'F' is for 'Phonemic Contrast'
I've just started making a little reference for myself regarding various phonemic contrasts (mostly plosive), and I would like to share it with others, as well as get your thoughts and opinions.
Realism is one factor influencing my conlanging habits, so in making this reference I've thought about the contrast characteristics of various major languages.
For example, Mandarin has a 2-way distinction of voiceless and voiceless aspirated (/p/ and /p^(h)/, p and b in Pinyin). Many Indic languages have 3-way distinctions between voiceless, voiced, and aspirated versions of both (plus retroflexion for the coronals).
Some examples from the list include:
| Contrast | Example | Class* |
|---|---|---|
| Voicing | [p] vs. [b] | Regular |
| Length | [p] vs. [pː] | Qualitative |
| Labialization | [p] vs. [p^(w)] | Sequential |
| Pre-nasalization | [p] vs. [^(m)p] | Sequential |
| etc. | etc. | etc. |
*Class is just an arbitrary categorization of the type of contrasts.
I hope, in using this reference, to at least get a "feel" for whenever I might want to make a new language; rather than copying real inventories wholesale (not that it is wrong), it might make for some creative arrangements to make a conlang "analogous" to a particular real language.
What do you think? Feel free to offer your thoughts.
Posted Jul 5, 2026, 12:32 PM UTC