, firstly, by differences in the interpretation of the original significant unit in determining the composition of phonemes, and secondly, by differences in the assessment of the quality of positions in describing sound oppositions.

MFS. For representatives of the IMF, the initial unit is the morpheme, phonemes are considered only in a strong position.

For example, in pairs of words [stÙly / / table / / vÙda / water / / hÙd "it" / hod "it] the same morpheme appears: water-, hod-, table-, although they are pronounced differently.

In the words fruit and raft, the morphemes are different and the phonemes in their composition are different // ploʹt // ploʹd //, although they are pronounced the same way [ploʹ].

In a weak position, phoneme distinctions can be erased.

For example, [stock with "en // stock water].

In this position, it is impossible to differentiate h / c. This is the position of neutrality. It only happens in a weak position. Those variants of phonemes that are pronounced in a weak position are called archphonemes.

(For the first time, the term in the meaning of the indistinguishability of two phonemes, mixing in one was used by N.S. Trubetskoy).

To find out which phoneme corresponds to the sound of a weak position, you need to change the word so that the weak position in this morpheme is replaced by a strong one.

For example: [dÙma] - // house //, [zup] - // teeth//.

But there are phonemes in the language that are not in a strong position and it is impossible to check their phonological quality.

For example: station, glass, dog and others.

Such phonemes are called hyperphonemes - a weak phoneme that cannot be reduced to a strong position. (Terminology of V.N. Sidorov) So, in the words [sÙbak / vÙgzal / glass], the sound [Ù] can be a representative of the phonemes //o // and //a //, but it is impossible to decide which of them. In this case, the hyperphoneme // a/o // is used. In the word [vÙgzál] is a hyperphoneme // g/k //.

In the word here -[z"d"es"]- the sound [z"] can correspond to phonemes - //z//, //z"//, //s//, //s"//, and the sound [с"]-phonemes- //с"//, //з"//. Verification is impossible; therefore, these phonemes are hyperphonemes.

Thus, the main feature of IMF is morphonologism. Phonemes are considered as a constant structural element of a morpheme.

PFSH. Representatives of the PFS take the word form as the initial unit. At the same time, the equality of positions (strong and weak) is recognized, i.e. what does not differ in pronunciation does not differ in phonemic composition.

For example, in pairs of words [stÙly / table], [plot] - fruit / raft - different phonemes appear: in words tables ® / / a //, table ® / / o //, fruit - raft ® one phoneme //t //; in words fruit - fruits ®//o//- // t//, //a//- // d//.

A phoneme is understood as a "sound type" capable of distinguishing words and their forms. Sound type refers to a group of acoustically different sounds that replace each other in different phonetic conditions and are united by a common function that they perform in the language.

For example, [mal / m "al / mat" / m "al" and] - different vowels are pronounced depending on the hardness or softness of neighboring consonants. The sounds [a], ["a", [a"], ["a"] replace each other in different phonetic positions, these sounds form a sound type, i.e. phoneme //a //.

In the given example, members of the same sound type, varieties of the same phoneme, are close acoustically and articulatory, which most easily proves their unity.

Thus, it is not the positions and positional variants of phonemes that differ, but the shades of phonemes due to the quality of neighboring sounds.

Summing up, we can say that the differences between the two phonological theories lead to the fact that the phonological composition of various significant units is determined differently and, accordingly, the general composition of phonemes in the system of the Russian language is established differently.

Thus, Moscow phonologists believe that the Russian language has 39 phonemes: 5 vowels and 34 consonants. At the same time, the following are not recognized as independent phonemes: 1) soft [g "], [k"], [x"], because, according to representatives of the IMF, these sounds are not independent and are only variants of the phonemes //g// , //к//, //х //, because they cannot be contrasted by tv./ soft at the absolute end of the word, and if there are soft variants, then before the vowels [i], [e] , cannot be before [y], [o], [a];

2) vowel [s]. Representatives of the IPF (L.A. Bulakhovsky, R.N. Avanesov and others) believe that the sound [s] is a variant of the phoneme // and // (i.e. the sounds [s] and [i] are varieties of the same phoneme / /and //). They proceed from the fact that the use of sounds [s] and [and] is determined by the position:

A) [s] is used only after hard, [ and] - only after soft consonants: [myl] - [m" il], while other vowel phonemes can appear both after hard and after soft consonants in the same phonetic conditions: [small / m "al // onion / l" uk // mayor / m "er];

B) in the same morpheme, the sound [and] is replaced by the sound [ы] under the influence of the previous solid consonant:

Played - played, blue - new, etc.;

C) [s] does not occur at the beginning of a word

Petersburg phonologists have 41 phonemes, of which 6 are vowels and 35 are consonants.

