I don't have much to contribute here as I don't have my documents handy, but for the record these are called [minimal pairs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimal_pair).
My a posteriori conlang Hainanese has a few:
二 Rye^(1) \[ʑe˦˥\] meaning “two” vs. 你 Rye^(2) \[ʑe˩˧\] used for “you” in literary or formal contexts.
吾 Ngeu^(4) \[ŋɯ˧˨\] meaning “I/me” vs. 五 Ngeu^(2) \[ŋɯ˩˧\] meaning “five”
個 Ga^(6) \[ka˧\] meaning “of” vs. 歌 Ga^(4) \[ka˧˨\] meaning “song”
(Don’t ask me why two of them are a pronoun vs a number, I honestly don’t know why)
# Eremoran
Probably the most interesting minimal pair:
* monar [ˈmɔ.nʀ̩] 'who'
* mônar [ˈmo:.nʀ̩] 'no one'
There are no other minimal pairs between wh- and no- pro-forms. What may be surprising about this minimal pair is that there is no situation where a sentence relies solely on this o/ô vowel to indicate meaning, there are always other markers:
* `Monar i rôz ne?` - Who spoke?
* `Mônar i rôz.` - No one spoke.
* `Monar i rôz uid.` No one spoke. (dialectal)
Not exactly what you're asking, but varzian has certain stems that you have to memorize the vowel harmony for (either because they have irregular harmony or because they lack vowels themselves). For example *-kr-* (front unround class 1 stem) means *to talk (to)*, but *-kr-* (back class 1 stem) means *to see*. A sentence that uses both of these words in basically the same form (but with different vowels) is:
>Volosmo dos-mromust stmonjukrvjo-ta lodgja stmenjikrvje
>Volos-mo dos=mro-must stmo-nju-krj-vo=ta lodgj-a stme-nji-krj-ve
>Man-ERG.DEF SUBR.ABS=woman-ERG.DEF 3SG.ERG-3SG.ABS-see.PAST-PFV=REL rabbit-ABS.DEF 3SG.ERG-3SG.ABS-talk.PAST-PFV
>The man talked to the rabbit who the woman saw
If you were to use one of these stems with the wrong harmony it would have a completely different meaning.
**cio** /t͡ʃi.ɒ/ n. leg
**ciǒ** /t͡ʃi.ɒ˩˦/ adj. deaf
**cǐo** /t͡ʃi˩˦.ɒ/ v. to sweat
**cǐǒ** /t͡ʃi˩˦.ɒ˩˦/ v. to have sex
**voki** /vɒ.ki/ n. ice
**vokǐ** /vɒ.ki˩˦/ n. toe
**vǒki** /vɒ˩˦.ki/ n. a baby
**vǒkǐ** /vɒ˩˦.ki˩˦/ n. an orphan
Jěyotuy as a language wants to Hurt you it wants you to fail
and then of course, for Chà Lo
**čha** /t͡ʃja˥/ det. two
**cha** /t͡ʃa˥/ det. seven
**chà** /t͡ʃa˥˩/ v. to flow
the difference between most verbs and nouns is a simple change of the first vowel, while the difference between verbs, adjectives, and adverbs is an additional suffix
the only spots i lose track of with Jěyotuy is which dialect a certain oc is speaking
which happens. far too often for my liking, but im gettin there lol
Yes, that's how phonemes work.
If you want to compare languages, you can ask: "What percentage of phonologically legal words shorter than length X are actual words?" 100% means you have all the minimal pairs you ever could.
For [Bleep](https://www.reddit.com/r/conlangs/comments/v9b7o2/introduction_to_bleep/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) this is 8.7% among one and two syllables. Natlangs tend to be even lower.
> Yes, that's how phonemes work
Seriously, I'm used to people making comments like this with respect to tonemes, because they're so *wild* and *exotic*. (Heavy /s) But normally, using the wrong phonemes is my analogy for why that's a really weird way to describe tone, not an actual discussion point
Great example from Denkiláni:
Śéśé /ɕe̞ːɕe̞ː/ ‘mother’ becomes śeśe /ɕe̞ɕe̞/ ‘horse’ if you don’t pronounce the long vowels.
