Definition
Phonetically similar segments are two or more sounds which share phonetic features and are frequently found as variants of a single phonological unit in a language.
Discussion
Most phonetically similar segments are adjacent to each other in a phone chart, and differ only slightly in one or two articulatory features.
Examples
Here is a table that gives examples of phonetically similar segments and the difference between the given segments.
|
The phonetically similar segments … |
Differ in … |
|---|---|
|
[p] and [b] |
voicing. |
|
[p] and [f] |
place of articulation and manner of articulation. |
|
[l] and [r] |
manner of articulation. |
|
[p] and [t] |
place of articulation. |
Sources 1
- Rensch 1991, 29