1. PFS considers 6 vowel phonemes, because depending on the articulation in the language, 6 different sounds are clearly perceived by the ear, used to distinguish between words and forms. They believe that the sounds [s] and [and] are separate independent phonemes, because

A) we freely pronounce each of these sounds in an isolated position, which is not typical for variants of vowel phonemes;

B) not always under the influence of a solid preceding consonant [and] is replaced by [s]: [ball // ball "ik // stÙly / table" ik];

C) in some foreign words [s] are found at the beginning of the word: Ynding, Yyson.

2. PFSh considers [g"], [k"], [x"] as independent phonemes, because in some cases they act as semantic distinguishers: // kur"i - k"ur"i //, // weave / tk "from //

Despite the impossibility of soft [g "], [k"], [x"] at the end of the word, in modern Russian in some cases they are contrasted in hardness-softness before the vowels //a //, //o //, // y //: stall, liquor, kui, giaur and others, but such cases are exceptionally rare.

Disagreements also exist regarding the interpretation of complex sounds [sh̅ "], [zh̅"]. IPF consider [w̅"], [g̅"] as independent phonemes, referring to the fact that they cannot be divided into two short soft sounds.

Representatives of the PFS refuse to see in this case a special kind of phonemes, pointing to the insignificant phonological activity of such complex sounds.

Thus, evaluating both schools, it should be noted that each of them has its own strengths and weaknesses, and often the shortcomings of one school automatically turn out to be the advantages of the other.

Questions:

1. What is called a phoneme?

2. What functions does the phoneme perform in the language?

3. How do the concepts of "phoneme" and "sound" relate?

4. Controversial issues of phonology. MFSH and PFSH.

5. Phonetic evaluation of sounds [s] and [i] PFSh and MFSh.

6. Opinion of the IPF and PFS on the recognition of the phonological significance of soft back-lingual [r"], [k"], [x"].

7. Disagreements about the sounds [sh̅ "], [zh̅"].

Literature

1. Modern Russian language. In 3 parts. Part 1., N. M. Shansky, V. V. Ivanov. M., "Enlightenment" 1987.

2. Gvozdev A. N., Modern Russian literary language, part 1, M., 1973.

3. Kovalev V.P., Minina L.I. Modern Russian literary language. Part 1, M., "Enlightenment", 1979.

4. Bondarenko L. V. The sound structure of the modern Russian language. M., 1977

The first step in learning any living language is to establish its phonemes.

The concept of a phoneme is considered in the course on introduction to linguistics and also in the course of phonetics of the studied language. Therefore, I will not dwell on the identification of differences between sound and phoneme, I will focus on the difference in the interpretation of the phoneme in different directions and on the systemic relations of phonemes.

The idea of ​​a phoneme is probably one of the first linguistic constructs. As D. Bolinger notes, “behind phonological ems is a three-thousand-year history of attempts to develop a writing system. If there were no alphabet, no linguist would have been able to "discover" in 1930. phoneme." However, cause and effect seem to be reversed here. Phonetic writing, in its essence, was phonological writing, since the letter denoted not a sound, but a sound type. Thus, we can assume that the idea of ​​a phoneme is one of the most traditional ideas of linguistics. It is not surprising, therefore, that phonology became the first area of ​​structural linguistics - it is with it that studies of the language system in the Prague Linguistic Circle begin. This was also facilitated by the fact that the phoneme, firstly, is a fairly “simple” unit - it is a one-dimensional unit, a figure of the language expression plan. Secondly, the system of phonemes is quite "easy" to see - its composition does not exceed several tens of units.

