In any doctrine of languages ​​there is such a thing as a phoneme. It may seem strange and incomprehensible to a person far from linguistics. Actually this is essential element in the system of general philology.

The concept of a phoneme

You can understand this term using the example of abstract and concrete concepts. The abstract definition of the phoneme corresponds to the specific sound of human speech. The same person in different situation pronounce the same phoneme differently. Therefore, it can be argued that there are an unlimited number of sounds, while their abstract images are a certain finite set in each language.

Based on all this, scientists determine that the phoneme is the smallest semantic unit of speech that generalizes specific sounds.

It has an expression form and a value form. It is expressed by specific signs (graphemes) and the phoneme has no lexical meaning, but carries a grammatical meaning. For example, a horse-horse is a different form of a word, as indicated by the phoneme [a], expressed with the letter i.

History of study

At the end of the 19th century, the scientist F. de Sausure first introduced this term into scientific use. At that time he said that a phoneme is a mental image of a sound, pointing to its subjectivity.

A little later, B. de Courtenay filled this concept with a new meaning. He suggested that phonemes could be the elementary units of speech. This assumption was proved by L. Shcherba, pointing out the functions

Since that time, all linguists already know exactly what a phoneme is and how to distinguish it in the system. specific language. Scientists began to study the so-called phonetic matrix. It consists of a certain set of phonemes that allow a native speaker to distinguish other people's words and create their own.

If people do not have the same phonetic matrices, they cannot communicate. Therefore, when learning foreign languages, it is very important to constantly listen to its native speakers. This allows you to form in your mind a system of phonemes adequate for oral communication.

Phonetics, phonology and orthoepy

In linguistics, it has traditionally developed so that the question "What is a phoneme?" respond immediately to its three sections. The main task of phonetics is the study of the system of abstract speech units of a particular language, their interaction and changes under the influence of different phonetic positions.

Phonology studies sounds, the ways in which they are formed, and the factors that make them change. The concept of a phoneme is used here to correlate the abstract and concrete manifestations of one and the same fact of reality. It is phonology that helps to determine what determines the formation of a particular phoneme in a language.

Orthoepy is a practical science. She matches phonemes and sounds and makes sure they match. The discrepancy between these concepts is fraught with a change in the entire global scale, and a simple misunderstanding talking people each other in particular.

Orthoepy develops a set of rules for how to pronounce phonemes in order to get the sounds they represent. As a rule, they are known to native speakers on an intuitive level, but sometimes it happens that people can "eat" sounds, blurring the boundaries between phonemes.

Definition method

Any unit must be allocated according to certain rules. The signs of a phoneme are quite simple: it is the smallest unit of speech, and it determines the meaning of a word without carrying such a meaning in itself.

The minimality of the phoneme can be proved by dividing the speech stream into the smallest components - sounds. Replacing one sound with another, we get new words. Since the phoneme is the generalized meaning of the sound, it can be argued that it is the smallest

Regarding her ability to distinguish words, it is worth referring to specific examples. Nose and knife differ only in one consonant phoneme. The change at the end makes a big difference lexical meaning words from a body part of a living being to a kitchen utensil for cutting food.

The words sit and gray in speech have blurred phoneme boundaries [and-e]. Therefore, the exact lexical meaning of a word can be determined either in the context, or by putting the word in the form where the phoneme will be in strong position and will give the conditions for a clear sound. It is in this way that the differential features of phonemes appear in any language.

Functions

Scientists distinguish only two functions of the phoneme. One exists to form the semantic shell of the word. It is from a constant set of phonemes that the same units that have lexical and grammatical meaning. Without this permanent system, no language in the world can function. The greater the correspondence between phonemes and sounds, the easier it is to master foreign language. Esperanto was created according to this principle, where the complete identity between these concepts is maintained.

The second function is distinctive. What is a phoneme in its context, it becomes clear on specific examples. The lexical meaning of the dark time of the day of the word "night" changes dramatically to "female child" (daughter) when replacing only one initial phoneme.

Grammatical connections are perfectly visible on the example of the endings hand (singular) - hands (plural).

Thus, all phonemes are of great importance for the structure of the minimum semantic units of the language and their differentiation.

Types of phonemes

The phonemes of any language are divided according to several criteria. Behind the participation of noise and voice, vowels and consonants are distinguished. It is common for vowels to sometimes be stressed when the flow of exhaled air is in highest point articulation.

According to the level of softness of pronunciation, consonants are divided into palatalized and non-palatalized. According to the method of formation, african and occlusive-slotted are distinguished. Voiced and deaf are distinguished by voice.

Consonant and vowel phonemes can be in both strong and weak position. This makes it easy to differentiate them.

The role of position in a word

The same phoneme in a weak position may lose its distinctive function. It depends on the fact that it begins to be influenced by the minimal units of speech standing next to it. The mechanism of this process is quite simple. speech apparatus a person in the process of pronouncing a word in a split second must be rebuilt for each specific phoneme. If the word has units that are radically different in some way or this is an absolute end, then it is possible that the speech apparatus will not adjust correctly and blur the clarity of the sound of the phoneme in a particular sound.

An example is the word "carrot", where the final sound is heard as soft [f], but in test word"carrots" is audible clear [in].

The situation is even more complicated with vowels [i-e]. In a weak position, they become similar to each other, forming an average sounding phoneme. In this case, it can be difficult to determine exactly what the lexical meaning of the word is. This causes speech incidents. Thus, the differential functions of a phoneme strongly depend on its strong or weak position in a word.

Phoneme-sound-letter ratio

In linguistics, the concepts of phoneme, sound and letter are strongly intertwined. All this because they are a reflection of the same fact of reality. by the most primary concept sound comes into the person. Even prehistoric people published them, starting to form some rudiments of the language.

Only after human beings learned to communicate using sounds, the concept of phonemes was formed - some reproducible set of sounds that has a certain meaning. Of course, the term itself and the understanding of what a phoneme is came to mankind only at the end of the 19th century.

