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Linguistics & Grammar vocabulary · Phonetics and Phonology

Minimal pair

Meaning in linguistics & grammar, with examples

/ˌmɪnɪml ˈpeə/nounCommon term

In linguistics & grammar, minimal pair means: Two words that differ in only one sound in the same position, such as ship and sheep or fan and van, which shows that the two sounds are separate phonemes.

In Turkish: en küçük çift, asgari çift

How it is used

Used in phonology to identify phonemes and in pronunciation teaching for listening and speaking drills. Teachers choose minimal pairs that match their learners' problems, such as /v/ and /w/ for Turkish speakers.

Example sentences

  1. We practised minimal pairs like 'live' and 'leave' until the class could hear the difference.

  2. 'Pat' and 'bat' form a minimal pair, so /p/ and /b/ are different phonemes in English.

Common collocations

  • minimal pair drill
  • minimal pair test
  • practise minimal pairs
  • find a minimal pair
  • phonemeThe smallest unit of sound that can change meaning in a particular language, such as /p/ and /b/, which make pin and bin different words in English.
  • allophoneOne of the different ways a single phoneme is pronounced in different positions, which native speakers usually hear as the same sound, like the /p/ in pin and in spin.
  • vowelA speech sound made with the air flowing freely through the mouth, without the tongue or lips blocking it, such as the sounds in see, cat and boot.
  • phonologyThe study of how a particular language organizes its sounds into a system: which sound differences change meaning, how sounds combine and how they affect each other.

More terms: Phonetics and Phonology

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