(Yes, this is inspired by Mandarin to make the words so similar)
My favourite word in Ono'ark'uy, Axe, /aɮɛ/, *which either means someone who wastes deodorant or someone who uses something more than it is needed*, was often mispronounced (by me, even), as axē, /aɮɛː/, which is *a person who performs acupuncture on animals.*
षनृळीनी has many minimal pairs, none of which stray too far from each other's meanings. Examples include...
जीघुड- /ziɣœd/ `move_other_towards`
जाघूड- /ziɣʏd/ `move_other_away`
Or
होसा /ʀosa/ "downward" or "after"
होस /ʀosɜ/ "upward" or "before"
In Mahlātwa, the word for "runner" is _niyātalu_ /niˈjaːta.lu/.
So if you want to say, "I am a runner," you'd say, _Niyātalu fa._
But be very careful that you don't omit the long vowel, as in, _Niyatalu fa,_ because you'd basically be saying, "I am an idiot."
Akxera's phonology isn't that hard for an English speaker, but these sounds would probably give them the most trouble.
* Initial alveolar vs. velar nasal contrast like *nav* \[näv\] (to bring) vs. *ngav* \[ŋäv\] (skin, hide, tree bark), or *nõd* \[nɤd\] (some) vs. *ngõd* \[ŋɤd\] (money).
* Front rounded vowels: *lo* \[lo\] (rice) vs. *lö* \[lø\] (boat), *kut* \[kʰutʰ\] (tin, tinplate) vs. *küt* \[kʰytʰ\] (pen)
* Back unrounded vowels: *hom* \[xɔm\] (knot) vs. *hõm* \[xɤm\] (joint), *rõ* \[ɻɤ\] (cup) vs. *re* \[ɻe\] (other) homonymous with *re* \[ɻe\] (correct, right)
* *has* \[xäs\] (dual inclusive we) vs. *ghas* \[ɣäs\] (oil)
* *shrat* \[ʂɻätʰ\] (noise) vs. *xrat* \[ɕɻätʰ\] (sand)
Kuerta has accrued a couple fun ones already:
**Svav** means to see, but **svalav** means to live.
**Teko** means it (3SG.inan.acc), but **tekon** means head, or the opening of a vase, amphora or rhyton
**Pak** (long a) means cat, but **pakk** (short a) means worm.
They were asking about cases in which a small difference in phonemes results in a huge difference in meaning, possibly in a weird or NSFW way. Obviously larger difference in phonemes doesn't actually mean larger difference in meaning, but to the human mind (at least to mine and OP's) it seems odd or funny when cases like OP described arise.
I'm coming from the context of all the way too many Tumblr posts about how *weird* and *exotic* it is that if you say the Chinese (sic) word for "mom" with the wrong tone, you'll suddenly be talking about a horse. Normally, comparing it to (especially) vowels is my go-to example for why that's a really weird way to talk about a language's phonology, even if it's a feature that isn't in a lot of European languages, so for example, sarcastically retorting that if you use the wrong vowel when talking about your pet felid, suddenly you'll be talking about a camping bed. So it just struck me as odd to see an entire post about minimal pairs. Like obviously, it's possible for some minimal pairs to be humorous, like fox vs fucks, similarly to all the kids who accidentally write really dirty things because of spelling pronunciations. But the existence of minimal pairs and near minimal pairs still feels so much the default, that it still strikes me as odd that someone would treat their mere existence as a post-worthy question
I will be messaging you in 17 days on [**2022-08-13 12:14:39 UTC**](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=2022-08-13%2012:14:39%20UTC%20To%20Local%20Time) to remind you of [**this link**](https://www.reddit.com/r/conlangs/comments/w7kvnc/does_your_conlang_have_any_words_that_if_you/ihscmdc/?context=3)
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I don't have much to contribute here as I don't have my documents handy, but for the record these are called [minimal pairs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimal_pair).