Letters also became necessary to create graphic symbols for sounds and words. With the development of civilization, people have learned to reflect the minimum unit of speech with the help of written signs. At the same time, there is still no designation of specific phonemes in hieroglyphic writing. But in the alphabetical system of many languages, there is a striking correspondence between letters and phonemes.

• when you replace one phoneme with another, you get another word (<д>ohm -<т>ohm);
• changing the order of the phonemes will also result in another word (<сон> - <нос>);
• deleting a phoneme will also result in another word (t<р>he is the tone).

The term “phoneme” in a close modern sense was introduced by the Polish-Russian linguists N. V. Krushevsky and I. A. Baudouin de Courtenay, who worked in Kazan (after Krushevsky’s early death, Baudouin pointed to its priority).

The phoneme as an abstract unit of language corresponds to the sound of speech as a concrete unit in which the phoneme is materially realized. Strictly speaking, the sounds of speech are infinitely varied; sufficiently accurate physical analysis can show that one person never pronounces the same sound in the same way (for example, shock [а́]). However, as long as all these pronunciation options allow you to correctly identify and distinguish words, the sound [а́] in all its variants will be a realization of the same phoneme<а>.

The connection of the phoneme with the meaning

A significant part of linguists (for example, representatives of the Prague Linguistic School, the Moscow Phonological School (MFS), as well as the founders of the term itself phoneme) believes that the unstressed sound [a] (more precisely, [ʌ]), for example, in the first syllables of words weed, home is the realization in speech of the phoneme<о>. Accordingly, in the first syllables of words herself, give the same sound [ʌ] is a realization of the phoneme<а>. According to this understanding, the phoneme is a generalization, an invariant of a number of alternating sounds:

• s [a] m - s [ʌ] ma - s [b] mosval -<а>,

• d [o] m - d [ʌ] my - d [b] movoy -<о>,

and cannot be defined otherwise than through a significant unit of the language - morpheme, of which the phoneme is an integral part. That is, without understanding the content of speech, the meaning of spoken words and parts of a word, it is impossible to determine the phonemic composition of the language.

Where the sound can be a representative of different phonemes (with [ʌ] ma - from catfish and from myself), the belonging of a sound to a phoneme is determined by strong speech position(or positions of best discrimination) in a particular morpheme. For vowels in Russian, such a position is a stressed syllable, for consonants (according to deafness-voicedness) - for example, a position before vowels. If for a morpheme there is no sound form in which some phoneme is in a strong position, in place of such a phoneme it is assumed hyperphoneme or archphoneme(indicate all possible phonemes and enclose them in curly brackets): tr (a / o) mwai.

IPF phonemes are usually enclosed in angle brackets:<г{а/о}лубой в{а/о}гон б’ежи{т/д} кач’аје{т/д}с’а>- phonemic Cyrillic transcription IFSh.

Another understanding of the phoneme (a class of acoustically similar sounds, the identity of which is determined without knowledge of the content of speech) was developed by representatives of American descriptive linguistics, the methodology of which was developed in the analysis of little-known languages ​​(in particular, North American Indians) and the appeal to the meaning of spoken speech was difficult (or limited) .

Representatives of the Leningrad Phonological School (LPS) recognize the connection of the phoneme with meaning (they consider the phoneme to be a semantic unit), but do not define phonemes through the identity of morphemes; according to this theory, in the series d[o]m - d[ʌ]my, the phonemes /o/ - /a/ alternate. It is customary to enclose LFSH phonemes in slashes (slashes): /galuboi wagon b'izhyt kacháizza/ - phonemic Cyrillic transcription of LFSH.

Phoneme structure (distinguishing features)

The description of the phoneme system of a language is based on the oppositions (oppositions) of phonemes according to distinctive features (deafness-voicedness, hardness-softness, etc.). We can say that the phoneme consists only of these features ("there is nothing in the language but differences"). A phonological system is impossible without oppositions: if a language (for example, French) does not have the concept of soft consonant phonemes, then there are no hard consonant phonemes, although spoken speech sounds can be regarded by speakers of another language (for example, Russian) as hard or soft.

Most often, however, distinguishing features that do not affect the meaning are not recognized by native speakers. Such, for example, are closed-open vowels in Russian: in words father-in-law([t'ês't']) - test([test]) different vowel sounds, but we distinguish words father-in-law and test not by the closeness-openness of the sound [e], but by the hardness-softness of the consonants. In Russian, open and closed vowels never occur in the same position (closed - always only before soft consonants); there is not a single pair of words that differ only in a closed-open vowel, the closed-open vowel is only concomitant feature softness-hardness of the consonant. In German, for example, the words Ähre - ['ὲ: rә] ( ear) and Ehre - ['e: rә] ( honour) differ only in the openness-closedness of the first vowel (that is, this feature is semantic), so the speakers German language clearly perceive differences in the closed-openness of vowel sounds.

Phoneme selection rules

Four rules derived by N. S. Trubetskoy to distinguish phonemes from phoneme variants:

1) 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.

At the same time, optional options are generally significant and individual, as well as stylistically significant and stylistically insignificant.

2) 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.

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

4) Two sounds that satisfy the conditions of the third rule in everything, however, cannot be considered variants of the same phoneme if they can follow each other in a given language as members of a sound combination, moreover, in such a position in which one of these sounds can occur without being accompanied by another.

So, in Russian [ц] does not break up at the syllable boundary: face. At the same time, in Finnish and English, the complex is necessarily separated: Eng. hot-spot"hot spot" or Finnish. it-se "himself".

4) A potentially one-phoneme group of sounds (that is, a group that satisfies the requirements of the previous three rules) should be considered a realization of one phoneme if it occurs in such positions where, according to the rules given language, combinations of phonemes of a certain kind are unacceptable.

6) If a component If a potentially single-phoneme group of sounds cannot be interpreted as a combinatorial variant of any phoneme of a given language, then the entire group of sounds must be considered as a realization of one phoneme.

