Contents introduction 2

PHONETIC VARIATIONS
There are three cases of such variations:
1. Modifications of the pronunciation of a word depending on the context or its position. Utterance and the conjunction are reduced in these combinations.
now and then
King and Queen
The conjunction is reduced in these combinations.
2. Accentual variation- different coexisting stress patterns of one and the same word.
Br. territory Am. territory
Br. dictionary Am. dictionary
3. Emic variation- multiple pronunciation of one and the same word.
explain [i] [e]
begin [i] [e]
ceramic [si`ramic] [ki`ramic]
drastic [a:] [a]
MORPHOLOGICAL VARIATIONS
Morphological variation takes place when different derivational morphemes are used without changing the word's meaning.
Academic, academicals
Morphologic, morphological
But not: historic and historical - they are not morphologic variants, but synonyms. Historic - memorable in history associated with past time:
a historic event.
Historical - belonging to history (real not imaginative) or dealing with real events in history:
a historical novel
historical events (real events)
This is a historic and historical place.
LEXICAL VARIATIONS
Lexical variations are determined by different registers:
formal / informal
spoken / written
laboratory / lab
examination / exam
television / tele
often / oft (poetic)¹³
SEMANTIC VARIATIONS
The majority of words in any language have more than one meaning.
Topology (philological term) - the term from the domain of mathematics, refers to the study of continuity and variability, invariant and its variants, identity and differentiation. Lexicology studies the problems of synonymy, polysemy, homonymy, identity-of-unit problem. The key point here is to try and strike the balance in interaction of the invariant and the variants, always remembering that in philology it is invariant that comes first focuses on different types of variation in lexis. Allo-emic theory - treatment of all elements in language as being sets of variants ('allo'-terms) of some invariants ('eme'-terms). Invariants are morphemes, phonemes, lexemes, which belong to the systemic level (language) while allomorphs, allophones, allolexes are their positional variants respectively and belong to the level of actualization (speech).
Allonymic variation - realized in contextual pairs semantically co-ordinated like slow and careful; quick and impatient.
'Emic' variation - a) a type of phonetic variation which occurs when there are multiple pronunciations for a single word: begin [bi'gin], [b 'gin]; explain [ik'splein], [ek'splein]; direct [dai'rekt], [di'rekt]; b) morphological variation with allomorphs of the same morpheme involved: irregular, innavigable, immovable, illegal.
type word formation¹⁴