<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">Hello Christian, and all,<div><br></div><div>What a nice question.</div><div>Interrogating a range of languages, the evidence for an /e/ ≠ /ɪ/ contrast is robust, but highly restrained.</div><div>Out of 8600 (ish) languages/dialects, the figures for front, non-low, unrounded contrasts (namely, languages with all or any of <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:"Charis SIL","Gentium Plus","Segoe UI","Doulos SIL","DejaVu Sans","Lucida Sans Unicode",Arial,sans-serif">ɛ e ɪ i i̝</span>)[1] are as follows (not controlling for area or genus):</div><div><br></div><div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="229" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);border-collapse:collapse;width:171pt"><colgroup><col width="87" style="width:65pt"><col width="87" style="width:65pt"><col width="55" style="width:41pt"></colgroup><tbody><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" width="87" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt;width:65pt">1</td><td class="gmail-xl69" width="87" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;width:65pt">Ø</td><td class="gmail-xl66" width="55" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;color:rgba(0,0,0,0.847);font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;text-align:right;width:41pt">63</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">2</td><td class="gmail-xl69" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">ɛ</td><td class="gmail-xl66" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;color:rgba(0,0,0,0.847);font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;text-align:right">28</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">3</td><td class="gmail-xl69" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">e</td><td class="gmail-xl66" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;color:rgba(0,0,0,0.847);font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;text-align:right">28</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">4</td><td class="gmail-xl69" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">ɛ e</td><td class="gmail-xl66" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;color:rgba(0,0,0,0.847);font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;text-align:right">12</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">5</td><td class="gmail-xl69" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">ɪ</td><td class="gmail-xl67" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;text-align:right">41</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">6</td><td class="gmail-xl69" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">ɛ ɪ</td><td class="gmail-xl67" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;text-align:right">110</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">7</td><td class="gmail-xl69" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">e ɪ</td><td class="gmail-xl67" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;text-align:right">5</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">8</td><td class="gmail-xl69" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">ɛ e ɪ</td><td class="gmail-xl66" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;color:rgba(0,0,0,0.847);font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;text-align:right">11</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">9</td><td class="gmail-xl69" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">i</td><td align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">904</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">10</td><td class="gmail-xl69" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">ɛ i</td><td align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">4723</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">11</td><td class="gmail-xl69" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">e i</td><td align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">302</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">12</td><td class="gmail-xl69" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">ɛ e i</td><td align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">1857</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">13</td><td class="gmail-xl69" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">ɪ i</td><td align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">12</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">14</td><td class="gmail-xl69" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">ɛ ɪ i</td><td align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">186</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">15</td><td class="gmail-xl69" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">e ɪ i</td><td align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">20</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">16</td><td class="gmail-xl69" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">ɛ e ɪ i</td><td align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">347</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">17</td><td class="gmail-xl69" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">ɛ i <span style="font-family:"Charis SIL","Gentium Plus","Segoe UI","Doulos SIL","DejaVu Sans","Lucida Sans Unicode",Arial,sans-serif;white-space:normal">i̝</span></td><td class="gmail-xl66" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;color:rgba(0,0,0,0.847);font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;text-align:right">7</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">18</td><td class="gmail-xl69" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">ɛ ɪ i <span style="font-family:"Charis SIL","Gentium Plus","Segoe UI","Doulos SIL","DejaVu Sans","Lucida Sans Unicode",Arial,sans-serif;white-space:normal">i̝</span></td><td align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">1</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br></div><div>The systems of interest are definitely 16, possibly 15, and perhaps 7 and 8. 7 and 8 are suspect, since without an actual i, it's moot as to what <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:16px;white-space:nowrap">ɪ</span> <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:nowrap"><font face="arial, sans-serif">represents. (System 10 is perhaps more accurately listed as </font></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;font-size:16px;white-space:nowrap">ɛ~e i</span><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:nowrap">.)</span></div><div><br></div><div>Now the fun begins when we map out systems 16 and 15 (and 12):</div><div><img src="cid:ii_md5r6eiy0" alt="Vowel systems.png" width="473" height="199"><br></div><div>Green = 12, Yellow = 15, Red = 16, grey = other.