новая папка / Phonology. Functional aspect

9.Phonology. Functional aspect.

**Phonology studies the functional aspect of speech sounds.** Its basic unit is the phoneme.

**A minimal pair** is a pair of words distinguished in meaning by a single sound change. For example: *ban – can – ran – man – fan* is a **minimal set**. The change of the vowel [æ] in *ban* provides another minimal set: *bun, bone, Ben, burn, born*. The change of the final [n] in *ban* gives: *bad, bat, back, badge, bang*.

**The commutation test** is used to establish phonemes. If the substitution of one sound for another results in the change of meaning, the sounds are different phonemes and are phonologically significant.

**The phonemes of a language form a system of oppositions.** Any one phoneme is usually opposed to any other phoneme in at least one minimal or sub-minimal pair.