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href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AA%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B9_%D9%85%D8%B7%D9%84%D9%82" title="تنوع مطلق – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="تنوع مطلق" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variaci%C3%B3n_libre" title="Variación libre – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Variación libre" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variante_libre" title="Variante libre – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Variante libre" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%9E%90%EC%9C%A0_%EB%B3%80%EC%9D%B4" title="자유 변이 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="자유 변이" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variante_(fonologia)" title="Variante (fonologia) – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Variante (fonologia)" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varia%C3%A7%C3%A3o_livre" title="Variação livre – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Variação livre" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li 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#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 class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)"> </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/Linguistics" title="Linguistics">linguistics</a>, <b>free variation</b> is the phenomenon of two (or more) sounds or forms appearing in the same environment without a change in meaning and without being considered incorrect by <a href="/wiki/Native_speaker" class="mw-redirect" title="Native speaker">native speakers</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Clark_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Clark-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><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> </p><p><a href="/wiki/Sociolinguistics" title="Sociolinguistics">Sociolinguists</a> argue that describing such variation as "free" is very often a misnomer, since <a href="/wiki/Variation_(linguistics)" title="Variation (linguistics)">variation between linguistic forms</a> is usually constrained probabilistically by a range of systematic social and linguistic factors, not unconstrained as the term "free variation" suggests.<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> The term remains in use, however, in studies focused primarily on language as systems (e.g. phonology, morphology, syntax).<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> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Effects">Effects</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Free_variation&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Effects"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>When <a href="/wiki/Phoneme" title="Phoneme">phonemes</a> are in free variation, speakers are sometimes strongly aware of the fact (especially if such variation is noticeable only across a dialectal or sociolectal divide), and will note, for example, that <i>tomato</i> is pronounced differently in British and American English (<span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="'t' in 'tie'">t</span><span title="/ə/: 'a' in 'about'">ə</span><span title="/ˈ/: primary stress follows">ˈ</span><span title="'m' in 'my'">m</span><span title="/ɑː/: 'a' in 'father'">ɑː</span><span title="'t' in 'tie'">t</span><span title="/oʊ/: 'o' in 'code'">oʊ</span></span>/</a></span></span> and <span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="'t' in 'tie'">t</span><span title="/ə/: 'a' in 'about'">ə</span><span title="/ˈ/: primary stress follows">ˈ</span><span title="'m' in 'my'">m</span><span title="/eɪ/: 'a' in 'face'">eɪ</span><span title="'t' in 'tie'">t</span><span title="/oʊ/: 'o' in 'code'">oʊ</span></span>/</a></span></span> respectively),<sup id="cite_ref-ThoughtCo_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ThoughtCo-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> or that <i>either</i> has two pronunciations that are distributed fairly randomly. However, only a very small proportion of English words show such variations. In the case of different realizations of the same phoneme, however, free variation is exceedingly common and, along with differing intonation patterns, variation in realization is the most important single feature in the characterization of regional accents.<sup id="cite_ref-Clark_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Clark-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>English's <a href="/wiki/Deep_orthography" class="mw-redirect" title="Deep orthography">deep orthography</a> and the language's wide variety of <a href="/wiki/Accent_(sociolinguistics)" title="Accent (sociolinguistics)">accents</a> often cause confusion, even for native speakers, on how written words should be pronounced. That allows for a significant degree of free variation to occur in English.<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> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="English_examples">English examples</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Free_variation&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: English examples"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Phonology">Phonology</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Free_variation&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Phonology"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>The <a href="/wiki/Rhotic_consonant" title="Rhotic consonant">rhotic consonant</a> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/r/</span> is in a free variation between the <a href="/wiki/Alveolar_approximant" class="mw-redirect" title="Alveolar approximant">alveolar approximant</a>, <a href="/wiki/Retroflex_approximant" class="mw-redirect" title="Retroflex approximant">retroflex approximant</a>, <a href="/wiki/Alveolar_flap" class="mw-redirect" title="Alveolar flap">alveolar flap</a> and <a href="/wiki/Alveolar_trill" class="mw-redirect" title="Alveolar trill">alveolar trill</a>, although all but the first one are considered dialectal and rare.