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Another example in English of a phonemic contrast would be the difference between leak and league; the minimal difference of voicing between [k] and [g] does lead to the two utterances being perceived as different words. On the other hand, an example that is not a phonemic contrast in English is the difference between [sit] and [siːt]. [1]
The fortis–lenis contrast may be transcribed as a gemination contrast ([pː tː kː fː sː ʃː xː] or [pp tt kk ff ss ʃʃ xx] vs [p t k f s ʃ x]). The fortis–lenis contrast may be transcribed as [p t k f s ʃ x] vs [b̥ d̥ ɡ̊ v̥ z̥ ʒ̊ ɣ̊] , that is, the lenes are marked with the IPA diacritic for voicelessness.
When the IPA is used for broad phonetic or for phonemic transcription, the letter–sound correspondence can be rather loose. The IPA has recommended that more 'familiar' letters be used when that would not cause ambiguity. [13] For example, e and o for [ɛ] and [ɔ], t for [t̪] or [ʈ], f for [ɸ], etc.
Another type of spelling characteristic is related to word origin. For example, when representing a vowel, y represents the sound /ɪ/ in some words borrowed from Greek (reflecting an original upsilon), whereas the letter usually representing this sound in non-Greek words is the letter i .
These may be instead fronted [f v], stopped [t̪ d̪] or hissed [s̻ z̻]. Speakers may pronounce word-initial r as a guttural r pronunciations or a trill. These often sound to English speakers as /h/, leading to confusion between ray and hay, red and head, height and right, etc.
By contrast, some other sounds would cause a change in meaning if substituted: for example, substitution of the sound [t] would produce the different word still, and that sound must therefore be considered to represent a different phoneme (the phoneme /t/). The above shows that in English, [k] and [kʰ] are allophones of a single phoneme /k/.
Similarly, the Iberian languages contrast four liquid phonemes. /l/, /ʎ/, /ɾ/, and a fourth phoneme that is an alveolar trill in all but many varieties of Portuguese, where it is a uvular trill or fricative (also, the majority of Spanish speakers lack /ʎ/ and use the central /ʝ/ instead).
Whereas the names of many letters sound alike, the set of replacement words can be selected to be as distinct from each other as possible, to minimise the likelihood of ambiguity or mistaking one letter for another. For example, if a burst of static cuts off the start of an English-language utterance of the letter J, it may be mistaken for A or K.