</div><div><br></div><div>Clearly very geographically skewed, very much a west-of-the-Old World phenomenon. The numbers are (n = 8657):</div><div><br></div><div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="357" style="color:rgb(0,0,0);border-collapse:collapse;width:269pt"><colgroup><col width="145" style="width:109pt"><col width="53" span="4" style="width:40pt"></colgroup><tbody><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" width="145" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt;width:109pt"></td><td class="gmail-xl66" width="53" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;text-align:right;width:40pt">ɛ e i</td><td class="gmail-xl66" width="53" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;text-align:right;width:40pt">ɛ ɪ i</td><td class="gmail-xl66" width="53" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;text-align:right;width:40pt">ɛ e ɪ i</td><td class="gmail-xl66" width="53" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;text-align:right;width:40pt">other</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">Europe</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">38%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">3%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">3%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">56%</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">Mainland SE Asia</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">42%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">1%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">2%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">55%</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">Rest of Eurasia</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">15%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">1%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">1%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">83%</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">Northern Africa</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">0%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">0%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">0%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">100%</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">Sudan-Sahel Africa</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">43%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">3%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">19%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">34%</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">Southern Africa</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">28%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">5%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">2%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">65%</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">Pacific</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">11%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">1%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">0%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">88%</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">Australia</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">0%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">0%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">0%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">100%</td></tr><tr height="21" style="height:16pt"><td height="21" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap;height:16pt">Americas</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">5%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">0%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">0%</td><td class="gmail-xl67" align="right" style="padding-top:1px;padding-right:1px;padding-left:1px;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;vertical-align:bottom;border:medium;white-space:nowrap">95%</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br></div><div>So, as Larry wrote, this is not trivial, and in ~5% of languages it is certainly contrastive, and it's no wonder an Africanist with a broad perspective on how things work should point this out.</div><div><br></div><div>-Mark</div><div><br></div><div>[1] Thus ignoring <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:"Charis SIL","Gentium Plus","Segoe UI","Doulos SIL","DejaVu Sans","Lucida Sans Unicode",Arial,sans-serif">æ, which isn't really justified, given variation between </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:"Charis SIL","Gentium Plus","Segoe UI","Doulos SIL","DejaVu Sans","Lucida Sans Unicode",Arial,sans-serif">æ and </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;text-align:right;white-space:nowrap">ɛ. Sorry, Lemerig.</span></div></div><div><br></div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, 12 Jul 2025 at 20:53, Christian Lehmann via Lingtyp <<a href="mailto:lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org">lingtyp@listserv.linguistlist.org</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><u></u>
<div>
Here is a trivial little problem for the phoneticians and
phonologists:<br>
<br>
IPA
(<a href="https://www.internationalphoneticalphabet.org/ipa-sounds/ipa-chart-with-sounds/#ipachartstart" target="_blank">https://www.internationalphoneticalphabet.org/ipa-sounds/ipa-chart-with-sounds/#ipachartstart</a>)
says that [ɪ] and [e] contrast in two features, height and
frontness/backness.<br>
<br>
Being a speaker of a language whose phonetic transcription has
involved both of the above symbols for generations of phoneticians,
and the symbols represent different phonemes, I have always taken
this for granted. However, this pair of phones does not constitute
clean minimal pairs in German because [e] is long, [ɪ] is short.<br>
<br>
Describing now the Cabecar phonetics and phonology, there is a front
mid-high (IPA says 'near-close' or 'close-mid') vowel phoneme which
contrasts with both /i/ and /ɛ/, and there is no length. Chibchanist
tradition transcribes it by [ɪ]. (There is an analogous
configuration for /u/, /ʊ/ and /ɔ/.) I have two innocent questions
here:<br>
<ol>
<li>Do [ɪ] and [e] actually sound differently? If I click them on
the IPA webpage indicated, they sound identical to my ears. Same
if I stretch the [ɪ] in my own pronunciation of <i>bitte</i>.<br>
</li>
<li>Even supposing that these are two different phones, should the
(Cabecar) phoneme covering them not be taken to be /e/, rather
than /ɪ/ (and likewise for /o/ rather than /ʊ/)?</li>
</ol>
My (less innocent) suspicion is (but please correct me) that
transcribing German words like <i>bitte</i> with [ɪ] instead of the
[e] of <i>bete</i> is due to a phonological or even orthographic
bias.<br>
<br>
Curiously, if you ask Google "Is there a phonological contrast
between [ɪ] and [e]?", its KI cheats you, adducing English examples
spelled with <e> which represents an [ɛ].<br>
<div>-- <br>
<p style="font-size:90%">Prof. em. Dr. Christian Lehmann<br>
Rudolfstr. 4<br>
99092 Erfurt<br>
<span style="font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:small-caps;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal">Deutschland</span></p>
<table style="font-size:80%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Tel.:</td>
<td>+49/361/2113417</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>E-Post:</td>
<td><a href="mailto:christianw_lehmann@arcor.de" target="_blank">christianw_lehmann@arcor.de</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Web:</td>
<td><a href="https://www.christianlehmann.eu" target="_blank">https://www.christianlehmann.eu</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
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