Complementary Distribution (Noun)
Meaning
(linguistics) a distribution of related speech sounds or forms in such a way that they only appear in different contexts.
Classification
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects.
Examples
- In phonology, the distribution of the speech sounds /p/ and /b/ is often cited as an example of complementary distribution.
- The allophones of a phoneme may exhibit complementary distribution in the language.
- Complementary distribution is an important concept in phonetics, as it allows linguists to distinguish between different phonemes.
- In many languages, the aspirated and unaspirated forms of a stop consonant exhibit complementary distribution.
- The linguistic phenomenon of complementary distribution helps researchers identify distinct phonemes in a language's sound system.