7) If one sound and a group of sounds that satisfy the above phonetic prerequisites are related to each other as optional or combinatorial variants, and if the group of sounds is a realization of a group of phonemes, then one sound should be considered as a realization of the same group of phonemes.

Phoneme systems of some languages

Russian language

According to the St. Petersburg Phonological School, there are 43 phonemes in Russian ([a e i o u y n n "b b" m m "ff" v v "t t" d d "n n" s "z z" p p "l l" sh w җ ts h y k k "g g" x x "]). Sometimes [җ] (the voiced equivalent of [u]) is not singled out as a separate phoneme, because it has practically fallen out of use in literary Russian; in this case, 42 phonemes remain.

The Moscow phonological school does not single out the phoneme [ы], considering it equal to the phoneme [and]; hard and soft versions [k], [g] and [x] also do not differ. In this case, 39 phonemes are obtained.

Abkhaz language

English language

Exact number of phonemes of English language depends on the dialect and phoneme selection criteria (distinguishing between phonemes and allophones), but most estimates converge on a number from 40 to 45. This is slightly above the average for world languages.

Quechua

In the southern dialects of this language (II-C), there are up to 28 phonemes (), as you move north, the phonemic composition begins to narrow, first due to the loss of ejective and aspirated consonants, and then uvular ones. Vowels are allophones, fricatives are allophones. In the southern dialects, the fricative [ʃ] is an allophone of [č], but in the central and northern dialects it forms a separate phoneme, partly corresponding to the southern ones. The possibility of reconstructing the general Quechuan phonemic composition is debatable.

see also

Notes

Literature

• Apresyan Yu. D., Ideas and methods of modern structural linguistics, M., 1966.
• Bulygina T.V., Prazhskaya linguistic school, in the collection: The main directions of structuralism, M., 1964.
• Her own, Grammatical Oppositions, in the book: Studies on general theory grammar, M., 1968.
• Cantino Zh., Significative oppositions, in the collection: Principles of typological analysis of languages ​​of different systems, M., 1972.
• Kasevich V. B. Morphonology. L., 1986
• Kodzasov S.V., Krivnova O.F. General phonetics. Moscow: RGGU, 2001
• Kubryakova E. S., Pankrats Yu. G. Morphonology in the description of languages. M., 1983
• Linguistic Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ch. ed. V. N. Yartseva, - M .: Sov. encyclopecia, 1990. - 685 p.: ill. ISBN 5-85270-031-2
• Martine A., Fundamentals of General Linguistics, in the book: New in Linguistics, c. 3, M., 1963.
• Reformatsky A. A. From the history of Russian phonology. M., 1970
• Tolstaya S. M. Morphonology in structure Slavic languages. M., 1998
• Trubetskoy N. S., Fundamentals of Phonology, M., 1960, ch. 1, 3-5.
• Churganova V. G. Essay on Russian morphonology. M.,

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See what "Phonemes" are in other dictionaries:

Phonemes- Verbally designed auditory hallucinations. They are opposite to acoasma - verbally unformed auditory hallucinations (noises, knocks, etc.) ... Dictionary psychiatric terms

Phonemes- - in psychopathology, elementary and simple speech deceptions of hearing in the form of certain phonemes, syllables and individual words (groans, screams, cries, oohs, shouts, indistinct muttering, hails). Non-speech elementary deceptions of hearing are called acoasms ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology and Pedagogy

Not to be confused with phoneme variation. Not to be confused with allophone. A variant of the phoneme in the teachings of the Moscow Phonological School (MFS): a modification of the phoneme due to the position (i.e., its variety, acting in a phonological position that is different ... ... Wikipedia

Not to be confused with phoneme variant. Phoneme variation in the teachings of the Moscow Phonological School: a sound that is the realization of a phoneme (in other words, an allophone) in a significatively strong, but perceptually weak phonological position, is not ... ... Wikipedia

Phoneme is an abstract unit of language, embodied in speech in sets of positionally alternating sounds. Angle brackets are used to designate a phoneme -<>.

Modifications of a phoneme depending on its position in a word are called it allophones(from Greek allos "another", phone "sound") or phoneme variants.

Relationship between phoneme and sound (allophone) - it is the relationship between the general (phoneme) and the particular (allophone). The phoneme is related to the allophone as invariant to option.(Option - from lat. variants- changing; invariant - from lat. invariants- unchanging. Invariant - it is an abstract linguistic entity, a unit abstracted from its concrete realizations, incarnations.) All actually pronounced sounds are allophones. Allophones are combined into a relatively small number of phonemes. In this way, phoneme- this is the general, existing in many private manifestations - allophones.

A phoneme is thus always represented by one of its allophones, and in this sense is not itself a particular sound. Each of the obligatory allophones is an “equal” representative of the phoneme, even if it is not the main one. This circumstance is often overlooked due to the fact that a phoneme is usually called the "name" of its main allophone. For example, we say "phoneme<a>", pronouncing at the same time one specific allophone, but implying all possible ones. The properties of allophones are predictable, since we know the rules for the interaction of sounds and their changes in different positions.

What is the difference between sound and phoneme?

1) Phoneme - a unit of language characterized by a high degree abstraction, and sound is the unit of speech. In speech, in a particular word, the same phoneme can be realized in different ways. (sound is the realization of a phoneme in speech).

2) The number of uttered sounds is actually infinite. As evidenced by the data of experimental phonetics, it is impossible to reproduce the same sound in such a way that it completely, in all nuances, corresponds to its prototype. Therefore, the number of sounds pronounced in speech can be determined in different ways, depending on the degree of accuracy with which the sound is determined - by ear or with the help of precise instruments.

The number of phonemes is finite. In Russian, 5 vowel phonemes are distinguished (or 6 according to P(L)FSH), and the number of consonant phonemes ranges from 32 to 37, depending on the phonological position of the scientist.

