These might be minimal pairs in a language like Russian where the palatalisation of the consonant affects whether you have an [ɨ] sound or an [i] sound. For example, depending on how you analyse Russian, /bɪtʲ/ and /bʲɪtʲ/ are a minimal pair ("to be" and "to beat", respectively), and surface roughly as [bɨtʲ]/[bˠɨtʲ] and [bʲitʲ]. However, in Russian, velars are always phonologically palatal, so you don't get this sort of minimal pair with /k/ (though you do get the odd borrowed word, like /kɨɾgɨzˈstan/, though most Russian speakers still say /kʲiɾˈgʲizʲija/, or at best /kʲiɾgʲizˈstan/, because there's a problem with encoding a velar followed by [ɨ] in this analysis of how Russian works).
In any case, my point is that the question of whether two utterances form a minimal pair or not can only be answered in relation to a particular linguistic variety, so some clarification might be needed on your part depending on what sort of answer you're after.
You raise the good point that minimal pairs are usually talked about at the level of the (traditional generative phonology) underlying representation, not at the surface phonetic level.Thus, yes, if [i] vs. [ɨ] is allophonically conditioned by the [k] vs [kʲ] distinction, they may be minimal pairs.
Also, to answer the more specific question of whether diacritics play a role in determining minimal pairs, it again depends on the language. In Russian, before /ɪ/, /k/ and /kʲ/ don't contrast (though they do before e.g. /u/), but in some language they might.
So long as there is one difference distinguishing the two words, it qualifies as a minimal pair, regardless of whether it is transcribed in superscript / as a diacritic. (The distinction between a transcription of, say, [pʲa] and [pja] is generally at the level of phonological theory, not the surface phonetic facts.)
However, I notice your two words differ in two ways: not just [k] vs [kʲ] but also [i] vs. [ɨ]. As such, no, your words would be merely "near" minimal pairs and not true minimal pairs per se.
Asked: 2015-08-25 08:47:11 -0400
Seen: 882 times
Last updated: Sep 03 '15
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