Re: allophones again, but English - not French

Robert wrote:

<<Are these two thingies allophones or separate phonemes: /a/ [a], /A/ [A]? I
can't find any minimal pairs.>>

What transcription system are you using?   By that I mean, is [A] a low, back
unrounded vowel, and [a] a low, front unrounded vowel?   If so, the former
sound doesn't exist in my dialect, save maybe in diphthongs.

There are some dialects where the diphthong /aj/ has become [a] or [a:] (if
this is the sound you're talking about), in which case there are plenty of
minimal pairs: "light" and "lot"; "bright" and "brought"; "bite" and "bot"; "kite"
and "cot", etc.   Is this what you're talking about?   (Or should we not be
discussing this, what with the list holdings?)

-David