Controversial issues in the phoneme system of the Russian language.

Isolation of 5 vowel phonemes<а, о, и, э, у>and 32 consonant phonemes<п – п’, б – б’, в – в’, ф – ф’, м – м’, т – т’, д – д’, с – с’, з – з’, ц, н – н’, л – л’, ш, ж, ч’, р – р’, к, г, х, j>does not cause controversy between phonological trends.

When establishing a system of phonemes of the Russian language, the issue of phonemic independence raises a discussion. s and soft posterior lingual g', k', x'. There is an opinion that s is a shade and, and soft posterior lingual - shades of hard. Let's consider these questions in more detail.

1. Phonemic independence s. Notable parallelism in use and and s was noted long ago (as early as Lomonosov) in connection with the opposition of letters, before which hard consonants are used, to letters, before which only soft ones are used. With such opposition and turned out to be on a par with "soft vowels" i, yo, yu, e and opposed s, included in one row with "hard vowels" a, oh, uh, uh.

The thought that and and s make up one phoneme, was first expressed by Baudouin de Courtenay. He developed the doctrine of i mutable"(i.e. and variable) and in transcription instead of and and s, used badge im(letter t- abbreviation "mutable"). When pronouncing im“there is no single norm, there is no single type of a given phoneme or a given phonetic representation, and the performance is doubled in accordance with what is thought or imagined before the beginning of the bifurcated phoneme im: the approach of the middle part of the tongue to the palate is thought - im pronounced more forward and gives the impression i(associated with the Russian grapheme and or i); imagining before im lack of approach of the middle part of the tongue to the palate, we perform im as a back vowel, the acoustic impression of which is associated with the Russian grapheme s"(Baudouin de Courtenay I.A. Introduction to linguistics. St. Petersburg, 1917, pp. 85 - 86). Baudouin admitted that in the Old Russian language and and s were independent phonemes, but later, after the transformation of soft consonants into special phonemes, they merged into one phoneme - i m. In light of this, it is clear that for Baudouin the difference and and s as varieties im associated with the softness and hardness of the preceding consonant.

L. V. Shcherba also considered the issue of and and s, but came to different conclusions: “Certainly, independent vowel phonemes of the Russian language are a, uh, and, oh, w. Concerning s, then it is a largely independent phoneme, which is in intimate relations with and, of which it is, as it were, a shade "(L.V. Shcherba. Russian vowels in qualitative and quantitative terms. SPb., 1912 p. 50). Shcherba indicated signs indicating a lack of independence s: 1)s not used as a separate word; 2) not at the beginning of a word; 3) possible only after solid consonants, where it replaces and:<играт">-<сыграт">; 4) is used in the solid declension in parallel with and soft version:<вады> - <з"имл"и>. However, Shcherba still considered it possible to recognize s"an independent phoneme, although perhaps not to the extent a, uh, and, oh, u"(L.V. Shcherba. Russian vowels in qualitative and quantitative terms. St. Petersburg, 1912 p. 50), since and and s do not alternate in the roots under the influence of subsequent consonants, while the shades of other phonemes alternate, for example: [heat] - [heat"].

In the future, some linguists (R. I. Avanesov, A. A. Reformatsky and others), based mainly on the above considerations of Shcherba, tended to recognize s shade and; point of view that affirms phonemic independence s, defended by L. R. Zinder, M. I. Matusevich, A. N. Gvozdev, Ya. V. Loya and others.

Without going into the details of the dispute on this issue, we note that there are no sufficient grounds to refuse s in phonemic independence. The following arguments can be presented in support of this.

a) Phonemes s, like all other phonemes, forming and identifying functions are characteristic. The latter also manifests itself in the fact that the presence of a given phoneme in the sound shell of a word can destroy the connection between sound and meaning; thereby destroying the linguistic unit. So, the sound shell of the word silt collapses when put in place and other vowels (al, ol, el, al, st), because there are meaningless sound combinations. It is clear that in this case s reveals the above functions along with other phonemes.

b) Phonemes and and s can act in identical phonetic conditions, namely, at the beginning of a word. There are even several pairs of words that differ only in the initial and- s: hiccup(speak in and)- hiccup, hiccup- hiccup, hiccup - yap. These words are formed from the names of the corresponding letters, which are indeclinable names neuter nouns (cf. capital and, lowercase s). Also at the beginning is s in some foreign geographical names: Yyson, Yndin, Ym-Chon, Yntaly, Ytyk-Kyuyol, Ynykchansky. Finally, at the beginning of a word s also found in the title of the film "Operation Y and other adventures of Shurik".

in) S cannot be considered a shade and, since shades always arise under certain phonetic conditions and outside these conditions can only be pronounced after special training. So, native Russian speakers easily pronounce the closed front at in the word [pl "un"], but they are unlikely to be able to pronounce it in isolation, not between soft consonants, and, of course, they do not single it out in their minds as a special unit that does not coincide with the "usual" at in the word [here]. A completely different situation with s. It is easily isolated, pronounced in an independent, phonetically unconditioned position and perceived by native speakers as a special language unit. The vowel [s] can be pulled as much as you like, and o e turns into [and], which happens in other allophones of phonemes, for example, when pulling the sound [ä] from the word five[p'ät '] it goes into [a].

d) the sounds [s] and [and] have a different origin, since [s] historically goes back to, and not to [i]. The facts of the history of the language are not direct evidence of the differences between [s] and [and], but together with others they play a certain role.

2. Phonemic independence k", g', x". The phonemic independence of soft back-linguals is questioned on the basis of the following considerations:

1) k", g", x" can only be in a phonetically dependent position - before front vowels and and e. Therefore, it is not possible to determine whether their softness is combinatorially conditioned (appearing under the influence of front vowels) or their softness is independent, for example ru [k] a, ru [k] y - ru [k '] and, ru [k '] e, but [g] a, but [g] y - but [g '] and, but [g '] e, co [x] a, co [x] y - co [x '] and, co [x '] e;

2) to", g", x" in native Russian words cannot be combined with non-front vowels a oh u, but only in front of them it is possible to establish whether the softness of the back-lingual consonants is positionally independent. The compatibility with these vowels in borrowed words cannot be taken into account when establishing the phoneme system of the Russian language;

3) to", g", x" do not occur in a position strong in hardness-softness - at the end of a word, where other soft consonants are possible.

