Minimal pairtest (vowels in

Urdu)

1

Contents Page no

Minimal pair………………………….. 3

Why minimal pair test………………... 4

Four golden rules……………………... 5

Examples from English……………….. 6-7

Introduction of Urdu language….......... 8

Vowels…………………………………. 9

Examples from Urdu………………….. 10-14

Conclusion……………………………. 15

2

Minimal pair

In phonology minimal pairs are pairs of

words or phrases in a particular

language, which differ in only one

phonological element, such as a phone,

phoneme and have distinct meanings.

3

Why minimal pair test..?

Minimal pairs are useful because they

help us to figure out whether a sound is a

phoneme (separate sound) or an

allophone (variation of the same sound.)

4

Four Golden Rules

Here are four golden rules for minimal pairs:

1. They must have the same number of

sounds.

2. They must be identical in every sound

except for one.

3. The sound that is different must be in the

same position in each word.

4. The words must have different meanings.

5

Examples from English[i:] with [ɪ]

Heat Hit

/hi:t/ /hɪt/

6

[i:] with [ɪ]

7

Introduction to Urdu

'Urdu' and its origin

The term Urdu originates from a Turkish word ordu

meaning camp or army. The Urdu language

developed between the Muslim soldiers of the

Mughals armies who belonged to various ethnicities

like Turks, Arabs, Persians, Pathans, Balochis,

Rajputs, Jats and Afghans

It is for this reason that Urdu is also referred to as

Lashkari Zaban or language of the army.

8

VowelsIn phonetics, a vowel is a sound in

spoken language, such as

an English ah! [ɑː] or oh! [əʊ], pronounced

with an open vocal tract so that there is no

build-up of air pressure at any point above

the glottis.

9

Examples from Urdu

1. [I:] with [i~:] with [e]

Gai [gai:]

replace [i] with [i~:]

Gain [gai~:]

Now replace [i] with [e]

Gaye [gae:]

10

Test of four rulesSound creates a whole new word. Here is a test of

four golden rules for minimal pairs:

Number of segments= 3

Identical= [ga_]

Sound that is different must be in the same

position = [i:] , [e] and [i~:]

Words must have different meanings= Gai [to go,

fem, singular form] , [gai~:] [to go, fem, plural

form], [gae] [to go, masculine, plural form]

11

2. [e] with [ɪ]

khailna [ khelna ] [to play]

Now replace [e] with [ɪ]

khilna [ khɪlna ][blossom]

12

3. [æ] with [i:]

Teer [ t̪i:r ] [arrow] تیر

Now replace [i:] with [æ]

Tair [ t̪ æ r ] [swim] تیر

13

4. [ə] with [æ]

phal [ ph əl ] [fruit]

Now replace [ə] with [æ]

phail [ph æl]

14

Conclusion

This dissertation investigates the role of minimal

contrast of vowels in Urdu language. The

experimental results indicate that [I:], [i~:],[æ], [i:],

[o], [ʊ], [ɔ] ,[ɔ~],[ɔ],[ʊ] ,[u] ,[e] ,[ɪ] ,[e] , [a], [ɪ] , [ɪ~]

are contrastive and separate phonemes in Urdu

language.

15

Thank you..

Healthy Arguments will be appreciated

16