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1英语语言学概论重、难点问与答Questions&AnswersonKeyPointsofLinguistics1.1.Whatislanguage?“Languageissystemofarbitraryvocalsymbolsusedforhumancommunication.Itisasystem,sincelinguisticelementsarearrangedsystematically,ratherthanrandomly.Arbitrary,inthesensethatthereisusuallynointrinsicconnectionbetweenawork(like“book”)andtheobjectitrefersto.Thisexplainsandisexplainedbythefactthatdifferentlanguageshavedifferent“books”:“book”inEnglish,“livre”inFrench,inJapanese,inChinese,“check”inKorean.Itissymbolic,becausewordsareassociatedwithobjects,actions,ideasetc.bynothingbutconvention.Namely,peopleusethesoundsorvocalformstosymbolizewhattheywishtoreferto.Itisvocal,becausesoundorspeechistheprimarymediumforallhumanlanguages,developedor“new”.Writingsystemscamemuchlaterthanthespokenforms.Thefactthatsmallchildrenlearnandcanonlylearntospeak(andlisten)beforetheywrite(andread)alsoindicatesthatlanguageisprimarilyvocal,ratherthanwritten.Theterm“human”inthedefinitionismeanttospecifythatlanguageishumanspecific.1.2.Whataredesignfeaturesoflanguage?“Designfeatures”hererefertothedefiningpropertiesofhumanlanguagethattellthedifferencebetweenhumanlanguageandanysystemofanimalcommunication.Theyarearbitrariness,duality,productivity,displacement,culturaltransmissionandinterchangeability1.3.Whatisarbitrariness?By“arbitrariness”,wemeanthereisnologicalconnectionbetweenmeaningsandsounds(seeI.1).Adogmightbeapigifonlythefirstpersonorgroupofpersonshaduseditforapig.Languageisthereforelargelyarbitrary.Butlanguageisnotabsolutelyseemtobesomesound-meaningassociation,ifwethinkofechowords,like“bang”,“crash”,“roar”,whicharemotivatedinacertainsense.Secondly,somecompounds(wordscompoundedtobeoneword)arenotentirelyarbitraryeither.“Type”and“write”areopaqueorunmotivatedwords,while“type-writer”islessso,ormoretransparentormotivatedthanthewordsthatmakeit.Sowecansay“arbitrariness”isamatterofdegree.1.4.Whatisduality?Linguistsrefer“duality”(ofstructure)tothefactthatinalllanguagessofarinvestigated,onefindstwolevelsofstructureorpatterning.Atthefirst,higherlevel,languageisanalyzedintermsofcombinationsofmeaningfulunits(suchasmorphemes,wordsetc.);atthesecond,lowerlevel,itisseenasasequenceofsegmentswhichlackanymeaninginthemselves,butwhichcombinetoformunitsofmeaning.AccordingtoHuZhanglinetal.(p.6),languageisasystemoftwosetsofstructures,oneofsoundsandtheotherofmeaning.Thisisimportantfortheworkingsoflanguage.Asmallnumberofsemanticunits(words),andtheseunitsofmeaningcanbearrangedandrearrangedintoaninfinitenumberofsentences(notethatwehavedictionariesofwords,butnodictionaryofsentences!).Dualitymakesitpossibleforapersontotalkaboutanythingwithinhisknowledge.Noanimalcommunicationsystemenjoysthisduality,orevenapproachesthishonor.21.5.Whatisproductivity?Productivityreferstotheabilitytotheabilitytoconstructandunderstandanindefinitelylargenumberofsentencesinonesnativelanguage,includingthosethathasneverheardbefore,butthatareappropriatetothespeakingsituation.Noonehaseversaidorheard“Ared-eyedelephantisdancingonthesmallhotelbedwithanAfricangibbon”,buthecansayitwhennecessary,andhecanunderstanditinrightregister.Differentfromartisticcreativity,though,productivitynevergoesoutsidethelanguage,thusalsocalled“rule-boundcreativity”(byN.Chomsky).1.6.Whatisdisplacement?