Re: Subtitutes for English /T/ and /D/

In article <4k12a31l8tcjsg4usdstcteab7gl88g4m3@xxxxxxx>,
Ruud Harmsen <realemailonsite@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

My question: If [f v] and [T D] are almost indistinguishable, how is
it possible that the difference (one of them [v] vs. [D], of both) is
phonemic in Greek, English, Icelandic and classical Arabic?

The same reason it's possible for dental and alveolar stops to be
distinct phonemes in the same language (Malayalam), or high front
tense and lax vowels (English), or plain and ejective velar stops
(K'ichee'), or plain or aspirated affricates (Tlingit), or velaric and
uvularic clicks (!Xoo). Plenty of languages make phonemic use of
"almost indistinguishable" contrasts.

Nathan

--
Nathan Sanders
Linguistics Program
Williams College
http://wso.williams.edu/~nsanders/
.

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