Q: 1 What is a phone? Explain it.
Q: 1 Describe ‘phoneme’ or ‘phonemes.
Introduction:-
Language is made of some distinctive sounds. Each language has its own selected few sounds. They are organized into set patterns. This gives/constitutes a system called as phonology.
“few sounds that exist in a ;language can be grouped into a limited number of sound units or families called phoneme.”
One distinct sound and with a slight variation another. Similar sound is created often. This makes a family. such a family is called a ‘phoneme’ e.g.
/p/, /t/, /d/, and /b/ all are sound. The sound /p/ in ‘pin’ and spin’ are little different but basically they remain one. So ‘p’ and ‘ph/ constitutes one family i.e. one phoneme.
Another example lets see. ‘Spy’ is a word. Instead of /p/ we can also write /ph/. But the meaning is not changed. Now if we replace /p/ by /k/ or /l/ it becomes ‘sky’ or ‘sly’. They are different words and have different meanings. So /k/ and /l/ belong to different families i.e. phonemes.
Some more examples see. The word ‘bead’, dead’, feed’, seed,’ and ‘weed’. Last consonant is the same. Medial vowel represented ‘ea’ or ‘ee’ is also same. Only intial sound are changed. Those words differ from each other. /b/ us replaced by /d/, /f/, /s/, pr /w/. They different phonemes.
Minimal pairs are useful to recognize phonemes. A set of two words differ from each other in one sound is called a minimal pair. e.g. Meal cook, Neal look.
In both these word vowel /i:/ and consonant /t/ remain the same only initial sound is changed. Because of them tow words have been different. They don’t take additional sound. They make a minimal pair. In ‘leave’ and ‘love’ /l/ and /v/ remain same only. Change is seen in medial vowels, but ‘pin’ and ‘spin’ or ‘ten’ and ‘pin’ do not constitute minimal pairs because ‘spin’ takes additional sound. In ‘ten’ and ‘pin’ vowels and consonants are many so we can say
“A Phoneme is minimal distinctive sound unit of a language. By minimal we mean that it cannot be sub-divided and by distinctive we mean that it has the potentiality of changing the meaning of a word.”
They can be also looked according to glottis position. They bring us voiced and voiceless and other distinctions. If one phoneme is voiced and another voiceless. They are different phonemes. If one sound is complementing the other, we put is in one phoneme family. So complementary distribution is necessary. E.g. ‘hat’ and ‘path’, /h/ is a part of a /)/ consonant. It is not single so both don’t complement each other. They are phonetically very dissimilar.
In different language complementary distribution may have same phoneme as well. Yet there can be problems. Each phoneme is put into slanting or brackets. So symbol ‘p’ for phonetic use is placed as /p/ or (p). The sounds that can be groups together like {p} and {ph} are called members of that phoneme or allophone of that phoneme.
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