Contrastive distribution

Contrastive distribution in linguistics, as opposed to complementary distribution or free variation, is the relationship between two different elements, where both elements are found in the same environment with a change in meaning.

Phonology

In phonology, two sounds of a language are said to be in contrastive distribution if replacing one with the other in the same phonological environment results in a change in meaning. If a sound is in contrastive distribution, it is considered a phoneme in that language.

For example, in English, the sounds [p] and [b] can both occur word-initially, as in the words pat and bat (minimal pairs), which are distinct morphemes. Therefore, [p] and [b] are in contrastive distribution, and thus they are phonemes of English.

Note that two sounds which are in contrastive distribution in one language can be in complementary distribution or free variation in another. For example, in Korean, the aspirated [t^h ] and reinforced [tt] are in contrastive distribution, as in the words [t^hal] mask and [ttal] daughter. These sounds occur in English, as in the word team [t^hi:m] and steam [stim], but their occurrence is purely dependent upon phonological context. Therefore, in English, [t^h] and [tt] are not in contrastive distribution, but rather complementary distribution.

Morphology

In morphology, two morphemes are in contrastive distribution if they occur in the same environment, but have different meanings.

For example, in Korean, noun phrases are followed by one of various markers that indicate syntactic role: /-ka/, /-i/, /-(l)ul/, etc. /-ka/ and /-i/ are in complementary distribution: they are both used to indicate nominative case, and their occurrence is conditioned by the final sound of the preceding noun. If the noun ends in a consonant, /-i/ occurs, otherwise, /-ka/. /-(l)ul/, on the other hand, occurs in the same position as /-i/ or /-ka/, and is also conditioned by immediately previous sound, but indicates accusative case. Therefore, /-(l)ul/ and the set {/-i/, /-ka/} are in contrastive distribution.

Syntax

In syntax, the requirements are similar. An example comes from English, in which the expression of the indicative versus subjunctive mood is contrastive.

(1) If I am a rich man, then I have a lot of money.

(2) If I were a rich man, then I would have a lot of money.

The change from non-past 1st person singular indicative am to the subjunctive were results in a change in the grammatical mood of the sentence.

See also

• Allomorph
• Allophone
• Complementary distribution
• Free variation
• Minimal pair
• Phoneme
• Sociolinguistics
• Variable rules analysis

This linguistics article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Phonology Linguistics stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую Stan McGarvey Government Art Collection Look at other dictionaries: Contrastive — may refer to one of several concepts in linguistics: Contrast (linguistics) Contrastive linguistics Contrastive distribution Contrastive analysis Contrastive rhetoric Contrastive focus reduplication Contrastive stress Contrastive wa; see Japanese …   Wikipedia Complementary distribution — in linguistics is the relationship between two different elements, where one element is found in a particular environment and the other element is found in the opposite environment. It often indicates that two superficially different elements are …   Wikipedia Tawbuid language — language name=Tawbuid familycolor=Austronesian states=Philippines region=MIMARO speakers=14,000 fam2=Malayo Polynesian fam3=Borneo Philippines fam4=South Mangyan fam5=Buhid Tawbuid lc1=bnj|ld1=Eastern Tawbuid lc2=twb|ld2=Western Tawbuid|The… …   Wikipedia Free variation — in linguistics is the phenomenon of two (or more) sounds or forms appearing in the same environment without a change in meaning and without being considered incorrect by native speakers. Examples from English include: *glottalization of voiceless …   Wikipedia Bagheli language — Bagheli is a language of the Baghelkhand region of central India. It is often considered to be a dialect of Hindi language, and is classified such by the Indian Census Report (1991).The Bagheli speakers are found mainly in six districts of Madhya …   Wikipedia Phoneme — This article is about the speech unit. For the JavaME library, see phoneME. In a language or dialect, a phoneme (from the Greek: φώνημα, phōnēma, a sound uttered ) is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts… …   Wikipedia Phonological change — Sound change and alternation Metathesis Quantitative metathesis …   Wikipedia Niger–Congo languages — Niger–Congo Niger–Kordofanian (obsolete) Geographic distribution: Sub Saharan Africa Linguistic classification: one of the world s primary language families Subdivisions: Dogon …   Wikipedia Uralic languages — Family of more than 30 languages spoken by some 25 million people in central and northern Eurasia. A primary division is between the Finno Ugric languages, which account for most of the languages and speakers, and the Samoyedic languages. The… …   Universalium Proto-Germanic language — Proto Germanic Spoken in Northern Europe Extinct evolved into Proto Norse, Gothic, Frankish and Ingvaeonic by the 4th century Language family Indo European …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”