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

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