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href="#Stress"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.3</span> <span>Stress</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Stress-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Juncture" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Juncture"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.4</span> <span>Juncture</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Juncture-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Minimal_sets" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Minimal_sets"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Minimal sets</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Minimal_sets-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Teaching" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Teaching"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Teaching</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Teaching-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-In_sign_languages" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#In_sign_languages"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>In sign languages</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-In_sign_languages-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Bibliography" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Bibliography"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>Bibliography</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Bibliography-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Minimal pair</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 31 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-31" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">31 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-als mw-list-item"><a href="https://als.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalpaar" title="Minimalpaar – Alemannic" lang="gsw" hreflang="gsw" data-title="Minimalpaar" data-language-autonym="Alemannisch" data-language-local-name="Alemannic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Alemannisch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D8%B2%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AC_%D9%84%D9%81%D8%B8%D9%8A" title="ازدواج لفظي – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="ازدواج لفظي" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parell_m%C3%ADnim" title="Parell mínim – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Parell mínim" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cv mw-list-item"><a href="https://cv.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BC%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%BB%D0%B0_%D0%BC%C4%83%D1%88%C4%83%D1%80" title="Минимумла мăшăр – Chuvash" lang="cv" hreflang="cv" data-title="Минимумла мăшăр" data-language-autonym="Чӑвашла" data-language-local-name="Chuvash" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Чӑвашла</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minim%C3%A1ln%C3%AD_p%C3%A1r" title="Minimální pár – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Minimální pár" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-da mw-list-item"><a href="https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalt_par" title="Minimalt par – Danish" lang="da" hreflang="da" data-title="Minimalt par" data-language-autonym="Dansk" data-language-local-name="Danish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Dansk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalpaar" title="Minimalpaar – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Minimalpaar" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Par_m%C3%ADnimo" title="Par mínimo – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Par mínimo" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eo mw-list-item"><a href="https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimuma_paro" title="Minimuma paro – Esperanto" lang="eo" hreflang="eo" data-title="Minimuma paro" data-language-autonym="Esperanto" data-language-local-name="Esperanto" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Esperanto</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eu mw-list-item"><a href="https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pare_minimo" title="Pare minimo – Basque" lang="eu" hreflang="eu" data-title="Pare minimo" data-language-autonym="Euskara" data-language-local-name="Basque" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Euskara</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paire_minimale" title="Paire minimale – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Paire minimale" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ga mw-list-item"><a href="https://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A9ir%C3%AD_%C3%ADosmh%C3%A9ide" title="Péirí íosmhéide – Irish" lang="ga" hreflang="ga" data-title="Péirí íosmhéide" data-language-autonym="Gaeilge" data-language-local-name="Irish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Gaeilge</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-gv mw-list-item"><a href="https://gv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jees_sloo" title="Jees sloo – Manx" lang="gv" hreflang="gv" data-title="Jees sloo" data-language-autonym="Gaelg" data-language-local-name="Manx" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Gaelg</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%B5%9C%EC%86%8C_%EB%8C%80%EB%A6%BD%EC%8C%8D" title="최소 대립쌍 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="최소 대립쌍" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-is mw-list-item"><a href="https://is.