e. minimal pair 

A minimal pair is a pair of forms that are identical except for a minimal difference, which is 
relevant for meaning contrast. The example given in (a) above is a minimal pair. 

6. What do the following sets of sounds have in common in terms of distinctive features: 

 
a.   

D v Z z 

[+voice, +continuant, -sonorant] (other features redundant) 

 
b.   

o u U ç 

[+vocalic, +tense, +back/round] 

 
c.   

l ´ ® m n N a w j E 

[+sonorant] 

7. Mohawk Stops (from Halle and Clements, Problem Book in Phonology) 

 
Mohawk, a Northern Iroquoian language spoken in upstate New York, Ontario and Quebec, has six 
phonetic oral stops (as well as a glottal stop, which we will disregard here). The bilabial stops are 
rare and for the most part restricted to recent loan words. Decide which of the following two 
hypotheses is correct: 
 
Hypothesis A: Mohawk has the six distinct oral stop phonemes /p b t d k g/. 
 
Hypothesis B: Mohawk has only three distinct oral stop phonemes in its underlying phoneme 
inventory. 
 
If you select hypothesis A, show that the inventory of stop phonemes cannot be reduced, by citing 
(near-)minimal pairs.

1

 If you select hypothesis B, show that it is correct by (a) listing the phonemes, 

and (b) listing each variant (surface reflex) of each phoneme together with the context in which it 
occurs. (Assume that the data is complete in all relevant respects.) 
 
The data have been adapted to conform to the IPA. 
 
1. 

oli˘de/ 

‘pigeon’ 8. 

oya˘gala 

‘shirt’ 

2. 

zahset 

‘hide it!’ 

9. 

ohjotsah 

‘chin’ 

1

 Hint: to show that two sounds contrast in a given language, it’s usually enough to show that both occur (and are 

distinctive) in the same environment, even if you cannot find an exact minimal pair. Note that in English, there aren’t 
any minimal pairs involving /

T

 /and /

D

/, but it’s clear they contrast because they are distinctive in a prevocalic position, 

as in 

this

 vs. 

thick

. Environments that might be relevant for this problem and the next are simple ones such as: before a 

vowel, at the end of a word, after a stop, etc., but not things of the sort “before the vowel /i/”, “before a sequence of two 
consonants”, and so on.