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A '''minimal pair''' is a pair of words that differ by only one phoneme, e.g., ''hit'' and ''hid''.  The existence or not of a minimal pair tests whether two apparently different sounds are actually phonemes.<ref>[http://grammar.about.com/od/mo/g/minpairterm.htm Definition of minimal pair]</ref>

A '''minimal pair''' is a pair of words that differ by only one phoneme, e.g., ''hit'' and ''hid''.  The existence or not of a minimal pair tests whether two apparently different sounds are actually phonemes.<ref>[http://grammar.about.com/od/mo/g/minpairterm.htm Definition of minimal pair]</ref>

An '''allophone''' (from Greek "other" and "sound") is an audibly distinct sound that is not a separate phoneme.  Examples are the aspirated initial ''p'' and unaspirated final ''p'' of ''pip.''<ref>[http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/allophoneterm.htm Definition of allophone]</ref>  In English, there is no minimal pair, while in some languages, there could be, in which case those two sounds would be phonemes, not allophones.

An '''allophone''' (from Greek "other" and "sound") is an audibly distinct sound that is not a separate phoneme.  Examples are the aspirated initial ''p'' and unaspirated final ''p'' of ''pip.''<ref>[http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/allophoneterm.htm Definition of allophone]</ref>  In [[English]], there is no minimal pair, while in some languages, such as [[Mandarin Chinese]], there could be, in which case those two sounds would be phonemes, not allophones.

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[[Category:Linguistics]]

[[Category:Linguistics]]