Editing Minimal pair (section)

==Types==
In addition to the minimal pairs of vowels and consonants provided above, others may be found:

===Quantity===
Many languages show contrasts between long and short vowels and consonants. A distinctive difference in length is attributed by some phonologists to a unit called a [[chroneme]]. Thus, [[Italian language|Italian]] has the following minimal pair that is based on long and short {{IPA|/l/}}:
{|class="wikitable"
! spelling || IPA ||meaning
|-
| {{lang|it|pala}} ||{{IPA|/ˈpala/}}|| shovel
|-
| {{lang|it|palla}} ||{{IPA|/ˈpalla/}} || ball
|}
However, in such a case it is not easy to decide whether a long vowel or consonant should be treated as having an added chroneme or simply as a [[geminate]] sound with phonemes.

[[Classical Latin]], [[German language|German]], some [[Languages of Italy|Italian dialects]], almost all [[Uralic languages]], [[Thai language|Thai]], and many other languages also have distinctive length in [[vowel]]s. An example is the ''cŭ/cū'' minimal pair in the Italian dialect that is spoken near [[Palmi, Calabria|Palmi]] (Calabria, Italy){{clarify|date=May 2023|reason=Please specify the name of the dialect}}:

{|class="wikitable"
! Dialect spoken in Palmi || IPA || Quality || Etymology || Latin || Italian || English
|-
| Cŭ voli? || {{IPA|/kuˈvɔːli/}} || short || cŭ < lat. ''qu(is)'' ("who?") || Quis vult? || Chi vuole? || Who wants?
|-
| Cū voli? || {{IPA|/kuːˈvɔːli/}} || long || cū < lat. ''qu(o) (ill)ŭ(m)'' ("for-what him?") || Quō illum/illud vult? || Per che cosa lo vuole? || For what (reason) does he want him/it?
|}

====Syntactic gemination====
In some languages like Italian, word-initial consonants are [[geminate]]d after certain vowel-final words in the same [[prosodic unit]]. Sometimes, the phenomenon can create some [[syntactic gemination|syntactic-gemination]]-minimal-pairs:

{|class="wikitable"
! Italian [[sandhi]] || IPA || Meaning || Sample sentence || Meaning of the sample sentence
|-
| {{lang|it|dà casa}}  || {{IPA|/dakˈkaza/}} || (he/she) gives (his/her) house || ''{{lang|it|Carlo ci dà casa.}}'' || Carlo gives us his house.
|-
| {{lang|it|da casa}} || {{IPA|/daˈkaza/}} || from home || ''{{lang|it|Carlo uscì da casa.}}'' || Carlo got out from home.
|}
In the example, the graphical [[accent (phonetics)|accent]] on ''dà'' is just a [[diacritical mark]] that does not change the [[pronunciation]] of the word itself. However, in some specific areas, like [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscany]], both phrases are pronounced {{IPA|/daˈkkaːza/}} and so can be distinguished only from the context.

===Tone===
Minimal pairs for tone contrasts in [[tone language]]s can be established; some writers refer to that as a contrast involving a [[toneme]]. For example, [[Kono language (Sierra Leone)|Kono]], of Sierra Leone, distinguishes high tone and low tone on syllables:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roach |first1=Peter |title=Phonetics |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-437239-8 |page=25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=79f9TdhF_L4C&pg=PA25}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |type=PhD |last=Manyeh |first=Morie Komba |date=1983 |title=Aspects of Kono Phonology |publisher=University of Leeds |url=http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/693 |page=152}}</ref>
{|class="wikitable"
! tone || word ||meaning
|-
| high ||{{IPA|/kɔ́ɔ́/}}|| 'to mature'
|-
| low ||{{IPA|/kɔ̀ɔ̀/}} || 'rice'
|}

===Stress===
Languages in which [[stress (linguistics)|stress]] may occur in different positions within the word often have contrasts that can be shown in minimal pairs, as in [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Spanish language|Spanish]]:
{|class="wikitable"
! word || language ||IPA || meaning
|-
| {{lang|el|ποτέ}} || Greek ||{{IPA|/poˈte/}} || ever
|-
| {{lang|el|πότε}} || Greek || {{IPA|/ˈpote/}} || when
|-
| {{lang|es|esta}} || Spanish || {{IPA|/ˈesta/}} || this (feminine)
|-
| {{lang|es|está}} || Spanish || {{IPA|/esˈta/}} || (he/she/it) is
|-
| {{lang|tl|supot}} || Tagalog || {{IPA|/ˈsupot/}} || bag
|-
| {{lang|tl|supót}} || Tagalog || {{IPA|/suˈpot/}} || uncircumcized
|}

In English stress can determine the part of speech of a word: ''insult'' as a noun is {{IPA|/ˈɪnsʌlt/}} while as a verb it is {{IPA|/ɪnˈsʌlt/}}. In certain cases it can also differentiate two words: ''below'' {{IPA|/bɪˈloʊ/}} vs ''billow'' {{IPA|/ˈbɪloʊ/}}.

===Juncture===
Anglophones can distinguish between, for example, "great ape" and "grey tape", but phonemically, the two phrases are identical: {{IPA|/ɡreɪteɪp/}}.<ref>O'Connor, J.D and Tooley, O. (1964) "The perceptibility of certain word-boundaries" in Abercrombie, D. et al ''In Honour of Daniel Jones'', Longman, pp. 171-176</ref> The difference between the two phrases, which constitute a minimal pair, is said to be one of [[juncture]]. At the word boundary, a "plus juncture" /+/ has been posited and said to be the factor conditioning allophones to allow distinctivity:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Trager |first1=G.L. |last2=Smith |first2=H.L. |title=An Outline of English Structure |date=1957 |publisher=American Council of Learned Societies |page=37}}</ref> in this example, the phrase "great ape" has an {{IPA|/eɪ/}} diphthong shortened by [[clipping (phonetics)|pre-fortis clipping]] and, since it is not syllable-initial, a {{IPA|/t/}} with little [[Aspirated consonant|aspiration]] (variously {{IPA|[t˭]}}, [[Flapping|{{IPA|[ɾ]|cat=no}}]], [[T-glottalization|{{IPA|[ʔt]|cat=no}}]], {{IPAblink|ʔ}}, etc., depending on dialect); meanwhile in "grey tape", the {{IPA|/eɪ/}} has its full length and the {{IPA|/t/}} is aspirated {{IPA|[tʰ]}}.

Only languages with allophonic differences associated with grammatical boundaries may have juncture as a phonological element. There is disagreement over whether or not [[French language|French]] has phonological juncture: it seems likely that the difference between, for example, "{{lang|fr|des petits trous}}" (some little holes) and "{{lang|fr|des petites roues}}" (some little wheels), phonemically both {{IPA|/depətitʁu/}}, is only perceptible in slow, careful speech.<ref>Jones, D. (1931) 'The "word" as a phonetic entity', ''Le Maitre Phonetique'', 36, pp. 60-65 {{JSTOR|44704471}}</ref><ref>Passy, P. (1913) ''Les Sons du Français'', Didier, p. 61</ref>