Difficulties in establishing phonemic status in the IMF k', g', x' overcome in the following way. Sound [to"] before [a, o] appears in word forms weave:<тк"ош>, <тк"от>etc. This is only one old primordial Russian word, but belongs to the category of commonly used ones. Therefore, the sound [k '] implements the phoneme<к’>. from the fact that [k] and [k '] are opposed in one position, it follows that such a possibility exists for other velar languages ​​- [g] - [g '], [x] - [x '], in particular, it is realized in neologisms like Shvakhyatina from him. Schwach - ‘weak’ by model seryatina, sour meat, sour meat. Therefore, it is believed that [k’, g’, x’] embody phonemes<к’, г’, х’>.

In SPFS k', g', x' are considered independent phonemes on the basis that [k ', g ', x '] may be placed before non-front vowels [a, o, y] in loanwords, for example: cuvette, manicure, Guys, Cui, Kharms, Curacao, Cologne, Gyulsary, alarmist. Consequently, k", g", x" may relate to k, g, x as well as other soft consonants. This puts them in the rank of independent units of the system of phonemes. Matches of the same type to-to" in<рука> - <рук"э>are quite similar to the correspondences of the type d- d" in<вада> - <вад"э>.

Recognizing phonemic autonomy s towards and and k", g", x" towards k, g, x, At the same time, it should be noted that this independence has a somewhat flawed character, which is explained by the insufficient development of these oppositions, which are in the growth stage.

How to distinguish between a phoneme and a variant of a phoneme?

From a comparison of pairs such as house - that, ladies - there, volume - there, house - ladies, languid - dark we can conclude that d - t, o - a, t - t "are used to distinguish words by meaning. This means that these sounds are separate phonemes.

Ways to determine the function of sound ( whether it is a phoneme or an allophone of some phoneme):

1. It is necessary to choose at least one minimal pair, i.e. two such words that differ only in comparable sounds: bar - steam, mountain - bark, board - melancholy, heat - ball, etc.

2. To prove the independence of some phonemes, a large number of minimal pairs can be given, as, for example, for t-t ": descendants - darkness, skinny - mother-in-law, current - tech, life - to be, brother - to take, killed - to kill, washed - to wash etc. Opposed in hardness - softness d - d", s - z", s - s" are used in a relatively small number of minimal pairs. But to recognize two compared sounds as separate phonemes, it is enough to use these sounds in at least one minimal pair .

In the absence of minimum pairs (or difficulties arising in their selection), another criterion proposed by N.S. Trubetskoy: if the replacement of one sound in a word with another distorts the word beyond recognition, then this sound is an independent phoneme. So, when replacing /h "/ with /h/ or /ts/ with /ts"/ in words containing these sounds, the meaning of the words is not distorted beyond recognition, only the “words” formed in this way acquire an unnatural “foreign language accent” . Compare: /h "ac/ and /hour/, /circus/ and /c"irk/. Another result will be obtained if in words with solid /g/ and /k/, for example, year, cat these same sounds are replaced by the corresponding soft ones - the resulting "words" become incomprehensible. Therefore, we can conclude that /h"/ and /h/ are variants of the same phoneme, like /ts/ and /ts"/, - in contrast to /g/ and /g"/, /k/ and /k" /, which are separate phonemes.

A phoneme in linguistics is understood as the smallest meaningful unit of speech. The question of the existence of each individual phoneme is resolved positively if it participates in the semantic opposition of the words of the language. In other words, a given sound is a phoneme if there are words that differ only in this sound. For example, the phonemes /m/ and /v/ exist because the words MOL and VOL exist.

There are 42 phonemes in Russian. Each phoneme has certain acoustic properties, which are due to the articulatory features of its formation.

A schematic representation of the human articulatory apparatus is given in fig. 1.1. There are active and passive organs of articulation.

Active organs include:

- tip, back, sides and body of the tongue,
- lips,
- palatine curtain,
- lower jaw,
- vocal cords.

The passive organs are:

- teeth,
- alveoli,
- soft sky
- solid sky,
- nasal cavity
- pharynx and larynx.

Each phoneme is characterized by a certain "method" and "place" of its formation. According to the method of formation, Russian phonemes are divided into two main groups: vowels /u, o, a, e, s, and / and consonants (the remaining 36 phonemes). The formation of vowel phonemes is characterized by the absence of barriers in the vocal tract, while in the formation of consonants in the oral cavity, there is always a complete or incomplete closure (gap) created by the tongue or lips.

According to the method of formation, consonant phonemes are divided into groups of sonorants, fricatives, plosives and affricates.

The group of sonorant consonants /m, m", n, n", l, l", p, p", d "/ is characterized by the presence of a relatively wide gap. This gap is formed as follows:

- when lowering the palatine curtain in nasal sonorants /m, m", n, n" /,
- when lowering the sides of the tongue at the lateral sonorants /l, l "/,
- between the oscillating tip of the tongue and the alveoli in trembling /p, p "/,
- between the back of the tongue and the hard palate in a smooth sonorant /th "/.

Rice. 1.1. The structure of the speech tract

The group of slotted consonants /v, v', z, z", f, f, f", s, s", w, w", x, x"/ is characterized by the presence of a rather narrow noise-generating gap that occurs when the articulatory organs are not completely closed, The fricative consonants are further divided into voiced /v, v', z, z", w/ and deaf /f, f", s, s", w, w", x, x "/ depending on whether they participate or not vocal cords participate in their formation.

