| word 1 | word 2 | IPA 1 | IPA 2 | note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pin | bin | /pɪn/ | /bɪn/ | initial consonant |
| rot | lot | /rɒt/ | /lɒt/ | |
| thigh | thy | /θaɪ/ | /ðaɪ/ | |
| zeal | seal | /ziːl/ | /siːl/ | |
| bin | bean | /bɪn/ | /biːn/ | vowel |
| pen | pan | /pɛn/ | /pæn/ | |
| cook | kook | /kʊk/ | /kuːk/ | |
| hat | had | /hæt/ | /hæd/ | final consonant |
| mean | meme | /miːn/ | /miːm/ |
Quantity
Many languages show contrasts between long and short vowels and consonants. A distinctive difference in length is attributed by some phonologists to a unit called a chroneme. Thus, Italian has the following minimal pair that is based on long and short /l/:
| spelling | IPA | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pala | /ˈpala/ | shovel |
| palla | /ˈpalla/ | ball |
However, in such a case it is not easy to decide whether a long vowel or consonant should be treated as having an added chroneme or simply as a geminate sound with phonemes.
Classical Latin, German, some Italian dialects, almost all Uralic languages, Thai, and many other languages also have distinctive length in vowels. An example is the cŭ/cū minimal pair in the dialect that is spoken near Palmi (Calabria, Italy):
| Dialect spoken in Palmi | IPA | Quality | Etymology | Latin | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cŭ voli? | /kuˈvɔːli/ | short | cŭ < lat. qu(is) (“who?”) | Quis vult? | Chi vuole? | Who wants? |
| Cū voli? | /kuːˈvɔːli/ | long | cū < lat. qu(o) (ill)ŭ(m) (“for-what him?”) | Quō illum/illud vult? | Per che cosa lo vuole? | For what (reason) does he want him/it? |
Syntactic gemination
In some languages like Italian, word-initial consonants are geminated after certain vowel-final words in the same prosodic unit. Sometimes, the phenomenon can create some syntactic-gemination-minimal-pairs:
| Italian sandhi | IPA | Meaning | Sample sentence | Meaning of the sample sentence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| dà casa | /dakˈkasa/ | (he/she) gives (his/her) house | Carlo ci dà casa. | Carlo gives us his house. |
| da casa | /daˈkasa/ | from home | Carlo uscì da casa. | Carlo got out from home. |
In the example, the graphical accent on dà is just a diacritical mark that does not change the pronunciation of the word itself. However, in some specific areas, like Tuscany, both phrases are pronounced /daˈkkaːza/ and so can be distinguished only from the context.
Tone
Minimal pairs for tone contrasts in tone languages can be established; some writers refer to that as a contrast involving a toneme. For example, Kono distinguishes high tone and low tone on syllables:[4][5]
| tone | word | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| high | /kɔ́ɔ́/ | ‘to mature’ |
| low | /kɔ̀ɔ̀/ | ‘rice’ |
Stress
Languages in which stress may occur in different positions within the word often have contrasts that can be shown in minimal pairs, as in Greek and Spanish:
| language | word | IPA | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greek | ποτέ | /poˈte/ | ever |
| Greek | πότε | /ˈpote/ | when |
| Spanish | esta | /ˈesta/ | this |
| Spanish | está | /esˈta/ | (he/she/it) is |
Juncture
English-speakers are able to hear the difference between, for example, “great ape” and “grey tape”, but phonemically, the two phrases are identical: /ɡreɪteɪp/.[6][7] The difference between the two phrases, which constitute a minimal pair, is said to be one of juncture. At the word boundary, a “plus juncture” /+/ is posited and said to be the factor conditioning allophones to allow distinctivity: the result is that “great ape” has an /eɪ/ diphthong shortened by pre-fortis clipping and, since it is not syllable-initial, a /t/ with little aspiration (variously [t˭], [ɾ], [ʔt], [ʔ], etc., depending on dialect); meanwhile in “grey tape”, the /eɪ/ has its full length and the /t/ is aspirated [tʰ].
Only languages with allophonic differences associated with grammatical boundaries have juncture as a phonological element. It is claimed that French does not have juncture as a phonological element[8] so, for example, “des petits trous” (little holes) and “des petites roues” (little wheels), phonemically both /depətitʁu/, are phonetically identical.
Minimal sets
The principle of a simple binary opposition between the two members of a minimal pair may be extended to cover a minimal set in which a number of words differ from one another in terms of one phone in a particular position in the word.[9] For example, the vowels /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/ of Swahili are shown to be distinct by the following set of words: pata ‘hinge’, peta ‘bend’, pita ‘pass’, pota ‘twist’, puta ‘thrash’.[10] However, establishing such sets is not always straightforward [11] and may require very complex study of multiple oppositions as expounded by, for example, Nikolai Trubetzkoy.[12]
KLIK LINK BELOW TO SEE THE TABLE :
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vqEGJFagxVRBlSvQkbwe6tiwiFYGiVtW/view?usp=sharing
REFERENCES :
- Jones, Daniel (1944). “Chronemes and Tonemes”.
- ^ Pike, Kenneth (1947). Phonemics.
- ^ Swadesh, M. (1934). “The Phonemic Principle”.
- ^ Roach, Peter (2001). Phonetics. Oxford. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-19-437239-8.
- ^ Manyeh, Morie Komba (1983). Aspects of Kono Phonology (PhD). University of Leeds. p. 152.
- ^ Jones, D. (1931). The “Word” as a phonetic entity.
- ^ O’Connor and Tooley (1964). The perceptibility of certain word-boundaries.
- ^ O’Connor (1973). Phonetics.
- ^ Ladefoged, P. (2006). A Course in Phonetics. pp. 35–6.
- ^ Ladefoged, P. (2001). Vowels and Consonants. p. 26.
- ^ Fromkin and Rodman (1993). An Introduction to La
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