Introduction...................................................................................................................3

1 The investigation of the phoneme as a language unit

1.1 The phoneme as a unity of three aspects.................................................................6

1.2 The conceptions of the phoneme...........................................................................10

1.3 The system of English phonemes..........................................................................12

1.3.1 The system of consonant phonemes...................................................................13

1.3.2 The system of vowel phonemes..........................................................................16

1.4 Main trends in the Phoneme theory. .....................................................................24

1.5 Methods of Phonological analysis.........................................................................26

1.6 Phonological schools.............................................................................................29

1.7 Phoneme and allophone.........................................................................................31

2 Practical part

Comparative analysis of characteristic features of sound system of English and Russian language.........................................................................................................35

Conclusion...................................................................................................................57

Bibliography................................................................................................................58

Appendix.....................................................................................................................60