The explosive group is characterized by the presence of a complete occlusion in the articulatory tract, followed by its sharp opening. As well as fricative consonants, plosives are divided into voiced /b, b", d, d", g, g"/ and voiceless /p, p", t, t", k, k"/.

And finally, phonemes from the group of voiceless affricates /ts, h’/ are characterized by the fact that in the process of their formation, the phase of the bow changes to the phase of the noise-producing gap.

Let us further consider the classification of Russian phonemes according to the "place" of formation. The "place" of formation in phonetics is understood as the position of constrictions in the articulatory tract, which determines its configuration and, ultimately, its resonant properties.

The place of formation of vowel phonemes is determined by the position of the body of the language (high / low rise; forward / backward movement) and the degree
rapprochement of the lips (rounding).

The place of formation of consonant phonemes is determined by the position in the articulatory tract of the bow or gap, as well as the position of the body of the language (soft or hard consonants). According to the place of formation, consonant phonemes are divided into groups of labial, dental, alveolar and palatal,
each of which may include solid /m, n, l, r, c, h, f, f, s, w, x, b, e, g, n, t, k, c/ or soft /m ', n ', l', p', d', c', s', f', s', w', x', b', e', r', n', t', k', h'/ consonants.

The group of labial consonants includes /m, m’, v, v’, f, f’, p, p’/. In this case, the labial site of formation corresponds to the contact of the lower lip with the upper teeth or with the upper lip.

The dental group includes /n, l, s, s, d, t, c, n’, l’, s’, s’, d’, t’/. In this case, the tooth site of formation corresponds to the contact of the tip of the tongue with
upper teeth.

The alveolar group includes /r, f, w, p’, w’, h’/. The alveolar site of formation corresponds to the contact of the tip of the tongue
with alveoli.

The palatine group includes /x, g, k, x’, g’, k’, d’/. The palatal site of formation corresponds to the contact of the back of the tongue with the hard palate.

Soft (palatal) consonants of the corresponding place of formation are characterized by an additional rise in the back of the tongue to the soft palate.

Table 1.1 presents the phonemes of the Russian language (in Russian and Latin transcriptions), presented in the coordinates "place" -
"way" of education, in accordance with their classification described above.

For comparison, in Table 1.2, phonemes of the Russian language (in the upper rows) and Belarusian (in the lower rows) are presented in the same coordinates, while the letters of the national alphabets are used for transcription.

Distinctive features of the phonetic systems of the Belarusian and Russian languages ​​are as follows.
The Belarusian language lacks the following phonemes:
- soft consonants T, D, W, H, R;
- soft and hard G.

The Belarusian language has a number of specific phonemes,
missing in Russian:
– smooth Ў;
- soft C and hard H;
- soft affricate Dz and hard J;
- soft and hard slotted Gx.

Calculating the degree of similarity of the phonetic systems of the Russian and Belarusian languages ​​as the ratio of the number of phonemes identical for the two languages ​​to the total number of phonemes (see Table 2.2), we find that the phonetic systems of these languages ​​coincide by 71%.

Table 1.1
The phoneme system of the Russian language in the coordinates "place of education" -
"way of education"

Table 1.2
Comparative table of phonetic systems of Russian and Belarusian
languages

Phonemes- these are indivisible sound units of the language, which serve to build word forms and to distinguish their sound form. So, each of the word forms ox, led(past tense of the verb lead), goal, angry(short form of adjective evil, genus. n. pl. h. noun evil), stake, they say, chalk(past tense of the verb to sweep), floor, village(gen. p. pl. noun village), walked(past tense of the verb go) differs from any other word form of this series only by one phoneme - respectively, by the first consonants |v| - |in'| - |r| - |z| - |k| - |m| - |m'| - |p| - |s'| - |sh|; the second and third phonemes of these word forms are the same: |o| and |l|. word forms ox, shaft and howl(past tense of the verb howl) also differ in only one phoneme - the vowel: |o| - |a| - |and| (the latter in this case is transmitted in writing by the letter s). The difference in the composition of phonemes in word forms can be partial (as in the examples given) and complete, as, for example, in pairs of word forms chair - house, year - hour etc.

A phoneme is a generalized sound unit of a language, abstracted from all possible sounds that appear in its place in the flow of speech. For example, the vowel phoneme |a| It is modified in different ways depending on which consonants it is adjacent to: for example, in the word form [s'at '] (spelling. sit down, led. incl. verb sit down) in contrast to [sat] (spelling. garden) phoneme |а| stands between two soft consonants and is therefore represented by a sound advanced forward and upward in its formation.

There are 5 vowels and 37 consonant phonemes in the Russian literary language.

Vowels differ in the degree of elevation of the tongue and the presence or absence of labialization (rounding) (Table 1).

Consonants divided into sonorous and noisy. Sonorants include |m|, |m'|, |n|, |n'|, |l|, |l'|, |p|, |p'|, |j|, the rest are noisy. Sonorants are pronounced with the participation of the voice with the addition of minor noise. Noisy ones are pronounced with the participation of noise and voice (voiced) or only noise (deaf).

Both sonorous and noisy consonants differ in the place of formation (depending on which organs are involved in articulation) and in the method of formation (Table 2).

Table 2 System of consonant phonemes

Way of education	Place of education
	Labial		Frontlingual		Middle-lingual	back lingual
	labial	labiodental	dental	Anteropalatal	mid-palatal	posterior palatine
occlusive	|p| |b| |p'| |p'|		|t| |e| |t'| |d'|		|k'| |g'|	|k| |r|
Stop-slotted (affricates)			|c|	|h|
slotted		|f| |in| |f'| |in'|	|c| |h| |s'| |h'|	|w| |W| |sh''| |w''| |j|	|x'|	|x|
nasal	|m| |m'|		|n| |n'|
Side			|l| |l'|
Trembling				|p| |p'|

Consonants are also divided into hard and soft, deaf and voiced.

