Phoneme as many-sided dialectic unity of language. Distinctive features of the phoneme

Phonetics is a basic branch of linguistics; neither linguistic theory nor linguistic practice can do without phonetics and no language description is complete without phonetics, the science concerned with the spoken medium of language. That is why phonetics claims to be of equal importance with grammar or lexicology.

Phonetics has 2 main divisions: on the one hand “phonology”, the study of the sound patterns of languages, of how a spoken language functions as a “code”, and on the other - the study of substance, that carries the code (p.7). Phonology is the branch of phonetics that studies the linguistic function of consonant and vowel sounds, syllabic structure, word accent and prosodic features, such as pitch, stress and tempo (p.11-12). The phoneticians are interested in the way in which sound phenomena function in a particular language, how they are utilized in that language and what part they play in manifesting the meaningful distinctions of the language.

There are 3 branches of phonetics each corresponding to a different stage in the communication process:

The branch of phonetics that studies the way in which the air is set in motion, the movements of the speech organs and the coordination of these movements in the pronunciation of single sounds and trains of sounds is called articulatory phonetics.

^ Acoustic phonetics studies the way in which the air vibrates between the speaker’s mouth and the listener’s ear. The means by which we discriminate sounds-quality, sensations of pitch, loudness, length are relevant here. This branch of phonetics is of great interest to anyone who teaches or studies pronunciation.

The branch of phonetics investigating the hearing process is known as auditory phonetics. Its interests lie more in the sensation of hearing, which is brain activity, than in the physiological working of the ear or the nervous activity between the ear and the brain (p.10-11).

Phonetics is in itself divided into two major components: segmental phonetics, which is concerned with individual sounds (i.e. “segments” of speech) and suprasegmental phonetics whose domain is the larger units of connected speech: syllables, words, phrases and texts.

Another subdivision of phonetics: 1) general phonetics – studies general laws, formulates general theories (theory of intonation, syllable formation, phoneme); 2) special phonetics – based on general phonetics, it deals with phonetical peculiarities of a certain language; 3) some linguists distinguish historical phonetics – it traces the development of the phonetic system in the course of time finding out the basic laws of the system.
Language is not an isolated phenomenon; it is a part of society and a part of ourselves. It is a prerequisite for the development of any society. No branch of linguistics can be studied without presupposing at least the study of other aspects of society. We see the development of quite distinct interdisciplinary subjects such as sociolinguistics (sociophonetics), psycholinguistics, mathematical linguistics and others.

Sociophonetics studies the way in which pronunciation interacts with society. It is the study of the way in which phonetic structures change in response to different social functions and the deviations of what these functions are.

Psycholinguistics as a distinct area of interest covers the psychological implications of an extremely broad area, from acoustic phonetics to language pathology (discusses the problem of acquisition of language by children, the extent to which language is influenced and influences such things as memory, attention, recall and constraints on perception, the extent to which language has a certain role to play in the understanding of human development, the problems of speech production).

Acoustic phonetics comes close to studying physics and the tools used in this field enable the investigator to measure and analyze the movement of the air in terms of acoustics.

A study of phonetics has educational value for almost everyone realizing the importance of language in human communication. The study of the complex of various communication techniques is definitely relevant to teaching a foreign language.

As regards the learning of specific foreign languages, there has never been a time in the world when the ability of growing numbers of people to speak one another’s language really well has been of such significance as now.

Knowledge of the structure of sound systems, and of the articulatory and acoustic properties of the production of speech is necessary in teaching foreign languages. The teacher has to know the starting point, which is the sound system of the pupil’s mother tongue as well as the aim of his teaching, which is a mastery of the pronunciation of the language to be learnt. He must be able to point out the difference between these two, and to arrange adequate training exercises. Ear training and articulatory training are both equally important in modern language teaching. The introductory of technical equipment – disks, taperecorders, language laboratories, etc – has brought about a revolution in teaching pronunciation of a foreign language.

1. What is the phoneme.Give the definition.

Phoneme as many-sided dialectic unity of language. Distinctive features of the phoneme.

Phoneme – minimal abstract unit realized in speech in the form of speech sounds opposable to other phonemes.

Let us consider the phoneme from the point of view of its aspects.

Firstly, the phoneme is a functional unit. In phonetics function is usually understood as a role of the various units of the phonetic system in distinguishing one morpheme from another, one word from another or one utterance from another. The opposition of phonemes in the same phonetic environment differentiates the meaning of morphemes and words: e.g. bath-path, light-like.Sometimes the opposition of phonemes serves to distinguish the meaning of the whole phrases: He was heard badly - He was hurt badly. Thus we may say that the phoneme can fulfill the distinctive function.

Secondly, the phoneme is material, real and objective. That means it is realized in speech in the form of speech sounds, its allophones. The phonemes constitute the material form of morphemes, so this function may be called constitutive function.

Thirdly, the phoneme performs the recognitive function, because the use of the right allophones and other phonetic units facilitates normal recognition. We may add that the phoneme is a material and objective unit as well as an abstract and generalized one at the same time.

Significance of the phoneme. Theoretical – is connected with further development of the sinchronic study and description of the phonemic system, the comparative analysis of different languages. Practical – is connected with teaching foreign languages, its applied in methods of speech correction – film doubling, translation, radio and telephone, its used in criminal investigation when we hear humans voice we can say if hes tall o short, young old what country hes from., tired or cheerful y ect.

Conception of phoneme in this country. Vasiliev: “phoneme is the smallest further indivisible language unit existing in the speech of all the members of the given language community as such speech sounds wich are capable of differentiating the meaning.” So the phoneme is abstractional,

Material and functional.

Conception of phon abroad. Prague linguistic circule – idealistic conception – were interested only in its distinctive feature. Ferdinand de Saussure and L Hjelmslev – were interested in abstract view – нечто бестелесноенеимеющ материалбной субстанции. Americans – Bloomfield and Yakobson – minimal sound unit, denyed the abstractional aspect and material was exaggerated. Jones – originated the phisical view, phoneme I s a family of soundsmaterial aspect is exaggerated.

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