[Lingtyp] contrast between [ɪ] and [e]

[JOO Ian]

Dear Christian,

<ɪ>, for example, is simply a shorthand for saying "a vowel that is made with your tongue at a front and high (but not the frontest or highest) position, without your lips being rounded". As you can see, its definition is relative in nature ("front" and "high" are by definition relative concepts). It does not point to any specific sound that is consistent across different lects. (A lect-independent definition would be, for example, a sound that has a duration within a certain range of milliseconds or formants within a certain range of Hz, which is not what IPA does.) Whether it is contrastive with <i> in a given lect depends on whether that lect makes a distinction between what is "highest/frontest" versus "high/front" in that lect, which may be different from how these two concepts are defined it other lects who make a similar comparison. Do return to your question, it can be answered if it is about whether the German [i] and the German [ɪ] are meaningfully different, for example, but there is no such thing as a lect-independent [ɪ] (like there is no lect-independent passive construction like Martin said), so to ask whether [i] in general is contrastive with [ɪ] in general is either vague or tautological (since they are meant to stand for different sounds, they are by definition referentially different).

Regards,
Ian

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朱　易安
JOO, IAN
准教授
Associate Professor
小樽商科大学
Otaru University of Commerce

🌐 ianjoo.github.io<http://ianjoo.github.io/>
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보낸 사람: Christian Lehmann via Lingtyp <lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org> 대신 Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org>
보낸 날짜: Sunday, July 13, 2025 12:28:15 AM
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제목: Re: [Lingtyp] contrast between [ɪ] and [e]

Thanks to everybody for your helpful hints. I will certainly countercheck my phonetic ear.
As for my question #2, I will heed Larry's hint "(15c) is the expected 7V system worldwide". Indeed, [e] and [o] figure among the cardinal vowels, while [ɪ] and [ʊ] do not.
@ Ian and Martin: I assume that the general principles you mention imply an answer to one of my questions. Would you mind giving me a clue in this respect?
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Prof. em. Dr. Christian Lehmann
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