1.0 INTRODUCTION
Minimal pairs are an important means of establishing the distinctive nature of a phoneme in English. Until a phonetic form passes the test of its being compared to a contextual form in which it is not replaceable by another phoneme, it cannot be placed in a distinct class of independent sound. The meaning content can also not be established. It is seen more as a mere phone, a mere sound made but with no particular meaning being distinctly conveyed by it. This unit will therefore show you how to establish the distinct form of a sound through the use of minimal pairs. It will also discuss the instruments for distinguishing phonetic elements. It is also going to show the distinct nature of phones, phonemes, and allophones to avoid confusing them. This unit will also give examples of minimal pairs in the segmental and suprasegment forms.
3.1 Minimal Pairs
Minimal pairs are representative of elements of speech, which have difference only in one segment of their make-up. What this means is that just one sound segment being changed can cause a difference to the word in terms of its meaning and possibly status. Also, the change in the syllable stressed in some English words can lead to a change in their class and function. You may of course find this comparable in the Yoruba tonal structure, at the semantic level. In the Yoruba tonal structure as is common with many Nigerian indigenous languages, the placement of the tonal mark has implication for the pronunciation of the word and also its semantic content. As such, a word like [agbon] will have different meaning due to change in the direction of the pitch of voice. As such,
1. Àgbon (coconut)
2. Agbòn (basket)
3. Àgbòn (jaw)
4. Agbón (wasp)
are only different on the basis of tonal placement on the word. This affects what they mean even though they are spelt the same way. Naturally, their having different tone position leads to different pronunciation. The four examples above clearly indicate that tone is phonemic in the Yoruba language. This could be found to be the same in many Nigerian languages. The examples above illustrate the way minimal pairs function as it is obvious that what makes a difference in the words is just the movement of the tone from one point to the other.
Nonetheless, the best language to illustrate this functioning of minimal pairs appears to be English. Examples of minimal pairs in English could be seen below. For instance, the difference between [bit] and [pit] is just the sound segments [b] and [p]. It is obvious then that minimal pairs clearly make a difference in the meaning that words have. The essential concept is that when a segment is replaced it changes the meaning of the word as we see in the words pit and bit. The change in the initial segment thus changes the meaning of the words. This makes it easy to establish that these two sounds are different sounds. This essentially is what minimal pairs are used to do in the phonology of the English language. In this way, it establishes the difference in two segments or suprasemental elements. Minimal pairs are then possible tools that can be used to establish phonemic status of sounds and other speech elements.
Self-Assessment Exercise
Discuss, with 10 examples from your language, some words or phrases in which tone is phonologically significant.
3.2 Types of Minimal Pairs
Minimal pairs can occur at the segmental sound level and the level of the suprasegmentals, especially that of stress. As the examples above have illustrated, minimal pairs are not the exclusive preserve of segmental elements in English. Stress placement can have implication for the meaning and the pronunciation of a word. For example, a word like import can have two different meanings due to the position its stress occupies in the word. As it is obvious, the word has two syllables [im.port]. The syllable division is done with the dot within the word in the square bracket to divide it into two syllables. When the primary stress is placed on the first syllable, the word is pronounced with the first vowel having full realisation. But when the stress shifts to the second syllable, the second vowel now has full realisation while the first one becomes unstressed.
In addition, the class of the word changes due to the stress positioning. What this means is that the first realisation of the word with the stressed syllable being the first one makes the word realised as a noun. However, when the stress shifts position to the second syllable, it is realised as a verb. This shows that stress is also phonemic in the English language. The question then is what are these phonemic elements that enable us to establish the phonemic status of the phonetic elements in English?
Self Assessment Exercise 2
State two types of minimal pairs that you are familiar with.
3.3 Phonetic Base for Minimal Pairs
The phonetic base for minimal pairs can be found in the phonetic elements that help us to determine the nature of a sound. In phonology, there are not just speech sounds, but the function each one performs is important in establishing its nature. This is why we continue to say that phonology is about the functioning of sounds in language. The terms phone, phoneme and allophone are different based on their nature and the functions they perform in language. We will thus discuss these terms to establish what they are and how they contribute to minimal pairs functioning in the English language. Let us look therefore closely at the terms: phone, phoneme and allophone.
