6) Types of distribution

• Complementary distribution:Allophones

Complementary distribution - mutual exclusiveness of a pair of sounds in certain phonetic environment. Sounds which occur in complementary distribution are not phonemes, this means that where one sound of the pair occurs, the other does not.

• dental /t/ vs. alveolar /θ/ allophone of t

eight/eɪt/ - eighth /eɪtθ/

• dark [l] vs. clear/light [l]

dark [l] occurs at the end of words(call, trial)and before the consonants(milk, hold)

clear or light [l] occurs before a vowel (lap,lord)or before the glide /j/ (billiard, scallion)

• aspirated vs. non-aspirated after /s/

pill – spill, till – still, kill – skill

In a given context X only a certain allophone will occur, while in another context Y another allophone is expected to occur and X and Y are the only contexts in which the allophones can occur.

Complementary distribution explains the number of allophones grouped within a phoneme; they are allophones of the same phoneme – aspirated and non-aspirated /p/ are in complementary distribution in English.

Sounds in complementary distribution occur in non-overlapping environments.

• Contrastive distribution: Phonemes

A pair of speech sounds in contrastive distribution if interchanging the two can result in a change in meaning. For example, [s] and [ʃ] are in contrastive distribution in English as in: SUE and SHOE.

To answer a question if sounds are in contrastive distribution in English turn to minimal pair method:

-Number of phonemes in any given language is restricted

-Minimal pairs test allows to make a list of phonemes

-Two words which differ in meaning when only one sound is changed are referred to as a ‘minimal pair’ – PIN and BIN; COT and CUT

A group of words differentiated by each having only one sound different from all others. – a ‘minimal set’ – BIG and PIG and RIG

• Free variation

Free variation is an alternative pronunciation of a word (or of a phoneme in a word) that does not affect the word's meaning.

Free variation is "free" in the sense that it doesn't result in a different word. As William B. McGregor observes, "Absolutely free variation is rare. Usually there are reasons for it, perhaps the speaker's dialect, perhaps the emphasis the speaker wants to put on the word".

-[i] and [ai] of either

7) Predictability and unpredictability

The occurrence of allophones is always predictable – in a certain context we can only expect one and only one realization of the phoneme.

In all English words beginning with /l/ the next sound is a vowel or glide, English words never start with a dark [l]

[d] and [t] are variants of morpheme D and are in complimentary distribution. Slept/worked – only t. The choice is 100% predictable

The occurrence of different phonemes is, on the contrary, totally unpredictable

Phonemes are contrasted in one and the same context. There is no way in which we can predict therefore that in the context.

4. The English articulation basis Articulation (organic) basis: 1.The static aspect- articulatory setting. Articulatory setting is… а. the position of the organs of speech when a person doesn’t speak (or is about to speak) б. group of articulatory characteristics common to all speakers in a speech community 2. The dynamic aspect ! General tendencies of the articulatory setting of English lips are spread and pressed against the teeth. Tip of the tongue is slightly curled back and is opposite the alveoli (but doesn’t touch them!) the middle and the back parts of tongue are flattened and lowered (back part in particular) the soft palate is raised. (position of raised soft palate in combination with lowered position of the back part of the tongue contributes to the increase of the mouth resonator) The dynamic aspect It suggests the dynamic of the articulation of vowels in stressed/unstressed syllables The manner of transition(переход) from consonant to a vowel/from vowel to a consonant within a syllable (Ex. The transition from consonant to a vowel loose vs close:  in English net, peal- abrupt transition from consonant to a vowel; the consonant lasts longer and the connection between C and V is loose in Russian нет, пил- smooth transition, close  Ex. Transition from C to C: English- fact, act (loss of plosion in the first C);  Russian факт, аптека (no loss of plosion) ) English articulation basis (and it’s manifestation on the feature level) The flattering of the tongue widens vowels, its lowering makes the second elements of the diphthongs indistinct; front-hollowing(~прогнутый) gives a dull(тусклый) resonance which is noticeable in the /l/ sound, its retraction(сокращение) is unfavorable to the formation of teeth-sounds and favours the development of mixed vowels, while the neutrality of lips eliminates front-round vowels. ***The analysis of the articulation basis- only against the background of another language