Re: French spelling scheme

Roger Mills wrote:

> Matt Pearson wrote:
>
> >David Peterson wrote:
> >
> >> In a message dated 5/2/01 10:18:54 PM, ray.brown@FREEUK.COM writes:
> >>
> >> << Actually, there is one pair of words where the two sounds are
> >> clearly phonemic: _thy_ /Daj/ ~ _thigh_ /Taj/. >>
> >>     Actually, there are two: "either" [iDr] and "ether" [iTr].  :)
> >
> >And what about "wreath" [riT] and "wreathe" [riD]?
>
> And "bath": "bathe".   Though IMHO derived forms are weak reeds as minimal
> pairs.
"Bath" and "bathe" aren't a minimal pair, though, because of the difference in
vowel quality.

I don't see why derived forms should be any less reliable for determining a
phonemic contrast than other pairs.  As long as (a) speakers are consistent in
which sound they use for the base form and which they use for the derived
form, and (b) the sound in the derived form occurs elsewhere, and is not
restricted to a particular morpho-phonological pattern.

Matt.