Paired in hardness - softness (ie, differing only in this feature) are consonants: |n| - |p'|, |b| - |b'|, |t| - |t'|, |d| - |d'|, |f| - |f’|, |v| - |in'|, |s|- |s'|, |s| - |z'|, |m| - |m'|, |n| -|n'|, |l| - |l'|, |p| - |p'|, |k| - |k'|, |g| - |g'|, |x| - |x'|. Unpaired consonants on this basis: |zh|, |sh|, |ts| (solid), |g''|, |sh''|, |h'|, |j| (soft).

Paired by deafness - voicedness are consonants:, |p| - |b|, |p'| - |b'|, |t| - |d|, |t'| - |d'|, |f| - |v|, |f'| - |in'|, |s| - |z|, |s'| - |z'|, |sh| - |w|, |sh''| - |w''|, |k| - |g|, |k'| - |g'|. Unpaired consonants on this basis: all sonorous (voiced), |ts|, |h|, |x|, |x'| (deaf).

Consonants |sh|, |zh|, |sh''|, |zh''| and |h| are combined into a group of hissing phonemes, and the consonants |s|, |s|, |s'|, |s'| and |c| - in a group of whistlers.

Consonants |sh''| (“w long soft”) and |zh’’| (“zh long soft”), unlike all other consonants, are long (the consonant |zh’| is transmitted in writing by a combination LJ or zzh: reins, ride, screech; in word forms rain- combination railway: rain, rain).

The position of maximum differentiation (strong position) for vowel phonemes is the position under stress, and for consonant phonemes, the position before vowels. In other positions (weak) some phonemes are not distinguished. So, in unstressed syllables, as a rule, the phonemes |o| and |a|, and in position after soft consonants - also |e| (cm. ); at the end of word forms and before voiceless consonants, paired voiced ones coincide with voiceless ones, and before voiced consonants, paired voiceless ones coincide with voiced ones (see), and therefore, in both cases they do not differ; in a number of positions before consonants, consonants are not distinguished, paired in hardness - softness (see). The composition of phonemes that appear within a particular morph is revealed in those word forms where they appear in a strong position, cf.: [v^dá] and [voda], where the vowel phoneme of the root is in a strong position; [l’ec] and [l’ésu] (dat. p. singular noun forest), [l’ézu] (1 l singular of the verb climb), where the final consonant of the root is in strong position.

Note. If in all possible word forms containing some morph, one or another phoneme as part of this morph remains in a weak position, then such a sound unit (vowel or consonant) is hyperphoneme. For example, in the word dog, the first vowel phoneme, represented phonetically only by the sound [l], is a hyperphoneme, acting in the position of indistinguishability of vowel phonemes |o| and |a|; in the second word, the first consonant phoneme, phonetically |f|, is a hyperphoneme in the position of indistinguishability of consonant phonemes |f|, |f'|, |v| and |in'|.

The most important positional (phonetically conditioned) realizations of phonemes.

1. In unstressed syllables, the vowels |e|, |o| and |a| are modified (weakened) and do not differ in a number of positions (Table 3).
   

   Here [ye] is a non-front vowel, middle between [s] and [e]; [^] - mid-low vowel, non-front row, non-labialized; [e] - front vowel, middle between [i] and [e]; [b] and [b] are reduced vowels of the middle-low rise, non-labialized: [b] is a non-front vowel, [b] is a front row. Examples:

   (1) [e] tika - [ye] túchesky, [e] export - [ye] export, [ó] canopy - [^] senniy, [ó] catching - [^] catching, [á] lt - [^ ] fly, [á] zbuka - [^] zbukovnik; (2) synth [e] tika - synt [ye] túchesky, ts [e] ny - ts [ye] ná, in [ó] dy - in [^] dá, d [a] r - d [^] rút , letters [á] p - letters [^] p; (3) w[e]st - w[ye]stú, w[o]lk - w[ye]lká, w[ó]ny - w[ye]ná, w[á]rko - w[^]rá , w[a]r - w[^]ry; (4) [l'e]s ( forest) - [l'ie] sa, [v'ó] dra ( buckets) - [v'ie] draw, [n'a] t ( five) - [p’ie] so; (5) t [e] mp - t [b] mpov (special), baby [e] d - insert [b] d, g [ó] genus - g [b] genus, cucumber [ó] m - hare [b] m, fright [á] t - frightened [b] ny; (6) [b'e] reg ( Coast) - [b'b] regovoy, [t'ó] many ( dark) - [t'b] a lot, [n'a] t - [p'b] wheelbarrow ( piglet), [nose ( carried) - you [n'n] si ( take out), for [n'á] t ( take) - for [n'n] you ( busy), tower[e] ( tower) - dach [b] ( dacha), tsa [r’ó] m ( king) - state [r'b] m, kalanch [á] - dach [b] (cottage), tsa [r'á] ( king) - state [r'b] ( sovereign) ([ъ] is pronounced in place |a| only in the endings of words).

   
   

   Thus, in all unstressed positions (except for the position of the first prestressed syllable after |zh|, |sh|), the vowels |o| and |a| do not differ. This phenomenon is called akanye.

2. After hard consonants, the vowel |i| changes into the sound of the middle row [s]: game - under [s] roar, in [s] gré; idea - without [s] deyny.

Voiced paired consonants in positions at the end of the word form and before deaf consonants are stunned: du [b] s - du [n], but [zh] ú - but [w], lá [v] ok (gen. p. pl. ) - la [f] ka, by [d] quit - by [t] write.

Note. In the word God consonant |r| stunned in [x]: bo[x].

Deaf paired consonants in positions before voiced ones (except [c], [c '] and sonorants) are voiced: ko [s '] ut - ko [s '] bá, o [t] lie - o [d] drop, [s ] bridge - [h] home.

Solid dental consonants |s|, |s| and |n| in a position in front of soft teeth (except |l'|) soften: boro [h] dá - boro [h'd'] út, fra [n] t - fra [n't '] úha, [s] roll - [ s'n']yat, romá [n]s - about romá[n's']e.