“Displacement”,asoneofthedesignfeaturesofthehumanlanguage,referstothefactthatonecantalkaboutthingsthatarenotpresent,aseasilyashedoesthingspresent.Inotherwords,onecanrefertorealandunrealthings,thingsofthepast,ofthepresent,ofthefuture.Languageitselfcanbetalkedabouttoo.Whenaman,forexample,iscryingtoawoman,aboutsomething,itmightbesomethingthathadoccurred,orsomethingthatisoccurring,orsomethingthatistooccur.Whenadogisbarking,however,youcandecideitisbarkingforsomethingoratsomeonethatexistsnowandthere.Itcouldntbebowwowingsorrowfullyfordomelostloveorabonetobelost.Thebeessystem,nonetheless,hasasmallshareof“displacement”,butitisanunspeakabletinyshare.1.7.Whatisculturaltransmission?Thismeansthatlanguageisnotbiologicallytransmittedfromgenerationtogeneration,butthatthedetailsofthelinguisticsystemmustbelearnedanewbyeachspeaker.Itistruethatthecapacityforlanguageinhumanbeings(N.Chomskycalledit“languageacquisitiondevice”,orLAD)hasageneticbasis,buttheparticularlanguageapersonlearnstospeakisaculturaloneotherthanageneticonelikethedogsbarkingsystem.Ifahumanbeingisbroughtupinisolationhecannotacquirelanguage.TheWolfChildrearedbythepackofwolvesturnedouttospeakthewolfsroaring“tongue”whenhewassaved.Helearnedthereafter,withnosmalldifficulty,theABCofacertainhumanlanguage.1.8.Whatisinterchangeability?(1)Interchangeabilitymeansthatanyhumanbeingcanbebothaproducerandareceiverofmessages.Wecansay,andonotheroccasionscanreceiveandunderstand,forexample,“Pleasedosomethingtomakemehappy.”Thoughsomepeople(includingme)suggestthatthereissexdifferentiationintheactuallanguageuse,inotherwords,menandwomenmaysaydifferentthings,yetinprinciplethereisnosound,orwordorsentencethatamancanutterandawomancannot,orviceversa.Ontheotherhand,apersoncanbethespeakerwhiletheotherpersonisthelistenerandastheturnmovesontothelistener,hecanbethespeakerandthefirstspeakeristolisten.Itisturn-takingthatmakessocialcommunicationpossibleandacceptable.(2)Somemalebirds,however,uttersomecalls,whichfemalesdonot(orcannot?),andcertainkindsoffishhavesimilarhapsmentionable.Whenadogbarks,alltheneighboringdogsbark.Thenpeoplearoundcanhardlytellwhichdog(dogs)is(are0“speaking”andwhichlistening.1.9.Whydolinguistssaylanguageishumanspecific?Firstofall,humanlanguagehassix“designfeatures”whichanimalcommunicationsystemsdo3nothave,atleastnotinthetruesenseofthem(seeI.2-8).LetsborrowC.F.HocketsChartthatcompareshumanlanguagewithsomeanimalssystems,fromWangGang(1998,p.8).Secondly,linguistshavedonealottryingtoteachanimalssuchaschimpanzeestospeakahumanlanguagebuthaveachievednothinginspiring.BeatniceandAlanGardnerbroughtupWashoe,afemalechimpanzee,likeahumanchild.Shewastaught“AmericansignLanguage”,andlearnedalittlethatmadetheteachershappybutdidmotmakethelinguisticscirclehappy,forfewbelievedinteachingchimpanzees.Thirdly,ahumanchildrearedamonganimalscannotspeakahumanlanguage,notevenwhenheistakenbackandtaughttolotoso(seethe“WolfChild”inI.7)1.10.Whatfunctionsdoeslanguagehave?Languagehasatleastsevenfunctions:phatic,directive,Informative,interrogative,expressive,evocativeandperformative.AccordingtoWangGang(1988,p.11),languagehasthreemainfunctions:atoolofcommunication,atoolwherebypeoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolbywhichpeoplelearnabouttheworld,andatoolbywhichpeoplecreateart.M.A.K.Halliday,representativeoftheLondonschool,recognizesthree“Macro-Functions”:ideational,interpersonalandtextual(see!11-17;seeHUZhuanglinetal.,pp10-13,pp394-396).1.11Whatisthephaticfunction?The“phaticfunction”referstolanguagebeingusedforsettingupacertainatmosphereormaintainingsocialcontacts(ratherthanforexchanginginformationorideas).Greetings,farewells,andcommentsontheweatherinEnglishandonclothinginChineseallservethisfunction.Muchofthephaticlanguage(e.g.“Howareyou?”“Fine,thanks.”)Isinsincereiftakenliterally,butitisimportant.Ifyoudontsay“Hello”toafriendyoumeet,orifyoudontanswerhis“Hi”,youruinyourfriendship.1.12.Whatisthedirectivefunction?The“directivefunction”meansthatlanguagemaybeusedtogetthehearertodosomething.Mostimperativesentencesperformthisfunction,e.g.,“Tellmetheresultwhenyoufinish.”Othersyntacticstructuresorsentencesofothersortscan,accordingtoJ.AustinandJ.Searles“indirectspeechacttheory”(seeHuZhuanglinetal.,pp271-278)atleast,servethepurposeofdirectiontoo,e.g.,“IfIwereyou,Iwouldhaveblushedtothebottomofmyears!”1.13.Whatistheinformativefunction?Languageservesan“informationalfunction”whenusedtotellsomething,characterizedbytheuseofdeclarativesentences.Informativestatementsareoftenlabeledastrue(truth)orfalse(falsehood).AccordingtoP.Grices“CooperativePrinciple”(seeHuZhuanglinetal.,pp282-283),oneoughtnottoviolatethe“MaximofQuality”,whenheisinformingatall.1.14.Whatistheinterrogativefunction?Whenlanguageisusedtoobtaininformation,itservesan“interrogativefunction”.Thisincludesallquestionsthatexpectreplies,statements,imperativesetc.,accordingtothe“indirectspeechacttheory”,mayhavethisfunctionaswell,e.g.,“Idliketoknowyoubetter.”Thismaybringfortha4lotofpersonalinformation.Notethatrhetoricalquestionsmakeanexception,sincetheydemandnoanswer,atleastnotthereaders/listenersanswer.1.15.Whatistheexpressivefunction?The“expressivefunction”istheuseoflanguagetorevealsomethingaboutthefeelingsorattitudesofthespeaker.Subconsciousemotionalejaculationsaregoodexamples,like“Goodheavens!”“MyGod!”Sentenceslike“Imsorryaboutthedelay”canserveasgoodexamplestoo,thoughinasubtleway.Whilelanguageisusedfortheinformativefunctiontopassjudgmentonthetruthorfalsehoodofstatements,languageusedfortheexpressivefunctionevaluates,appraisesorassertsthespeakersownattitudes.1.16.Whatistheevocativefunction?The“evocativefunction”istheuseoflanguagetocreatecertainfeelingsinthehearer.Itsaimis,forexample,toamuse,startle,antagonize,soothe,worryorplease.Jokes(notpracticaljokes,though)aresupposedtoamuseorentertainthelistener;advertisingtourgecustomerstopurchasecertaincommodities;propagandatoinfluencepublicopinion.Obviously,theexpressiveandtheevocativefunctionsoftengotogether,i.e.,youmayexpress,forexample,yourpersonalfeelingsaboutapoliticalissuebutendupbyevokingthesamefeelingin,orimposingiton,yourlistener.Thatsalsothecasewiththeotherwayround.1.17.Whatistheperformativefunction?Thismeanspeoplespeakto“dothings”orperformactions.Oncertainoccasionstheutteranceitselfasanactionismoreimportantthanwhatwordsorsoundsconstitutetheutteredsentence.WhenaskedifathirdYangtzeBridgeoughttobebuiltinWuhan,themayormaysay,“OK”,whichmeansmorethanspeech,andmorethananaveragesocialindividualmaydofortheconstruction.Thejudgesimprisonmentsentence,thepresidentswarorindependencedeclaration,etc.,areperformativesaswell(seeJ.AustinsspeechActTheory,HuZhuanglin,ecal.pp271-278).1.18.Whatislinguistics?