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A1gmarkspar" title="Lágmarkspar – Icelandic" lang="is" hreflang="is" data-title="Lágmarkspar" data-language-autonym="Íslenska" data-language-local-name="Icelandic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Íslenska</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppia_minima" title="Coppia minima – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Coppia minima" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-he mw-list-item"><a href="https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%96%D7%95%D7%92_%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%9E%D7%9C%D7%99" title="זוג מינימלי – Hebrew" lang="he" hreflang="he" data-title="זוג מינימלי" data-language-autonym="עברית" data-language-local-name="Hebrew" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>עברית</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lv mw-list-item"><a href="https://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minim%C4%81lais_p%C4%81ris" title="Minimālais pāris – Latvian" lang="lv" hreflang="lv" data-title="Minimālais pāris" data-language-autonym="Latviešu" data-language-local-name="Latvian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Latviešu</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hu mw-list-item"><a href="https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minim%C3%A1lis_p%C3%A1r" title="Minimális pár – Hungarian" lang="hu" hreflang="hu" data-title="Minimális pár" data-language-autonym="Magyar" data-language-local-name="Hungarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Magyar</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimaal_paar" title="Minimaal paar – Dutch" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" data-title="Minimaal paar" data-language-autonym="Nederlands" data-language-local-name="Dutch" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nederlands</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9F%E3%83%8B%E3%83%9E%E3%83%AB%E3%83%BB%E3%83%9A%E3%82%A2" title="ミニマル・ペア – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="ミニマル・ペア" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-no mw-list-item"><a href="https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalt_par" title="Minimalt par – Norwegian Bokmål" lang="nb" hreflang="nb" data-title="Minimalt par" data-language-autonym="Norsk bokmål" data-language-local-name="Norwegian Bokmål" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk bokmål</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nn mw-list-item"><a href="https://nn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalt_par" title="Minimalt par – Norwegian Nynorsk" lang="nn" hreflang="nn" data-title="Minimalt par" data-language-autonym="Norsk nynorsk" data-language-local-name="Norwegian Nynorsk" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk nynorsk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Para_minimalna" title="Para minimalna – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Para minimalna" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Polski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Par_m%C3%ADnimo" title="Par mínimo – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Par mínimo" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ro mw-list-item"><a href="https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pereche_minimal%C4%83" title="Pereche minimală – Romanian" lang="ro" hreflang="ro" data-title="Pereche minimală" data-language-autonym="Română" data-language-local-name="Romanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Română</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%BF%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0" title="Минимальная пара – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Минимальная пара" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fi mw-list-item"><a href="https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimipari" title="Minimipari – Finnish" lang="fi" hreflang="fi" data-title="Minimipari" data-language-autonym="Suomi" data-language-local-name="Finnish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Suomi</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sv mw-list-item"><a href="https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimalt_ordpar" title="Minimalt ordpar – Swedish" lang="sv" hreflang="sv" data-title="Minimalt ordpar" data-language-autonym="Svenska" data-language-local-name="Swedish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Svenska</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-yue mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9C%80%E7%B4%B0%E5%B0%8D%E7%AB%8B%E9%AB%94" title="最細對立體 – Cantonese" lang="yue" hreflang="yue" data-title="最細對立體" data-language-autonym="粵語" data-language-local-name="Cantonese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>粵語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a 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</div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Two words that differ in only one element of their pronunciation</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1235681985">.mw-parser-output .side-box{margin:4px 0;box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #aaa;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em;background-color:var(--background-color-interactive-subtle,#f8f9fa);display:flow-root}.mw-parser-output .side-box-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{padding:0.25em 0.9em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-image{padding:2px 0 2px 0.9em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-imageright{padding:2px 0.9em 2px 0;text-align:center}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .side-box-flex{display:flex;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{flex:1;min-width:0}}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .side-box{width:238px}.mw-parser-output .side-box-right{clear:right;float:right;margin-left:1em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-left{margin-right:1em}}</style><div class="side-box metadata side-box-right noprint selfref"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style> <div class="side-box-flex"> <div class="side-box-text plainlist">This article contains <b><a href="/wiki/Phonetic_transcription" title="Phonetic transcription">phonetic transcriptions</a> in the <a href="/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet" title="International Phonetic Alphabet">International Phonetic Alphabet</a> (IPA)</b>. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see <a href="/wiki/Help:IPA" title="Help:IPA">Help:IPA</a>. For the distinction between <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[ ]</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ /</span> and ⟨<span title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)" class="IPA" lang="und-Latn-fonipa"> </span>⟩, see <a href="/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet#Brackets_and_transcription_delimiters" title="International Phonetic Alphabet">IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters</a>.</div></div> </div> <p>In <a href="/wiki/Phonology" title="Phonology">phonology</a>, <b>minimal pairs</b> are pairs of <a href="/wiki/Word" title="Word">words</a> or phrases in a particular <a href="/wiki/Language" title="Language">language</a>, spoken or <a href="/wiki/Sign_language" title="Sign language">signed</a>, that differ in only one phonological element, such as a <a href="/wiki/Phoneme" title="Phoneme">phoneme</a>, <a href="/wiki/Toneme" class="mw-redirect" title="Toneme">toneme</a> or <a href="/wiki/Chroneme" title="Chroneme">chroneme</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and have distinct meanings. They are used to demonstrate that two <a href="/wiki/Phone_(phonetics)" title="Phone (phonetics)">phones</a> represent two separate phonemes in the language. </p><p>Many phonologists in the middle part of the 20th century had a strong interest in developing techniques for discovering the phonemes of unknown languages, and in some cases, they set up writing systems for the languages. The major work of <a href="/wiki/Kenneth_Pike" class="mw-redirect" title="Kenneth Pike">Kenneth Pike</a> on the subject is <i>Phonemics: a technique for reducing languages to writing</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The minimal pair was an essential tool in the discovery process and was found by <b>substitution</b> or <b>commutation</b> tests.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>As an example for <a href="/wiki/English_language" title="English language">English</a> <a href="/wiki/Vowel" title="Vowel">vowels</a>, the pair "l<b>e</b>t" + "l<b>i</b>t" can be used to demonstrate that the phones <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[ɛ]</span> (in l<b>e</b>t) and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[ɪ]</span> (in l<b>i</b>t) actually represent distinct phonemes <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ɛ/</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ɪ/</span>. An example for English <a href="/wiki/Consonants" class="mw-redirect" title="Consonants">consonants</a> is the minimal pair of "<b>p</b>at" + "<b>b</b>at". The following table shows other pairs demonstrating the existence of various distinct phonemes in English. All of the possible minimal pairs for any language may be set out in the same way. </p> <table class="wikitable"> <tbody><tr> <th>word 1</th> <th>word 2</th> <th>IPA 1</th> <th>IPA 2</th> <th>note </th></tr> <tr> <td>pin</td> <td>bin</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/pɪn/</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/bɪn/</span> </td> <td rowspan="4">initial consonant </td></tr> <tr> <td>rot</td> <td>lot</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/rɒt/</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/lɒt/</span> </td></tr> <tr> <td>thigh</td> <td>thy</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/θaɪ/</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ðaɪ/</span> </td></tr> <tr> <td>seal</td> <td>zeal</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/siːl/</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ziːl/</span> </td></tr> <tr> <td>bin</td> <td>bean</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/bɪn/</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/biːn/</span> </td> <td rowspan="3">vowel </td></tr> <tr> <td>pen</td> <td>pan</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/pɛn/</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/pæn/</span> </td></tr> <tr> <td>cook</td> <td>kook</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kʊk/</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kuːk/</span> </td></tr> <tr> <td>hat</td> <td>had</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/hæt/</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/hæd/</span> </td> <td rowspan="2">final consonant </td></tr> <tr> <td>mean</td> <td>meme</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/miːn/</span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/miːm/</span> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <p><a href="/wiki/Phonemic_differentiation" class="mw-redirect" title="Phonemic differentiation">Phonemic differentiation</a> may vary between different <a href="/wiki/Dialect" title="Dialect">dialects</a> of a language so a particular minimal pair in one <a href="/wiki/Accent_(dialect)" class="mw-redirect" title="Accent (dialect)">accent</a> may be a pair of <a href="/wiki/Homophone" title="Homophone">homophones</a> in another. That means not that one of the phonemes is absent in the homonym accent but only that it is not contrastive in the same range of contexts. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Types">Types</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Minimal_pair&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Types"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In addition to the minimal pairs of vowels and consonants provided above, others may be found: </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Quantity">Quantity</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Minimal_pair&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Quantity"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>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 <a href="/wiki/Chroneme" title="Chroneme">chroneme</a>. Thus, <a href="/wiki/Italian_language" title="Italian language">Italian</a> has the following minimal pair that is based on long and short <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/l/</span>: </p> <table class="wikitable"> <tbody><tr> <th>spelling</th> <th>IPA</th> <th>meaning </th></tr> <tr> <td><span title="Italian-language text"><i lang="it">pala</i></span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ˈpala/</span></td> <td>shovel </td></tr> <tr> <td><span title="Italian-language text"><i lang="it">palla</i></span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ˈpalla/</span></td> <td>ball </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>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 <a href="/wiki/Geminate" class="mw-redirect" title="Geminate">geminate</a> sound with phonemes. </p><p><a href="/wiki/Classical_Latin" title="Classical Latin">Classical Latin</a>, <a href="/wiki/German_language" title="German language">German</a>, some <a href="/wiki/Languages_of_Italy" title="Languages of Italy">Italian dialects</a>, almost all <a href="/wiki/Uralic_languages" title="Uralic languages">Uralic languages</a>, <a href="/wiki/Thai_language" title="Thai language">Thai</a>, and many other languages also have distinctive length in <a href="/wiki/Vowel" title="Vowel">vowels</a>. An example is the <i>cŭ/cū</i> minimal pair in the Italian dialect that is spoken near <a href="/wiki/Palmi,_Calabria" title="Palmi, Calabria">Palmi</a> (Calabria, Italy)<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="margin-left:0.1em; white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify" title="Wikipedia:Please clarify"><span title="Please specify the name of the dialect (May 2023)">clarification needed</span></a></i>]</sup>: </p> <table class="wikitable"> <tbody><tr> <th>Dialect spoken in Palmi</th> <th>IPA</th> <th>Quality</th> <th>Etymology</th> <th>Latin</th> <th>Italian</th> <th>English </th></tr> <tr> <td>Cŭ voli?</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kuˈvɔːli/</span></td> <td>short</td> <td>cŭ < lat. <i>qu(is)</i> ("who?")</td> <td>Quis vult?</td> <td>Chi vuole?</td> <td>Who wants? </td></tr> <tr> <td>Cū voli?</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kuːˈvɔːli/</span></td> <td>long</td> <td>cū < lat. <i>qu(o) (ill)ŭ(m)</i> ("for-what him?")</td> <td>Quō illum/illud vult?</td> <td>Per che cosa lo vuole?</td> <td>For what (reason) does he want him/it? </td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Syntactic_gemination">Syntactic gemination</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Minimal_pair&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Syntactic gemination"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In some languages like Italian, word-initial consonants are <a href="/wiki/Geminate" class="mw-redirect" title="Geminate">geminated</a> after certain vowel-final words in the same <a href="/wiki/Prosodic_unit" title="Prosodic unit">prosodic unit</a>. Sometimes, the phenomenon can create some <a href="/wiki/Syntactic_gemination" title="Syntactic gemination">syntactic-gemination</a>-minimal-pairs: </p> <table class="wikitable"> <tbody><tr> <th>Italian <a href="/wiki/Sandhi" title="Sandhi">sandhi</a></th> <th>IPA</th> <th>Meaning</th> <th>Sample sentence</th> <th>Meaning of the sample sentence </th></tr> <tr> <td><span title="Italian-language text"><i lang="it">dà casa</i></span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/dakˈkaza/</span></td> <td>(he/she) gives (his/her) house</td> <td><i><span title="Italian-language text"><i lang="it">Carlo ci dà casa.</i></span></i></td> <td>Carlo gives us his house. </td></tr> <tr> <td><span title="Italian-language text"><i lang="it">da casa</i></span></td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/daˈkaza/</span></td> <td>from home</td> <td><i><span title="Italian-language text"><i lang="it">Carlo uscì da casa.</i></span></i></td> <td>Carlo got out from home. </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>In the example, the graphical <a href="/wiki/Accent_(phonetics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Accent (phonetics)">accent</a> on <i>dà</i> is just a <a href="/wiki/Diacritical_mark" class="mw-redirect" title="Diacritical mark">diacritical mark</a> that does not change the <a href="/wiki/Pronunciation" title="Pronunciation">pronunciation</a> of the word itself. However, in some specific areas, like <a href="/wiki/Tuscan_dialect" title="Tuscan dialect">Tuscany</a>, both phrases are pronounced <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/daˈkkaːza/</span> and so can be distinguished only from the context. