If the letter corresponds to a sound that happens to also be a phoneme, then it can make the difference between two completely unrelated meanings. You can extrapolate phonemes, in other words determine whether the sound/letter (strictly speaking “phone") in question is or isn’t a phoneme, by finding - through trial and error - minimal pairs using that phone.
If the letter is not a phoneme, then I guess it doesn’t make much of a difference. Perhaps it contributes to the coining of new words or phrases, or perhaps it is merely the gibberish element of a sound or character sequence as part of a joke.
RetroFed
𝙈𝙞𝙖
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I knew I should have opted for entomology. Instead I’m stuck with all this worthless linguistics. 🥲
What difference does one letter make? :)
It depends.
If the letter corresponds to a sound that happens to also be a phoneme, then it can make the difference between two completely unrelated meanings. You can extrapolate phonemes, in other words determine whether the sound/letter (strictly speaking “phone") in question is or isn’t a phoneme, by finding - through trial and error - minimal pairs using that phone.
If the letter is not a phoneme, then I guess it doesn’t make much of a difference. Perhaps it contributes to the coining of new words or phrases, or perhaps it is merely the gibberish element of a sound or character sequence as part of a joke.
They also trained paramilitaries in Colombia. (Together with the Brits).
Yuck. Stomp on it!