“Linguistics”isthescientificstudyoflanguage.Itstudiesnotjustonelanguageofanyonesociety,butalsothelanguageofallhumanbeings.Alinguist,though,doesnothavetoknowandusealargenumberoflanguages,buttoinvestigatehoweachlanguageisconstructed.Heisalsoconcernedwithhowalanguagevariesfromdialecttodialect,fromclasstoclass,howitchangesfromcenturytocentury,howchildrenacquiretheirmothertongue,andperhapshowapersonlearnsorshouldlearnaforeignlanguage.Inshort,linguisticsstudiesthegeneralprincipleswhereuponallhumanlanguagesareconstructedandoperateassystemsofcommunicationintheirsocietiesorcommunities(seeHuZhuanglinetal.,pp20-22)1.19.Whatmakeslinguisticsascience?Sincelinguisticsisthescientificstudyoflanguage,itoughttobaseitselfuponthesystematic,investigationoflanguagedata,whichaimsatdiscoveringthetruenatureoflanguageanditsunderlyingsystem.Tomakesenseofthedata,alinguistusuallyhasconceivedsomehypothesesaboutthelanguagestructure,tobecheckedagainsttheobservedorobservablefacts.Inordertomakehisanalysisscientific,alinguistisusuallyguidedbyfourprinciples:exhaustiveness,5consistency,andobjectivity.Exhaustivenessmeansheshouldgatherallthematerialsrelevanttothestudyandgivethemanadequateexplanation,inspiteofthecomplicatedness.Heistoleavenolinguistic“stone”unturned.Consistencymeansthereshouldbenocontradictionbetweendifferentpartsofthetotalstatement.Economymeansalinguistshouldpursuebrevityintheanalysiswhenitispossible.Objectivityimpliesthatsincesomepeoplemaybesubjectiveinthestudy,alinguistshouldbe(orsoundatleast)objective,matter-of-face,faithfultoreality,sothathisworkconstitutespartofthelinguisticsresearch.1.20.Whatarethemajorbranchesoflinguistics?Thestudyoflanguageasawholeisoftencalledgenerallinguistics(e.g.HuZhuanglinetal.,1988;WangGang,1988).Butalinguistsometimesisabletodealwithonlyoneaspectoflanguageatatime,thustheariseofvariousbranches:phonetics,phonology,morphology,syntax,semantics,sociolinguistics,appliedlinguistics,pragmatics,psycholinguistics,lexicology,lexicography,etymology,etc.1.21.Whataresynchronicanddiachronicstudies?Thedescriptionofalanguageatsomepointoftime(asifitstoppeddeveloping)isasynchronystudy(synchrony).Thedescriptionofalanguageasitchangesthroughtimeisadiachronicstudy(diachronic).Anessayentitled“OntheUseofTHE”,forexample,maybesynchronic,iftheauthordoesnotrecallthepastofTHE,anditmayalsobediachronicifheclaimstocoveralargerangeorperiodoftimewhereinTHEhasundergonetremendousalteration(seeHuZhuanglinetal.,pp25-27).1.22.Whatisspeechandwhatiswriting?(1)Nooneneedstherepetitionofthegeneralprincipleoflinguisticanalysis,namely,theprimacyofspeechoverwriting.Speechisprimary;becauseitexistedlonglongbeforewritingsystemscameintobeing.Geneticallychildrenlearntospeakbeforelearningtowrite.Secondly,writtenformsjustrepresentinthiswayorthatthespeechsounds:individualsounds,asinEnglishandFrenchasinJapanese.