Using the following Spanish language data, determine the distribution of the sounds [a] and [o]. Examine the data closely and select the statement that most accurately describes the distribution.

[aβexa] bee

[mano] hand

[amigo] friend

[kasa] house

[oβexa] sheep

[kosa] thing

[ropa] clothing

[aɾo] ring

[kaɾa] face

Question

Using the following Spanish language data, determine the distribution of the sounds [a] and [o]. Examine the data closely and select the statement that most accurately describes the distribution.

[aβexa] bee

[mano] hand

[amigo] friend

[kasa] house

[oβexa] sheep

[kosa] thing

[ropa] clothing

[aɾo] ring

[kaɾa] face

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

A minimal pair demonstrates that two sounds can contrast to produce different words, so they are separate phonemes.

1) Relevant concepts
- Phoneme: a contrastive sound in a language. If two sounds occur in the same phonological environment and swapping them changes meaning, they are distinct phonemes.
- Minimal pair: two words differing in only one segment and having different meanings; this is the strongest evidence for phonemic contrast.
- Complementary distribution/allophone: if two sounds never occur in the same environment, they may be allophones of one phoneme; minimal pairs disprove that.

2) Step-by-step reasoning with the data
- Find word pairs that differ only by [a] vs [o].
  - [aβexa] ‘bee’ vs [oβexa] ‘sheep’: identical segments except the initial vowel (a vs o).
  - [kasa] ‘house’ vs [kosa] ‘thing’: identical segments except the medial vowel (a vs o).
- In each pair the surrounding consonants and syllable structure are the same (βexa, kasa/kosa), so the vowels occur in the same phonological environments.

3) Intermediate observations
- Because [a] and [o] appear in the same positions with identical neighboring segments in these pairs, there is no complementary distribution.
- Swapping [a] and [o] in the same environment yields different lexical items (meaning changes).

4) Why the correct answer is correct
- The existence of minimal pairs ([aβexa] vs [oβexa], [kasa] vs [kosa]) directly shows that [a] and [o] contrast phonemically. That is the defining test for separate phonemes.

5) Why other analyses are incorrect
- Allophonic analysis (one is an allophone of the other in complementary distribution) is impossible because they occur in the same environments.
- Free variation would not systematically produce consistent meaning changes; here swapping vowels changes word identity, so the contrast is meaningful.

6) Conclusion
The data therefore support that /a/ and /o/ are two separate phonemes. This matches the provided answer: "Because there is a minimal pair in the data, /a/ and /o/ are two separate phonemes."

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