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Glottalization" title="Glottalization">Glottalization</a> of <a href="/wiki/Voicelessness" title="Voicelessness">voiceless</a> <a href="/wiki/Stop_consonant" class="mw-redirect" title="Stop consonant">stops</a> in word-final position: for example, the word <i>stop</i> may be pronounced with a plain unaspirated <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[p]</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[stɑp]</span>, or with a glottalized <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[pˀ]</span>, <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[stɑpˀ]</span>, also called a <a href="/wiki/Glottal_stop" title="Glottal stop">glottal stop or glottal plosive</a>.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Pronunciation">Pronunciation</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Free_variation&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Pronunciation"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Pronunciation of many English words may vary depending on the dialect and the speaker. Although individual speakers may prefer one or the other pronunciation and one may be more common in some <a href="/wiki/Dialect" title="Dialect">dialects</a> than others, many forms can often be encountered within a single dialect and sometimes even within a single <a href="/wiki/Idiolect" title="Idiolect">idiolect</a>. </p> <ul><li>In some words, some speakers might use a different vowel than the others. This includes words like: <ul><li><i>economics</i>, which may pronounced with <span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="/iː/: 'ee' in 'fleece'">iː</span></span>/</a></span></span> or <span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="/ɛ/: 'e' in 'dress'">ɛ</span></span>/</a></span></span> in the first syllable, or <i>data</i>, which can be pronounced as either <span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="/ˈ/: primary stress follows">ˈ</span><span title="'d' in 'dye'">d</span><span title="/æ/: 'a' in 'bad'">æ</span><span title="'t' in 'tie'">t</span><span title="/ə/: 'a' in 'about'">ə</span></span>/</a></span></span> or <span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="/ˈ/: primary stress follows">ˈ</span><span title="'d' in 'dye'">d</span><span title="/eɪ/: 'a' in 'face'">eɪ</span><span title="'t' in 'tie'">t</span><span title="/ə/: 'a' in 'about'">ə</span></span>/</a></span></span>;<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></li> <li><i>either</i> and <i>neither</i>, in which "ei" can be pronounced as either <span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="/iː/: 'ee' in 'fleece'">iː</span></span>/</a></span></span> or <span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="/aɪ/: 'i' in 'tide'">aɪ</span></span>/</a></span></span>, even by the same speaker;<sup id="cite_ref-ThoughtCo_5-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ThoughtCo-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>some loanwords, especially of <a href="/wiki/French_language" title="French language">French</a> and <a href="/wiki/Latin" title="Latin">Latin</a> origin, such as <i>route</i>, which can be pronounced as either <span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="'r' in 'rye'">r</span><span title="/aʊ/: 'ou' in 'mouth'">aʊ</span><span title="'t' in 'tie'">t</span></span>/</a></span></span> (a more <a href="/wiki/Anglicisation" title="Anglicisation">anglicized pronunciation</a>) or <span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="'r' in 'rye'">r</span><span title="/uː/: 'oo' in 'goose'">uː</span><span title="'t' in 'tie'">t</span></span>/</a></span></span> (a pronunciation more akin to French);</li> <li>some proper names, especially geographic state names such as <i>Colorado,</i> which can be pronounced as either <span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="/ˌ/: secondary stress follows">ˌ</span><span title="'k' in 'kind'">k</span><span title="/ɒ/: 'o' in 'body'">ɒ</span><span title="'l' in 'lie'">l</span><span title="/ə/: 'a' in 'about'">ə</span><span title="/ˈ/: primary stress follows">ˈ</span><span title="'r' in 'rye'">r</span><span title="/ɑː/: 'a' in 'father'">ɑː</span><span title="'d' in 'dye'">d</span><span title="/oʊ/: 'o' in 'code'">oʊ</span></span>/</a></span></span> or <span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="/ˌ/: secondary stress follows">ˌ</span><span title="'k' in 'kind'">k</span><span title="/ɒ/: 'o' in 'body'">ɒ</span><span title="'l' in 'lie'">l</span><span title="/ə/: 'a' in 'about'">ə</span><span title="/ˈ/: primary stress follows">ˈ</span><span title="'r' in 'rye'">r</span><span title="/æ/: 'a' in 'bad'">æ</span><span title="'d' in 'dye'">d</span><span title="/oʊ/: 'o' in 'code'">oʊ</span></span>/</a></span></span>.