(2)Incontrasttospeech,spokenformoflanguage,writingaswrittencodes,giveslanguagenewscopeandusethatspeechdoesnothave.Firstly,messagescanbecarriedthroughspacesothatpeoplecanwritetoeachother.Secondly,messagescanbecarriedthroughtimethereby,sothatpeopleofourtimecanbecarriedthroughtimethereby,sothatpeopleofourtimecanreadBeowulf,SamuelJohnson,andEdgarA.Poe.Thirdly,oralmessagesarereadilysubjecttodistortion,eitherintentionalorunintentional(causingmisunderstandingormalentendu),whilewrittenmessagesallowandencouragerepeatedunalterablereading.(3)Mostmodernlinguisticanalysisisfocusedonspeech,differentfromgrammariansofthelastcenturyandtheretofore.1.23.Whatarethedifferencesbetweenthedescriptiveandtheprescriptiveapproaches?Alinguisticstudyis“descriptive”ifitonlydescribesandanalysesthefactsoflanguage,and“prescriptive”ifittriestolaydownrulesfor“correct”languagebehavior.Linguisticstudiesbeforethiscenturywerelargelyprescriptivebecausemanyearlygrammarswerelargelyprescriptivebecausemanyearlygrammarswerebasedon“high”(literaryorreligious)written6records.Modernlinguisticsismostlydescriptive,however.It(thelatter)believesthatwhateveroccursinnaturalspeech(hesitation,incompleteutterance,misunderstanding,etc.)shouldbedescribedintheanalysis,andnotbemarkedasincorrect,abnormal,corrupt,orlousy.These,withchangesinvocabularyandstructures,needtobeexplainedalso.1.24.Whatisthedifferencebetweenlangueandparole?F.DeSaussurerefers“langue”totheabstractlinguisticsystemsharedbyallthemembersofaspeechcommunityandrefers“parole”totheactualoractualizedlanguage,ortherealizationoflangue.Langueisabstract,parolespecifictothespeakingsituation;languenotactuallyspokenbyanindividual,parolealwaysanaturallyoccurringevent;languerelativelystableandsystematic,paroleisamassofconfusedfacts,thusnotsuitableforsystematicinvestigation.Whatalinguistoughttodo,accordingtoSaussure,istoabstractlanguefrominstancesofparole,I.e.todiscovertheregularitiesgoverningallinstancesofparoleandmakethanthesubjectoflinguistics.Thelangue-paroledistinctionisofgreatimportance,whichcastsgreatinfluenceonlaterlinguists.1.25.Whatisthedifferencebetweencompetenceandperformance?(1)AccordingtoN.Chomsky,“competence”istheideallanguageusersknowledgeoftherulesofhislanguage,and“performance”istheactualrealizationofthisknowledgeinutterances.Theformerenablesaspeakertoproduceandunderstandanindefinitenumberofsentencesandtorecognizegrammaticalmistakesandambiguities.Aspeakerscompetenceisstablewhilehisperformanceisofteninfluencedbypsychologicalandsocialfactors.Soaspeakersperformancedoesnotalwaysmatchorequalhissupposedcompetence.(2)Chomskybelievesthatlinguistsoughttostudycompetence,ratherthanperformance.Inotherwords,theyshoulddiscoverwhatanidealspeakerknowsofhisnativelanguage.(3)Chomskyscompetence-performancedistinctionisnotexactlythesameas,thoughsimilarto,F.deSaussureslangue-paroledistinction.Langueisasocialproduct,andasetofconventionsforacommunity,whilecompetenceisdeemedasapropertyofthemindofeachindividual.SaussurelooksatlanguagemorefromasociologicalorsociolinguisticpointofviewthanN.Chomskysincethelatterdealswithhisissuespsychologicallyorpsycholinguistically.1.26.Whatislinguisticpotential?Whatisactuallinguisticbehavior?M.A.K.Hallidaymadethesetwoterms,orthepotential-behaviordistinction,inthe1960s,fromafunctionalpointofview.Thereisawiderangeofthingsaspeakercandoinhisculture,andsimilarlytherearemanythingshecansay,forexample,tomanypeople,onmanytopics.Whatheactuallysays(i.e.his“actuallinguisticbehavior”)onacertainoccasiontoacertainpersoniswhathehaschosenfrommanypossibleinjusticeitems,eachofwhichhecouldhavesaid(linguisticpotential).1.27.Inwhatwaydolanguage,competenceandlinguisticpotentialagree?Inwhatwaydotheydiffer?Andtheircounterparts?Langue,competenceandlinguisticpotentialhavesomesimilarfeatures,buttheyareinnatelydifferent(see1.25).Langueisasocialproduct,andasetofspeakingconventions;competenceisapropertyorattributeofeachidealspeakersmind;linguisticpotentialisallthelinguisticcorpusorrepertoireavailablefromwhichthespeakerchoosesitemsfortheactualutterancesituation.In7otherwords,langueisinvisiblebutreliableabstractsystem.Competencemeans“knowing”,andlinguisticpotentialasetofpossibilitiesfor“doing”or“performingactions”.TheyaresimilarinthattheyallrefertotheconstantunderlyingtheutterancesthatconstitutewhatSaussure,ChomskyandHallidayrespectivelycalledparole,performanceandactuallinguisticbehavior.Parole,performanceandactuallinguisticbehaviorenjoymoresimilaritiesthandifferences.1.28.Whatisphonetics?“Phonetics”isthesciencewhichstudiesthecharacteristicsofhumansound-making,especiallythosesoundsusedinspeech,andprovidesmethodsfortheirdescription,classificationandtranscription(seeHuZhuanglinetal.,pp39-40),speechsoundsmaybestudiedindifferentways,thusbythreedifferentbranchesofphonetics.(1)Articulatoryphonetics;thebranchofphoneticsthatexaminesthewayinwhichaspeechsoundisproducedtodiscoverwhichvocalorgansareinvolvedandhowtheycoordinateintheprocess.(2)Auditoryphonetics,thebranchofphoneticresearchfromthehearerspointofview,lookingintotheimpressionwhichaspeechsoundmakesonthehearerasmediatedbytheear,theauditorynerveandthebrain.(3)Acousticphonetics:thestudyofthephysicalpropertiesofspeechsounds,astransmittedbetweenmouthandear.Mostphoneticians,however,areinterestedinarticulatorphonetics.1.29.Howarethevocalorgansformed?Thevocalorgans(seeFigure1,HuZhuanglinetal.,p41),orspeechorgans,areorgansofthehumanbodywhosesecondaryuseisintheproductionofspeechsounds.Thevocalorganscanbeconsideredasconsistingofthreeparts;theinitiatoroftheair-stream,theproducerofvoiceandtheresonatingcavities.1.30.Whatisplaceofarticulation?Itreferstotheplaceinthemouthwhere,forexample,theobstructionoccurs,resultingintheutteranceofaconsonant.Whateversoundispronounced,atleastsomevocalorganswillgetinvolved.g.Lips,hardpalateetc.,soaconsonantmaybeoneofthefollowing(1)bilabial:p,b,m;(2)labiodental:f,v;(3)dental:,;(4)alveolar:t,d,l,n.s,z;(5)retroflex;(6)palatal-alveolar:,;(7)palatal:j;(8)velark,g,;(9)uvular;(10)glottal:h.Somesoundsinvolvethesimultaneoususeoftwoplacesofarticulation.Forexample,theEnglishwhasbothanapproximationofthetwolipsandthosetwolipsandthatofthetongueandthesoftpalate,andmaybetermed“labial-velar”.1.31.Whatisthemannerofarticulation?The“mannerofarticulation”literallymeansthewayasoundisarticulated.Atagivenplaceofarticulation,theairstreamsmaybeobstructedinvariousways,resultinginvariousmannersofarticulation,arethefollowing:(1)plosive:p,b,t,d,k,g;(2)nasal:m,n,;(3)trill;(4)taporflap;(5)lateral:l;(6)fricative:f,v,s,z;(7)approximant:w,j;(8)affricate:.1.32.Howdophoneticiansclassifyvowels?Phoneticians,inspiteofthedifficulty,groupvowelsin5types:(1)longandshortvowels,e.g.,i:,;(4)roundedandunroundedvowels,e.g.,i;(5)pureandglidingvowels,e.g.I,.81.33.WhatisIPA?Whendiditcomeintobeing?TheIPA,abbreviationof