The Phonemic Principle - Contrast vs Predictability: The Phoneme

8 important questions on The Phonemic Principle - Contrast vs Predictability: The Phoneme

When are voiceless stops aspirated?

They are aspirated when they are at the beginning of a stressed syllable, unless there is an [s] in front of that sound.

What is complementary distribution?

It is where two sound never can be pronounced together, like with most stops; they are mutually exclusive.

When are sounds phonetically similiar?

When their features are the same but the sound is slightly different.
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What is a phoneme?

Aphoneme is a category of sounds which sound the same.

What is parallel distribution?

It means that two sounds are very alike and overlapping in a degree.

What are minimal pairs?

Minimal pairs are words which differ from each other by only one sound.

What is the phonemic principle?

Two sounds are realizations of the same phoneme if:
  1. They are in complementary distribution
  2. They are phonetically similiar
Two sounds are realizations of different phonemes if:
  1. They are in parallel distribution
  2. They signal a semantic contrast

When does a dark l or a clear l occur?

A dark l occurs after vowels, while a clear l occurs before vowels.

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