Applied English Phonology, Second Edition ( PDFDrive )

PHONOLOGY 39
allophones of the same phoneme. Because we also said the same thing for
the relationship between [s] and [S], the conclusion is that the three sounds are
allophones of the same phoneme.
At this juncture, we have another task that relates to the choice of the basic
allophone that will represent the phoneme. To determine this, we look at the
distribution of the three sounds again and realize that [s] is the one that
appears in the most different environments (the least restricted in occurrence).
Because [S] occurs only before [i], and [z] occurs only after nasals, [s] is clearly
the choice and thus represents the phoneme.
[S] before [i]
/s/
[z] after nasals
[s] elsewhere
As shown above, the phoneme is represented with diagonal bars / /, and the
allophones are represented with brackets, [ ]. Also, in giving the environments
for the allophones, we write the more restricted one(s) first, so that we can say
“elsewhere” for the basic (the least restricted) allophone of the phoneme.
If we compare the same three sounds in Korean and in English, we see
a very different picture. While the sounds in question are in complementary
distribution and are allophones of one and the same phoneme in Korean, they
are in contrast and belong to three separate phonemes in English. We can
illustrate these differences schematically in the following way:
English
Contrast: ship–zip–sip
/S/
/z/
/s/
[S]
[z]
[s]
Korean
/s/
Phonetic similarity: [s] and [z] share the place and the manner of articulation, different
in voicing; [s] and [S] share the voicing and the manner of articulation,
different in place of articulation.
Allophonic processes: change to [S] before /i/, and to [z] after nasals.
In the displays above, and below, we place the phonetically similar sounds
that are shared by the two languages in the middle, between the brackets, [ ].
The language that makes the phonemic contrast has its two (or more) separate
phonemes placed in between diagonal bars. With the phoneme symbols, we
give a minimal pair to show the contrast. On the other side, the single
phoneme of the language is placed. Underneath the display, we have more
explicit statements regarding the phonetic similarity of the sounds (suspicious