Units that cannot be substituted for each other without changing meaning: contrastive distribution (a minimal pair is a pair demonstrating the above).
Phoneme: A set of sounds that considered equivalent pronunciations of the same underlying representation.
Allophones: Sound in the set of the phoneme.
| Contrastive Distribution | Complementary Distribution |
|---|---|
| Unpredictable | Predictable |
| Separate phonemes | Allophone of same phoneme |
These differ across languages, though cross linguistic patterns may exist.
relatively similar sounds that are in complementary distribution (i.e. non-overlapping environments).
Observation of complementary distribution: high likelihood of allophones of same phoneme.
Phonological distributions depend on natural classes: sets of sounds that have something in common
If complementary distribution but no phonetic similarity or cannot form natural class: not allophone.
Free variation: 2 or more sounds in the same environment with no change in meaning and both considered correct.