One of the first to use the term phoneme was F. de Saussure, who noted: “After analyzing a sufficient number of speech chains belonging to different languages, it is possible to identify and organize the elements used in them; it turns out that if we neglect indifferent acoustic shades, then the number of types found will not be infinite. Compare also: “The sound stream of speech is a continuous, at first glance, disordered sequence of sounds passing into each other. In contrast, the units of the signifier in language form an ordered system. And only due to the fact that individual elements, or moments, of the sound stream, manifested in a speech act, can be correlated with individual members of this system, order is introduced into the sound stream. Only systemicity “makes the phoneme a phoneme”: “Whatever side of the sign we take, the signifier or the signified, the same picture is observed everywhere: in the language there are no concepts, no sounds that would exist independently of the language system, but only semantic differences and sound differences resulting from this system.

The development of the concept of a phoneme belongs to I.A. Baudouin de Courtenay, who defined the phoneme as the mental image of sound. His student, L.V. Shcherba, in the work Russian vowels in a qualitative and quantitative sense, added to this a functional feature: “A phoneme is the shortest general phonetic representation of a given language that can be associated with a semantic representation and differentiate words.” And, finally, the most complete and general theory of the phoneme was created by N.S. Trubetskoy in his fundamental study Fundamentals of Phonology (1939).

In its most general form, the phoneme is defined as the minimum unit of the language expression plan, which serves to identify morphemes and words and to distinguish them. Hence the main function of the phoneme is distinctive, semantic. In addition to it, Trubetskoy notes the vertex-forming, or culminating function (indicating the number of units contained in a given sentence) and delimiting, or delimiting (indicating the border between two units). The following are the rules for distinguishing between phonemes and variants:

“Rule one. If in a particular language two sounds occur in the same position and can replace each other without changing the meaning of the word, then such sounds are optional variants of one phoneme.

Rule two. If two sounds occur in the same position and cannot replace each other without changing the meaning of the word or distorting it beyond recognition, then these sounds are phonetic realizations of two different phonemes.

Rule three. If two acoustically (or articulatory) related sounds never occur in the same position, then they are combinatorial variants of the same phoneme...

Rule four. Two sounds that fully satisfy the conditions of the third rule cannot, however, be considered variants of one phoneme if in a given language they can follow each other as members of a sound combination, moreover, in such a position in which one of these sounds can occur without accompaniment another."

Each phoneme is characterized by its phonological content, which is the totality of all the essential features of a given phoneme that distinguish it from other phonemes and, above all, from closely related phonemes. In modern linguistics, such an essential feature is called differential (distinctive). The totality of such differential features is specific to each phoneme. So, for the Russian phoneme /d/, the differential features will be the following:

frontal language, distinguishing [d] and [b]: dock - side;

closure that distinguishes [d] and [h]: dol - evil;

voicedness that distinguishes [d] and [t]: house - volume;

orality, distinguishing [d] and [n]: ladies - to us;

palatality distinguishing [d] and [d "]: smoke - dima.

In this regard, the phonological content of a phoneme can be characterized as a set ("bundle") of its differential features. This set quite unambiguously determines the place of the phoneme in the phonological system of the language. True, the concept of a “bundle of differential features” raises objections from some linguists, since it is “unacceptable for at least two reasons. First, if a phoneme is a bundle of differential features, then the differential features must be distinguished before the composition of the phonemes is established, and this is clearly impossible, since it is impossible to determine the features of an object before determining the object itself, the carrier of this feature. Secondly, the signs are fundamentally non-linear, that is, they are devoid of extension; Accordingly, a bundle of such features - a phoneme - should also turn out to be non-linear. The first objection can be answered that the definition of the characteristics of an object before it has been compared with other similar objects seems to be somewhat supernatural. The identification of the composition (inventory) of phonemes is the beginning of the analysis, and the identification of differential features is associated with the establishment of systemic relationships between phonemes. This is the second stage of the analysis. It is in this way that N. S. Trubetskoy and G. Gleason go. As for the second objection, the author, in all likelihood, forgot that a little earlier he defined the phoneme as an abstract object, specifying that “the construction of such an abstract object is analogous in general to how general concepts are created, for example, birch or pine, which in reality, there are different varieties of specific specimens of these trees. In this sense, for example, the phoneme [a] has a separate existence only as an object of linguistic theory, being represented in reality by its textual realizations. I believe that it is hardly necessary to ascribe to an abstract object the attribute of linearity.