3.3.1 Phone
When we talk of a phone, we are referring to the sound elements made within a language. When we make sounds, we are merely producing phonic entities. Thus, in producing [p, t, k, l, r, e, 。, 。:, a:, etc.], we are merely making sounds. (Note: the square brackets are used to indicate phones while the slanting brackets indicate the sounds have been established as phonemes.) But to establish them as being significant will require another test. And this is where minimal pairs become a useful tool in establishing the significance of any phone. When it becomes significant, it is referred to as phoneme.
3.3.2 Phoneme
A phoneme is a sound segment that has been found to possess significance in terms of its existence and meaningfulness within a language. Thus, to establish a phone as being an actual phoneme requires putting it in the environment of other sounds in order to see if it can function meaningfully.
Thus by putting [p] in the environment of segments like [-it] to form pit, we see that it can combine with other sounds to form a meaningful word. But to establish its being an independent phoneme in contrast to some other phonemes now requires its sharing this environment with them. Thus, we may replace /p/ with [k] in the environment of /-it/ in order to create kit. In this way, we are able to establish that /k/ is different from /p/ in that they can both occur within the same environment. This is the convention that is called minimal pair. That is the pairing of sound segments at minimal levels to establish their independent forms.
3.3.3 Allophone
Allophones are usually variants of the same phoneme. Unlike in the case of different phonemes, these cannot occur in the same environment. They are usually mutually exclusive. And the reason for their occurrences is more often phonological. When a single phoneme is realized in different environments by a series of phones, we say the different occurrences are the allophonic variations of the same phoneme. What this means is that a phoneme gets realized in a particular manner in a particular environment. This particular manner of being realized is a peculiar way of being realized by this phoneme in this sort of environment. The phoneme may not get realized in this particular manner in another environment.
We may take, for instance, the sound /t/. This sound can get greatly influenced by different situations around it. This phoneme is what is regarded as the phonemic representation or underlying representation of the phoneme. The alternative realizations are that /t/ becomes aspirated in the stressed syllable initial position. This allophonic realization of /t/ is written as [th], the phonetic realization.
/t/ also gets nasalised when followed by a homorganic nasal. That is, when followed by /n/, which is also an alveolar sound like /t/, sound /t/ begins to anticipate the pronunciation of the following /n/ sound and thus releases its air stream partly through the nose. We write it as [tN].
/t/ also becomes lateralised when followed by a homorganic lateral. That is, the alveolar lateral /l/ following /t/ in a word like bottle /b。tLl/ gets anticipated in the course of finishing the production of /t/ in the word above. Thus, /t/ gets finished in producing /l/
We can thus see four possible realizations of /t/. It may be just the voiceless alveolar plosive as in bat or cat. It may be realized with aspiration as in tape or nasalised as in cotton or lateralised as in kettle. These four realizations occurred in different environments and they are therefore referred to as allophonic variants of the same phoneme.
We however note that they cannot be regarded as different phonemes because the sound underlying the representations can still occur in the same environment in a minimal pair. Thus, tape – take, bat – bet, etc.
Self Assessment Exercise 3
Using any segment as example, fully discuss the allophonic variation that are possible with your chosen sound.
3.4 Examples of Minimal Pairs
3.4.1 The Sound Segments
/i:/ /ɪ / /f/ /v/
feel fill fan van
wheel will fail vale
seat sit fain vain
feet fit fewer viewer
leak lick fear veer
/æ/ /a: / /s/ /z/
bad bard seal zeal
pack park loose lose
had hard house(n) house(v)
mad marred these this
ban barn bus buzz
/e/
bed
said
bet
/3:/
fur
bird
burn
/Λ /
bud
puss
such
/p /
cot
rot
cod
don
/u/
/Λ /
bud
Sud
But
/ a:/
far
bard
barn
/3:/
bird
purse
search
/a :/
caught
wrought
cord
dawn
/u:/
/i: /
cheap
catch
cheese
/r/
rack
brake
road
/ /
shot /p/
shoot /u:/ shed /e/
/p/
pill
pin
pen
rip
/t/
/ /
sheep
cash
she’s
/l/
lack
Blake
load
/s/?!
