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The 1st problem of the phonological analysis is to establish phonemes in a language. There are some difficulties in English:
1. If [J] and [W] are allophones of [I] and [U] or they are separate phonemes? Some linguists treat them as allophones on account of their weakness and unstable articulatory features. Others treat them as phonemes, because, as they say, [j] and [w] can form phonological oppositions with each other and with other phonemes (yell-well, yet-met); moreover, they occur in phonetic positions that are generally occupied by consonant phonemes, consequently, they cannot be considered to be allophones of vowel phonemes.
2. If the sounds [Ч], [дЖ], [TR], [DR], [TS], [DZ] are monophonemic? Rules to determine whether a sound of a complex nature is monophonemic: 1. A phoneme is indivisible, as no syllable division can occur within a phoneme; 2. A phoneme is produced by 1 articulatory effort; 3. The duration of a phoneme should not exceed that of other phonemes in the language => 1. Acoustic and physiologic analysis proved that the sounds [ч] and [дж] are produced by 1 articulatory effort, and their duration doesn't exceed the duration of either [t] or [ш], or [d]. Besides, no syllabic division occurs within the sounds. So they are monophonemic. 2. [ts] and [dz] are obviously biphonemic combinations, because their duration exceeds the average duration of either [t], [d], [s] or [z]. 3. Some linguists consider [tr] and [dr] as affricates as they are closely linked in the pronunciation of Englishmen. But most phoneticians regard them as biphonemic clusters.