> But does every IPA
> phoneme <snip> contrast with every other IPA phoneme in at
> least one language?
That's the design principle.
> That is, does any one language use the postalveolar,
> retroflex, and/or retroflex "sh" sound in a
> semantically distinctive way? Does any one language
> use the alveolar, retroflex, and/or palatal "l" sound
> in a semantically distinctive way? If so, then my
> reaction is "wow!" I need to come up with a lot more
> base shapes for place of articulation.
Gujarati has retroflex and alveolar laterals.
Some kinds of Spanish (apparently) contrast the palatal and alveolar.
Some Dravidian languages contrast all three.
> On the IPA chart, where is the /w/ sound? I would
> think it would be in the bilabial approximant box, but
> that's empty.
It's in "other symbols" because common /w/ has a velar component as
well.
---
Shreyas Sampat
Not Christophe.