However, the main role in phonology belongs not to the phoneme, but to semantic oppositions. The theory of oppositions (contrapositions) is an essential part of Trubetskoy's phonological concept.

The oppositions of sounds that can differentiate the meanings of two words of a given language, Trubetskoy calls phonological (or phonological-distinctive, or semantic) oppositions. The same oppositions that do not have this ability are defined as phonologically insignificant, or non-sense-distinguishing. An example of the first is German. /o/ - /i/: so - sie, Rose - Riese. Contrasting anterior lingual r with uvular r is not meaningful.

Sounds can also be interchangeable and mutually exclusive. The former can be in the same audio environment (like /o/ and /i/ in the examples above); the latter never occur in the same environment, such as "ich-Laut" and "ach-Laut".

The concept of opposition includes not only those features that serve to distinguish members of the opposition, but also those that are common to them. In relation to the system of phonemes, one-dimensional and multidimensional ones are distinguished. In one-dimensional oppositions, features common to two phonemes are inherent only to these two members of the opposition and no more ([t] - [d]). The opposition [b] - [d] is multidimensional, since the sign of stop is also repeated in the phoneme [g]. At the same time, it is noted that in any system of oppositions, the number of multidimensional oppositions exceeds one-dimensional ones.

Another division of oppositions is into proportional and isolated ones. The former are characterized by identical relations: [p] - [b] identically [t] - [d] and [k] - [g]. Moreover, the number of isolated oppositions in the system is much more numerous than proportional ones.

Very important is the classification according to the relationship between the members of the opposition or according to the work of that “mechanism”, due to which the opposition takes place. In this regard, three types of oppositions are distinguished:

privative, one of whose members is characterized by the presence, and the other by the absence of some feature: “voiced - unvoiced”, “nasalized - non-nasalized”, etc. (a member of the opposition, characterized by the presence of a sign, received the name marked, and his partner - unmarked);

gradual (stepped), the members of which are characterized by a different degree, or gradation, of the same feature: the degree of openness in [u] - [o], [b] - [c], [i] - [e], and t . P.;

equivalent (equivalent), both members of which are logically equal, i.e. they are not an affirmation or negation of any attribute, or two levels of an attribute: [p] - [t], [f] - [k], etc.

The listed types of oppositions characterize the relations between phonemes in the language system. However, when combined with each other, some phonemes may be in positions where oppositions can disappear or be neutralized. So, in Russian, voiced phonemes at the end of a word lose the sign of sonority, “deafen”: the sound [stolp] can be understood either as a pillar or as a pillar, [bow] - like a bow or like a meadow, etc. Obviously, that in such cases, in the position of neutralization, we are dealing with an unmarked member of the privative opposition, who acts as himself and his partner, i.e. is a "representative" of two phonemes. Trubetskoy designated such a case as an archiphoneme, i.e., a set of semantic distinguishing features common to two phonemes.

These are the main provisions of the theory of N.S. Trubetskoy, the most common in European linguistics, but not the only one. The most abstract is the theory of Louis Hjelmslev, who, in constructing his immanent algebra of language, tried to generally avoid terms that could somehow evoke associations with the substantial side of language, since he considers language as a pure form or scheme. The unit of the plan of expression in the schema should have nothing to do with sound. Therefore, instead of the term phoneme, which can evoke the concept of sound, he uses the word kenema ("empty"). Thus, he notes that the French r can be defined: “1) through its belonging to the category of consonants: the category itself is defined as determining the category of vowels; 2) through its belonging to the subcategory of consonants occurring both in the initial and in the final position (compare: rue and partir); 3) through its belonging to the subcategory of consonants, always bordering on vowels (in initial groups, r is in second place, but not in first; in final groups, on the contrary; compare: trappe and porte); 4) through its ability to commute with other elements that belong to the same categories as r (for example, l). This definition of the French r makes it possible to reveal its role in the internal mechanism of the language, considered as a schema, i.e. in a grid of syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations. R is opposed to other elements of the same category functionally - with the help of commutation. R differs from the other elements not because of its own specific qualities and characteristics, but only because of the fact that r does not mix with other elements. Our definition contrasts the category containing r with other categories only by using the functions that define these categories. Thus the French r is defined as a purely oppositional, relative and negative entity: the definition does not ascribe any positive properties to it. It indicates that this is an element that can be realized, but says nothing about its implementation. It has nothing to do with the question of his manifestation.”

