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Minimal pair
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==Minimal sets== The principle of a simple binary opposition between the two members of a minimal pair may be extended to cover a '''minimal set''' in which a number of words differ from one another in terms of one phone in a particular position in the word.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ladefoged|first=P.|year=2006|pages=[https://archive.org/details/courseinphonetic00lade_0/page/35 35β6]|title=A Course in Phonetics|publisher=Thomson, Wadsworth |isbn=9781413006889 |url=https://archive.org/details/courseinphonetic00lade_0|url-access=registration}}</ref> For example, the vowels {{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/e/}}, {{IPA|/i/}}, {{IPA|/o/}}, {{IPA|/u/}} of [[Swahili language|Swahili]] are shown to be distinct by the following set of words: ''pata'' 'hinge', ''peta'' 'bend', ''pita'' 'pass', ''pota'' 'twist', ''puta'' 'thrash'.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ladefoged|first=P.|year=2001|pages=26|title=Vowels and Consonants}}</ref> However, establishing such sets is not always straightforward{{hsp}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Fromkin and Rodman|year=1993|pages=218β220|title=An Introduction to Language}}</ref> and may require very complex study of multiple oppositions as expounded by, for example, [[Nikolai Trubetzkoy]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Trubetzkoy|first=N.|year=1969|title=Principles of Phonology}}</ref>
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