Solid consonant |н| before |w''|, |h| softens: taboo [n] - taboo [n'sh ''] ik, stack [n] - stack [n'h] ik.

Soft labials in front of all consonants, except for soft labials and |j|, harden: pitó [m '] ets - pitó [m] tsy, ru [b '] út - rudder.

3. Consonants |s|, |s'|, |s|, |s'| before hissing |sh|, |sh''|, |zh|, |h| are replaced by hissing ones: [s] fasten - [sh] sew ( sew), ra [s] break - ra [sh ''] eput ( split), different [s ’] út - different [w ’’] ik ( peddler), [with whom; [w ’] than; [with] love; [g] pity.

In combinations stn, zdn consonants t and d not pronounced: joy - happy [sn] th ( glad), stars - star [zn] th ( star), be late - pó [z’n’] y ( late).

The consonant |j| in position after a vowel before |and| and at the beginning of the word: glue, to [l'éju] ( glue) - to [l'éi] t ( glue), str[uja] ( jet) - str[uú], fight - b[^i] ( fights); (her- date. p. units h. pronouns she is) - [and] m (dat. p. pl.).

Morph difference

The traditional (historically established) difference between nominal and verbal root morphs, as well as nominal and verbal stems in general, is that the nominal root morph and nominal stem end in a consonant, while the verbal root morph and verbal stem can end in either vowel and consonant, cf.: wall-a, table, window-o, army (army) and know, look, know (know), look. Deviations from this pattern are nouns and adjectives of a late-formed structural type with a vowel stem (foreign borrowings and abbreviations): highway, coat, kangaroo, hummingbird, net, traffic police, ACS, CSKA, Moscow State University(pronounced: tseská, emgeu), etc. However, such nominal stems are unable to be combined with inflections (which have retained traditional compatibility only with consonant stems) and therefore the corresponding names belong to the category of indeclinable ones (see § 183, § 185).

The minimal form of the root morph in significant parts of speech is reduced to the formulas CVC in names, CV and CVC in the verb (here and below C denotes a consonant phoneme, consonant, V - vowel, vocal element). In this case, the first consonant may not be represented: cf. nominal roots house-, side-, us- and verbal yes- (yes-whether), zhi- (zhi-t), -u- (ob-u-t), carried- (nes-ti), write- (write-ut), id- (id-ut). Root morphs without a vowel are also possible, but always with combinations of consonants: dn-i, evil-oh, zhm-ut, lie-et, sp-yat.

The minimal form of the prefixal and postfixal morphs and the root morph of function words is C and CV, and in the latter case the consonant may not be represented: in / in, s / co, for, yes, but, not, same / f, would / b, -sya / -s, -te, a, and, o.

Minimal form of suffix morph: in names - VC or C: plate-hedgehog, empty-yak, table-ik, letter-ary, spirit-from-a, honey-ov-th, ice-yan-oh, fox-th, cut-b-a, cook-n-I, covered; su [d'-j-a] (judge), judge-her; hand-to-a, hand-ek; mind-n-th, mind-yon; heat-to-th, heat-ok; in the verb - CV (with the possible absence of a consonant): jump-well, b-w-b-t, breakfast-a-t, salt-and-t, as well as C and VC: jump-n-no, breakfast-at (have breakfast).

In all these structures (except for the postfixal morph), instead of one consonant, there may be a combination of consonants: such, for example, are the root morphs know-, simple-, spark-, prefix at-, out-, suffix -ost, -izm, -sk, -stv-, -zn.

In a non-minimal form, the considered types of morphs are expanded by combining minimal structures; these are the root morphs: nominal city-, lakes-, ant-, verbal si- (shi-t), mind- (know-whether), mind [j] - (know), kolysh- (kolysh-et-sya), guard- (ste-reg-ut); prefix over-, under-, times-/razo-; postfix - either (someone); root morphs of function words or, over/need, unless; suffix morphs: nominal in words color-nickname, coward-living-th, white-oval-th, verbs in winter-ova-ty, ras-watch-iva-ty, lazy-nicha-ty.

Typical flexion morph: V, VC or VCV: house-at, in the house-e, city-a, night-and, carry-at, carry-and, carry-a, view-it, carry-you, city-am, big-them, house-ami, carry -youte, big-y (large).

Syllable

Syllable is a sound or several sounds uttered by one push of exhaled air. In Russian, syllabic (syllabic) are only vowel sounds. How many vowels in the word form, so many syllables. For example, in the word form system one syllable, in word form so-qi-a-li-sti-che-ski-e- eight, in word form py-le-vla-go-not-pro-no-tsa-e-bridge- nine, etc. The Russian language is characterized as open syllables (ending in a vowel: water), and closed (ending in a consonant: kar-man, sol-dat); there are such open syllables that consist only of a vowel ( willow).

The syllable is built on the principle of ascending sonority: in open syllables, noisy consonants precede sonorants, and sonorants precede the vowel ( tsa-bea, ka-stry-la, pro-za); the structure of the prevocal (preceding the vowel) part of closed syllables is similar ( ve-xel, vert-aunt, you-arrows). The postvocal (located after the vowel) part of non-final closed syllables can contain only sonorant consonants ( velvet, o-boy-ma, property). Final closed syllables may, however, end in noisy consonants ( carcass) and various combinations of consonants ( po-isk, pa-sport, ship, qi-lindr). In the initial syllables of word forms, the pre-vocal part can, as an exception (in violation of the principle of ascending sonority), be a combination of “sonorous + noisy”: blush, forehead, flatterers. At the beginning of a syllable, and therefore at the beginning of a word form, the combinations "[j] + consonant" are impossible; such combinations are possible only in the postvocal part of closed syllables ( slide, properties). But in the post-vocal part, and therefore, at the end of the word form, the combinations “consonant + [j]” are impossible [in the pre-vocal part they are normal: be-[l'jo] (linen), solo-[v'ji] (nightingales)].

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