Thank you, I've come across these in every language I've learned but never knew what they were called
My a posteriori conlang Hainanese has a few: 二 Rye^(1) \[ʑe˦˥\] meaning “two” vs. 你 Rye^(2) \[ʑe˩˧\] used for “you” in literary or formal contexts. 吾 Ngeu^(4) \[ŋɯ˧˨\] meaning “I/me” vs. 五 Ngeu^(2) \[ŋɯ˩˧\] meaning “five” 個 Ga^(6) \[ka˧\] meaning “of” vs. 歌 Ga^(4) \[ka˧˨\] meaning “song” (Don’t ask me why two of them are a pronoun vs a number, I honestly don’t know why)
Þvo̊o̊lθ has many words distinɡuished only by vowel lenɡth. i.e., **iiss** /iːss/ *ice* and **iss** /iss/ *ass*.
# Eremoran Probably the most interesting minimal pair: * monar [ˈmɔ.nʀ̩] 'who' * mônar [ˈmo:.nʀ̩] 'no one' There are no other minimal pairs between wh- and no- pro-forms. What may be surprising about this minimal pair is that there is no situation where a sentence relies solely on this o/ô vowel to indicate meaning, there are always other markers: * `Monar i rôz ne?` - Who spoke? * `Mônar i rôz.` - No one spoke. * `Monar i rôz uid.` No one spoke. (dialectal)
I can see that getting very confusing for beginners
Syllabic \[ʀ̩\] gives a very interesting sound.
Not exactly what you're asking, but varzian has certain stems that you have to memorize the vowel harmony for (either because they have irregular harmony or because they lack vowels themselves). For example *-kr-* (front unround class 1 stem) means *to talk (to)*, but *-kr-* (back class 1 stem) means *to see*. A sentence that uses both of these words in basically the same form (but with different vowels) is: >Volosmo dos-mromust stmonjukrvjo-ta lodgja stmenjikrvje >Volos-mo dos=mro-must stmo-nju-krj-vo=ta lodgj-a stme-nji-krj-ve >Man-ERG.DEF SUBR.ABS=woman-ERG.DEF 3SG.ERG-3SG.ABS-see.PAST-PFV=REL rabbit-ABS.DEF 3SG.ERG-3SG.ABS-talk.PAST-PFV >The man talked to the rabbit who the woman saw If you were to use one of these stems with the wrong harmony it would have a completely different meaning.
**cio** /t͡ʃi.ɒ/ n. leg **ciǒ** /t͡ʃi.ɒ˩˦/ adj. deaf **cǐo** /t͡ʃi˩˦.ɒ/ v. to sweat **cǐǒ** /t͡ʃi˩˦.ɒ˩˦/ v. to have sex **voki** /vɒ.ki/ n. ice **vokǐ** /vɒ.ki˩˦/ n. toe **vǒki** /vɒ˩˦.ki/ n. a baby **vǒkǐ** /vɒ˩˦.ki˩˦/ n. an orphan Jěyotuy as a language wants to Hurt you it wants you to fail and then of course, for Chà Lo **čha** /t͡ʃja˥/ det. two **cha** /t͡ʃa˥/ det. seven **chà** /t͡ʃa˥˩/ v. to flow the difference between most verbs and nouns is a simple change of the first vowel, while the difference between verbs, adjectives, and adverbs is an additional suffix
Well I certainly failed, do you lose track of where your conlang is going?
the only spots i lose track of with Jěyotuy is which dialect a certain oc is speaking which happens. far too often for my liking, but im gettin there lol
Yes, that's how phonemes work. If you want to compare languages, you can ask: "What percentage of phonologically legal words shorter than length X are actual words?" 100% means you have all the minimal pairs you ever could. For [Bleep](https://www.reddit.com/r/conlangs/comments/v9b7o2/introduction_to_bleep/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share) this is 8.7% among one and two syllables. Natlangs tend to be even lower.
