Talk:Functional load
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The functional load of tone in Mandarin Chinese, which is nearly as high as that of their vowel
[edit]Maybe in monosyllabic morphemes, but not so much in words of two or more syllables --Backinstadiums (talk) 19:07, 15 June 2022 (UTC)
Seeming counterexample may not be counterexample at all
[edit]The current article contains:
"Martinet predicted that perceptually similar pairs of phonemes with low functional load would merge. This has not been proved empirically; indeed, all empirical tests have come out against it; for example, /n/ merged with /l/ in Cantonese in word-initial position in the late 20th century although of all the consonants in binary opposition to /n/, only the /n/-/m/ opposition had a higher functional load than the /n/-/l/ opposition.[1]"
The example may not be a counterexample, since it may not be about a low functional load minimal pair: the /n/-/l/-pair is quoted as the one but highest functional load minimal pair containing /n/. A relevant question, that unfortunately I cannot answer for lack of knowledge of Cantonese, is whether minimal pairs containing /n/ are rare in Cantonese after all.Redav (talk) 11:02, 4 July 2022 (UTC) Redav (talk) 11:02, 4 July 2022 (UTC)