</li></ul></li> <li>Pronouncing a word with a different consonant or using a completely different pronunciation is also sometimes found in English. This can be found in words like: <ul><li><i>schedule</i>, which may be pronounced either with the <span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="'s' in 'sigh'">s</span><span title="'k' in 'kind'">k</span></span>/</a></span></span> consonant cluster or the <span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="/ʃ/: 'sh' in 'shy'">ʃ</span></span>/</a></span></span> sound. The former is more common in <a href="/wiki/American_English" title="American English">American English</a>, the latter in <a href="/wiki/British_English" title="British English">British English</a>; with /sk/ and /ʃ/ phonemically distinct in both varieties (e.g. <i>scout</i>/<i>shout</i>, <i>skin</i>/<i>shin</i>), identical spelling obscures the fact that different phonological structures underlie the phonetic contrast;</li> <li>some loanwords like <i>guillotine</i> which can be pronounced with either <span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="'l' in 'lie'">l</span></span>/</a></span></span> or <span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="/j/: 'y' in 'yes'">j</span></span>/</a></span></span>.</li></ul></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Grammar">Grammar</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Free_variation&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Grammar"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Years from 2010 onwards can be expressed in English as either, e.g., <i>two thousand ten</i> or <i>twenty ten</i>.</li></ul> <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=Free_variation&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1184024115">.mw-parser-output .div-col{margin-top:0.3em;column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .div-col-small{font-size:90%}.mw-parser-output .div-col-rules{column-rule:1px solid #aaa}.mw-parser-output .div-col dl,.mw-parser-output .div-col ol,.mw-parser-output .div-col ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .div-col li,.mw-parser-output .div-col dd{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}</style><div class="div-col" style="column-width: 30em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Allomorph" title="Allomorph">Allomorph</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Allophone" title="Allophone">Allophone</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Complementary_distribution" title="Complementary distribution">Complementary distribution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Contrastive_distribution" title="Contrastive distribution">Contrastive distribution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Phoneme" title="Phoneme">Phoneme</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sociolinguistics" title="Sociolinguistics">Sociolinguistics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Variable_rules_analysis" title="Variable rules analysis">Variable rules analysis</a></li></ul> </div> <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=Free_variation&action=edit&section=7" 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"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-Clark-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Clark_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Clark_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></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="CITEREFClarkYallopFletcher2007" class="citation book cs1">Clark, John Ellery; Yallop, Colin; Fletcher, Janet (2007). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=dX5P5mxtYYIC&pg=PA116"><i>Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology</i></a>. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 110, <span class="nowrap">116–</span>18. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4051-3083-7" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-4051-3083-7"><bdi>978-1-4051-3083-7</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Introduction+to+Phonetics+and+Phonology&rft.place=Oxford&rft.pages=110%2C+%3Cspan+class%3D%22nowrap%22%3E116-%3C%2Fspan%3E18&rft.pub=Blackwell&rft.date=2007&rft.isbn=978-1-4051-3083-7&rft.aulast=Clark&rft.aufirst=John+Ellery&rft.au=Yallop%2C+Colin&rft.au=Fletcher%2C+Janet&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DdX5P5mxtYYIC%26pg%3DPA116&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AFree+variation" 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">SIL International. (2003). Glossary of Linguistic Terms. <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="https://glossary.sil.org/term/free-variation">[1]</a>. Retrieved 2022-09-13.</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="CITEREFMeyerhoff2011" class="citation book cs1">Meyerhoff, Miriam (2011). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=yfyVll7GRPMC"><i>Introducing Sociolinguistics</i></a> (2 ed.). Routledge. p. 12. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781135284435" title="Special:BookSources/9781135284435"><bdi>9781135284435</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Introducing+Sociolinguistics&rft.pages=12&rft.edition=2&rft.pub=Routledge&rft.date=2011&rft.isbn=9781135284435&rft.aulast=Meyerhoff&rft.aufirst=Miriam&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DyfyVll7GRPMC&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AFree+variation" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite id="CITEREFKager2004" class="citation book cs1">Kager, René (2004). <i>Optimality Theory</i>. 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Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2017-08-07</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Dialect+Blog&rft.atitle=When+Free+Variation+Isn%27t+So+Free&rft.date=2011-10-29&rft.au=Ben&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fdialectblog.com%2F2011%2F10%2F29%2Ffree-variation-isnt-so-free%2F&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AFree+variation" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222" /><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-free-variation.htm">"What Is Free Variation? (with picture)"</a>. <i>wiseGEEK</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. 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