The most simple is the interpretation of the concept of a phoneme, adopted in American descriptive linguistics, which also describes in detail the method (method) of segmentation - the method of identifying an inventory of phonemes. The process of speech stream segmentation is not as simple as it might seem at first glance. We know that any naive native speaker can easily divide any statement into words, and words into sounds. However, this happens only because he is dealing with his native language, known to him since childhood, and he, not realizing the phonemic composition of the language, easily recognizes familiar, “native” sounds. This has already been discussed in the section on language levels. In addition, other features “help” the listener - context, semantics, stress, syllabic structure of the word, etc. If a person presents an utterance in an unknown language, then he will not find such “lightness” in segmentation. “Alien speech is perceived by a foreigner as a chaotic set of sounds that he cannot repeat. The sounds of a foreign language do not coincide with the system of phonemes of his own language, and therefore even a simple statement seems to him disorderly. So, for example, the English sound [k] can be perceived by a Russian-speaking listener as a combination of two sounds.

The thing is that the real speech flow is a continuous series, or continuum, in which one sound gradually passes into another and there are practically no clear boundaries between segments corresponding to individual phonemes. Therefore, a linguist who segments a speech stream in an unknown language must inevitably refer to meaning, since it "is a necessary condition for linguistic analysis." Such an “appeal to meaning” involves the use of informants, i.e. people for whom the language under study is native. The informant is supposed to ask only two types of questions: 1) whether this or that statement in the studied language is correct; 2) whether this or that change in sound leads to a change in meaning.

The correctness of the segmentation is checked (with the help of the informant) by changing the unit in the same environments. So, for a Russian informant, the results of who and who in comparison with what may turn out to be the same. However, in the future it can be established that /k/ and /x/ are not the same thing: a code and a move.

Then follows the establishment of the classes of these units on the basis of their distribution in the composition of larger segments. So, the researcher can detect a number of sound sequences, for example:

, , , ...

In doing so, he establishes two facts. Firstly, all sounds [k] are characterized by acoustic-articulatory similarity. Secondly, they have certain differences: in the first case, [k] is pronounced “pure”; in the second - with aspiration, which can be denoted as; in the third this sound is strongly velarized; in the fourth - strongly labialized. All these differences turn out to be positionally conditioned: each of these specific variants, or backgrounds, can occur only in a given position or have a corresponding distribution (in Trubetskoy's terminology, these sounds are mutually exclusive). The given examples demonstrate a set of distributions (environments) of the sound [k].

The list of examples can be continued and as a result all possible distributions of a given sound can be obtained. Similar examples of the use of the sound /k/ are in relation to additional distribution to each other - such sounds, i.e. sounds that have acoustic-articulatory similarity and are in relation to additional distribution are called allophones, and the whole set (set) of allophones is a phoneme, in this case, a phoneme (K). Thus, "a phoneme is a class of sounds that are: 1) phonetically similar and 2) characterized by certain patterns of distribution in the target language or dialect." And further: "A phoneme is one of the elements of the sound system of a language, which is in certain relationships with each of the other elements of this system." Therefore, a phoneme in American descriptive linguistics is defined as a set of allophones. A phoneme is a purely linguistic phenomenon, devoid of any psychological and acoustic moments; it is a class of phenomena.

On the other hand, the phoneme is "the smallest unit of the system of expression of a spoken language by which one utterance is distinguished from another." The identified set of phonemes does not represent the system yet. The system of phonemes is established by identifying the so-called minimal pairs, i.e. such pairs of different words that differ only in one phoneme. In this case, some minimal pairs may turn out to be quite rare. Thus, the opposition of [љ] and [ћ] in English is confirmed only by three minimal pairs: delution:delusion, glacier:glasier, Aleutian:allusion [Ibid., 52]. In Russian, the opposition [g] and [g"] is confirmed by just one minimal pair: coast: saving.

