Lecture 2 phonological theories I. A. Baudouin de Courtenay’s Theory of Phonology

вода / vʌdʌ'/, вод /voˊt/, воде /vʌde/ the consonants /t/ and /d/ may also be interpreted as variants of the phoneme /d/, but the members of alternations /d-t-d'/ may be considered as the realizations of one phoneme. In all these cases the relationship between the notions of phoneme and morpheme becomes very important. In such alternations, which depend on their position in morphemes or words, and there are no distinctive functions between the members of alternations, it is possible to use the term phonemic line («фонемный ряд»). According to R.I. Avanesov a phoneme is an element of a wordform and «phonemic line» is an element of a morpheme. There are some differences in the phonemic solutions of the representatives of this school. A.A. Reformatsky did not use the term «phonemic line». Thanks to the perceptual and significative functions, he divided the stressed and unstressed positions into the following types: perceptually the stressed position is that where a phoneme is represented in its basic form independent of its position; as to the unstressed position, where under the influence of positions, a phoneme is represented in its variations. For example, in the words мал — мял and мил — мыл we can observe pairs of vowels /a/ - /æ/ and /и/ — /ы/. In the first pair the basic form of the phoneme is /a/, while /æ/ is variation, likewise in the second pair /и/ is the basic form of the phoneme, while /ы/ is its variation. Phonemes organize different phonological oppositions, resulting in their significant functions. In a stressed position phonemic oppositions may be preserved, while in an unstressed position they are neutralized. Usually neutralization is the result of coincidence of two phonemes which are differentiated by one feature. For example, in words плод and плот, луг and лук voiced consonants become voiceless at the end of words. The Moscow phonologists suggested the term «hyperphoneme» which is defined as a unit which appears in the position of neutralization of a group of phonemes. For example, in Russian neutralization may take place in unstressed syllables where the vowels /a/, /o/, /i/, /e/, /u/ can be distinguished from each other; in this case they are not phonemes but hyperphonemes /a/ o, i /e/ and /u/. The unit hyperphoneme as presented by the Moscow phonologists does not coincide with the «archiphoneme» unit suggested by the Prague phonological school. The latter is understood as a unit, when two phonemes, distinguished only by one feature, for example, voiced -voiceless consonants /p - b/, /t - d/ etc., may coincide with their feature in the position of neutralization: