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Free tool · Phonology

Classical Phonemics Tool

Paste phonetic field data and work through a classical phonemic analysis: phone inventory, suspicious pairs, minimal pairs, environments, complementary distribution, draft allophonic rules and the phoneme inventory.

Step 1

Field data

One word per line: phonetic form, then gloss. For example [pʰala] 'hand', pʰala hand or pʰala - hand.

Step 2

Phone inventory

Every phone in the data, with how often it occurs. Click two phones to compare them in Step 4.

Add some data above.

Step 3

Suspicious pairs

Phonetically similar phones that could be allophones of one phoneme, each with a first verdict. Choose one to examine.

No suspicious pairs yet.

Step 4

Pair analysis

Minimal pairs, environments and distribution for two phones.

Choose two phones.

Step 5

Phoneme inventory

Phones you group as allophones are merged here. Every other phone is treated as its own phoneme.

Add some data above.

Data in phonemic transcription

Entering data

  • One entry per line; the gloss can be in quotes or after a tab or dash.
  • Brackets [ ] or slashes / / around the form are optional.
  • Diacritics stay with their sound: pʰ, aː, ã, k͡p.
  • List sequences such as ts or kp under “Treat as one segment” if they are single sounds.
  • Lines starting with # are ignored. Your data is saved in this browser.

How verdicts are reached

  1. Minimal pairs with different meanings: separate phonemes.
  2. Identical environments (same sound on both sides): contrast is likely.
  3. Same meaning, either sound: free variation.
  4. Never in the same environment, with a clear conditioning side: complementary distribution, so allophones.
  5. Otherwise the result is inconclusive and more data is needed.

Good practice

  • The tool drafts rules; check that each one makes phonetic sense.
  • The allophone with the wider distribution is suggested as the basic form; you can choose the other.
  • Small data sets give tentative results: phones that occur only once or twice are flagged.