In Russian linguistics, two phonological schools have traditionally developed: Moscow (MFSH) and Leningrad (LFSH), which, using the general definition of a phoneme, give it a slightly different interpretation. Let's look at a few examples (in orthographic notation) that are interpreted differently in the two indicated schools:

itself - itself - a samovar,

water - water - water,

garden - gardens,

house - vol.

The interpretation of the phoneme in LFS is strictly phonetic. In accordance with the concept of L.V. Shcherby phoneme is defined as a sound type capable of differentiating words and forms, i.e. pronunciation that does not depend on the individual characteristics of the speakers. Really pronounced sounds are shades of the phoneme, that is, the particular in which the general is realized - the phoneme. In accordance with this, in the words sam and water, we are dealing with different phonemes ([a] and [o]), in the words sama and water, the first vowel phonemes are the same (this is something between [a] and [o]). In the words samovar and water, the first vowel phonemes are also the same (this is the so-called neutral vowel).

In the words garden and gardens, the final consonants represent different phonemes (in the first case - [t], in the second - [d]). In the same way, the initial consonants in the words house and volume will be different.

In LFS, in addition to the term phoneme shade, the allophone is also used. However, the interpretation of the latter is not uniform. So, L.R. Zinder uses them interchangeably. Yu.S. Maslov believes that, considering its wide use, the term allophone is less successful. He believes that phoneme variants are a fact of language, and not just a fact of speech, while the combination of physically heterogeneous sounds into variants is not determined by purely phonetic similarity. In this regard, he proposes to call them allophonemes.

In the IPF, the interpretation of the phoneme is somewhat different, namely, morphological: the phoneme is considered in connection with its role in the composition of the morpheme. Since in the words sam, sama and samovar the same morpheme sam- is represented, then, consequently, in all three cases we are dealing with the same vowel phoneme [a], which in the first case is in a strong position, and in the rest are in weak positions. The same is true for the words water, water and water.

As for the forms garden and gardens, these are word forms of the same word, therefore, [d] and [t] are variants of the same phoneme [d]. House and volume are different words, therefore, [d] and [t] are different phonemes.

Thus, the IPF distinguishes, firstly, strong and weak positions in which phonemes may appear, and, secondly, positional variants of phonemes that form phonemic rows. "The phonemic series ... is a unit that connects phonological units and morphological ones."

In addition to variants, IMF distinguishes variations (shades) of phonemes, which are also determined by their positions. The difference lies in the fact that phonemes in significatively weak positions (weak variants) lose their semantic-distinctive function, and phonemes in perceptually weak positions (weak variations) do not lose their semantic-distinctive function, but somewhat change their “appearance”. So, in the words soaps and mils, we are dealing with variations of the phoneme [and]: after a solid [m], it is impossible to pronounce [and]. The same thing happens in the words “mal” and “myal”: after the soft [m "] it is impossible to pronounce [a]. Therefore, from the position of the IPF, /i/ and /s/ are variations of one phoneme, and from the position of the LFS, these are different phonemes.

Summing up the consideration of phonemes, variants and variations, we can establish the following relationships:

• 1. Between sound and phoneme:
  • a) different sounds - one phoneme: rad - row;
  • b) different sounds - different phonemes: sam - catfish;
  • c) one sound - different phonemes: sama - water, samovar - water (the so-called intersection of phonemic rows);
  • d) different sounds that cannot be reduced to any phoneme: dog, glass (the so-called unverifiable vowel, or hyperphoneme - the first vowel can be considered as a representative of the phoneme either [a] or [o]).
• 2. Between sound, phoneme and morpheme:
  • a) different sounds - one phoneme - one morpheme: knife - knives ([w / w]);
  • b) different sounds - one phoneme - different morphemes: glad - row, army;
  • c) different sounds - different phonemes - one morpheme: bake - bake (the so-called alternations, or morphonemes).

