Allophones are slight variations in vowel sounds that can change the meaning of a word. Phonemes are the smallest unit of sound, and each can have multiple ways of being expressed. Allophones can be interchangeable or in a complementary distribution, and understanding is usually established quickly despite dialect differences. Allophonic rules define the context in which a particular allophone is expected to be vocalized.
An allophone is an imperceptibly slight variation on a given vowel sound of a language. For example, the letter k in kill and skill may sound the same to most people, but they sound very different in critical phonetic analysis. If the two variants of the letter have been mispronounced, for example by a non-native speaker, the meaning of the word will not have changed, but most people will immediately hear it as unintelligible at first.
The Greek root telephone means “sound” and the allos prefix means “other.” In linguistics, the study of language, a phoneme is the smallest distinctive unit of sound. The consonant k is a phoneme and replacing it with another sound unit like t will change the meaning of the word. Each of these unique phonemes, however, can have multiple ways of being expressed.
“Kill” is inhaled – its pronunciation is accompanied by an explosive puff of air. With a palm held in front of the mouth, “skill” is clearly pronounced unaspirated. In phonology, the study of how humans create the sounds of speech, phonemes are characterized by different air flows and contrasting positions of the lips, tongue and other parts of the vocal tract. For example, vowels and consonants like m with minimal manipulation of the airflow are called sonorants.
Other vowel articulations include the characteristic “hiss” of sibilants such as nasal zes like the consonant m in “mouse” when the airflow is redirected through the nose. This last example is an allophone of m in “manipulate”. Phonemes in a given language can have any number of allophones. The consonant t in English has six, and native speakers are unaware of any differences in normal conversation. In Mandarin Chinese, however, the aspirated and unaspirated t are entirely separate phonemes whose respective use changes the meaning of the word.
An allophone can be an interchangeable free variation. This is what most commonly differentiates dialects and accents, such as British English versus American English. One may find the other nearly incomprehensible upon first meeting, but since the meaning of words does not change with different pronunciation, understanding is usually established quickly.
Most allophones in a given language or dialect are not interchangeable and are said to be in a complementary distribution. A particular allophone must occur in a particular phonetic context, while a different one can be expected in another context. In Standard English, the k in “kill” is always aspirated when it begins a word. Such definitions of the context in which a particular allophone is expected to be vocalized are collectively called allophonic rules.
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