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Tone">Tone</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Minimal_pair&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Tone"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Minimal pairs for tone contrasts in <a href="/wiki/Tone_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Tone language">tone languages</a> can be established; some writers refer to that as a contrast involving a <a href="/wiki/Toneme" class="mw-redirect" title="Toneme">toneme</a>. For example, <a href="/wiki/Kono_language_(Sierra_Leone)" title="Kono language (Sierra Leone)">Kono</a>, of Sierra Leone, distinguishes high tone and low tone on syllables:<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <table class="wikitable"> <tbody><tr> <th>tone</th> <th>word</th> <th>meaning </th></tr> <tr> <td>high</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kɔ́ɔ́/</span></td> <td>'to mature' </td></tr> <tr> <td>low</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/kɔ̀ɔ̀/</span></td> <td>'rice' </td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Stress">Stress</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Minimal_pair&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Stress"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Languages in which <a href="/wiki/Stress_(linguistics)" title="Stress (linguistics)">stress</a> may occur in different positions within the word often have contrasts that can be shown in minimal pairs, as in <a href="/wiki/Greek_language" title="Greek language">Greek</a> and <a href="/wiki/Spanish_language" title="Spanish language">Spanish</a>: </p> <table class="wikitable"> <tbody><tr> <th>word</th> <th>language</th> <th>IPA</th> <th>meaning </th></tr> <tr> <td><span title="Greek-language text"><span lang="el">ποτέ</span></span></td> <td>Greek</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/poˈte/</span></td> <td>ever </td></tr> <tr> <td><span title="Greek-language text"><span lang="el">πότε</span></span></td> <td>Greek</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ˈpote/</span></td> <td>when </td></tr> <tr> <td><span title="Spanish-language text"><i lang="es">esta</i></span></td> <td>Spanish</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ˈesta/</span></td> <td>this (feminine) </td></tr> <tr> <td><span title="Spanish-language text"><i lang="es">está</i></span></td> <td>Spanish</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/esˈta/</span></td> <td>(he/she/it) is </td></tr> <tr> <td><span title="Tagalog-language text"><i lang="tl">supot</i></span></td> <td>Tagalog</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ˈsupot/</span></td> <td>bag </td></tr> <tr> <td><span title="Tagalog-language text"><i lang="tl">supót</i></span></td> <td>Tagalog</td> <td><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/suˈpot/</span></td> <td>uncircumcized </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>In English stress can determine the part of speech of a word: <i>insult</i> as a noun is <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ˈɪnsʌlt/</span> while as a verb it is <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ɪnˈsʌlt/</span>. In certain cases it can also differentiate two words: <i>below</i> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/bɪˈloʊ/</span> vs <i>billow</i> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ˈbɪloʊ/</span>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Juncture">Juncture</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Minimal_pair&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Juncture"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Anglophones can distinguish between, for example, "great ape" and "grey tape", but phonemically, the two phrases are identical: <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/ɡreɪteɪp/</span>.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The difference between the two phrases, which constitute a minimal pair, is said to be one of <a href="/wiki/Juncture" title="Juncture">juncture</a>. At the word boundary, a "plus juncture" /+/ has been posited and said to be the factor conditioning allophones to allow distinctivity:<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> in this example, the phrase "great ape" has an <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/eɪ/</span> diphthong shortened by <a href="/wiki/Clipping_(phonetics)" title="Clipping (phonetics)">pre-fortis clipping</a> and, since it is not syllable-initial, a <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/t/</span> with little <a href="/wiki/Aspirated_consonant" title="Aspirated consonant">aspiration</a> (variously <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[t˭]</span>, <a href="/wiki/Flapping" title="Flapping"><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[ɾ]</span></a>, <a href="/wiki/T-glottalization" title="T-glottalization"><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[ʔt]</span></a>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[<a href="/wiki/Glottal_stop" title="Glottal stop">ʔ</a>]</span>, etc., depending on dialect); meanwhile in "grey tape", the <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/eɪ/</span> has its full length and the <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/t/</span> is aspirated <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[tʰ]</span>. </p><p>Only languages with allophonic differences associated with grammatical boundaries may have juncture as a phonological element. There is disagreement over whether or not <a href="/wiki/French_language" title="French language">French</a> has phonological juncture: it seems likely that the difference between, for example, "<span title="French-language text"><i lang="fr">des petits trous</i></span>" (some little holes) and "<span title="French-language text"><i lang="fr">des petites roues</i></span>" (some little wheels), phonemically both <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/depətitʁu/</span>, is only perceptible in slow, careful speech.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Minimal_sets">Minimal sets</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Minimal_pair&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Minimal sets"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The principle of a simple binary opposition between the two members of a minimal pair may be extended to cover a <b>minimal set</b> in which a number of words differ from one another in terms of one phone in a particular position in the word.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> For example, the vowels <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/a/</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/e/</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/i/</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/o/</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/u/</span> of <a href="/wiki/Swahili_language" title="Swahili language">Swahili</a> are shown to be distinct by the following set of words: <i>pata</i> 'hinge', <i>peta</i> 'bend', <i>pita</i> 'pass', <i>pota</i> 'twist', <i>puta</i> 'thrash'.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> However, establishing such sets is not always straightforward <sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and may require very complex study of multiple oppositions as expounded by, for example, <a href="/wiki/Nikolai_Trubetzkoy" title="Nikolai Trubetzkoy">Nikolai Trubetzkoy</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Teaching">Teaching</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Minimal_pair&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Teaching"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Minimal pairs were an important part of the theory of pronunciation teaching during its development in the period of <a href="/wiki/Structuralist_linguistics" class="mw-redirect" title="Structuralist linguistics">structuralist linguistics</a>, particularly in the 1940s and 1950s, and minimal pair drills were widely used to train students to discriminate among the phonemes of the target language.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> These drills took the form of minimal pair word drills and minimal pair sentence drills. For example, if the focus of a lesson was on the distinction /ɪ/ versus /ɛ/, learners might be asked to signal which sound they heard as the teacher pronounced lists of words with these phonemes such as <i>lid/led</i>, <i>tin/ten</i>, or <i>slipped/slept</i>. Minimal pair sentence drills consisted of paired sentences such as "He slipped on the floor/He slept on the floor." Again, learners would be asked to distinguish which of the sentences they heard as the teacher read them aloud. Another use of minimal pair drills was in pair work. Here, one member of the pair would be responsible for listening to the other member read the minimal pair word or sentence aloud and would be tasked with identifying which phoneme was being produced. In this form of classroom practice, both the skills of perception and production were practiced. Later writers have criticized the approach as being artificial and lacking in relevance to language learners' needs.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> However, even today minimal pair listening and production drills remain a common tool for the teaching of segmental differences. </p><p>Some writers have claimed that learners are likely not to hear differences between phones if the difference is not a phonemic one.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> One of the objectives of <a href="/wiki/Contrastive_analysis" title="Contrastive analysis">contrastive analysis</a><sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> of languages' sound systems was to identify points of likely difficulty for language learners that would arise from differences in phoneme inventories between the native language and the target language. However, experimental evidence for this claim is hard to find, and the claim should be treated with caution.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="In_sign_languages">In sign languages</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Minimal_pair&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: In sign languages"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In the past, signs were considered holistic forms without internal structure. However, the discovery in the mid-20th century that minimal pairs also exist in sign languages showed that sign languages have sublexical structure.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Signs consist of <a href="/wiki/Phoneme#In_sign_languages" title="Phoneme">phonemes</a>, which are specifications for location, movement, handshape, orientation, and non-manual elements. When signs differ in only one of these specifications, they form a minimal pair. For instance, the <a href="/wiki/German_Sign_Language" title="German Sign Language">German Sign Language</a> signs shoes and socks are identical in form apart from their handshapes. