Minimal Pairs Wordlist
Minimal Pairs Wordlist
Minimal Pairs Wordlist
and …
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When you have looked at the words below (and helped yourself, if you
like!) here are links to a few words from John in Shaftesbury, Dorset,
Freida in Albury, NSW, Australia, and Peter at Idaho State University at
Pocatello. For the budget conscious, Alan, Gillian and Helen at Black
Sheep Press in the North of England have an extensive range of pictures of
minimal word pairs in their photocopy free materials and worksheets.
MINIMAL PAIRS
singletons
Stops vs. Affricates Fricatives vs. Affricates
SIWI SIWI
tear - chair sore - chore
tease - cheese sum - chum
tin - chin sip - chip
top - chop sick - chick
talk - chalk sat - chat
ticks - chicks Sue - chew
tiled - child silly - chilly
tip - chip soak - choke
tips - chips suck - chuck
tore - chore sill - chill
two - chew search - church
PICTURES: here
buy bike
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2/23/2011 ...and a few WORDS from Caroline...and …
buy bike
sew soap
ow! out
bee beach
pie pile
row road
moo move
car card
PICTURES: here
eel peel
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hose toes 3/14
2/23/2011 ...and a few WORDS from Caroline...and …
eel peel hose toes
air chair hair tear
ache take hen ten
old fold hot tot
PICTURES: here PICTURES: here
/r/ Clusters
root fruit /sk/ vs. /st/
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2/23/2011 ...and a few WORDS from Caroline...and …
root fruit /sk/ vs. /st/
rat brat scoop stoop
red bread school stool
rip drip scout stout
rain train score store
row throw sky sty
skate state
skill still
scamp stamp
MINIMAL PAIRS
voicing contrasts PICTURES: here
Voicing SFWF
peach beach
town down
fan van
pole bowl
peas bees
buy pie
bear pear
sip zip
pig big
tore door
CLUSTERS SIWI
/skr/ SIWI
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2/23/2011 ...and a few WORDS from Caroline...and …
/skr/ SIWI
scream screen scratch scrub screw
/str/ SIWI
stream string strawberries strum streetlight street strong straight struggle
stretch strict strain stripes
/kr/ SIWI
crash crawl crutches crab cry crayon crane crack crumb cross crew crow
crowd crown
/gr/ SIWI
green grass greet grapes grouch grow Grover great grin grill
/tr/ SIWI
triangle track trash tractor train treasure trick trumpet tree trolley truck trap
trio tray trim trophy
/dr/ SIWI
dream draw drive drum dragon dress drop drill drip drink
/br/ SIWI
Bradley Bruce Brett Brendan Brian bricks brown bronco branch bright
bread broken broom bride branches break breaking Bryony Brenda Briane
Bronnie Brianna
/sp/ SIWI
speech spill spit space spade spark Spice Girls spot sponge spud spoon
spider Spiderman spine spire spy
/st/ SIWI
steam stick stay stairs steps stag star stop stamp stone stork stoop sty
stir stool
/pr/ SIWI
prince princess pram prawn prune pretty proud price prize
/kl/ SIWI
clean Clag clock cloth clog club claw clothes clever close clown cloud
climb
/fl/ SIWI
fleece flea flip flake flame flag flat flash fly flock flute floor float flower
/sm/ SIWI
smell small smart smash smog smudge smoke smile
/sn/ SIWI
snail sneeze snip Sneeches snake snap snooze snow snore snort
VOWELS AND
VOWEL CONTRASTS PICTURES: here
Vowel Contrasts
cub cab / rush rash / cub cab /rush rash / truck track / bud bad / cut cat /
hut hat / mud mad / bug bag / cup cap / fun fan
Vowel Contrasts
duck - deck / bunch - bench / bug - beg / nut - net / money - many / bud -
bed
SINGLETONS SIWI
/p/ SIWI
pea peach peel peep pig pick pill Po pink paint paste pay peck peg pen
pest pet pan park poor pool post purr pie pile Piglet Pooh Percy
/b/ SIWI
bee beach bead bean beat big beak bin bear Barbie Barney Barney bell
'baby bird's balloon' 'baby bird' bed best back bus boot book ball bowl bone
bore bored Bobo bird bike buy bite Big Bird Babar but butt
bad bud beard bead bird bed
/t/ SIWI
teach tease team tent tick tin tip tail Ted tell tack tap top tape toe tie toll
talk torch tear tore tall town tight Tinky Winky Thomas Terence
/d/ SIWI
dig dip dish ditch Dipsy die deck duck doll dark dot desk door dome dirt
dial dice dive
/v/ SIWI
vase vest vet van vat vote voice vine Vegemite 'Vera Violet Vinn'
/z/ SIWI
zip zoo zoom Zac zed zebra
'sh' SIWI
she sheep sheet shin ship shake shape shave shed shell shack shut
sharp shock shop shoot shoe shine shawl shore shirt short shout shy
Shawn
'th' SIWI
thief thick thin thing think thank thatch thong thud thumb thump thaw
thought third thirst thigh
/w/ SIWI
week weed weep wheat wheel whip wick wig win wind wing whale waist
wait wake wave weigh web wet well west wag one won wash watch wok
wood wolf walk wall Wilma warm whirl work worm world Wally Waldo
Wanda why wine wipe wire
The Teddies in Bananas in Pyjamas are Amy, Morgan and Lulu. The
Bananas are B1 and B2, and the other main character is The Rat in a Hat.
NO FINAL CONSONANT
in Australian English PICTURES: here
NO INITIAL CONSONANT
ape
up
ebb
eat
it
eight
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2/23/2011 eight ...and a few WORDS from Caroline...and …
out
ought
odd
Orc
add
aid
ache
oak
egg
if
off
ace
ass
"S"
us
ice
eyes
ash
each
itch
ouch
age
edge
urge
aim
"M"
in
on
urn
own
eel
ill
ale
all
owl
oil
ink
end
arm
old
PICTURES: here
BACKWARD CHAINING
"KING-WORDS" (Verbs) PICTURES: here
e.g., walking-king-talking-king-making-king- etc
walking talking making looking working taking baking hiking soaking
licking wrecking stacking breaking lurking
MISCELLANEOUS
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2/23/2011 ...and a few WORDS from Caroline...and …
FOOTNOTE
SIWI, SFWF, SIWW, etc
In the branch of Clinical Linguistics called clinical phonology, the
abbreviations SIWI, SFWF, SIWW, SFWW, etc are used to describe
where sounds occur in spoken words. SIWI is "syllable initial word initial
position". In the word "ball", /b/ is SIWI. SFWF is "syllable final word final
position". In the word "rub" /b/ is SFWF. SIWW is "syllable initial within
word position". In the word "abound" /b/ is SIWW.
The terms are used to denote how the words are pronounced by an
individual, not the way you spell them, or the way they "should" be
pronounced. So, for example, when you break a word like "innocent" into
syllables with regard to how you might spell it you get inn-o-cent. But
when most speakers of English SAY the word it becomes (roughly!) ih-nu-
sent so that the /n/ is SIWW (not SFWW as it would be if you said in-uh-
sent).
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