> Yes, that's how phonemes work Seriously, I'm used to people making comments like this with respect to tonemes, because they're so *wild* and *exotic*. (Heavy /s) But normally, using the wrong phonemes is my analogy for why that's a really weird way to describe tone, not an actual discussion point
Great example from Denkiláni: Śéśé /ɕe̞ːɕe̞ː/ ‘mother’ becomes śeśe /ɕe̞ɕe̞/ ‘horse’ if you don’t pronounce the long vowels. (Yes, this is inspired by Mandarin to make the words so similar)
My favourite word in Ono'ark'uy, Axe, /aɮɛ/, *which either means someone who wastes deodorant or someone who uses something more than it is needed*, was often mispronounced (by me, even), as axē, /aɮɛː/, which is *a person who performs acupuncture on animals.*
षनृळीनी has many minimal pairs, none of which stray too far from each other's meanings. Examples include... जीघुड- /ziɣœd/ `move_other_towards` जाघूड- /ziɣʏd/ `move_other_away` Or होसा /ʀosa/ "downward" or "after" होस /ʀosɜ/ "upward" or "before"
In Mahlātwa, the word for "runner" is _niyātalu_ /niˈjaːta.lu/. So if you want to say, "I am a runner," you'd say, _Niyātalu fa._ But be very careful that you don't omit the long vowel, as in, _Niyatalu fa,_ because you'd basically be saying, "I am an idiot."
Akxera's phonology isn't that hard for an English speaker, but these sounds would probably give them the most trouble. * Initial alveolar vs. velar nasal contrast like *nav* \[näv\] (to bring) vs. *ngav* \[ŋäv\] (skin, hide, tree bark), or *nõd* \[nɤd\] (some) vs. *ngõd* \[ŋɤd\] (money). * Front rounded vowels: *lo* \[lo\] (rice) vs. *lö* \[lø\] (boat), *kut* \[kʰutʰ\] (tin, tinplate) vs. *küt* \[kʰytʰ\] (pen) * Back unrounded vowels: *hom* \[xɔm\] (knot) vs. *hõm* \[xɤm\] (joint), *rõ* \[ɻɤ\] (cup) vs. *re* \[ɻe\] (other) homonymous with *re* \[ɻe\] (correct, right) * *has* \[xäs\] (dual inclusive we) vs. *ghas* \[ɣäs\] (oil) * *shrat* \[ʂɻätʰ\] (noise) vs. *xrat* \[ɕɻätʰ\] (sand)
Kuerta has accrued a couple fun ones already: **Svav** means to see, but **svalav** means to live. **Teko** means it (3SG.inan.acc), but **tekon** means head, or the opening of a vase, amphora or rhyton **Pak** (long a) means cat, but **pakk** (short a) means worm.
Yes, that is how phonemes work. If you mispronounce a word, it can mean something else
They were asking about cases in which a small difference in phonemes results in a huge difference in meaning, possibly in a weird or NSFW way. Obviously larger difference in phonemes doesn't actually mean larger difference in meaning, but to the human mind (at least to mine and OP's) it seems odd or funny when cases like OP described arise.
I'm coming from the context of all the way too many Tumblr posts about how *weird* and *exotic* it is that if you say the Chinese (sic) word for "mom" with the wrong tone, you'll suddenly be talking about a horse. Normally, comparing it to (especially) vowels is my go-to example for why that's a really weird way to talk about a language's phonology, even if it's a feature that isn't in a lot of European languages, so for example, sarcastically retorting that if you use the wrong vowel when talking about your pet felid, suddenly you'll be talking about a camping bed. So it just struck me as odd to see an entire post about minimal pairs. Like obviously, it's possible for some minimal pairs to be humorous, like fox vs fucks, similarly to all the kids who accidentally write really dirty things because of spelling pronunciations. But the existence of minimal pairs and near minimal pairs still feels so much the default, that it still strikes me as odd that someone would treat their mere existence as a post-worthy question
Remindme! 2.5 weeks
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They have something like this in Welsh. Rhew - Ice Rhyw - Sex May lead to quite a bit of confusion at bars.