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Minimal_pair&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Phoneme#Minimal_pairs" title="Phoneme">Phoneme § Minimal pairs</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Minimal_pair&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-columns references-column-width" style="column-width: 30em;"> <ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFJones1944" class="citation journal cs1">Jones, Daniel (January 1944). "Chronemes and tonemes: (a contribution to the study of the theory of phonemes)". <i>Acta Linguistica</i>. <b>4</b> (1): 11–10. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1080%2F03740463.1944.10410902">10.1080/03740463.1944.10410902</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Acta+Linguistica&rft.atitle=Chronemes+and+tonemes%3A+%28a+contribution+to+the+study+of+the+theory+of+phonemes%29&rft.volume=4&rft.issue=1&rft.pages=11-10&rft.date=1944-01&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.1080%2F03740463.1944.10410902&rft.aulast=Jones&rft.aufirst=Daniel&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMinimal+pair" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFPike1947" class="citation book cs1">Pike, Kenneth (1947). <i>Phonemics</i>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Phonemics&rft.date=1947&rft.aulast=Pike&rft.aufirst=Kenneth&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMinimal+pair" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSwadesh1934" class="citation journal cs1">Swadesh, Morris (June 1934). 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(1993) <i>An Introduction to Language</i>, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich</li> <li>Jones, Daniel (1931) '<span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">ðə</span> "<span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">wəːd</span>" <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">əz<span class="wrap"> </span>ə<span class="wrap"> </span>fonetik<span class="wrap"> </span>entiti</span>' ['The "Word" as a phonetic entity'], Le Maître Phonétique, XXXVI, pp. 60–65. <a href="/wiki/JSTOR_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="JSTOR (identifier)">JSTOR</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/44704471">44704471</a></li> <li>Jones, Daniel (1944) 'Chronemes and Tonemes', <i>Acta Linguistica</i>, IV, Copenhagen, pp. 1–10.</li> <li>Ladefoged, Peter (2001) <i>Vowels and Consonants</i>, Blackwell</li> <li>Ladefoged, Peter (2006) <i>A Course in Phonetics</i>, Thomson</li> <li>Lado, R. (1957) <i>Linguistics across Cultures</i>, University of Michigan Press</li> <li>Lado, R. (1961) <i>Language Testing</i>, Longman</li> <li>O'Connor, J.D. (1973) <i>Phonetics</i>, Penguin</li> <li>O'Connor, J.D and Tooley, O. (1964) 'The perceptibility of certain word-boundaries', in Abercrombie et al. (eds) <i>In Honour of Daniel Jones</i>, Longman, pp. 171–6.</li> <li>Pennington, M. (1996) <i>Phonology in English Language Teaching</i>, Longman</li> <li>Pike, Kenneth (1947) <i>Phonemics</i>, University of Michigan Press</li> <li>Roach, Peter (2009) <i>English Phonetics and Phonology</i>, Cambridge University Press</li> <li>Swadesh, M. (1934) 'The Phonemic Principle', <i>Language</i> vol. 10, pp. 117–29</li> <li>Trubetzkoy, N., translated by C. Baltaxe(1969) <i>Principles of Phonology</i>, University of California Press</li></ul> </div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Minimal_pair&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://englishphonetics.net/english-pronunciation-tools/minimal-pair/english-minimal-pair-list.html">Complete List of Minimal pairs for English RP (Received Pronunciation)</a></li></ul>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Minimal_pair&oldid=1215178851">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Minimal_pair&oldid=1215178851</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Category</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Phonology" title="Category:Phonology">Phonology</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_short_description" title="Category:Articles with short description">Articles with short description</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Short_description_matches_Wikidata" title="Category:Short description matches Wikidata">Short description matches Wikidata</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Pages_with_plain_IPA" title="Category:Pages with plain IPA">Pages with plain IPA</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_containing_Italian-language_text" title="Category:Articles containing Italian-language text">Articles containing Italian-language text</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_articles_needing_clarification_from_May_2023" title="Category:Wikipedia articles needing clarification from May 2023">Wikipedia articles needing clarification from May 2023</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_containing_Greek-language_text" title="Category:Articles containing Greek-language text">Articles containing Greek-language text</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_containing_Spanish-language_text" title="Category:Articles containing Spanish-language text">Articles containing Spanish-language text</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_containing_Tagalog-language_text" title="Category:Articles containing Tagalog-language text">Articles containing Tagalog-language text</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_containing_French-language_text" title="Category:Articles containing French-language text">Articles containing French-language text</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 23 March 2024, at 16:23<span class="anonymous-show"> (UTC)</span>.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License</a>; additional terms may apply. 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