This document discusses phonology and phonetics. Phonology is the study of sound patterns in language, while phonetics is the physical properties and production of speech sounds. A phoneme is a meaningful sound unit in a language, represented between slashes. An allophone is a phonetic realization of a phoneme. For example, the 'p' sound in 'paper' and 'spill' are allophones of the phoneme /p/ in English. Phonemes contrast meaning between words, like 'rowing' vs. 'mowing', while allophones do not change meaning. The minimal pairs test examines if two sounds can change the meaning of words when swapped, like "take" vs. "tape".

1. PHONOLOGY
The sound patterns of language
Done by : Sondoss Ifranji

2. PHONOLOGY VS. PHONETICS
PHONOLOGY PHONETICS
Specifically the study of how
speech sounds are produced,
what their physical
properties are, and how
they’re produced.
The description of the
systems and patterns of
speech sounds; based on a
theory of what every speaker
of a language unconsciously
knows about the sound
patterns of that language.
Both can be generally described as the study of speech sounds

3. PHONEMES AND ALLOPHONES
A phoneme : meaning-distinguishing units in a language or
The psychological (abstract) representations of a speech
sound.
Note : when we talk about a phoneme, we always put the
phoneme itself between slashes.
An allophone : is the phonetic realization of a phoneme.
Note : each phoneme can be realized as one or more different
allophones.

4. PHONEMES AND ALLOPHONES
Let’s examine the [t] sound in the following :
Top Stop Tar star

5. PHONEMES AND ALLOPHONES
[ph] and [p] are the allophones of the same phoneme /p/ in
English:
/p/  phoneme
[ph] [p]  allophones
‘paper’ ‘spill’
The ‘p’ in ‘paper’ is normally pronounced with aspiration.
That is, there is a release of a puff of air. The ‘p’ in ‘spill’ is
normally not aspirated.

6. PHONEMES AND ALLOPHONES
An essential property of phonemes : function contrastively.
e.g. In English /r/ and /m/ are phonemes because they are
the only basis for contrast in words such as ‘rowing’
and ‘mowing’
Whereas allophones don’t produce any changes in
meaning.

7. THE MINIMAL PAIRS TEST
A minimal pair in a language : are two forms that they are
exactly the same other than one sound
A minimal pair is a pair of words that :
• have different meanings.
• are pronounced the same except for one sound.
Examples :
[teɪk] vs. [teɪp] "take" vs. "tape"
[tim] vs. [dim] "team" vs. "deem"