sot
soot
said
/b/
bill
bin
Ben
rib
/d/
full
soot
wood
/Λ /
done
stuck
putt
shut
/e/
debt
get
red
wedge
/ o:/
court
walk
porch
/au/
tone
boat
drone
wrote
/ oi/
boy
oil
boil
/l/
loo
lose
lawn
/z/
composer
Caesar
bays
/m/
maim
fool
suit
wooed
/p /
Don
stock
pot
shot
/eI/
date
gate
raid
wage
/au/
bone
coat
woke
poach
/ au/
town
Bout
drown
rout
/ ai/
Buy
Aisle
Bile
/j/
ewe
use
yawn
/了 /
composure
seizure
beige
/n/
name
team
tin
try
/k/
cap
lack
rack
craze
/t/
tick
bat
writ
tree
/θ/
thigh
wreaths
teeth
mouth (n)
/ð/
then
than
breathe
lather
/v/
vent
vale
vain
/ð/
breathe
writhe
seethe
/∫ /
ruche
shone
Aleutian
/n/
thin
deem
din
dry
/g/
gap
lag
rag
graze
/θ/
thick
bath
wreath
three
/ð/born
thy
Wreathes teethe
mouth (v)
/d/
den
Dan
breed
ladder
/w/ went wail
wane
/z/
breeze
rise seize
/了 /
rouge
genre
allusion
/0/
thing
dame
Dane
sinner
singer
/h/
/w/
/,/
/g/
horse
worse
bang
bag
who
woo
sang
sag
hate
wait
hang
hag
/h/
/ - i: /
heat
Eat
hill
Ill
heel
eel
Self Assessment Exercise 4
Give examples often sounds and the possible minimal pairs of the sounds.
3.4.2 Stress as a Phonemically Significant Element
The position in which the stress is placed in this group of words is phonemic. That is, it is significant in terms of its function and meaning.
Such words are usually spelled or written orthographically in exactly the same manner. However, as we are well aware by now from all our previous discussions, a stressed syllable has its nucleus fully realized whereas a non-stressed syllable will be realized as the weak form. Thus, the position of the stress in these words affects the pronunciation of certain syllables. While a syllable that has a full-vowel realization has one pronunciation of the word, the other may have the weak form realized due to the shift of the stress mark in another.
Examples are:
I have inserted ALL the stress marks AND correct phoneme symbols where ommitted!
Noun/Adjective
,permit /p3:mIt/
,perfect /p3: fikt/
,combined /kombaind/
,present /preznt/
Verb
per,mit /p）mIt/
per,fect /p）fekt/
com,bine /k）mbain/
pre,sent /prizent/
You should try and get other examples of your own.
Self Assessment Exercise 5
Give about 10 examples of words that have stress significance in their usage and demonstrate how they operate.
4.0 CONCLUSION
In this unit, we have learnt about minimal pairs. We have seen that minimal pairs are very important in establishing the significance of a phone for it to become a phoneme. We have also seen that allophones are mere variants of the same phoneme as opposed to how minimal pairs help us to establish individual phonemes through the means of substitution. It is thus obvious that minimal pair is an important device in establishing independent phonemes/sounds of English. The copious examples given reveal this.
5.0 SUMMARY
s
This unit discusses minimal pairs. It specifically defines what minimal pair is and how it functions. It outlines different types of minimal pairs possible in English language as segmental and suprasegmental. It also establishes phonetics as the base for the phonological establishment of minimal pairs. It gives copious examples of segmental and suprasegmental minimal pairs that are possible in English language.
6.0 TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1. Discuss what you understand by minimal pairs in English.
2. State clearly two points in phonetics at which minimal pairs can be applied.
3. Identify three phonetic points that form basis for minimal pairs operation in the English language.
4. Give 10 different examples of segmental sounds and two possible minimal pairs formed with each.
5. Give 15 examples of minimal pairs formed with the suprasegmental element of stress in English sentences.
7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Daniel, I. O. (2005). Introductory Phonetics and Phonology of English. Ibadan: Safmos Publishers.
Cruttenden, A. (1994). Gimson’s pronunciation of English . New York: Edward Arnold.
Arnold, G. F. & Gimson, A. C. (1973). English pronunciation practice. Kent: Hodder and Stoughton Educational.
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