“InternationalPhoneticAlphabet”,isacompromisesystemmakinguseofsymbolsofallsources,includingdiacriticsindicatinglength,stressandintonation,indicatingphoneticvariation.Eversinceitwasdevelopedin1888,IPAhasundergoneanumberofrevisions.1.34.Whatisnarrowtranscriptionandwhatisbroadtranscription?Inhandbookofphonetics,HenrySweetmadeadistinctionbetween“narrow”and“broad”transcriptions,whichhecalled“NarrowRomic”.Theformerwasmeanttosymbolizeallthepossiblespeechsounds,includingeventhemostminuteshadesofpronunciationwhileBroadRomicortranscriptionwasintendedtoindicateonlythosesoundscapableofdistinguishingonewordfromanotherinagivenlanguage.1.35.Whatisphonology?Whatisdifferencebetweenphoneticsandphonology?(1)“Phonology”isthestudyofsoundsystems-theinventionofdistinctivespeechsoundsthatoccurinalanguageandthepatternswhereintheyfall.Minimalpair,phonemes,allophones,freevariation,complementarydistribution,etc.,arealltobeinvestigatedbyaphonologist.(2)Phonetics,asdiscussedinI.28,isthebranchoflinguisticsstudyingthecharacteristicsofspeechsoundsandprovidesmethodsfortheirdescription,classificationandtranscription.Aphoneticianismainlyinterestedinthephysicalpropertiesofthespeechsounds,whereasaphonologiststudieswhathebelievesaremeaningfulsoundsrelatedwiththeirsemanticfeatures,morphologicalfeatures,andthewaytheyareconceivedandprintedinthedepthofthemindphonologicalknowledgepermitsaspeakertoproducesoundswhichfrommeaningfulutterances,torecognizeaforeign“accent”,tomakeupnewwords,toaddtheappropriatephoneticsegmentstofrompluralsandpasttenses,toknowwhatisandwhatisnotasoundinoneslanguage.1.36.Whatisaphone?Whatisaphoneme?Whatisanallophone?(1)A“phone”isaphoneticunitorsegment.Thespeechsoundswehearandproduceduringlinguisticcommunicationareallphones.Whenwehearthefollowingwordspronounced:pit,tip,spit,etc.,thesimilarphoneswehaveheardarepforonething,andthreedifferentps,readilymakingpossiblethe“narrowtranscriptionordiacritics”.Phonesmayandmaynotdistinguishmeaning.A“phoneme”isaphonologicalunit;itisaunitthatisofdistinctivevalue.Asanabstractunit,aphonemeisnotanyparticularsound,butratheritisrepresentedorrealizedbyacertainphoneinacertainphoneticcontext.Forexample,thephonemepisrepresenteddifferentlyinpit,tipandspit.(2)Thephonesrepresentingaphonemearecalledits“allophones”,i.e.,thedifferent(i.e.,phones)butdonotmakeonewordsophoneticallydifferentastocreateanewwordoranewmeaningthereof.Sothedifferentpsintheabovewordsaretheallophonesofthesamephonemep.Howaphonemeisrepresentedbyaphone,orwhichallophoneistobeused,isdeterminedbythephoneticcontextinwhichitoccurs.Butthechoiceofanallophoneisnotrandom.Inmostcasesitisrule-governed;theserulesaretobefoundoutbyaphonologist.1.37.Whatareminimalpairs?Whentwodifferentphoneticformsareidenticalineverywayexceptforonesoundsegmentwhichoccursinthesameplaceinthestring,thetwoforms(i.e.,word)aresupposedtoforma“minimal9pair”,e.g.,“pill”and“bill”,“pill”and“till”,“till”and“dill”,“till”and“kill”,etc.Allthesewordstogetherconstituteaminimalset.Theyareidenticalinformexceptfortheinitialconsonants.TherearemanyminimalpairsinEnglish,whichmakesitrelativelyeasytoknowwhatareEnglishphonemes.Itisofgreatimportancetofindtheminimalpairswhenaphonologistisdealingwiththesoundsystemofanun

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