The description of the phonological system as a whole is more expedient to begin with consideration of the primary system of phonemes (the term was proposed by Tadeusz Milewski). This system is primary in two respects. Firstly, it is common to all languages, forming a kind of "core". Secondly, this system is based on the most contrasting oppositions, which are the first to be acquired by the child and the last to be lost in speech disorders.

The most contrasting is, first of all, the opposition of vowels and consonants. In the vowel system, the most open and the most closed vowels are clearly opposed. In the first case, these are different options [a], in the second case, front [i] and back [u].

Among consonants, the most contrasting is the opposition of nasal and oral. In the first case, [m] and [n] are clearly distinguished, and in the second - the opposition of stops to smooth ones. Among stops, [p], [t] and [k] are contrasted, and among smooth ones - [s] and. The double character in the latter case is due to the fact that in some languages ​​(Chinese) only [l] is used and never [r], in Japanese it is just the opposite, and in Korean [l] and [r] are positional variants.

In general, the primary system of phonemes looks like this:

It is quite obvious that the primary system consists of only ten phonemes. Such a "small" system is not recorded in any of the known languages. In the Arantha language (Australia), the phonological system includes 13 phonemes.

As already noted, these phonemes are included in the phonological systems of all known languages. Differences between languages ​​form secondary oppositions that "fill in the gaps" between primary ones. So, in the vowel system, in the interval between [i] and [a], various variants of [e] may appear - from proper [e] to [e] and [g]; between [u] and [a] - variants of [o]. In the nasal system, in addition to [m] and [n], [?] may appear; the plosive system [p], [t] and [k], which does not use the deafness / voiced opposition, can be supplemented with [b], [d] and [g]; moreover, one more opposition can develop in it - according to the presence of aspiration (aspiration) and its absence:, etc. In the system of smooth, in addition to [s], [љ], and [l] and [r] can become independent phonemes. In addition, oppositions may also appear on the basis of secondary signs: nasalization, labialization, palatalization, etc. As a result, the system of phonemes can increase significantly. However, as is known, the system of phonemes does not exceed 70-80 members.

Depicting a vowel system that is not complicated by additional articulations is quite simple, since there are only two main articulations for vowels: the position of the tongue and the degree of openness. It turns out an elementary coordinate system, the construction of which does not cause any difficulties. Most often, the vowel system is depicted as a triangle or as a trapezoid (if there are several varieties [a]).

The consonant system is somewhat more difficult to depict, since they have four main articulations, which, of course, requires a four-dimensional “picture”. However, this difficulty can be avoided by using a tree diagram or a table. To build a table or a tree, it is necessary to correctly determine the number of features by which the considered phonemes are contrasted. As you know, the presence of one feature makes it possible to oppose two elements. Therefore, to represent a system of four elements, two features are required, for eight - three, etc. In the general case, the number of all elements (N) distinguished by m features can be easily determined by the formula: N = 2m.

This can be demonstrated on a small fragment of the consonant system (to save space), including the following elements: b, p, v, f, d, t, z, s. Since the number of elements is eight, three signs are enough for us. As such signs, one can choose 1) stop, 2) sonority and 3) labiality. In this case, the order of features is not of particular importance for us, but when building a tree, it is preferable to present a certain hierarchy of features, placing the most important one in the first place, and placing the rest in descending order of this importance. An example of such a hierarchical tree is the earlier depiction of the primary system of phonemes. For our example, the order of features is not fundamental. So, the "tree" image of a fragment of the consonant system has the following form:

phoneme opposition consonant tone

The tabular representation of this fragment of the consonant system looks like this:

The table shows that each element of the system is characterized by its individual, specific set of features. In the same way, you can build a table for the entire consonant system. The main inconvenience in this case is that you have to create two different tables for vowels and consonants, since the classification of phonemes is based on the same articulatory features that characterize the corresponding sounds.

R. Jakobson, G. M. Fant, and M. Halle’s Introduction to Speech Analysis, published in 1955, describes a system of binary acoustic features that can be used to characterize all phonemes, vowels, and consonants included in the phonological systems of all known languages. Sound parameters known in acoustics are used as signs: frequency, strength and duration. There are 12 pairs of signs, 10 of which are characterized as signs of sonority, and 3 - as signs of tone. The signs are named as follows.